External battery pack available for iPhone?

[infamousE]

I use a lenmar powerport. Its great, was able to use it to charge up my phone on a plane ride while I watched a movie. It doesn't require batteries, just charge it into the wall to charge it up and then take it where ever I need it.

[robert1_1]

Darrel, I have the same problem. My first RichardSolo battery did not seat correctly on the iPhone so I sent it back. They were very quick to send me a new replacement. However, this one also does not charge the iPhone when it is being charged by the wall outlet. Maybe that feature just doesn't work. Does anybodies batter let the iPhone charge while it is being charged from the wall AC?

I bought two of the RichardSolo's, and everything is fine except it does not charge the iphone when both the external battery and the Iphone are connected. If you charge the external and then connect it to the "3G Iphone" it will charge it up, but if you let the Iphone lose it's charge, and then connect both at the same time, the Iphone does not charge up. I bought two and both do the same thing.
Please help me if I am doing something wrong.
Thanks
Darrell

[Lightbrazer]

Here's one for the original iPhone that's like the Mophie with a combo battery/cradle plus flashlight/camera light. It's called the iV and it's made by FastMac and has a narrowed base so that it can charge the iPhone and cradle/battery from the dock.

http://fastmac.com/iv.php#1

Although it's not as attractive as the Mophie, I think I would go with the FastMac iV since it has longer batter life spec's for the original iPhone than the Mophie such as 10.5 hrs of video vs 7 for the Mophie, 20 hrs of talk time vs 8 for the Mophie and this is comparing original iPhone spec's not the Mophie's 3G product.

I haven't seen that FastMac iV has a 3G product out yet but this would be a reason to encourage me to get a 3G iPhone since the short battery life is the only thing holding me back from upgrading from the original iPhone. These external battery cases from Mophie and FastMac look like nice solutions to the lack of a swappable battery.

Here's a youtube video I just found from MacWorld 08.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5eueAivDMQ

Avoid the Fastmac IV at ALL costs. First it's not certified as 'works with iphone', second do a search for "fastmac iv review" and notice how NO reviews were done. This is because despite it's January release not ONE of them has shipped out yet. The people that preordered at Macworld still have not received theirs yet and that was 6 months ago. I'd be pretty pissed If I was those people. Mophie is far more reputable and works with iphone and has actually shipped units which have been reviewed.

[blinkme_210]

Just received the Imaxpower TY250 external power pack today, and it charges the iPhone as advertised! The battery pack is small & lightweight. It is such a good product that I have ordered a TY460 (4600 Mah) battery pack so that I will be out of juice.

Only downside to all of this, is the long ~3hr battery recharge time. Just gotta make sure to plug it in before bed anytime you use it.

[georgethegreek]

I was doing some reading on 4smartphone.com and the indicate that the Juicepack for iphone 3g will be out in September.

[wellduh11]

I ordered this because it'll serve several purposes. It'll charge anything with a USB connection. We'll see how well it does on the iPhone.
http://www.provantage.com/apc-upb10~7AMP90J5.htm

[wase4711]

I ordered this because it'll serve several purposes. It'll charge anything with a USB connection. We'll see how well it does on the iPhone.
http://www.provantage.com/apc-upb10~7AMP90J5.htm

I have had the APC one for a couple of weeks now and its great!
Had a Kensington, but it died after 1 use...

It works with anything that charges USB, and gave me almost 2 full days of juice with my 3G..

nice feature is the remaining power indicator light...

[Sevendust]

I have the APC one too and it works great. Went on a recent weekend trip where I didn't have access to power and I was able to keep my phone charged and still do all the web surfing, movie watching and audio listening that I wanted to do.

[wellduh11]

I ordered this because it'll serve several purposes. It'll charge anything with a USB connection. We'll see how well it does on the iPhone.
http://www.provantage.com/apc-upb10~7AMP90J5.htm

It arrived this morning via UPS. Charged it for only 3 hours before it showed full. Works like a charm! Small, and stylish too. Only thing is, it was $50. Not too pricey, but in the mid range for batteries.

[py712]

blinkme_210, how many charges do you think the TY250 is capable of? Do you think it is able to do 2 full charges for the 3G if the 3G is showing 20% battery left?

Thanks?

Paul

Just received the Imaxpower TY250 external power pack today, and it charges the iPhone as advertised! The battery pack is small & lightweight. It is such a good product that I have ordered a TY460 (4600 Mah) battery pack so that I will be out of juice.

Only downside to all of this, is the long ~3hr battery recharge time. Just gotta make sure to plug it in before bed anytime you use it.

[blinkme_210]

blinkme_210, how many charges do you think the TY250 is capable of? Do you think it is able to do 2 full charges for the 3G if the 3G is showing 20% battery left?
Paul

Pretty sure it will do 2 full charges.

I had a chance to test it out today to charge my iPhone from about 75%, and the battery pack charged it back up to 100% - showing the outlet plug charged icon - in about 15 minutes.

[RF9]

I was going to get the richarsolo battery. But this APC battery pack looks like a much better solution (and the same price) and holds probably about twice the charge capacity.
I like the fact that it's a separate battery that you attach with a cable, not something that attaches to the bottom. It also looks portable enough. Not quite a portable as the richardsolo, but portable enough to take a bag.
If TSA lets you on board with it, it would be great for long plane trips if you want to watch movies on the iPhone, or whatever.

It looks like it's $64 with ground shipping ($69 for 2 day) on provantage. I found a local store that has it for $70.

I might just go pick one up tomorrow.
EDIT: Never mind. Not in stock according to the web site. I'll just order it.

[bjabrad]

I've used a cable attached charger on an airplane tray table before and it's a major pain and zero advantage in my opinion. You have to wind up the cord to put it in your briefcase or pocket and you end up with an unwieldy solution that's flopping around or getting in the way.

I would recommend an integrated solution of either a combo battery/case like the Mophie or an external battery that plugs into the bottom of the iPhone.

[soulweaponry]

What about those charging cases where you slip your iphone in and it's like an extended battery? Anybody try those?

[CorporateMonkey]

I received a TY250 from imaxpower.com

It does not charge a 3g iphone when the iphone battery is low. The iphone pulls too much power. It worked just fine on other usb devices, but it just would not charge any of the 3 iphone 3g's I have if the iphone battery was less than 3/4 full. The "use" led would just flicker, and the iphone would show it was connected, but the battery just wouldn't charge.

The company asked for my battery back for diagnosis. I don't know if their larger 4600 version has the same trouble.