2016 Pelican 3310PL – 378 Lumen Edition

Concept: 5 out of 5
Execution: 5 out of 5
Yeah, but: Pelican Ugly.

The Long Version: The Pelican 3310PL is the best flashlight ever created. It's probably also the least sexy flashlight ever created, but even that’s part of its appeal. There have been a few generations of the 3310PL, so make sure you're buying the new one with “378 Lumens” clearly marked on the packaging.

That headline feature, the 378 lumen output, is a tremendous output from such a small light. It’s easily the brightest light I own. But better than that, it also has the most useful light output of any I own. It combines a very tight long-throw beam with a very usable and smooth spill that's brighter than my favourite flood headlamp. It’s rare to find a light that gets one of these right, let alone both. Perfect for exploring a haunted house. And, sensibly, the light defaults to high power when it’s turned on, but has two more settings as well.

The low-powered setting on the 3310PL puts out 39 lumens, which is still better than the best efforts of so many lights from just a few years ago. That's enough for a huge range of tasks, and much better than the full output if you need to use it at close range. At this level it’s useful but not blinding, while the spill still provides enough oomph to light the peripheries. So whether I'm looking for a pair of shoes in the back of the closet, or lighting a stairwell in a power failure, the 3310 is effective and useful.

The third mode is a 1hz strobe. This is a bit unfortunate, since it needs to be clicked through when switching from low power to high, but at least it's a slow flash. It could be used as a location marker for an air drop or rescue attempt, reflecting the 3310's serious-yet-practical possibilities. My other flashlights might do a faster strobe, intended to disorient my enemies in combat, or a cutesy "SOS" pulsing pattern that I'd rather not use for a great many reasons. So while I would prefer not to have the strobe mode complicating things at all, it certainly could be worse, and perhaps some day it might actually be useful.

The three options in the "pick two" joke for flashlights are usually Bright, Small, and Long-Lasting. The Peli 3310 really does pull off all three. It's not small enough to be an “everyday carry” penlight, but it can be tucked in a back pocket easily enough when needed, and adding it to a jacket or a bag is trivial. And it can run on high for eight hours, which is amazing, and will last eight days on low power. Yes, days – or about two hundred hours. On just three AA batteries.

While the light doesn’t seem to have a regulator to keep its brightness level constant, there’s clearly still some kind of witchcraft involved in making this output and run time possible. Personally, I approve. And I don’t mind a light that gradually dims rather than suddenly dropping to nothing, especially when it’s this bright, for this long, and runs on batteries that are as cheap and abundant as AA’s. I have an eight-cell charger and fistfuls of low-discharge rechargeables, so forget those spendy and toxic specialty disposables.

So: about that appearance. Yes, it's ugly. But it's a flashlight that glows in the dark. That's freaking awesome.

Pelican, like knife maker Spyderco, isn't afraid to experiment with practical and functional designs that don't take aesthetics into account. That's awesome, because like knives, flashlights have a bad case of the Mall Ninjas. Frankly, too many lights are pandering to people who imagine themselves to be the last warriors standing on the brink of civilization, ready to wage a battle that only they can see coming. The result is a sea of toughguy-grade aluminum torches with serrated bezels that are designed for hitting people — as if that's ever a sensible life choice. Those who want Combat-Ready Tactical Lights will absolutely hate the look, feel, and construction of the polycarbonate 3310PL. And good riddance to them.

The 3310PL is ugly and amazingly practical. Its body has a flat profile that won't roll when it's put down. The photoluminescent plastic is a little smooth, so it has thick ridges that provide a solid grip, even with gloves, but it's only ridged on the edges so that they don't interfere with its pocket-friendly shape. The result is a light that’s nice to touch, durable, light, won’t scratch, and sealed against brief water immersion. The only way I'd change its design would be to give it a flat base so that it could tail-stand more easily. This light has ample power to light up a room, and enough run time to make that a practical option. But Pelican does know a bit more about flashlights than I do, and they probably concluded that even if the tail was flat the narrow body of the light wouldn’t properly balance the wider head, and they’re probably right.

Batteries load through the back of the light, which twists to open in a way that’s only slightly disconcerting. The back detaches, but remains tethered to the body, and the battery contacts move a little differently from the rest of the tailcap. The back also locks in place with a secondary mechanism, turned with a screw driver or the plastic tab on the lanyard, but this isn’t needed to keep it closed.

