al mcguire Posted August 21, 2010 Report Share Posted August 21, 2010 Solar Charger For iPhone Swiftly Sucks Up The SunThe very concept of keeping an iPhone fully charged? Laughable. But using the sun as a power source? That's positively preposterous. Apparently crazy is on the menu over at Dexim HQ. Their new solar-powered P-Flip promises to juice an iPhone's talk time up to eight hours. The rigging basically looks like a bulky black and camouflage case. You slide the iPhone in (there's a version for BlackBerry schlepers too) and the panels soak up sunlight and transfer it over to the phone's power-hungry battery. While the P-Flip manual claims a full solar charge takes 10-12 hours, Dexim's website says 15 hours. Whatevah! In our testing we found it takes at least half a day of sun exposure to get the power meter full. But check it out: It doesn't matter if it's cloudy, foggy or smoggy — the battery charges up at the same rate no matter the conditions. Want to know just how much charge the P-Flip battery has? Push the side button and an array of three LED mini-lights tell you how much energy you've got left. The middle light also keeps you informed if a solar or USB charge is taking place. The P-Flip is also digitally ambidextrous, flipping both horizontally or vertically — cool for hands-free viewing of videos in either direction. There's an included USB cord too that you can use to sync the phone with iTunes on a PC or Mac. The dock folds up for compact storage, although we suspect sensitivity to dings and scratches of the exposed solar panels. A form-fitting storage case might be a good idea if you don't mind added bulk. In any event this solar charging case isn't a bad idea. Anyone who needs their phone charged and won't be near an electrical outlet for a while would be smart to get one. After all, it looks like those crazy kids from Hair were right to demand that we let the sunshine in. WIRED Unique solar-paneled charger and sync dock for iPhones (and BlackBerry) keeps you talking for extra hours. Collapsible clamshell dock can be used as a kickstand for viewing video and for syncing as well. With a male-female iPod extension cord, you can recharge an iPad as well. TIRED Charging the dock via the solar panels takes half a day. Plastic covered solar panels get ouch-worthy hot when left in direct sunlight. Manufacturer: Dexim Price: $80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted August 22, 2010 Report Share Posted August 22, 2010 Looks interesting. More info here: http://www.dexim.net/us/products/P-F/DCA199.html --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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