New Trent 120D portable electronics charger

Discussion in 'Functional Gear & Equipment' started by Jeff Brackett, Nov 12, 2012.


  1. Jeff Brackett

    Jeff Brackett Monkey+++

    I don't know about you guys, but living on the Gulf Coast has taught me that it doesn't take much to disconnect you from the power grid. And during those times when there is no power, you find that comunications remain critical. I have been in too many situations where the power is out, and I need to keep in touch with work, or family, etc. but didn't have the juice to easily keep my cell phone going for more than a day or so.

    Now, since I can't afford a generator, I've gone with the poor man's solution. I have an 800w invertor that allows me to use my car to power some essentials. To suppliment this, I have purchased the below for charging minor, USB chargeable devices. This last week was my first chance to really test it. Description is below, followed by my test results.

    New Trent 120D - Description from Amazon:
    Product Features

    • Heavy duty 5V/2A-1A Dual USB Charger charges 2 Devices rapidly. 2A output is for iPad/Tablet and 1A output is for iPhone/Smart phone
    • Enjoy 55 hours Movie time for iPhone 5 4S 4 3Gs 3G and iPod Touch 1G to 5G, 80% of the new iPad (iPad 3) battery life and 120% of iPad 2
    • Compatible with Major Smart phones includes iPhone 5 4S 4 3Gs 3G, Android (Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, Nokia, Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, etc...)
    • No iPhone/iPad adapter or cable is included, but the iCarrier IMP120D is compatible with all original Apple cables
    My test -
    I bought this last week and then had to leave town on a trip for a family emergency. I figured this would be a good time to test the charger. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3. I charged it via wall outlet on Wednesday night, used it all day on Thursday, and hit the road Thursday evening. Arrived at my destination at about 1AM Friday morning after several hours of driving. Used the 120D to charge the phone after we arrived. Used it each night to charge my phone until last night (Sunday night), when the charger shut off due to insufficient charge remaining. In addition to chargin my own phone every night for four nights, I also used it to charge my wife's phone (Samsung Galaxy S2) twice, and my father's standard flip phone once. That's six charges on smart phones, and one on a standard cell phone before the unit was discharged. During the course of this test, I didn't restrict useage of my phone in any way. I placed calls, played games, surfed the internet, checked emails, etc. I would think useage could have been easily extended if I had shut down non-essential apps and processes on the device.

    All in all, I was very happy with the performance of the unit. This one will remain in my EDC bag, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking to keep small USB chargeable electronics going for a while during a power outage.
     
    BTPost likes this.
  2. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Now you just have to figure out how to communicate when the Cellular Network is DOWN.....
     
    Jeff Brackett likes this.
  3. goinpostal

    goinpostal Monkey+++

  4. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

    I picked up a usb solar charger folds up with 5 panels approx 5"X 11" ... I've charged my cell while driving cross country and it seem to do a pretty good job( approx 2 hrs) will also recharge a laptop but takes longer (4+ I had to stop for the night and the laptop wasn't totally recharged... 81%)
     
  5. goinpostal

    goinpostal Monkey+++

    Bruce,
    If the shtf to where theres no coms,a smart phone,tablet,or e-reader would be awfull handy for reading pdf's.
    SDHC,and Micro SDHC cards can hold a city libraries worth of info literally in the palm of your hand.
    Matt
     
  6. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Yep, Those are all good things that SmartPhones CAN do, but the Phone part will be useless without a Network to connect with. I use my iPad2, and Momma uses her iPhone4 for just those purposes, when we travel. As a Comm Device though, they fail in the SHTF Senerio. Now if someone made an iPad/iPhone, that also would do iDen/ISM DirecTalk, and had a Data Transfer Mode, for Unit to Unit Data Transfers at iDen/ISM Ranges, then one would have a useable SHTF Comm Device. Been looking for such a device for years, but so far not around, or available.....
     
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