Macally PowerLink Emergency Battery Pack with 2 GB Pen Drive for iPod and iPhone (Black)
by Macally
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Macally PowerLink Emergency Battery Pack with 2 GB Pen Drive for iPod and iPhone (Black)
Customer Review: A Great Concept, An OK Product
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
With an iPod battery, syncing cable and flash drive all in one, you've got a product made in geek heaven! However, it falls a bit short of paradise, at least for me. The problem with multi-function devices is that the various functions end up being OK, but not mind-blowing. It saves space, and I love the idea of this all in one device, but I think there is room for improvement, such as a retractable cord.
The cord is about 40% of the length of the sync cable that comes with the iPod, and synchronizing is difficult if not impossible to do on most computers without it. Otherwise you'd be connecting the iPod/iPhone to the device itself, and unless you have some way of setting it exactly level with your USB port, it's not going to work.
Once you have it connected, it synchronizes just as it does with any other cable. However, you can't sync and charge at the same time as with a regular cable, so if your iPod/iPhone is dead you'll have to charge it first. The battery will keep things going for a short amount of time, and in an emergency those extra minutes could help you make a life-saving call-- or watch a movie while you wait for help. :-) The flash drive is a flash drive-- just plug it in and store small files to your heart's content.
I think this product is worth having since it's lightweight, it saves space, and is multi-functional. A retractable cord and more drive space would have me running to the store to buy multiples of them. Good for a casual user, but uber-geeks will be left wanting more. Three and a half stars.
Customer Review: there are better products out there
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
3-star review because this product performs as advertised. However, it does a so-so job at everything; it's a very small battery and an average flash drive.
If you're looking for some extra juice for your iPhone/iPod you're much better off with the Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod and iPhone 1G, 3G (Black). (I don't own one but borrowed my friend's over a weekend.) The Kensington battery provides way more juice than the Macally PoweLink and it also charges the device. With the PowerLink you must use the device while it is connected (not such a big deal with an iPod but very annoying with an iPhone). Also for some reason if my iPhone's battery is dead it can take a long time to boot up when the PowerLink is connected. On a charged PowerLink my iPhone can get an extra 15-45 minutes depending on usage--good for emergency situations but pretty lame as a battery.
I can't really see the huge benefit of having the battery combined with a flash drive. You can buy many 2 or 4 GB flash drives for under 10 dollars. In my opinion anyone considering this product is better off buying both the Kensington Mini Battery battery and some flash drive; combined these can be cheaper than the Macally PowerLink.
Additionally the two caps at each end of the stick are in no way attached or tethered making it very easy to lose them.
Customer Review: It does provide emergency battery juice = good
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I tested this unit on an Iphone 3G so I can't attest to how it will work on other devices that are supported. I believe most people are interested in the ability to have emergency battery juice, especially for a phone, where it's an important thing to have if you can't plug in somewhere. I tested it out with a near-dead Iphone 3g and was able to get about 17 minutes of talk time. Now you might say that's not much, but it's more than enough to make a few meaningful phone calls and that 17 mins translates to at least 3 hours of standby in case you're waiting for a receiving (important) call. I think that's really a good thing since you can easily drain down the battery on these phones with media and web content. If you're out in the field, there's no place to recharge the phone. Also, since you can actually recharge the pack through the usb port, it becomes only more so useful.
The 2gb flash drive is nice a touch and in fact would've been an incredible feature just two or three years ago, but these days it's just a ho-hum thing as usb sticks have become so cheap. Still, the integration is nice.
Overall, the device is a nice small size to keep in your bag so you have it with you all the time. Some may want larger battery run times but that means the device will have to be larger. A larger device makes the unit less useful since you're less likely to have it available in the field where it's most needed (i.e. you wont have any need for it at home where there's always an outlet available).
Customer Review: Surprsingly Useful
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I wasn't exactly how useful this device would prove to be for me.
I don't have an iphone, but if I did, I would like the added battery power feature, because with my regular phone, I've been in the situation more than once where I'm about to lose power or have left the house with it already dead.
So, back to me. I have a 4GB 2nd Generation Nano. It's been corrupted before, and I've had to reset it. I'm not faithful about backing up my files, so I've lost things that I've purchased.
The PowerLink has a 2GB drive, which holds my music library that is the hardest to restore (podcasts and audiobooks are easier for me to recover). So the first time that I plugged the link into my computer to charge up, I used it to back up my library.
Since it can also be used to sync your ipod (using it to connect your ipod instead of the cord that came with it), I MIGHT remember to back it up more often when I'm syncing up.
And another thing happened -- my ipod isn't always recognized by my computer, and I wasn't able to sync it up today, but using the PowerLink it connected, recognized my ipod, and synced. Just be sure, I checked it with my cord again, which still didn't work. It's not completely a cord issue, because it will charge with the cord, just not sync up.
I thought of giving it 4 stars because of a price/value disparity, but the product itself is worth 5 stars, and it's up to the consumer to decide what that convenience and protection is worth.
Customer Review: Nice to have in your travel bag, but for emergencies only...
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I received a Macally PowerLink Emergency BatteryPack with 2 GB Pen Drive for iPod and iPhone as part of the Vine review program from Amazon. At first glance, I really loved the idea... Extra power for my iPhone should I be running low, and 2 GB of flash drive storage when you need to carry around or transfer a sizable file. But it ends up being a case of doing a number of things OK but not excelling in any one particular thing. As a result, it fails my "must have" test.
As a pen drive, the 2GB size is fine. But due to the multi-purpose nature of the device, it's a lot thicker than a normal pen drive. Depending on how your USB ports are set up, you may well have to use the extension plug cord to get it to fit. So now you have two items you have to carry and keep track of.
As a emergency power source, it's OK. The most likely "successful" scenario is that you're making a quick phone call, you're deep in the red on your iPhone charge, and you *really* need to complete the call (but there's no power adapter nearby). You can pop the battery pack onto the bottom of the iPhone, and you'll have enough juice to finish up. Can you make another two hours of calls on it? No. Again, the operative word here is "emergency".
Would I pack a device like this if I had one? Sure. It's small, light, and there's no real drawback to stashing it in your laptop travel bag. Would I go out and purchase it as the latest "must have" gadget that every road warrior needs. Not so much...