Elecom's AVD-DCAA2: +2 hours of portable iPod juice

Here you go, another way to stretch the untethered playback of your iPod. Meet the Elecom AVD-DCAA2 series of external battery packs which will keep any iPod sportin' the universal dock pumping the tunes for up to 2 hours (as tested with 1G nano) off 2x AA batteries. Remove the batteries and the whole kit compresses for easy portability. Sure that off-center slab ain't pretty, but it has to slide to the side to maintain access to the headphone jack, Jack. Available Martin and Lewis or Amos and Andy starting mid November for ¥1,890 or about 16 bucks.

[Via Akihabara News]

[joule @ Nov 2nd 2006 9:19AM]

They could have routed the headset jack inside the thing, and centered it. Such a huge size for only 2 hours doesn't make much sense to me.

[Simon @ Nov 2nd 2006 9:41AM]

Yeah, this thing looks ugly. But if it compresses when not in use, it's a great last resort if your on a long trip.

You still get AA batteries almost everywhere while a free power plug is not so readily available and would have to stay tethered for a few hours to get anything out of it.

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 2nd 2006 9:42AM]

She'll do at least warp 5...

[mortysalt @ Nov 2nd 2006 9:59AM]

It's amazing how much time apple can juice out of their batteries. I will never complain again that I only get 14 hours out of my nano, this is just ridiculous.

[GadgetGav @ Nov 2nd 2006 10:25AM]

The iPod claims 24 hours of battery. Even if you only get 12, why would you carry something that is *so* much bigger for just another 2 hours..? What a waste of time. Get a car charger and a second USB cable - surely you're never more than 12 - 24 hours away from one of those sources of power... unless you're taking it up Everest! ;)

[Marcin Lasica @ Nov 2nd 2006 10:34AM]

Keep in mind that during those 2 hours the iPod is also probably charging it's own batteries.

[Dan S @ Nov 2nd 2006 11:29AM]

About a year and a half ago, Belkin introduced a piggy-back AA battery pack for dock iPods. They claim 6-12 hours of use from 4 AA batteries -- and the design is more "pocket friendly".

[CT @ Nov 2nd 2006 11:34AM]

Great Pulp Fiction reference. So So product...

[Nate @ Nov 2nd 2006 12:58PM]

You can find this at Sewell for 16 bucks-

http://sewelldirect.com/USB-emergency-power-supply-5v.asp

[JehovaHimself @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:46PM]

"Available Martin and Lewis or Amos and Andy"

Um, isn't that a bit on the racist edge?

[Douglas Pace @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:54PM]

I think it will charge the Nano fully, giving you all of your Nano battery life. Struggle through the language conversion by clicking on the picture and see if you gather the same, but I feel certain that two AA batteries would give you more than 2 hours of play time... and having it charge the Nano is the only way this makes sense to me.

[Simon @ Nov 2nd 2006 5:03PM]

It's not realy that big, it just that the nano is so small. Wait, where have I heard that before :)

Realy, take a look at the pictures in the original article. When it's not in use it's realy small.

If I can get one I will. Just in case.

[BradStar @ Dec 6th 2006 3:07AM]

I definitely think this would be a good idea, I mean I usually have my iPod with me all day long, and any extra time I can have is awesome. Sure, it may be a little bulky, but it definitely has potential in a pack. Why would you fill your iPod with 3 days worth of music if you weren't able to listen to more than half a day's worth? I would much rather pack extra AA batteries than an entire laptop and cord. That and you can just swap out AA's when you need more juice. I think this is an idea whose time has finally come.