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Solio Magnesium Edition Universal Solar Hybrid Charger
 
Manufacturer: Solio
Customer Rating:
 
List Price: $169.95
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This is cool.
 

Product Description
The family of Solio the Universal "Hybrid" Chargers, Solio Mono, Solio Classic, Solio Hybrid-1000, the Solio Magnesium, are powerful enough to charge all handheld electronic devices at home or on the move, anything, anytime, anywhere. It is a Hybrid because it can accept power from either the sun, a computer, or the wall storing this energy within Solio's internal rechargeable battery.

Solio uses this energy to power gadgets at the same rate as wall adaptors and will hold its charge for up to a year and is the only solar charger of its kind that has a long-lasting internal, high-capacity battery which may be removed at the end of it’s life-cycle – returned to Better Energy Systems for responsible disposal, and replacement.

Solio limits the need to purchase and carry around multiple chargers and is a one-stop charging solution for all hand-held electronic products from cell phones and iPods, iPhones, to digital cameras, game players, and GPS, and charges these products from a Solio, at the same rate as plugging them into the wall.

About Solio
The sun’s energy is so powerful that in just one hour the amount of energy that falls on the earth equals the amount used by he world’s population in one year’. This realization with the increased demand for portable power, inspired the leadership of Better Energy Systems to design the Solio – a hybrid solar charger for most small, portable, electronic gadgets. It was introduced at San Francisco’s MacWorld in 2005 where it won ‘Best of Show’.

Solio quickly caught the consumer’s imagination and interest because it combined convenience, easy to use renewable energy, with cutting-edge, award-winning design and engineering. Efficient solar cells, a high capacity, integrated lithium-ion battery, easy to remove and replace from its durable recyclable shell, and a sophisticated internal circuitry, with a variety of interchangeable tips, enables compatibility with current and future portable electronic devices including mobile phones, iPods, Iphones, PDA’s music players, digital cameras, GPS systems, etc.

With this combined value and appeal, the company continues to receive prestigious awards and acknowledgements for its family of four Solio models, and has now sold more solar systems than any other company in the world.

Product Details
  • Collect and store power from the Sun or from wall outlets for charging your electronic devices any time day and night
  • Compatible with the Universal iGo tip system for use with hundreds of different portable electronics
  • High-capacity internal battery stores energy for up to a year
  • Durable and weather-resistant to meet the demands of the serious adventurer
  • One hour of Sun can provide 20 minutes of talk time or 50 minutes of MP3 music

Video Reviews
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Customer Reviews
Customer Service
 
Review Date: June 11, 2010
Reviewer: William A. Lucier, CO, USA
Nice product... I hope.

Their Customer service is terrible... no answers, long hold times, forced to full voice mialboxes; no response to written questions. The product is probably fine, but pray you don't need their after-sale help.
Excellent hybrid charger
 
Review Date: June 8, 2010
Reviewer: B. Lopez, Texas
A step up from other chargers, including ones in the Solio line. You can charge from the wall or the sun. While not as environmentally as a plug in charger, it does make it convenient on less sunny days the day before some adventure! All in all, a great charger, easy to use. It does get hot when charging, though it is charging from the sun, and I would think it silly for a solar charger to be overheated.
Good converter, hard to find a use for it
 
Review Date: May 13, 2010
Reviewer: Nancy, Oberlin OH
The tips are great. I actually wound up using it to charge through the electrical outlet because I didn't have another appropriate adapter. Because of the inherent inefficiency of solar charging, especially through glass, it is hard to use it for daily charging of small electronics. This might change if I were outside or in an area with greater sun.

Very well made and rugged.

So I can't fault the design or the manufacture - 5 for 5 on that (though bulky, not heavy).

Because of lag times in charging, however, found it not completely useful for the purpose I bought it for - daily charging of small electronics. It might function better on a camping trip or - as I plan to use it - abroad.
Best for Simple Electronics
 
Review Date: May 1, 2010
Reviewer: Loni,
Being more environmentally conscious, I purchased this charger mainly to recharge my power-sucking Windows Mobile phone, which has a standard mini USB port. I also didn't want to have to wait for my phone to reboot (a few minutes) by physically changing batteries.

With my first intent to see how much juice this would add to my device, I charged it with wall power (I know, I know). I was disappointed to see that it added only 40%, and it took hours to get there. If I were using the phone while it was charging, it would have been a losing proposition. I called Solio. They sent me another tip, free of charge (thank you!). This tip worked much better, but still caused me some concern because I thought that the tip it came with would charge ALL of my mini-USB devices quickly, and without issue. I have a lot of electronics and justified the price tag with the thought of being able to use this with ALL of my devices.

It took me about 2 weeks before I just finally broke down and ordered the extended battery for my phone. Now the Solio lays in my car to be used only in case of dire emergency, and to remind me of how much money I wasted trying to be more green!

If you don't mind the purchase of extra tips, and your device(s) isn't very demanding on power, I'd highly recommend this. Just not the best fit with this geekette power user!
Solio Magnesium Edition Universal Solar Hybrid Charger
 
Review Date: March 26, 2010
Reviewer: Harley Rider, NY
Received this charger about a month ago. My initial charge was overnight, AC wall adapter. Since then only thru the sun. Depending on the weather conditions, it charges fine. So far, here is a brief list of the things I have successfully charged using the Solio Mag & appropriate cables:

AT&T HTC Fuze
Magellan 1475T Auto GPS
Apple Ipod (5th gen)
Livescribe 2gb pen
Suunto X9i GPS watch

It also charges my two mini Freedom chargers (Ipod & Fuze) that I had purchased prior to the Solio mag. Only complaint is that it is bigger than I thought, but given the job it has done so far....I can live with that.

Filed under: Portable Solar Power

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