The Freeloader Uses the Sun as Power Source

Here's something better than the Chargepod I presented last week. The Freeloader from Solar Technology is able to power almost any hand held device anywhere, without having to plug it in a wall socket.

That's not entirely true. You still need the sun to charge its internal battery, but if you have that, you're free to travel anywhere you want without worrying about power.

The cool thing is that when you're not traveling, you can use the Freeloader so that it takes power from the computer. This way, you can recharge your gizmos without worrying that the light is not enough for the solar panels.

Once charged, Freeloader's internal battery can power an iPod for 18 hours, a mobile phone for 44 hours, PSP for 2.5 hours a PDA for 22 hours and much much more.

The 1000mAh Li-Ion battery has a typical life of 2 years (after that you'll need to purchase another one) and can hold its battery charge for up to 3 months. This means that if you charge the battery and you don't use it for 3 months you'll lose the charge and will consequently have to charge it again.

The solar panels can charge the internal battery in 5 hours (a short time I might add) or 3 hours when using the supplied USB charging cable (not so short).

Another advantage is that it can simultaneously charge handheld devices whilst at the same time having its internal battery charged by its solar cells or via its USB charge cable.

The Freeloader can charge numerous devices, but it's recommended that you check the list below.

1) LG Chocolate series phones 2) Motorola V66 series and current V3 series phones 3) All Nokia current and N series phones 4) Samsung A288 and current D800 series phones 5) Sony Ericsson T28 and current K750 series phones 6) 4mm straight jack for Sony PSP, Tom Tom sat nav, digital cameras, PDAs and two-way radios 7) Mini USB for Blackberry Smart phones, Bluetooth headsets etc 8) USB 2.0 female socket for iPod, iPod Shuffle, MP3 players, smart phones, PDAs, GPS plus much more 9) Nintendo DS lite connector 10) Supports iPod, iPod shuffle & iPod video up to and including 60Gb

You'll have to admit that the 30 pound price tag for the Freeloader is more than advantageous considering the specs.

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