Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I own a few PowerFilm products and generally recommend the brand wholeheartedly, but this kit is a complete 180 from what I have come to expect from PowerFilm.
The charger simply cannot handle variable input. Given that it's sold as a kit with a meager 5 watt pannel, this is unacceptable. If there's any interruption to the flow from the 5 watt pannel (like momentarily casting a shadow on the pannel) the charger freaks out and says the batteries are bad. You have to unplug the panel from the charging unit and plug it back in for it to reset and resume charging. If you don't reset the charger, it will simply sit there and say BAD even though full power has resumed into the unit. I was using this with brand new Sanyo Eneloop batteries which I know are just fine.
Another negative aspect of this product: I though this would be a bit of a "souped up" version of the Powerfilm Usb Aa Solar Panel Charger (an excellent product!) which will supply power to the USB port either from the AAs alone, or through the pannel if the AAs have at least a decent charge. With this unit however, the USB port CANNOT BE POWERED FROM THE BATTERIES.
There are a few cool things about the charger -- it's one of the few that I've seen that doesn't need the batteries to be paired (so you can charge just one battery or three if you wanted to). The visual indicator of charge is also very cool (shows 20% increments). The built-in AA to AAA socket adapter is also convenient (I've used other products where the adapters were separate bits that are easily lost). But these do not make up for the deficiencies outlined above, for my purposes.
The charge-times seem relatively accurate ~ 2hrs per pair of AAs. I noted that once the charger says the batteries are FULL, if you disconnect power to the unit, then plug it back in a second later (literally), the charger will say the batteries are at 80% (or less!) and won't go back to full for maybe 30 minutes or more. What gives? I'm not sure I entirely trust its ability to detect charge capacity anywhere near the granularity the display implies.
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PowerFilm Foldable Solar Chargers come in a wide range of power output configurations and are virtually unlimited in application. Solar chargers of varying capacities are available for charging cell phones, satellite phones, even laptops. A full line of supporting accessories makes PowerFilm Foldable Solar Chargers the perfect choice for portable and remote solar charging needs. The RA-3c battery charging accessory comes complete with rechargeable batteries and all the accessory cords needed to utilize thesolar charger.
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