Kinesis K2 solar / wind charger hands-on: Captain Planet approved
By Ross Miller 
posted Jan 10th 2009 6:27AM
posted Jan 10th 2009 6:27AM
[Via OhGizmo!]
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That port section is so unfinished looking it's almost crapgadget like. But I'd totally buy one.
Unfinished?
Looks just about like every Chinese, no-named MP3 player I've ever seen. Looks finished to me.
Just connect that thing to the Touchstone. and you will have a winner!
What was with the wiggling of the USB cord? Looked kinda wrong ;-)
Maybe a little inconvenient, to put in your shoulderbag?
Bahahahahahahhaha! How many times would i have to fart to charge my iPhone?
You could just find a breeze.... jerk.
Cap-tain plaaanet - he's our hero!
gonna take pollution down to zero!
Great for charging a GPS in the wilderness.
Except that in the forest you have little sunshine and little wind....!
how long does that take to charge? i mean looks so impractical for everyday uses except when you are deserted somewhere with your gadgets. but even then, its too big to lug around, so wouldnt a hand crank charger be better idea?
So could you have a friend hold it out of their window while you are driving?
It probably wouldn't stand up to the 60+ mph wind speeds of something like the highway, and I'm seriously doubting it will even hold up to 25 mph wind speeds of in town driving. It probably has a max of ~8 mph. Although, you could just have your friend blow into the fan until it charges XD.
It takes more energy to make that thing, package and deliver it to consumers than it will ever produce.
you mean like candles or batteries?
At first I thought the article said solar-wind charger. How convenient would that be?
Best joke ever.
I really appreciate all these companies bringing out (so-called) 'eco' products, but - with all due respect - if you keep ignoring internal battery details and how we can get them replaced once their few hundred charge cycles render the battery impotent, then frankly you are part of the problem.
To add insult to injury, the website claims:
http://www.kinesisindustries.com/products.php
"The largest rechargable battery capacity of its group - ready to use over and over again"
...but doesn't even mention the capacity, or anything even remotely resembling specifications
The SUPPORT link on their page returns you to their homepage, filled with fluff marketing. I can understand things not being ready rigtht now but let's hope something more than eco fluff marketing can be discussed regarding this product, along with the realities of expired rechargeable battery.
@tekdroid
Thanks for the link. Indeed suspect with no tech info.
Based on the photo for the solar PV area my estimate is that it can produce about 1W in optimal sun. It could take a long time to charge a mobile phone.
Wind turbine, how little wind to make it produce just 1W? How much wind is too much before the whole standing device blows over?
For an alternative solar field charging device see ME2Solar, which do list their tech spec:
http://mobile-energy2.com/product_foldable650.php
yea its desert island tech, only if you got all the time in the world.
solar chargers tend to make me dubious, don't batteries hate being heated to charge a pack? think it shortens their life considerably. seems self defeating
@tekdroid and @Rif
I totally agree with you guys, plus it's a total copy of the hymini. The K2 is definitely a prototype because it looks more like a model than a functional product haha. The product is huge too. Looks sort of impractical to carry around. It'd look pretty idiotic to hold it in your hand too. Seems like there wasn't much of a design aspect that was geared into the product. More of a fan and a solar panel clumped together in a yellow outer shell.
If anything I'd say it looks like a flashlight. hahaha. Maybe it can be the next self defense weapon, cause its as big as a brick HAhahAHhaa!
damn... why did they splash it in yellow? i think they exaggerated on the specs. for sure. It sounds too good to be true. I totally agree with tekdroid, their website sounds like a bunch of marketing fluff.
They've come out with the "new and improved" version of the K2 called the K3 (because you can charge it 3 different ways - solar, wind and wall plug). I think it's size is OK because you can store adapter tips inside it.