Product: Emergency AA Battery Power Charger for iPod & iPhone (Rohs Model HC-02) Company: BudgetGadgets.com, Shenzhen, China Product URL: http://www.budgetgadgets.com/-p-2919.html Price: $5.55. Note: Shipping is free Hardware configuration: iPod touch, First Generation Reviewers' Rating: 3 out of 5 Apples

I love my iPod touch (hereinafter referred to as iTouch). In normal use at home I have overcome it's greatest drawback: lousy battery life with apps that are screen intensive. Unfortunately, those are the majority of apps that I use. Music is the least of my worries.

I also don't like the hassle of being interrogated as to my honorable intentions whenever I plug the iTouch into a computer USB port. So I have two 110-to-5 Volt charging stations next to my email computer and my favorite chair, respectively. This solution works only if I don't leave home. It wouldn't help me read a novel, watch a video or play solitaire aboard a plane. And it certainly wouldn't allow me to take field notes on an African safari. So my search for a convenient power backup solution was on.

Several of my Olympus cameras take four rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) AA batteries. I have many "Monster" chargers and even more batteries, each set labeled A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, B2, B3, B4, etc., to keep sets together. I also have a unique little Brookstone Battery tester that lets me determine which battery has dropped dead when my camera refuses to start. It seems that NiMHs fail by first appearing to be full and then dropping to zero without any warning half-way through the use cycle. If one battery in a set shows that behavior, I either toss out the whole set or bar the remaining three from camera use.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to operate my iTouch from my plentiful supply of AA size portable power?

Yes indeed, and I found a gadget I liked at Amazon.com that allows me to do exactly that. It carries the somewhat grandiose title "Turbo Charge TC2 Portable Charger for iPod and iPhone by Turbo Charge" (TBA-650) (Link and photo above). It costs $20.37 and comes with free shipping if your order exceeds $25. Let's call it the TBA-650 for short.

By a curious coincidence (I had not even received the Internet order yet) our Webmaster received an offer from the PR person at Budget Gadgets: Would we be interested in reviewing their emergency battery charger for an iPod? This one costs $5.55 singly, $4.99 for bulk (10+) purchases. It was sent to me from Hong Kong, arriving in a week in a package that identifies it as a Rohs Model HC-02. I'll call it the HC-2; photo above.

Both devices take two AA batteries and have a connector that locks securely into an iPod socket. Additionally, the TBA-650 sports a three-position switch and a bank of lights: one to indicate that it is switched on, three for charge level, and two powerful LEDs that function as a flashlight. No such extras for the HC-2, but it does have a retractable 24" extension cord that lets you put the bulky item out of the way while you are working and drawing power at the same time.

How to test
I am not an electrical engineer; I am a chemist. So don't expect technical expertise beyond knowing if they work and for how long.

The iTouch displays its green battery if the selector button is punched while it is asleep. That seems like a good way to measure.

The iTouch also offers a warning when the charge level has dropped to 20%. If you ignore it, the battery color changes to a vicious red. That is another good indicator point from a user perspective.

The iTouch has a handy native notepad app so I can record data on the spot, like clock times when an event is happening. Once done, the notepad page can be e-mailed out.

I was not going to do this test by devoting 100% of several days to it. Rather, I proposed to test it as a user, some days with little and some days with lots of energy-consuming activities. Here is the procedure I followed:

1. Place two AA batteries into the charger.
2. Run down the charge on the first generation iTouch until a 20% warning appears.
3. Connect the charging device but don't run energy-intensive apps. Note starting date and time.
4. When charge indicator indicates completed charge, disconnect and shut off charger. Note time.
5. Use iTouch until 20% warning appears again. Note time.
6. Repeat process until no more charging can be done.
7. Repeat with fresh battery set until I am satisfied.

Preliminaries:
I tried some "Panasonic Super Heavy Duty" $1.00/4 at the Dollar Store and they did nothing; the interior battery went red after a half hour or so. Thereafter I used a single set of 4 Duracell 2650 NiMH rechargeable batteries, charged by Monster Ultra High Capacity Rapid Charger, cycling them 2 by 2.

Conclusions: Both power supplies worked pretty well. The TBA-650 exhausted five sets of two AA batteries in four days, the HC-02 needed four sets of two AA batteries in two days. Nominally, that gives an advantage to the more expensive product, but the difference isn't very significant. In either case, a couple of 4-packs of rechargeable AA batteries will bridge a long overseas flight.

Problems: Both devices developed faults with their battery compartment enclosures. With batteries installed, the lid on the TBA-650 could only be pried open using a tool from my Swiss Army knife. Eventually, the recalcitrant tab simply broke off and I am stuck with a rubber band holding things together. The equivalent lid on HC-02 never latched properly. You guessed it — another rubber band.

Comment: What I don't quite understand is why these manufacturers go to the considerable expense of including a plug to match the specific iPod socket. I had expected the port to be a 5 Volt USB socket, since every iPod owner has a cord to plug into USB or the 110-to-5 V USB power supply that Apple offers.