Product review: Proporta USB Mobile Device Charger

When you are on the road, power can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Even the best gadget in the world becomes useless when it runs out of juice.

There is nothing more annoying than trying to make a phone call and not being able to turn your phone on because you forgot to turn it off and the battery died on you in the middle of a trip.

I have used some battery backup solutions in the past, including the APC USB battery pack I mentioned several months ago in my "Power it anywhere" kit, but the product I’ll show you today is the best I’ve ever come across.

The Proporta USB Mobile Device Charger comes with the following items; USB retractable cable, USB device charger unit and the following power tips:

• iPod
• MiniUSB (for most smartphones/Blackberry phones)
• Sony Ericssson Phones
• 2 different Nokia tips
• MicroUSB (found on some Motorola and Nokia phones, as well as various Bluetooth headsets).

The mobile device charger houses a 3400mAh Lithium-Ion battery pack which should be enough capacity to charge most of your devices several times.

The entire kit is very light, on my nifty digital scales these were the measurements.

Using the device is simple; to charge it, you plug your PC, USB wall charger or USB car charger into the "in" port. Then to charge your device, simply plug the USB cable and appropriate tip into the "out" port.

2 of my devices hooked up to the mobile device charger; a Blackberry 8800 and my Plantronics headset. The Blackberry battery has a rated capacity of 1400mAh, so you should easily get 2-3 charges out of the mobile device charger. Since I get around a week out of a full charge on my Blackberry, the Proporta charger will help keep me online for almost a full month!

Even if a power tip for your device isn’t included, you can still use your own USB charger cord, like this one for a Jawbone headset or you can purchase additional tips from the Proporta web site (more on that later).

The iPod tip works perfectly on my 160Gb iPod and 8Gb iPhone. With a rated  internal battery capacity of around 800mAh (1400mAh in the iPhone), you’ll get at least 2-4 full charges out of the mobile device charger; more than enough to keep your device playing for the longest of transatlantic flights.

The Proporta USB Mobile Device charger costs $44.95 and is available from the Proporta web site. If you liked reading about the Proporta Gadget Bag I reviewed yesterday, then you may want to consider buying a bundle of the Gadget Bag and the Mobile Device charger. The combo costs $83.95, which is a savings of almost $9. The Gadget Bag even has a special strap inside just for the Mobile Device Charger, as well as a small pouch to hold the tips and cable.

When you place your order, be sure to check out the extensive list of additional power tips listed on their web site, they are all priced at an amazingly low $1.85 each.

Dell Axim X50/X51, iPAQ, iPod, Mini USB, Motorola, Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo Gameboy Advance, Nokia  (Universal), Palm (Classic), Palm (Universal), Samsung MP3, Siemens, Sony PSP, SonyEricsson  (Classic), SonyEricsson (Universal), Nokia (Classic), DC 4.0, Samsung Mobile Phone, Micro USB, Samsung (D900)

All in all, another great Proporta product. It’s lighter and cheaper than my previous USB power pack, plus it has a higher capacity battery.

Devices like this really are invaluable if you travel a lot; if you like to travel light, you can leave all your chargers at home, and just carry the USB Mobile Device Charger; with the capacity to recharge most of your devices at least once, you’ll feel much safer knowing you’ll be able to keep things working, no matter what.