Solar Technology's Freeloader saps power from USB, the Sun

While it won't do your laptop any good, this new Freeloader gig from Solar Technology should be able to provide juice to just about every other gadget in your repertoire. The device contains its own li-ion rechargeable battery, which it can fill up from your laptop or desktop's power via USB, or using its 120mA crystalline solar cells. From there you've got a master cable and eleven adaptors to get the electricity into your phone, camera, PDA, GPS, gaming handheld or DAP. Solar Technology seems to have most of the big brands covered, and claims it can fuel an iPod for 18 hours, a mobile phone for 44 hours, PSP for 2.5 hours and a PDA for 22 hours -- not too shabby for the 6.5 ounce unit. Sure, we've seen plenty of similar chargers before, but the combination of device compatibility and relatively low price (£30, about $59 US) makes this a decent option for those sun-drenched road warriors out there.

[Richard @ Feb 19th 2007 2:09PM]

That's pretty handy! The price isn't bad either... I just hope they'll make a Zune adapter too.

[mike @ Feb 19th 2007 3:15PM]

I just want to know how long before its internal li-ion battery gives out.

[Peter @ Feb 19th 2007 3:27PM]

I use something similar called a Solio - http://www.solio.com/
It does the same thing and has a wide range of adapters but I think the solio is more compact and has a cooler design. Its proved to be extremely useful!

[tekdroid @ Feb 19th 2007 5:17PM]

is this yet another device limited by the life of the internal battery? I sure hope it can be replaced with an off-the-shelf replacement...

[Paul @ Feb 19th 2007 6:22PM]

"and claims it can fuel an iPod for 18 hours, a mobile phone for 44 hours, PSP for 2.5 hours and a PDA for 22 hours"

This says something about the inefficiency of a PSP doesn't it?

[william woods @ Feb 20th 2007 12:28AM]

The spare battery is available from the same site heres the link.... http://www.solartechnology.co.uk/solar_chargers.asp

[jegHegy @ Feb 20th 2007 2:31AM]

Sure, I'd love to leave a Li-ion battery out in the sun...