Kensington Battery Pack and Charger for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G Reviews



Amazon.com Customer Reviews

Works with thicker cases - Review written on October 16, 2008
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Rating: 4 out of 5
1 customer found this review not to be helpful.
This battery pack will work if you have an Otterbox Defender case on your iPhone. Kensington told me the mini charger would work with that case, but since the case is rather thick, the connector was too short to reach. This model is bulkier, but the cable makes it easier to connect.
Great Battery - Review written on October 09, 2008
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Rating: 4 out of 5
1 customer found this review not to be helpful.
This battery seems to last forever. It has been great. I go on long runs and like to listen to music and use the built in GPS. The iPhone battery alone would die in less then 2 hours. This battery is less than 50% drained in 4 hours of runtime. The only thing is that I wish the wire that came with it was smaller and less rigid. The wire is to bulky.
Poor design, too many cables and parts to keep track of - Review written on September 13, 2008
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Rating: 2 out of 5
6 customers found this review helpful, 9 did not.

This battery comes with: 1 battery pack (slightly smaller than an iPhone); 1 cable to connect it to the iPhone; 1 cable to connect the wall unit to the battery; 1 wall unit. So if you travel that's three extra things you need to carry in addition to the battery. Lose one part and you're out of luck. Why they didn't simply build-in the wall unit to the battery, that would have combined three items into one and would have been simple and elegant.
good and not so great - Review written on September 10, 2008
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Rating: 4 out of 5
10 customers found this review helpful.

Pros:
- if I start with a fully charged brick and a fully discharged iPhone and leave them on the table I get close to a fully recharged iPhone in a little while. I haven't timed it but it seems pretty quick.
- because it uses a cord, it charges or powers any device that charges by USB. iPhone (any), Blackberry, GPS...
- you can use the iPhone while it is charging and it still charges (albeit more slowly).
- the brick is pleasantly small and pocketable.

Cons:
- requires a different (mini-usb) wire to charge the brick, so you have to carry an additional wire to recharge the brick after you've had to use it.
- connects to the iphone with a cord. It works to hold the phone to your ear and have the cord dangling to the brick in your pocket, but the cord is a pain. I like the idea of the mophie juice pack, which would still fit in my pocket or on the table or hold up to my ear, with no cord. They don't make that for the iphone 3G yet but I will get one of those too when it is available.
- my particular unit has never showed a full charge from day one, just 4 lights out of five. It works fine, I don't know if it is holding less charge than it should or if the 5th light isn't working, but it suggests less than perfect QA.
Good service, good product, good price - Review written on August 27, 2008
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Rating: 5 out of 5
4 customers found this review helpful.

I have been making extended business trips, relying on my iPhone for e-mail as well as for entertainment. This battery was just what I needed on travel, and the price was significantly better than at the Apple Store. SuperSaver shipping got it to me an a few days, so I am pleased all the way around.
Best of this product type - Review written on August 15, 2008
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Rating: 5 out of 5
8 customers found this review helpful.

I've had several "battery packs" for iPods over the years but none have performed as well as this one - and none have had the flexibility of charging methods. I use it with my 80gb Fifth Gen. iPod and it gives me hours and hours of video time and since it charges the ipod battery, you can disconnect it when you don't want to be tethered and you'll have a fully charged iPod.

The fact that it uses a lithium ion battery instead of a NiMh battery is a BIG plus.

Excellent product.
Good power backup for an iPhone or iPod - Review written on August 15, 2008
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Rating: 5 out of 5
16 customers found this review helpful.

I have an iPhone 3G which needs to be recharged just about every day that it's used. That can be a challenge when I'm traveling, although if I have a laptop it's possible to recharge the iPhone via the laptop's USB port -- as long as the laptop has enough power to spare. The Kensington set is a good backup. It will fully charge a nearly exhausted iPhone battery in an hour or less. You can use the phone while you're charging it (although that means you'll use some of the stored power). The battery has a button that lights up a set of LEDs to show you how fully charged it is. It comes with both a wall plug and a USB cable. It's small enough to carry in a pants pocket. You also have to carry the included cable to connect it to the iPhoe or iPod. You could carry the whole set - battery, wall adapter and two cables -- in a jacket pocket.

The only thing that's missing is a case or bag with a drawstring. One or the other would be very helpful for storing the two cables, the wall adapter and the battery itself.
Rip off price. Search K33396 to find better deal - Review written on August 12, 2008
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Rating: 4 out of 5
2 customers found this review helpful, 21 did not.

What a rip off price!

JR Computer sells for $49.99
Apple Store sells for $69.99

Currently, everyone is out of stock including this seller, why pay for $129 and wait for restocking like everyone else.
Works with iPhone 3G - Review written on August 10, 2008
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Rating: 5 out of 5
12 customers found this review helpful.

I can absolutely confirm that this works withthe iPhone 3G.

After searching around trying several devices including the Duracell PowerSource Mini which did not work, and various "USB charging
solutions which did not work, I sent an e-mail to Kensingtion. They confirmed to me that this works with the iPhone 3G. So I went to the Apple store to buy it.

Pros:
- USB charging port withs with the iPhone 3G
- Wall AC Adapter with USB port also charges the iPhone 3G
- Comes with a sync / charge cable that syncs fine with a PC, but also charges in PC USB port, battery pack, and Wall AC USB charger. Also, this cable does NOT need to have the sides depressed (just like the Apple USB sync cable), which is nice for easy insertion and removal.
- Battery pack is nice and small and light.
- Comes with everything you need to charge the iPhine and recharge the battery pack.
rad product - Review written on August 01, 2008
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Rating: 5 out of 5
3 customers found this review helpful.

I bought this for a flight to asia. Its a great deal and seems to work fine. I also wanted to be able to plug it in over there too, and while it takes an adapter, it does accept 220.
Works as advertised - Review written on July 21, 2008
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Rating: 4 out of 5
1 customer found this review helpful.

Bought this for my iPod but it also recharges my Blackberry as well. Easy to use.
Best accessory for my iPhone! - Review written on June 09, 2008
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Rating: 5 out of 5
27 customers found this review helpful, 1 did not.

This has been the best accessory that I've bought for my iPhone so far.

I took it on a short business trip to Europe. Not only was I able to use it to recharge my iPhone from ZERO to FULL on the plane and train (ie. Eurostar), but my husband discovered the included mini usb cable can recharge his BlackBerry as well. So we are able to share this one device for several of ours.

On top of that, the package included an iPhone sync cable. You can never have enough of these!