Product Description

Power up wherever, whenever. The PowerMonkey eXplorer is a truly versatile travel companion, encompassing the powerful eXplorer unit and the SolarSlave - an essential, environmentally friendly product for any traveller.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1622 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Powertraveller
• Model: pm-ExP
• Dimensions: 11.00" h x 5.00" w x 3.00" l, 1.36 pounds

Features

• Water-resistant, rubberised design - a power source for every adventure
• Solar Slave + Powermoney-eXplorer = 2 reusable sources of power (no batteries needed...ever!!)
• Compatiable with majority of mobile phones, including Nokia & mini Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens, & Sony Ericsson
• USB Connectors power up iPods & accessories, MP3 players, PDAs, smart mobile phones, digital cameras, games consoles, BlackBerrys, Bluetooth headsets, & many more digital devices
• Includes mains travel charger for use in 150 countries - 110V to 240V

Customer Reviews

Disaster go back to old powermonkey
I have recently upgraded to the powermonkey explorer. It is a disaster. I keep it in my pocket until I need it Unfortunately it is always drained when I need it. Why ? I think it is because the on-off button is of the press type which gets switched on whenever I put something in my pocket.
This does not occur with the old powermonkey as its on off button is a slider switch. So I have binned my new powermonkey explorer and now use my old powermonkey which gives no problems.
So do not upgrade!

Adaptor for DS not included
Despite showing a Nintendo DS lite on the packaging of this item (and in the Amazon pages related to it) this does NOT include the relevant adaptor for the DS or DS lite - you have to purchase it direct from Power Traveler for an additional £2.50 plus £1.50 P&P.

I called Power Traveler to clarify this and a very rude lady said that since the packaging (allegedly) lists the adaptors included (it actually doesn't - only a very vague "includes specific connector tips for iPods, MP3 players, PDAs, smart mobile phones, digital cameras, hand-held gaming devices, Blackberrys, Bluetooth headsets and many more digital devices" - what is the DS if not a "hand-held gaming device"?!), they did not feel it was necessary to explicitly state that the DS adaptor was an optional extra, despite the packaging giving the obvious impression that it was included and "£2.50 won't break the bank" (which it won't, but I object to having to pay over and above what I have already just to get the functionality advertised on the package).

This sort of customer service and borderline deception leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I will not be recommending the product to any of my friends.

Works as stated but won't save the planet!!
The Powermonkey has a 1W solar panel and a 2200mAh battery which is slightly better specced than the Solio which has a 0.85W panel, and a 1800maH battery (the Freeloader has a 0.65W panel and a 1000mAH battery but is so unreliable as to be useless). The Powermonkey works as specified and will provide charge to most mobiles, pdas and portable media devices that take between a 4.5 - 5.5V charge (the charging voltage of your device should be listed on its AC adapter). For it to work properly it needs to be placed outside at a 30 degree angle facing south and in an unshaded spot- if you don't have a secure garden or you are on the move this could obviously be problematic. If you are really going somewhere where you will have no access to power for an extended period the Powermonkey really does not have a high enough rating and you will need either a larger rigid panel that you can attach to a vehicle, or, if you are on the move, a flexible panel such as the Global Solar Sunlinq / P3 (also branded ME2 Solar or Feastronics) or Powerfilm F15 give power ranging from 5W to 60W (£75-£900). For seriously wet situations you can get rollable waterproof panels (the connectors do need to be kept out of the water) such as the Brunton SolarRoll or Powerfilm R15 with 4.5W-20W sizes from £100-£300 and Solara Marine adhesive panels which can be attached to boats/yachts/catamarans etc. You can also get solar backpacks from gpsforless that have up to a 2.7W rigid panel, Reware Juice Bags which have 6W flexible panels or Voltaic bags which have 4W or 14W rigid panels.

You could also consider one of the Freeplay chargers such as the wind up Freeplay Mobile charger or the Weza foot powered charger which will provide more instantaneous power than solar panels.

People should put into perspective the power capacity of the Powermonkey when working out the carbon saving they are making- 1W is really tiny when you consider a widescreen TV has wattage ratings in the 100s and ovens, vacuum cleaners and tumble dryers up to 2500W. Just leaving the TV on unnecessarily, leaving the oven heating up for a few more minutes than is needed or using the tumble dryer when you could hang your clothes up will wipe out thousands of times over any savings you could ever possibly make with this charger. If you really want to make effective use of solar and other renewables you either need to install renewable technology at home, arrange a communuity project or change your electricity supplier to a renewable "green" supplier (uswitch or energywatch will provide details on this).

Powertraveller are bringing out a larger PowerGorilla in the autumn with a similar foldable rigid solar panel which will supposedly be able to charge a laptop so that might be something to consider in the future.