And have I mentioned that the entire body glows in the dark, which means it can be found immediately when the need suddenly arises? Try that with some black metal tacticool milspec battery-eater. There’s a reason why nobody sells those things with a case and hardware to mount it as an emergency lighting station for factories, which Pelican provides as the 3310ELS variant. This is a well-designed and mature light meant for real emergency preparedness, not just enthusiast preppers.

So how much would you pay to own the best flashlight yet made? Would you pay between $50-100? Most of my lights fall in this range, and the new 3310 comprehensively outperforms them all. How about over $100? It's easy to spend that much on a "serious" light if you want to. Over $200? There are lots at that level as well — there's really no upper limit. But the Pelican 3310PL costs less than $40. All that and it's one of the cheapest lights I own.

I want to buy one for every member of my family and every room in my house.

last updated 14 september 2016

Mophie Juicepack Air

Concept: 3 out of 5
Execution: 2 out of 5
Yeah, but: It's better to marry than date.

The Long Version: When I'm writing these reviews I sometimes ask myself: 'Self, if this (whatever) went away through no fault of its own, would I buy another?' That is, with the benefit of experience, and everything that's changed between my first buying decision and the time when I write about it, would I do it over again?

With the Mophie iPhone battery case this isn't a hypothetical question – I'm on my third one. The first one I bought was for my i4s, but that phone broke less than two weeks later. The second was for my brand-new i5s – in fact I had the case even before I had bought the phone. And that one was my favourite case until it developed the annoying habit of repeatedly connecting and disconnecting while charging the phone. So case #2 went back to the local big-box store, where I had to settle for a credit since they didn't have the red Mophie Juicepack Air in stock to replace it with.

I sat on that credit for quite some time, and even bought the Apple leather case for daily wear, which I really like. So eventually I decided to use that store credit for something else – I wanted to cash it in before they file for bankruptcy, not that I have any inside knowledge – and spent time researching bluetooth speakers and other trinkets that cost about the same amount as the Mophie case before heading back to the store.

Ah, but when I went to the store I took a fateful stroll down the aisle where the battery cases sit. There it was: the Mophie Juicepack Air in its metallic Product Red colour. I couldn't resist and bought it again. It's just so pretty.

The Air isn't small. Putting it on the phone isn't a trivial choice, although its smoothish surface, curved back, and extra weight keeps the phone quite solidly pocketable. There are times when I take it off in favour of keeping the phone small, but I'd say that I use the case five days out of seven in three out of four weeks.

There's a practical difficulty that comes from only using the battery case occasionally: the Mophie charges from an industry-standard Micro USB cable, rather than the Apple-standard cables, so I keep both cables at my household charging station. The restrictions Apple puts on the Lightning port also means that the Micro USB port on the case can't do data pass-through, so the bottom of the case has to be removed when the phone needs to be tethered.

The biggest day-to-day complication with the Mophie case is that the headphone port on the Air is too small to let anything larger than the little white Apple headphones plug in directly. Mophie includes a short adapter cable to allow other headphones to work, but despite fairly light use the connection on mine has failed. I happen to have a spare, since I kept the one from the case that also failed, but this is not a reassuring trend.

The other challenge with the case is that it redirects the speaker port to the front of the phone, so leaving it face-down overnight muffles the alarm quite profoundly. I was nearly late for work as part of figuring that little tidbit out.

I lack both the means and motivation to do a thorough rundown test on the phone and phone+case, but my impression is that I can pull the phone from about 30% to 80% power with a small top-up reserve left over. That's lower than the specs suggest, which is typical, but it makes it easy to get through a day with moderately heavy use. If I'm conservative I can skip an overnight charge, but that's rarely my goal.

The real benefit of the battery case is that I don't need to cushion my power use. When I'm not using the Mophie case I always have an eye on the power level, and typically plug my phone in for an extra fifteen minutes before I leave for work and then top it up after I return home for the evening. That's less trouble than walking a dog, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one with a spare charger plugged in next to the couch, but there's a reason why lower-maintenance cats and fish are also popular pets.

I was hoping that the Mophie case would be ideal for travel, but it's not quite a straightforward choice. It does add to the phone's ability to be away from a power outlet, but it also adds to its size and weight. The case and the phone charge quickly when they're together, and the case can be recharged without the phone when it needs to be plugged in where there's the risk of theft. Airport lounges or shopping mall food courts come to mind. But travelling with other iThings means that the case needs its own cable, which adds complexity in an already too-complex world.

