• $16.00

• Very nicely made
• Works as advertised
• Easy to use & portable

• none!

Design:
Cost/benefit:
Coolness:
Overall:

This well-constructed little device is easy to transport and powered by readily available 9V batteries. To use, just supply your own 9V battery and connect the device to the HotSync port. If everything is OK (battery good and device properly connected), the LED in the device will glow green and the Palm Vs internal battery will begin to charge.

One thing to keep in mind is that this is really intended for Emergencies! The charger is designed with reverse polarity protection (to safeguard your Palm), and will only charge the internal battery to 85% capacity (this is billed as a safety feature to prevent overcharging). Therefore, this isn't a good way to keep your Palm "fresh" while on the road. Look for a travel charging cradle for that.

It will also take almost an hour to charge the Palm to 85%, and in practice that's pretty much the end of the 9V battery. There is no indication as to when charging is complete, but that's kind of a Catch 22 since it never really is, you can't charge to 100% so what's the point. I didn't ding the device on that account.

The best way to use this device is to charge your Palm after a low voltage warning has caused the Palm to no longer power on. Think of it as a safeguard. But remember, if you let the Palm totally die, even if you recharge, the Palm will be useless since your data will be gone ;-) But you also HotSync regularly and use something like BackupBuddy right?!

Overall I gave this slick little device a high rating because it's cheaper than the competition, appears better made, travels easily, and may just save your bacon some day!