ZAGGsparq portable USB charger gets reviewed, adored
By Darren Murph 
posted January 31st 2010 3:02AM
posted January 31st 2010 3:02AM
Imagine a HyperMac, but one that's highly portable and engineered specifically to rejuvenate your USB-connecting gizmos. That, our friends, is the ZAGGsparq. Our good pals over at Gadling had a chance to sit down with the portable charger recently, and as expected, they came away duly impressed. At its core, this is little more than a portable 6000mAh battery with a pair of USB inputs; you simply plug whatever USB gizmo you've got into it (a smartphone, portable media player, e-reader, GPS system or anything else that can be charged over USB) and watch as it provides life where there was none. It also supports international power sockets (which you'll have to provide separately), and it packs enough juice when fully charged to bring five dead iPhones back to full capacity. At just under a Benjamin, it's hard to not recommend for the avid traveler, but feel free to give the source link a glance if you need more proof.
@miketimoff errr... It works at night?
6kmAh for what i'm assuming 99 bucks. looks like a pretty good idea. I'd swap it out w my current charger (1150mAh [duracell instant energy charger])
i'd love to get one of these.
@MiketheVee
the Energizer Megacell is 3X more capacity, and it turns up on woot.com sometimes for 80$.
@MiketheVee Wait for a sale on Zagg.com. I bought this a few months ago for $49.99 when they had 50% off everything. Have to say that it hate my iPod Touch 1st gen though. It charges everything else I have perfectly, but my iPod Touch will not cooperate with it.
@MiketheVee you know, you can just say '6AH' instead of '6KmAH'
@MiketheVee LOL at 6kmAh.
@Inf not everyone here knows the correct ending for every single unit out there so I'm pretty sure I'm allowed a few errors.
p.s way to act like an idiot.the intarwebz doesn't make you more special, just more annoying.
@MiketheVee
it's ok, no reason to feel stupid (or is it "more stupider"? you tell me). not everyone is expected to pay attention in high school... grocers still need produce specialists.
@oakie
you must also be an idiot of some sort. Not knowing every unit of measurement and which form to use does not mean you didn't go through high school. I highly doubt you even knew any of that, but simply just feeding off what you've already seen. So, go out of your mom's basement and see some light out there. There's more than just a computer beyond that door.
@MiketheVee
lol
at least you're funny, especially in assuming you're not the only one unfamiliar with standard units of measure.
but in reality, you probably are. :)
@MiketheVee
lol
at least you're funny, especially in assuming you're not the only one unfamiliar with standard units of measure.
but in reality, you probably are. :)
@oakie
I'll be you if you go out and ask any random person what is the correct way of labeling this particular unit of measure, you'll find that not alot of people know that because not knowing that exact unit's grammar wont affect their life in any way and wont turn them into someone with no education.
This is the case of someone lacking any confidence in self and requiring to boost it by acting like you actually know something. I'm telling you, that basement, isn't the world. There's more beyond that door.
@MiketheVee
oh, also, just because I don't know this particular one unit of measure, does not mean I don't know the rest. As I said earlier, everyone is allowed a few mistakes in their life and it doesn't suddenly turn you into a fool especially with something as insignificant as how to properly measure a unit.
@MiketheVee tomato tomatoe potato potatoe. Are you smarter than a sixth grader? Sometimes I'm not and it's embarassing.
@MiketheVee
That's the error of the day mate when you get that:
m = mili...which means thousandths decimal of 1 unit
k = thousand...which means thousand multiple of 1 unit
So you've factored down then factored back up to end up where you started. Can you tip me on any acronyms that use the same amount of syllabus as the words they are representing? Good work bro, keep going!
@Armchaircritic
actually. I didn't factor down anything. it already presented itself factored at m. I added the k which if you look at it ends up as 6Ah. So while you failed at logic, the only mistake i made was to not write it out in its proper format of Ah rather than kmAh.
logic fail. come back when you can use more than 1% of your brain.
@MiketheVee
btw. syllable not syllabus. big difference.
should have bought this last time when zagg had 50% off sale. T_T
@WhiteShadow I did! :)
Its kinda hard to tell in the pic, do you have any deets on size and weight?
@RLBurkes If anyone else is wondering it appears to be about the same size as an apple laptop charger. Niftay.
@RLBurkes No exact measurements but size is almost identical to the charger for my MacBook Pro. However, it feels significantly heavier.
@RLBurkes 3.5" x 3.5" x 1.2", weighs about as much as a heavy smartphone.
Great, one more bulky thing to carry around in a travel bag.
With all the add on power gadgets you can buy this days that need charging of their own, I might as well buy a gas powered generator at Home Depot and carry that around.
I
@KGB "Great, one more bulky thing to carry around in a travel bag."
not if you dont buy one.
The only real confusing thing here is that the author is implying that USB battery charger packs are something new.
These have been out and common for years, although this is quite a high capacity one. The Tekkcharge series is pretty popular for example, and this is similar to the MP3750. Nice thing about the MP3750 is that it doesn't just charge over USB, and can extend your laptops battery life and more with automatic voltage regulation up to 19V.
@pedro I was about to say, we were *SO* close to having a non-Apple article on Engadget to break the streak... I still say this counts, Apple plug or no!!! xD
I have one. It works great.
I have a Palm Treo Pro and the Sparq will not charge it.
Works fine on several other devices but not the Treo Pro
@pedro
Yup, this is for sure an Apple site. There is little so ubiquitous as USB in computers these days. Even so Engadget manages to get not one, but TWO plugs for the evil empire into a highly generic product article.
Shame on you Engadget.
had one since december 2009. works great, almost same as mbp charger or airport express.
sparq is 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 1"
85w mbp charger is about 1/4" smaller in length and height, but the same thickness.
airport express is 1/4" taller, and about 1/2" narrower.
They all look related, nice design
Not charging Nokia eN900 due to it`s non standard mAh draw. So long for adoration. Now, there is Proporta's USB TurboCharger 3400, $49 on Amazon, and it works with N900. Long live the Moderation :)
@Oakie
you must also be an idiot of some sort. Not knowing every unit of measurement and which form to use does not mean you didn't go through high school. I highly doubt you even knew any of that, but simply just feeding off what you've already seen. So, go out of your mom's basement and see some light out there. There's more than just a computer beyond that door.
You can make your own 8AH with 4x Energizer 2Ah rechargeables and a little saavy, and for a LOT cheaper than $99/$129.
@dallashigh - Well, not quite. That would be a 1.3V 8Ahr battery, while this is a Li+ 3.6V 6Ahr battery. You need quite a few more NiMH cells to make this work. But I *am* a big a fan of Eneloop NiMH cells anyway.
I'm on my second ZaggSparq. It's a good concept overall but it will not charge my iPhone 3GS beyond the second Charge/dis-charge cycle. I for one like technology that just works.
This article left out about all the failures. I have returned mine 4 times already. There were so many problems ZAGG has redesigned the Zaggsparq and will release the Zaggsparq2 in February.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=831099
I'm using the Eneloop KBC-L2A which is roughly $60 and packs 5000mAH in a package about half the size. The Eneloop is also a bit more flexible since it can be charged via AC (adapter) or USB. The only drawback is that, unlike the ZAGG, output power is shut off during charging.
I bought a black & decker that does the same thing for $10.00
Looks like an alright product, bit on the large side, for only 6Ah. And i've seen much cheap that do pretty much the same thing. Anyway heres a site that has started a huge usb selection of products
http://www.cut-rate-gizmos.com/6-usb
and and usb3.0 section :) - http://www.cut-rate-gizmos.com/14-usb-3