Aside from size, weight, cost, and somewhat modest capacity, there's one other limitation on Mophie's battery case: it can't charge anything else. Not that its little battery would take my tablet or camera very far, but if being able to top up anything else is a requirement, then any dedicated battery case won't help. For that we need a power cell with an assortment of cables, including one to charge the battery itself with, adding a lot more hassle to its benefit of flexibility. I have a couple of those external batteries, and do endorse them, but never carry them without some specific purpose. The Mophie case is easy and convenient by comparison, and something that I know I'll have unless I've specifically chosen to leave it at home.

But now I have to ask myself: 'Self, if the Mophie case were to go away for some reason that wasn't its fault, would I replace it?' Honestly, I probably would buy another. 'But what if it failed again, like the first one did?' In that case, no, not a chance – and I'm saving my receipt just in case.

last updated 23 apr 2014

HALO Portable Smartphone Charger

Concept: 4 out of 5
Execution: 4 out of 5
Yeah, but: Not Just For Boy Scouts

The Long Version: This device is a rechargeable battery that will charge your phone when you're in a situation where AC outlets aren't available, with a fairly comprehensive connection system.
Back in November or December 2012 we became aware of this product when it sold the most units in QVC's "Today's Special Value" history. Sold-out within hours and then kept on selling to a computer glitch causing a scramble to obtain more from the manufacturer ASAP. A huge success and fiasco at the same time. (Don't ask how I know any of this).

Once the situation stabilized we ordered three, in silver, blue, and black. Pink and cheetah print didn't really appeal to us. As shown, there is a USB "Y" cable that has another USB on the other end as well as a proprietary connector for the included adapters. Now that the Android smartphone market has settled on micro-usb life is much simpler since we can all share and stockpile chargers, and an adapter for iPhone 4 and earlier is also included along with that dinosaur mini-USB as used on compact cameras and other devices from the last decade. (Remember when every time you upgraded your cellphone the charging connector was completely new and you had to buy a spare for the office and yet another car charger? No wonder everyone got so angry when the iPhone 5 came out).
The "Y" cord is handy because when connected to your Samsung or Apple USB 5-volt AC adapter you can charge your phone AND the HALO at the same time, provided the adapter delivers sufficient amperage. The short cable length is actually a good thing, because when used to deliver power from the HALO to your device it's easy to drop it into your camera bag, purse, or hold in your hand while continuing business without a big tangle of cable.

This version from HALO will charge most current smartphones just as fast an OEM wall unit, and holds enough juice to bring a Galaxy S3 or S4 and most others from death's door to a full charge with enough left over to get another 50%, more or less. After using ours for all of 2013 thus far, there has been no degradation of results, so I feel like the electronics are solid. There's a multi-colored LED display on one end that works when charging OR discharging the battery. Build quality is rock solid, with very durable finishes and excellent materials and design.

What's funny is that it took months for us to get other people to understand this product in the first place. In March, Sylvia and I went on vacation with three friends to Lake Tahoe. Since we're both informed smartphone users and know that turning off WIFI is important when travelling so your phone isn't burning battery searching for non-existent networks at 35,000 feet, our HALO's didn't come into play until our friends couldn't find an AC outlet at Las Vegas's airport terminals that wasn't being hogged by a college student.
When we fly and/or wait pretty much all day on the way to the Dominican Republic in January, our HALO's are going to be worth every penny.

Sylvia's nephew graduated from US Air Force basic training in July, so I gave him our spare black HALO after finding out that he wouldn't get his cellphone back until the bus ride to the airport on the way to tech school. (He's going to be an air traffic controller).
Not only would his battery be flat after sitting in lockup for 6 weeks, but there wouldn't be an opportunity to get a good charge any other way. He's a young guy who was away from his phone for way too long, so I figured the HALO would save his ass. At first he was: "Oh...uhh...thanks..." but from the intel I got after leaving the party, he figured out what it really meant and started carrying it around and showing it off as the coolest thing ever. Just like I predicted, he was the only one of his buds who was able to charge his phone on the bus and the plane, and connect with the outside world after a long time away.

