Recharging PDA’s or smart watches without computer or mains outlet was very difficult for a long time. People spent hours and hours building batteries themselves – and then, Palm gave us their now legendary PowerToGo. That box was a one-trick pony and has vanished from the market for a long time – and Proporta now fills the void with its Mobile Device Charger.
The Mobile Device Charger – like all other Proporta products – ships in a blister. The blister contains a Mini USB(didn’t work with my WristPDA – too wide to fit in) and a few other nibs:
Palms are connected via MiniSyncs that must be purchased separately – the Mini USB one didn’t charge my WristPDA either(more on that later):
Proporta’s Mobile Device Charger is all white and rather small – here are a few comparison shots next a Palm Treo 600 and a Palm Tungsten T3:
The top of the unit contains a chain attachment thingy – the bottom has the MiniUSB jack used to charge the Mobile Device Charger and the standard USB jack where you plug in the gadget that is to be charged:
The button and the LED on the front side are the only control – funny, but works well. Press the button and the battery powers on – the battery powers off itself after one minute if not enough current is drawn. The LED has multiple functions. If the Mobile Device Charger is connected to a PC, this LED glows red while the internal battery is being charged. It becomes green if the Mobile Device Charger is completely charged. On the other hand, the LED glows green if a gadget is actively being charged, and becomes red if the battery is almost empty:
Charging a Palm Tungsten T3 via a separately purchased sync cable takes about one and a half hours for a full charge – the battery then powers off, leaving the Palm Tungsten T3 at a battery voltage of 412. I manage approximately 4 charges from this gadget – more than enough energy even for long travels!
Charging my WristPDA with a Boxwave MiniSync(Proporta’s cables don’t work) almost always ended in a disaster(hard reset) so far – the WristPDA has a strange USB quirk though, so Proporta is not to blame here…
Charging the Mobile Device Charger via USB takes pretty long(7h on a Peluga workstation) – however, topping off the unit works much faster. I usually get along with recharging two hours a day…
Overall, if your handheld/smartphone’s battery is too weak for your intended usage, Proporta’s Mobile Device Charger could well be your solution. It appears to be well built, has a high capacity and will probably also charge the next handheld generation – the price of $44.95 is o.k.!
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