New Trent PowerPak Ultra 14000mAh Portable Dual USB Port External Battery Charger/Power Pack for Smartphones, Tablets and More. (Orange on Black)

I am into my first week with the New Trent Power Pak (PP Ultra) and am still evaluating the product, but so far am very pleased. I purchased this charger for use with the, iPhone 4, iPad (gen 3), Garmin Oregon 550t GPS, and a Stripen Ultra (not purchased YET). I also intend to test charging times for the PP Ultra using AC USB, Laptop USB, and the Goal Zero Nomad 7 solar charger. I will attempt to update this review as I complete my various tests. First I would like to give my impression of the PP Ultra. I was very pleased with the solid feeling of this device. However, the size is too large for normal everyday carry on my body, but will be a regular companion to my laptop bag or for out of town trips. My primary purpose for this is outdoor use. I plan to accompany a number of Venture Scouts to the Boundary Waters this summer and was looking for a ruggedized, reliable power source for my phone (emergency use), GPS and my Steripen (water purification). In the past, I have taken my Goal Zero Nomad 7 solar panel for these purposes, but much prefer the convenience of having a power charger that is ½ the weight, much faster, and not reliant on "finding the sun".At this point, I have completed the charging test for the iPhone 4. I had heard reports that the PP Ultra would charge the iPhone up to 6 times. I was successful in charging my iPhone 4 an impressive 5.8 times (the final charge got the iPhone up to 80% before the PP Ultra was depleted). However, I ran the iPhone all the way down to where it shut itself down. The normal battery warning comes up when the phone is at 20%, and had I recharged at that point, I am confident that I would have gotten 6 full charges out of the PP Ultra charger. The average time to fully charge the iPhone was 2:14, which I was quite impressed with. The charge time seemed to hold steady whether the PP Ultra had a full charge or partial charge remaining.On a not so happy note, I was unable to recharge the PP Ultra using my Goal Zero Nomad 7 solar charger. I would be interested if anyone else has been successful at this. However, this is not a show stopper for me, because of the amount of juice this device holds, I no longer intend to bring the solar charger anyway. It would have been nice for truly disaster situations, or if I was going to be out for more than a couple of weeks, which I don't have the luxury of doing at this stage of my life anyway.All in all, my first impression is very favorable. Since I am using this primarily for the outdoors, I was looking for a device that could stand to get dirty, wet and perhaps kicked around a bit and I am very confident this will stand up to any abuse I intend to inflict. Stay tuned for additional updates as I continue my testing and experience.I was able to get an 80% on the iPad Gen 3 with a fully charged PP Ultra.After additional testing, I have found that I am unable to charge my Garmin Oregon 550t using the NT PowerPak Ultra. However, I am not going to change the rating, as this appears to be a limiation of the GPS. The GPS will not charge the NiCad batteries NI-HM batteries from any source. The batteries must be charged using a separate charger and not the GPS.I recieved my Steripen Ultra today and am happy to report that the PoerPak Ultra worked great in charging the Steripen. It is hard to know for certain how long the charge time took because the Steripen does not notify you when it reached 100% charge (a fault in it's design IMO). However, I believe the charge time was somewhere around 5 hours. If you leave this on overnight, both devices will turn off once a full charge is reached, which is a good thing. At the end of the charge, the PowerPak still had 4 of 4 lights on, meaning the overall drain on the charger was less than 25%. I am estimating it will be similar to the iPhone in draw.

New Trent Powerpak Ultra 14000 mAhBattery Specifications.Input: [email protected]: [email protected] and 5V@1ADimensions: 5.5 x 3 x 1.1 inchesAs a fairly new owner of the New Trent Powerpak Ultra 14000mah battery pack, I haven't had much time to review the product's durability and expected lifetime use. However, my first impressions when I received the Powerpak Ultra were very good. The packaging is attractive, high quality and well designed. The Powerpak Ultra battery pack itself is designed to withstand shocks, bumps, resist dirt and waterproof to three feet from up to 30 minutes. With an orange body and molded black rubber around the corners and sides, the battery pack provides a grippy, durable surface and is ready to be tossed into your pack for your next outdoor adventure. I enjoy outdoor activities from mountain biking, trail running, hiking and camping, and I appreciate products built to withstand an active lifestyle. The battery pack has two USB ports for charging two devices simultaneously, and there are cleverly designed rubber covers which seal the ports and provide protection from dirt and water. Weighing in at around 12 ounces, this battery packs a lot of power in a small package. The battery can charge your smart phone approximately 7 times before needing a recharge. I have personally used this device to charge an HTC One, and I was impressed with how quickly the phone received a full charge. The charging time for an HTC Android cell phone was comparable to using a wall outlet. Using the deice itself is very simple- connect the device you wish to charge, and simply hold down the power button on the Powerpak Ultra for 3 seconds, and several blue LED's will display that the device is charging, and remaining battery life. Included in the box is a high quality USB cord which can be used to charge the device from any PC or wall charger which accepts USB cords. I would have expected a complete wall charger to be included in the package, as New Trent does manufacture a high quality charger, model NT90C. The NT90C is only available to purchase separately, and I think New Trent should consider including this in future packaging, since it does provide greater convenience and does provide a faster charge for the device. It's also nice to see that someone has designed electronic devices with the outdoors and active lifestyle in mind- Overall I am very impressed with the performance of the New Trent Powerpak Ultra 14000 mAh battery, and would recommend it anyone looking for a reliable source of power on the trail or in the office.