USB rechargable cells?

[Gareth]

anyone come across this idea before?  Or am I just way behind the curve (as is quite possible)?

http://www.usbcell.com/

[Grant Lamontagne]

I've seen those before, but I don't know how useful they are.

Def

[sawman]

I've heard of these years ago but never tried them.  Looks like a neat idea if they work.

[Chain Gang]

These have been around for some time.It looks like the usb plug take up about 1/4 of the battery so it would have less capacity I would think.I really can't think of any reason why I would need these.

[Gareth]

These have been around for some time.It looks like the usb plug take up about 1/4 of the battery so it would have less capacity I would think.I really can't think of any reason why I would need these.

that's kinda what I was thinking as well.   Like the rest of you I don't really see the huge benefit of these, but I still like the idea.

[El Rago]

Maybe you can use them for powering up a wireless mouse? I know that there are some useability issues if your ports are not spaced out, as the cell will close up two adjacent ports.

their practicality is limited to the charge they can hold, and that they need an USB port nearby. I might be interested in one for my wireless mouse, so it can charge a spare while on the PC.

My DVD player has an USB port, which at times I used to charge my PSP, since it was on anyway, I could use that power instead of the adapter. Maybe also good for the remotes, things like that is where they probably shine.

for a quick an dirty job of battery power, they are quite good, but for longer uses, I think you did best consider another option.

[ICanFixThat]

I own a few of these, don't have a real use for them, but they are a cool idea.  I've used them to test lights in the past.  One of mine is branded Easy-Charge, not sure about the others.  They are probably the same.

[nuphoria]

You might find a small USB charger more useful, then you can use decent cells

[Neil]

I looked at them a few years back but decided they were a bit of a niche product and that the majority of people would be better off with a separate charger and higher capacity cells.  Its a clever design though.

[ICanFixThat]

You might find a small USB charger more useful, then you can use decent cells

I looked at them a few years back but decided they were a bit of a niche product and that the majority of people would be better off with a separate charger and higher capacity cells.  Its a clever design though.

Yup... I don't often need 1/2 a battery which is why I don't really have a use for these.  My cells say 1450mAh, but I have my doubts on that.

I think they might be nice for a 1 AA wireless mouse or something, and they are handy to test lights, because that use is so intermittent that there is time to charge it and no need to operate for an extended period of time.

It's still a very cool idea though.

[ivanov]

I think it would be more useful:

[Grant Lamontagne]

As I was reading through this thread I thought the same thing as Ivanov.  Although it would probably take forever to charge a couple of AA batteries through a USB port.

Def

[jzmtl]

If I recall USB 2.0 is 500ma max at 5v, that's about 2 amp at 1.5v after conversion loss. So not bad for 2 AA or 4 AAA, more than that though it'll take a while.

[ivanov]

So not bad for 2 AA or 4 AAA, more than that though it'll take a while.

160 or 180mA only

Another USB charger (fast)
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?165664-Sanyo-NC-MDU01-AA-AAA-USB-Charger

[ICanFixThat]

The mini-chargers though are just another thing to carry, it certainly would work better in some applications, since I have not found the purfect application the the integrated one, but I see them as quite different.