There are other brands, and HALO has other form factors of portable chargers that are bigger and deliver more juice at a higher price. We like ours for the small size and convenience, but your needs may require something different.
While this particular model is featured in the review, I'm more concerned with advocating the concept of ANY portable rechargeable spare universal battery. Speaking from experience, people will remember you favorably as the guy who whipped-out the slick power thingy long after midnight that got them enough juice to return text messages and GPS their way home from a party or club.
When you recall the stories of folks stranded in blizzards or deserts who could've been saved had their batteries lasted longer, I consider owning something like this to be an essential part of smart people's survival gear.
Mine lives in my camera backpack, and Sylvia's is always in her purse. They get used more often than we thought they would, but mainly they are there when we REALLY need them.

Nikon MB-D12 Battery Grip

Concept: 2 out of 5
Execution: 2 out of 5
Yeah, but: Not so remarkable the second time around.

The Long Version: I suppose the whole point of disappointment is that it's never expected, which is why I'm a little surprised by the Nikon MB-D12 Multi-Power (aka "Battery") Grip. Physically and functionally it's very much a twin of the MB-D10 grip for the D700, which I quite liked and reviewed in some depth. The grip for the D800 seems like it should be an easy follow-up.

The MB-D12 grip is a good match for the D800, with a couple of very solid alignment pins that keep it in place. The electronics connect to the camera with a straight bus, as opposed to the 90-degree angle for the D300/D700, which is covered by the familiar rubber tear-away door. It still comes with a holder for eight AA batteries, and has a tray for the now-standard EN-EL15 battery as well. It can host the EN-EL18 battery of the D4, with the appropriate door (sold separately, about $30) but doing that makes no sense unless there's also a D4 in the house.

Loading the battery grip with a D4 battery or a half-pound of AA's doesn't make much difference with the D800. The D700 would jump from 5fps to 8fps, while the God Nikon only adds one more frame per second to its cropped-standard 5fps when running in the 15Mpx DX mode. That still makes it the second-best sports camera in Nikon's lineup, but that reflects more on an unfilled market niche (rhymes with quiche) than on the excellence of the D800.

One annoyance with the MB-D12 comes along with the EN-EL15 tray. It doesn't quite match up with the bottom of the grip, creating a very slight but moderately sharp-edged lip. It's really quite minor and not likely to cause any personal injury – unlike the lid of Steve Job's personal humility block, the toilet-seat G3 iBook, which could draw blood – but it's an annoying flaw in an inexplicably premium-priced product. I've checked three different D12's, and each one has this fault.

Naturally, the MS-D12 tray that holds the eight AA batteries aligns perfectly. So clearly the level of fit and finish that I remember from the MB-D10 can still be done – time will tell if a later manufacturing run fixes it for the MS-D12EN tray.

The MB-D12 does have its uses, both as a portrait grip and as a power source. I like to use it when the camera is on a tripod, as it's more convenient to swap batteries from the side, and it's also good for times when I'll want to be able to completely exhaust a battery without risking a power failure. Other times I'll just put it on for fun – a different feel and look to the camera can make for a different shooting experience. But if none of that applies, I'd suggest skipping this one.

last updated 30 apr 2012

Tekkeon TekCharge MP1580

Concept: 4 out of 5
Execution: 3 out of 5
Yeah, but: It's twenty bucks. Beat that.

The Long Version: Two years ago I looked at a booster battery for travelling with my phone, which is a good idea that was badly done. This new one, the Tekkeon TekCharge MP1580, fixes every complaint that I had and costs one-third as much. I love progress.

The best thing about the TekCharge is that it takes standard USB cables. This isn't all that uncommon these days, but it's incredibly important. It means that there's no need to carry something different to charge from the battery pack versus the standard USB wall charger or computer. The battery pack also charges via USB, using a standard mini port, which is simple and flexible. I was always worried that I'd lose the unique and pointless adapter cables from my previous error; in an ironic twist, I lost the battery pack and still know where its iPhone cable is. Good riddance.

But taking standard cables isn't all that the MP1580 offers. It even comes with a retractable cable that's USB-A on one end and has an adapter to convert the other end to Mini or Micro USB. There's no 30-pin Dock cable option, which would have been worth another 'execution' point, but for $19.99 at B&H Photo (batteries not included) it has already exceeded my expectations.

What makes the MP1580 – and the MP1550 before it – special is that it runs on replaceable common-as-dirt AA batteries instead of a built-in cell. It can use either two or four; naturally four will provide more power to the device but in a pinch it's nice to have the option. And having options is what this is all about.

