I bought this before going to summer camp for a week with my son's BSA troop, and honestly, I expected to reap more envy from the other technophiles in the troop than to actually put it to much use (admittedly a shallow motive for buying it). But I was surprised and pleased to actually find it of value.
I charged it from my computer before setting off to camp with the idea that it would be an emergency back-up battery from my mobile phone. By Wednesday evening I'd made a few calls from the remote campsite and had killed the charge on my cellphone. I fully recharged it in short order from the Solio, which was still 60% charged after this.
By Thursday evening, another ASM needed to recharge his phone and I was able to accommodate him with my Solio (which I'd had out in the sun all day and was back at full power).
Finally, on the bus ride home, I was able to loan the fully charged Solio to two scouts to recharge an iPod and another mobile phone. I also recharged my own iPod as well before I had completely discharged the Solio.
Maybe I had better luck than others have had, but I have found that the device recharges more quickly than advertised. I had it out in the sun on my backpack or on my tent all week and it was always ready for use.
And of course, it also paid off in my more mundane expectations and many people admired it, making it a great icebreaker with members of other troops.
I didn't give it five stars only because it still takes a long time to charge it fully and you need to keep your expectations in line. But it does what it says and probably does it a bit better than documented.
I had been looking at this unit for a bit and finally decided to get one. The unit is small and thin and looks pretty cool. In the box you get three adapters (more on that in a minute) and a USB attachment.
The three attachments are for the most common cell phone(s) (nokia) as well as an attachment for blackberry type units and then finally the iPod.
Charging the unit takes some time. It needs DIRECT sunlight. You can tell if its getting good light by a red LED light on the front. It will stay lit up when its getting full on light. The sun light charge was "slow" so I decided to USB charge the unit the next day at work. That took about 2.5 hrs (the unit probably needed a full charge). After that I connected my iPod and began the "charge". It was slow and took a few hours to get the iPod back to a full charge.
Solio has a web site that can get you all the connections you might need. (PSP to Phone/camera etc). I could not find my phone so I emailed them and got a response about 24hrs later. (not too bad). The attachments appear to be about 9.95USD.
If you are looking for "fast" charges I'd say just use your wall outlets/usb's etc. I leave he Solio in my car during the day and get the sunlight..then I'll charge my iPod or my phone (when I get that attachemt) during the ride home.
A cool device and I feel like I am doing the right thing.
Buy Solio Solio Hybrid 1000 Charger Now
I bought this for my daughter who is a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo in a community with no electricity. It was a godsend. She is now able to charge her cell phone and her iPod with no problem, and we worry much less about her not having her cell phone available in case of emergency. The solar charger works perfectly for her; she puts it out to charge during the day and can charge her phone and iPod at night. I believe she can also charge her battery recharger, but am not sure. She is thrilled to have it.
Read Best Reviews of Solio Solio Hybrid 1000 Charger Here
While it has some usability issues, overall the Solio H1000 charger solidly does what it is supposed to do.
First, the good parts. I've had the battery charger for about 6 months now, and the battery and solar panel both work solidly. Note that the solar panel is only really effective outside (windows filter out non-visible light). In other words, if you hang it on a tree in bright sunlight, you should be able to charge your phone once per camping day. And while this is obviously designed for camping, I find myself charging my phone with it whenever I accidentally let my phone drain.
Ok, the bad part... namely the baggie of easily lost connectors that goes with each unit. The connector for your charger of choice is thin, detached, and is constantly getting lost. The USB plug to charge this unit is similarly thin, detached and constantly getting lost. Furthermore, sometimes things charge automatically when plugged into the unit, sometimes you have to hit a button a few times. The battery charged indicator is a simply unclear series of flashing lights.
On overall reflection, it is still a very useful unit. Sadly, I've failed to use it as often as so simply because the needed plastic dangly bits were nowhere to be found, or the plug-in charge function felt like being finicky that day.
Want Solio Solio Hybrid 1000 Charger Discount?
PROs: Nice design, light weight, clip on top with tie-down point on bottom making it ideal for backpacking.
CONS: The internal battery charge rate is FAR lower than the manual would lead you to believe.
In real world use the Solio took about 5 days to charge from 20% to 100%.
This was a mix of direct and indirect sunlight.
Some problems:
1. Even the slightest whisp of a cloud and the battery would stop charging.
2. Even the slightest obstruction to the panel (example a 1" thick back-pack cord covering a small part of the panel), would stop it from charging.
3. Angle to the sun needed to be perfect. Hanging it vertically off by pack was required during the morning, but once noon hit the panel needed to be moved to the top of the pack to charge. It needs to be angled to the sun at all times.
The total power capacity is about equal to 4 low mAh AA batteries.
Overall it's a lot of work, a lot of time and hassle for a very small amount of power.
Another annoyance is these little adapters you need to carry in order to use the Solio. The proprietary power output cable attaches nicely to the Solio, but there is no room to leave and adapter connected. So even if you only use on adapter (like me with the USB), you need to carry it separately.
Also, for serious backpacking future versions need to be built tougher and be water resistant.
