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| Powermonkey Explorer - Emergency Charger For All Your Needs! | 
 enlarge | Brand: Powertraveller
Category: CE
Buy New: £36.49
New (33) from £36.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 1574
Media: Electronics
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 3 x 5 x 11
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MPN: PM/ESPLORER
Model: pm-ExP
EAN: 6781860005506
ASIN: B000UJ8QFW
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Water-resistant, rubberised design - a power source for every adventure | | • | Solar Slave + Powermoney-eXplorer = 2 reusable sources of power (no batteries needed...ever!!) | | • | Compatiable with majority of mobile phones, including Nokia & mini Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens, & Sony Ericsson | | • | USB Connectors power up iPods & accessories, MP3 players, PDAs, smart mobile phones, digital cameras, games consoles, BlackBerrys, Bluetooth headsets, & many more digital devices | | • | Includes mains travel charger for use in 150 countries - 110V to 240V |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Power up wherever, whenever. The PowerMonkey eXplorer is a truly versatile travel companion, encompassing the powerful eXplorer unit and the SolarSlave - an essential, environmentally friendly product for any traveller.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
It works! November 4, 2008
I have previously owned a single panel solar charger and it was garbage, the only think it would charge were my Bluetooth headphones.
This item however has charged my Nokia N95, Creative Zen Extra MP3 player, and two types of bluetooth headphone, all on one charge!
If there's no sun you can plug it in to charge it up before you go out, and it will keep the power in reserve for you.
My only quibble is I wish there was a definitive list of what it will and won't charge, as for instance it doesn't seem to want to power my Panasonic FZ28 camera, and I don't know if they make an adaptor for my TZ5 either, but that's my fault for not checking before I bought it.
At the end of the day, the product works,and is therefore recommended.
No more dead batteries! November 3, 2008
If, like me, you carry a lot of power-hungry devices, you're probably familiar with either or both of the following two problems:
1. Having to carry several different chargers
2. Flat battery (which always seems to happen when you're nowhere near mains power or don't have the right charger to hand)
If this rings a bell, then you'll find the Powermonkey invaluable. It's effectively a portable, rechargeable battery pack which comes with a variety of different connectors, allowing you to recharge a multitude of different devices - all major manufacturers' mobiles, iPod, Blackberry and PSP, among others - on the go without requiring access to a mains point. (You can also use it with your digital camera as a backup power source, although it won't recharge the battery in this case.) It also comes with a variety of mains connectors so it can be used in pretty much any country.
The Explorer version is similar to the basic Powermonkey, but it also comes with a folding solar panel which can be used to recharge the Powermonkey without a mains connection. Although considerably slower, it's still a useful feature as it means you can recharge the Powermonkey while you're out and about by attaching the solar panel to, say, a rucksack, or even uder artificial lighting. I can't really comment on how effective the panel is, as I haven't used it as such yet.
The Powermonkey carries enough power for both my iPhone (which needs a recharge every 24-36 hours) and Nokia mobile on a single charge, and it doesn't seem to leak power if you carry it around for several days without using it.
The unit is very simple and intuitive to use - you basically just fit the Powermonkey to your device via the correct connector, and off you go. Both the main unit and the solar panel are lightweight but feel reasonably robust - they should both happily survive your standard knocks and drops, although you probably wouldn't want to drop the solar panel from too great a height, or sit on it!
I generally carry the Powermonkey unit and the two connectors I use most everywhere I go, with the solar panel added to my bag just in case.
The only real downside I've found is that you can't recharge the Powermonkey and a device at the same time - you have to recharge the Powermonkey first, then unplug it from the mains and recharge your device. But this is a pretty minor quibble for a versatile and genuinely useful gadget which significantly reduces the number of chargers I have to pack when travelling, and means I no longer have to worry about my iPhone cutting out mid-call.
Thoroughly recommended!
 Adaptor for DS not included September 8, 2008
Despite showing a Nintendo DS lite on the packaging of this item (and in the Amazon pages related to it) this does NOT include the relevant adaptor for the DS or DS lite - you have to purchase it direct from Power Traveler for an additional 2.50 plus 1.50 P&P.
I called Power Traveler to clarify this and a very rude lady said that since the packaging (allegedly) lists the adaptors included (it actually doesn't - only a very vague "includes specific connector tips for iPods, MP3 players, PDAs, smart mobile phones, digital cameras, hand-held gaming devices, Blackberrys, Bluetooth headsets and many more digital devices" - what is the DS if not a "hand-held gaming device"?!), they did not feel it was necessary to explicitly state that the DS adaptor was an optional extra, despite the packaging giving the obvious impression that it was included and "2.50 won't break the bank" (which it won't, but I object to having to pay over and above what I have already just to get the functionality advertised on the package).
This sort of customer service and borderline deception leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I will not be recommending the product to any of my friends.
 Works as stated but won't save the planet!! July 20, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The Powermonkey has a 1W solar panel and a 2200mAh battery which is slightly better specced than the Solio which has a 0.85W panel, and a 1800maH battery (the Freeloader has a 0.65W panel and a 1000mAH battery but is so unreliable as to be useless). The Powermonkey works as specified and will provide charge to most mobiles, pdas and portable media devices that take between a 4.5 - 5.5V charge (the charging voltage of your device should be listed on its AC adapter). For it to work properly it needs to be placed outside at a 30 degree angle facing south and in an unshaded spot- if you don't have a secure garden or you are on the move this could obviously be problematic. If you are really going somewhere where you will have no access to power for an extended period the Powermonkey really does not have a high enough rating and you will need either a larger rigid panel that you can attach to a vehicle, or, if you are on the move, a flexible panel such as the Global Solar Sunlinq / P3 (also branded ME2 Solar or Feastronics) or Powerfilm F15 give power ranging from 5W to 60W (75-900). For seriously wet situations you can get rollable waterproof panels (the connectors do need to be kept out of the water) such as the Brunton SolarRoll or Powerfilm R15 with 4.5W-20W sizes from 100-300 and Solara Marine adhesive panels which can be attached to boats/yachts/catamarans etc. You can also get solar backpacks from gpsforless that have up to a 2.7W rigid panel, Reware Juice Bags which have 6W flexible panels or Voltaic bags which have 4W or 14W rigid panels.
You could also consider one of the Freeplay chargers such as the wind up Freeplay Mobile charger or the Weza foot powered charger which will provide more instantaneous power than solar panels.
People should put into perspective the power capacity of the Powermonkey when working out the carbon saving they are making- 1W is really tiny when you consider a widescreen TV has wattage ratings in the 100s and ovens, vacuum cleaners and tumble dryers up to 2500W. Just leaving the TV on unnecessarily, leaving the oven heating up for a few more minutes than is needed or using the tumble dryer when you could hang your clothes up will wipe out thousands of times over any savings you could ever possibly make with this charger. If you really want to make effective use of solar and other renewables you either need to install renewable technology at home, arrange a communuity project or change your electricity supplier to a renewable "green" supplier (uswitch or energywatch will provide details on this).
Powertraveller are bringing out a larger PowerGorilla in the autumn with a similar foldable rigid solar panel which will supposedly be able to charge a laptop so that might be something to consider in the future.
 rubbish June 25, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
I purchased this item, not from Amazon that's true but I don't think it make any difference while is about the same product, last week. I've kept it in sunshine, bulb light and the single thing that seems to work is the green led only. In rest it is completly useless. I intend try a little a bit more...maybe it must to be kept for charging for more time (i started really to wonder how many sunny days are necessary to charge it) but I'm afraid I'll threw it into the firt bin.
I simply regret I bought it.
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