Disposable batteries can provide a power source that's completely independent of the nations' power grid, limited only to what you can carry, but the MP1580 also doubles as a AA charger when connected to a USB power source. Using rechargeable AA batteries is a best-of-both-worlds option that gives the no-hassle ease of a built-in battery, but also allows the AA batteries to be swapped out in a time of need.

The TANSTAAFL factor means that the MP1580 is bigger than other units that use more power-dense cells and have more options for their designers, and pulling power from a 5V USB outlet doesn't seem like a fast way to replenish the AA batteries. But using four 2000mAh low-discharge cells is enough to take my iPhone 4S from 20% to full in just a couple of hours, with enough room left over for a tiny little top-up later. The batteries will recharge in four or five hours, and for bonus points it's even possible to daisy-chain the phone and MP1580 and charge them both from a USB adapter at the same time. That's more of an overnight endeavour, but still quite useful.

Physically the TekCharge unit is just a bit wider than the iPhone but not nearly as long, so it's still small enough to be easy to pack and carry. It's made of glossy and matte black plastic panels over a silver plastic body. The battery chamber is accessed through the removable bottom panel, which comes off completely.

I've already dropped mine, which nocked the battery door off and sent the double-a's skittering across the floor, but everything went back together and works perfectly. Now I have a certain level of confidence that this is a durable little device that will work well on the road. (I've never really aspired to destructive product testing, and I'm glad to be writing a review instead of a post-mortem.)

There are plenty of other battery packs on the market these days, including some sleek high-end ones that carry enough power to charge multiple phones multiple times. That's amazing, and the little MP1580 isn't one of those. Instead it's an inexpensive device that does a good job, with the replaceable batteries providing an intriguing combination of dependability and flexibility. It's great to have options, especially when when one of them is exactly what I want.

last updated 10 apr 2012

Nikon MB-D10 Battery Grip

Concept: 3 out of 5
Execution: 4 out of 5
Yeah, but: A useful accessory for discontinued cameras.

The Long Version: The MB-D10 battery grip is an interesting beast. It makes big cameras bigger, but somehow they become easier to hold as a result. The combination of the D10 grip with the D300 or D700 isn't as nice as the D3 family, or as small, but it does a pretty good job of pretending.

The MB-D10 is unusual because it doesn't have the 'chimney' stack that extends into the camera body. Not only does the battery door not need to be taken off of the camera, the main battery stays in it. This means that the grip needs to be taken off of the camera to change the internal battery, but the thing is smart enough to pull power from the external pack first.

The grip is exceptionally well built and designed. It's tailored to the camera, made of magnesium, and sealed against dust and rain. It has twin control wheels, AF-on button, and a second four-way controller for selecting AF points and other mundane tasks. In fact, I prefer its narrower joystick style to the wider nintendo-controller of the camera body.

The MB-D10 magic happens in an unexpected way. It's called the multi-power pack for a very good reason, and putting in a higher-power battery makes a difference. It can be the very expensive EN-EL4a of the D3 family, which requires the matching charger and battery chamber door, or it can be fed eight AA batteries via the tray that comes with the grip. Either option boosts the camera up to eight frames per second – not quite as impressive for the D300s, but a big deal for the D700.

I've used the D10 with both the standard EN-EL3 and the AA batteries. When I'm using battery-eating live view and a tripod, the Nikon rechargeable are easy to swap out without even needing to turn the camera off. When I'm walking around with the camera I usually pick the AA option for the faster frame rate despite its heavier weight. It's nice to have the options.

One little quirk that I've found with the AA batteries is that the power meter can be fooled. It drops straight to two bars from five, but pulling the batteries and returning them brings it back to full, where it stays for decreasing amounts of time as the batteries wear down. But with a little jiggling I can usually fill an 8GB card without switching to the internal battery, so I have no complaints, which is an unusual state to find myself in these days.

last updated 10 mar 2012

Callpod Fueltank Uno

Concept: 3 out of 5
Execution: 1 out of 5
Yeah, but: It does work.

The Long Version: The Callpod Fueltank Uno (manf) is the mid-air refueling tanker of the smartphone world. It's a rechargeable battery with a port to charge it and a port to charge something else, with a few LEDs in between. The casing is an uninterrupted translucent grey plastic; the charge light and power level indicators shine through it with plenty of oomph. The point of the device is that it can be relied on to give a boost, or a full-dose recharge, to small devices that can't otherwise make it to a wall outlet, car charger, or other source of power. It can't help out something the size of a laptop, but with care, it can more than double the running time my Blackberry Bold 9000.

