Macworld 2010: HyperMac brings some style to the battery backup market

We're still on the lookout for battery backup options to power recharge your iPhone, iPod touch or just about any USB mobile device. The market just got a bit larger with the introduction of the HyperMac line of batteries at Macworld. Hypermac is also showing its backup batteries for the MacBook Pro here at Macworld, and is offering a 10% show discount.

The first thing you notice is that they are very easy on the eyes, which is unusual in a market filled with very utilitarian design. These batteries come in in 9 iPod Nano colors (black/silver/pink/red/orange/yellow/green/blue/purple) and are housed in an attractive aluminum casing. The second thing I noticed is that they are much lighter than they look.

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The HyperMac line for iPhone and iPod is made up of three models.

• The HyperMac Nano rated at 1800 mAh and selling for US $69.95 is an iPod Nano sized device that come with a built in charging cable.

• The HyperMac Micro rated at 3600 mAh selling for $89.95 looks like a slightly version of the picture above.

• The HyperMac Mini rated at 7200 mAh selling for $119.95 as pictured.

Since the largest battery backup I had previously seen was the ZAGGsparq which came in at 6000 mAh, and could charge an iPhone about four times, I was interested in the largest capacity model. Booth spokespeople claim that the 7200 mAh model will charge an iPhone six times, but I find that hard to believe. It turns out that they came up with the number of charges by simply dividing 7200 mAh by the 1150 mAh iPhone battery. Commenters have previously pointed out that there is a good deal of energy wasted in the process of recharging, so I would think that five times would be a more accurate number.

Using lithium ion batteries that are advertised as being good for 1,000 charges, Micro and Mini can also charge other USB devices. The back panel sports inputs for USB, DC in and mini USB. There is one light that turns red when mostly discharged and green when fully charged. A nice touch is that along with the AC adapter, a USB to 30 pin cable as well as a mini USB cable are included.

HyperMac is currently running a show special slicing $20 off of each model, and the batteries can be bought online at their site.