Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

iPhone Mobile AA Battery Charger Found

In anticipation of my 24+ hour travel experience to New Zealand this weekend for the 2009 Learning at School conference, I have been searching for a mobile battery charger for my iPhone.

Our local Apple Store in Oklahoma City had two different models from Kensington for sale, but both used lithium ion rechargeable batteries and were VERY expensive. ($50 and $70 each)

Expensive lithium chargers for iPhones

Expensive lithium chargers for iPhones

These might have provided enough supplemental “juice” for my flights, but I really wanted to find a battery pack solution which would take regular alkaline batteries. With replaceable batteries, I figure, I can just keep swapping batteries to keep my iPhone going. I ended up finding a $35 solution for this challenge at the AT&T store in Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City: a $25 iGo battery charger (which takes two AA batteries) and a $10 iPhone and iPod adapter. The iGo website actually lists the charger for sale for just $20. Interestingly, the iGo website lists the “power tip” (adapter) for $15. The AT&T store just charged me $10 for this, so it seems I got a good deal there.

iGo Battery Charger for iPhone

The iGo charger instruction manual indicates charging devices may not display the correct “battery charging” status when they are plugged in, and this appears to be true with my iPhone. With the iGo turned on and plugged in, my iPhone doesn’t show it is charging. I assume it works, however, and am about to find out when my flight leaves LA for Auckland tonight!

Has anyone else had experiences (good or bad) with the iGo battery charger with an iPhone or an iPod? In addition to watching videos and listening to podcasts, I am planning to tackle my first eBook on the iPhone during this long flight. (See my post "Join in book talk conversations about Little Brother by Cory Doctorow" for more info. I accessed this free eBook on manybooks.net using the free eBookReader application for the iPhone.)

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3 responses to “iPhone Mobile AA Battery Charger Found”

  1. AllanahK Avatar

    Probably too late to warn you but you will also need a power adapter so that the charger can go in our wall socket! You can buy an adapter when you get here at the airport!!

  2. Wesley Fryer Avatar

    Alanah: My host mum took me to a AA store in Christchurch today and we got an adapter, so all is well! My iPhone is recharged and my laptop is charging now– about to try recording a Qik video over the ADSL connection here in Geraldine!

  3. AllanahK Avatar

    Good to know you got here safely on one decent charge. Enjoy your visit- there’ll be lots to catch up on.