Callpod's Fueltank comes in two sizes, the Uno and Duo. The Duo has twice the capacity of the one that's named after the popular card game, but I picked the smaller one that's easier to carry. It will be enough to get me through a couple of days where I won't have guaranteed access to power, and because I'll never be in one place for very long I can't risk being without web access and my trusty GPS. For the past couple of weeks I've been testing the Fueltank, and it works well for what it says it does. It does a full charge without any problem, and if I don't leave it connected overnight, I can usually get a second charge out of it as well. That's plenty for a weekend away.

Naturally, the Fueltank needs to be charged so that it can do its thing. It comes will a wall-wart adapter with a mini-USB cable permanently attached, which plugs into the port on the battery pack. While not all USB-style power supplies put out exactly the same power, I've never experienced any problems when I use them for different devices. (Caution: your milage may vary; your device may catch on fire.) So if I'm able to charge my fueltank, then I'm also able to charge my phone. There is a certain irony there, but being able to keep the booster fed from the same charger that handles everything else is a huge benefit for traveling. Three cables and one little power brick can handle my Blackberry, Penny's Palm Pre, our family of iPods, my portable photo hard drive, and the Callpod Fueltank. I love ubiquity and commonality - it makes life so much easier. And with that thought in mind, the happy part of my review ends right now.

Turning the Fueltank over, we see the port it uses to charge other devices. It's a proprietary 8-pin connector that looks like - but isn't quite - one of those tiny little micro-USB jacks. This means that the common cables that we all already have for our various devices won't work with the Callpod. So now we need to carry the cable to charge the devices directly as well as a second one to use the oh-so-handy backup battery. And if that unique cable gets lost, good luck finding it in stores. Best Buy - the store named after an expiration date - is the big retailer that sells Callpod products, but currently doesn't even list the little adapters on its website. They're only available directly through Callpod's web store. We'll get back to that in a minute, but first let's take a look at the adapter cable itself.

This is one of the two cables that Callpod includes with the Fueltank Uno, with the standard mini-USB connector on the left and its nasty custom plug on the right. You might notice that it's labeled 'TOP' - to make it easier to insert into the nearly-symmetrical charging port - so it's clear that someone in the design team knew that they had a problem, but couldn't think of any other way to fix it. The result is lazy, sloppy, and inadequate. Using a custom and proprietary connection is fine if there's a good reason for it and it's well executed, but this has neither attribute in its favour. The connection itself is unreasonably difficult to use, even worse than the various USB plugs, and since Callpod chose this one all on their own it's completely their fault that it's so badly designed. Using a standard USB-A jack would remove a whole lot of the fine print from Callpod's claim that the Fueltank is "Compatible with 3,000+ Devices".

Two photos ago we saw the port that the adapter plugs into, and this is the business end of Callpod's chosen connector. Quick - which way does it go in? Now imagine having to plug it in in a dark hotel room, on a moving bus, or trying to connect it by feel in your carry-on bag at your feet because there's not enough room on the plane to bring it up to your lap. These are exactly the conditions that the Fueltank is useful for, and it falls down badly because of this nasty little cable that solves nobody's problems. The only good thing that I can say about it is that at least it's so short (3.25", 82mm) that it can't tangle up, and doesn't stick out when I strap it to the side of the Fueltank. I keep it there with a velcro cable organizer because if I lose it, the Fueltank is useless until I get a replacement mailed to me - exactly what I want in a travel-ready emergency backup.

I mentioned previously that the Fueltank Uno comes with two adapters: the mini-USB and one for Apple's iPod variants, such as the Mini, Classic, and Telephone. It also includes a voucher for a 'free' (read: cost built into purchase price) adapter cable just in case your device needs a different connection. The Palm Pre that Penny uses has the industry-standard micro-USB charging connection, so that's the one that I ordered. If I had done more research, I would have seen that Callpod does offer a female USB-A adapter - search for style USBA-0001 - that would make the Fuelcell compatible with any standard cable. If nothing else, it proves that there's no practical reason not to have just included the female USB-A port right in the battery pack from the very beginning. That only leaves a non-engineering, non customer-service reason: the absolutely massive profit margins on cables. Callpod sells their custom cables for $10 without needing to discount for wholesalers, and if it costs them more than a dollar each, I'd be staggered.

