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Basically, the recharge takes forever and often doesn't even reach the full capacity; charging devices doesn't reach fullness either. Don't buy if you can help it.
I bought this for my daughter who is a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo in a community with no electricity. The solar charger works perfectly for her; she puts it out to charge during the day and can charge her phone and iPod at night. It was a godsend. She is now able to charge her cell phone and her iPod with no problem, and we worry much less about her not having her cell phone available in case of emergency. I believe she can also charge her battery recharger, but am not sure. She is thrilled to have it.
And of course, it also paid off in my more mundane expectations and many people admired it, making it a great icebreaker with members of other troops.I didn't give it five stars only because it still takes a long time to charge it fully and you need to keep your expectations in line. Maybe I had better luck than others have had, but I have found that the device recharges more quickly than advertised.
But I was surprised and pleased to actually find it of value.I charged it from my computer before setting off to camp with the idea that it would be an emergency back-up battery from my mobile phone. By Wednesday evening I'd made a few calls from the remote campsite and had killed the charge on my cellphone.
I bought this before going to summer camp for a week with my son's BSA troop, and honestly, I expected to reap more envy from the other technophiles in the troop than to actually put it to much use (admittedly a shallow motive for buying it). I also recharged my own iPod as well before I had completely discharged the Solio.
I fully recharged it in short order from the Solio, which was still 60% charged after this.By Thursday evening, another ASM needed to recharge his phone and I was able to accommodate him with my Solio (which I'd had out in the sun all day and was back at full power). Finally, on the bus ride home, I was able to loan the fully charged Solio to two scouts to recharge an iPod and another mobile phone.
I had it out in the sun on my backpack or on my tent all week and it was always ready for use. But it does what it says and probably does it a bit better than documented.
Defective, okay, it happens. I ordered this charger for my husband's birthday in February. It did not work (at all). Returned to JoWow and they are STILL (June 15) giving me the runaround/no longer responding to my request for a refund or replacement. Eighty six bucks is a lot of money to me.NEVER order from JoWow.
Mounted on the back of my bike, only once in 7 days of biking did it charge more than halfway. I purchased the Solio charger so I could charge my iphone on the AIDS/LifeCycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The charger was almost useless. When it was charged less than half, it would not charge my iphone. Complete waste of money.
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