Fortunately, Callpod includes 'free' USPS International mail for customers who are redeeming a voucher. And it seems like I've finally found a company likes dealing with UPS even less than I do. For the Worldwide Expedited service, which is one of the 'service levels' that includes the massive hidden fees, they want $114.13. That's not a typo - or at least, not my typo - they want ONE HUNDRED and fourteen dollars. To put that in perspective, B&H Photo will ship me a Nikon D3x and 70-200/2.8 mkII, ten thousand dollars worth of heavy camera gear, for an even hundred via the same service. But at least Callpod's UPS prices aren't completely out of whack, since their charge for sending an envelope through the "UPS Express Saver" service is $122.48, which aligns to the $114.75 that shipping my dream camera system would cost. For buying a Callpod cable outright, their cheapest shipping option remains USPS International, but at the time of writing it costs $6.66. And yes, I have a screenshot of that, too. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

There are several things that I consider when I choose a rating. If I like something enough that I can't stop talking about it when someone asks, that's worth a '3'. If I dislike something enough to rant about it when someone asks, that's a '1'. That combination is where I find myself with the Callpod Fueltank Uno: it's a great idea, the product does exactly what it says, and it works for what I want it for. It has some strong features, including a good power reserve at a reasonable size. At the same time, the need to use a badly designed custom and hard-to-get cable ranges from a mild but ongoing nuisance to a critical failure that leaves the Fueltank unusable. I'm happy to have it, but if mine gets lost or stolen tomorrow, I wouldn't buy another one without taking a long, hard look at my other options.

Maha Powerex MH-C801D Charger

Concept: 3 out of 5
Execution: 3 out of 5
Yeah, but: Dinosaur not included.

The Long Version: There are certain things in life that are basic necessities. For photographers, flashlight collectors, and general electronics junkies, those ubiquitous AA batteries are inescapable. Unfortunately, so are cheap chargers - the sort of thing that comes in a set for an extra ten dollars. These chargers aren't terrible, and that's exactly what's wrong with them. They do the job well enough that they take the place of better ones, without being good enough for serious use.

The Maha C801D is the grand-daddy of hard-core chargers. It's been given rave reviews by Imaging Resource, Digital Dingus, and pretty much everyone on Amazon; it's even used by Joe 'Speedlight' McNally. It can fully charge eight AA batteries in an hour, or do a 'soft charge' that's easier on the cells but takes a little longer. There's also a button to do a full discharge-charge cycle to condition the batteries and keep them in their best condition. Each battery is on its own circuit, ensuring that they get their ideal treatment. While I don't have the ability to run any tests, I do get the distinct impression that my flashes are giving me more pops per charge.

Besides having the largest AC power brick in the known universe, the other distinctive feature of the C801D is its two identical buttons on opposite sides of the LCD. One of them will do a two-hour soft charge, and should be pressed whenever there's enough time for a more leisurely pace. The other button is for the conditioning cycle, which can take 12-14 hours to complete. The functions are marked in the plastic, but it's not the most visible or clear. Fortunately, I have a handy pack of stickers that I bought to let me distinguish between my two SB600's. It turned out to be an easy fix.

If only more of life's problems could be solved with the judicious application of dinosaur stickers.

Sanyo Eneloop Battery

Concept: 3 out of 5
Execution: 3 out of 5
Yeah, but: They're not the most powerful, but they last.

The Long Version: Sanyo's Eneloops batteries are one of a new type of low-discharge rechargeable battery. According to the Wikipedia entry, there are now five different manufacturers making these cells, and they're marketed under twenty different names. I have no information about whether they perform the same, or if they're getting different ends of the quality curve. Either seems perfectly plausible, and I have no experience with the other names.

Stefan has already done extensive testing on these batteries, so I'd hate to make all of his ads and referral links go to waste. All I can really add is that potential buyers shouldn't be put off by their lower mAh rating. The flashes that I've used with them happily recycle and fire just fine, but with the added benefit of doing it after sitting in a drawer for a month or more.

Because the self-discharge rate is so low, these batteries have enough 'shelf life' to serve in electronics that normal NIMH or NICAD cells fall flat in. Remotes, clocks, backup flashlights, Powershot A-series cameras, and other items that have low drain or infrequent use are perfect for these bad boys. It's possible to become a disposable-battery free household, saving some environmental impact. Only you can decide if the added cost and effort is worth it.