Camping and the iPad - Preliminary Charging Results Inside

[iPadCharlie]

Since my idea of camping out is a weekend at a five-star resort...

Sounds like my wife. Her idea of "roughing it" is a black & white TV with no cable!

The math doesn't make sense to me because the Solio's battery is actually bigger than the iPad.

With all due respect...
Bigger how? Physically bigger? That means nothing. There are two pieces of the puzzle when it comes to electricity, voltage and current. The charger supplied with the iPad is rated at 10 watts. At 5 volts out, this equates to 2 amps. (Actually according to the charger, the output is 5.1 volts and 2.1 amps - but close enough for government work). OTOH, the output of the Solio is 5 volts at 800mA (1000ma = 1 amp). The equates to only 4.8 watts - not nearly enough to fully charge the iPad, but adequate to charge an iPod or iPhone. This is why they recommend you not charge an iPad from your computer's USB port because the specification for USB 2.0 has a maximum power draw of 2.25 watts - far below what the iPad requires.

Clear as mud, eh?

 

[NumbLock]

Since my idea of camping out is a weekend at a five-star resort...

Sounds like my wife. Her idea of "roughing it" is a black & white TV with no cable!

The math doesn't make sense to me because the Solio's battery is actually bigger than the iPad.

With all due respect...
Bigger how? Physically bigger? That means nothing. There are two pieces of the puzzle when it comes to electricity, voltage and current. The charger supplied with the iPad is rated at 10 watts. At 5 volts out, this equates to 2 amps. (Actually according to the charger, the output is 5.1 volts and 2.1 amps - but close enough for government work). OTOH, the output of the Solio is 5 volts at 800mA (1000ma = 1 amp). The equates to only 4.8 watts - not nearly enough to fully charge the iPad, but adequate to charge an iPod or iPhone. This is why they recommend you not charge an iPad from your computer's USB port because the specification for USB 2.0 has a maximum power draw of 2.25 watts - far below what the iPad requires.

Clear as mud, eh?

There may be something wrong with my math, but that's not it. Watts means how fast the battery should load. I'm thinking about the capacity of the Solio's battery which is 1800 mAh - bigger than the iPad. In fact it does charge (when in sleep mode, just like a low-power USB port), but only for two hours.

 

[iPadCharlie]

There may be something wrong with my math, but that's not it. Watts means how fast the battery should load. I'm thinking about the capacity of the Solio's battery which is 1800 mAh - bigger than the iPad. In fact it does charge (when in sleep mode, just like a low-power USB port), but only for two hours.

I am not trying to be argumentative... honest!

The issue is not with the capacity of the Solio's battery, but the output range of the unit. The specs for the Classic unit (which may be slightly less than the Magnesium unit) state that the output range is only 800mA. Apparently after 2 hours, the battery in the Solio is depleted. What you need is a device with an output that matches the iPad's requirements which may or may not have anything to do with the capacity of the battery.

EDIT: Something like this is probably closer to being able to do what you want it to do:

Voltaic Systems | Generator, Solar Laptop Charger

Upside:
1) Comes built into a carry case big enough for an iPad
2) Comes with a wide variety of adapters, including one for iDevices
3) Comes with an additional battery pack (looks similar to the Zagg Sparq)

Downsides:
1) It costs as much as an 16gb WiFi iPad
2) Everywhere I have checked shows they are not available or backordered at this time.

 

[iVan]

Interesting test NumbLock. Thank you.

This appliance could be useful on a small craft also.(boat)

But camping? There's so much to do when I go camping that I wouldn't have time to use the iPad other than as a flashlight...

 

[Itzxdjx]

Yeah even the zagg sparq witch is a pretty nice and powerful battery charger with a second USB port That can handle the iPad. Even that beast I wouldn't think could charger the iPad more than once charges the iPhone about 4 to 5 times it says. But yeah that solo isn't strong enough. The iPad does have two huge batteries in it... The wall charger needs a good hour or two to fill up no?

 

[MikesTooLz]

You could also get a hand crank charger for a few bucks.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.24036

 

[NumbLock]

You could also get a hand crank charger for a few bucks.

DealExtreme: $3.09 Dynamo Hand-Crank USB Cell Phone Emergency Charger

Wow, so cheap. I would have expected to pay ten times that! Anyone know about the quality at this price?

 

[siliconrane]

The product reviews say it is crap.

 

[NumbLock]

Whatever happens, I'll keep y'all informed! I'm leaving in about an hour.

 

[iPadCharlie]

Try to enjoy some of the other scenery out there!

 

[arshield]

I have tried the solar chargers for my phone while camping and the two I have tried just have not done the job.

 

[monkeyboy]

There may be something wrong with my math, but that's not it. Watts means how fast the battery should load. I'm thinking about the capacity of the Solio's battery which is 1800 mAh - bigger than the iPad. In fact it does charge (when in sleep mode, just like a low-power USB port), but only for two hours.

I'm wondering just how you know that the iPad's battery is less than 1800mah... I could be wrong, but what I see quoted is that the iPad battery is rated at 25Wh... so presuming about a 4V cell voltage, that's 6.25Ah.... more than THREE times that 1800mah...

 

[NumbLock]

There may be something wrong with my math, but that's not it. Watts means how fast the battery should load. I'm thinking about the capacity of the Solio's battery which is 1800 mAh - bigger than the iPad. In fact it does charge (when in sleep mode, just like a low-power USB port), but only for two hours.

I'm wondering just how you know that the iPad's battery is less than 1800mah... I could be wrong, but what I see quoted is that the iPad battery is rated at 25Wh... so presuming about a 4V cell voltage, that's 6.25Ah.... more than THREE times that 1800mah...

Hm... That math makes sense. Anyhow, end of the first day, no need to charge yet - still at 100%

 

[NumbLock]

8:42 pm on the first evening, used the iPad with my iPhone navigation App (iGo using generic Hama car charger) to get here. We had a huge storm that damaged the tent (a branch fell on it), but the iPad is still at 99%

 

[monkeyboy]

This Amzer at 13Wh, 3500mah, looks somewhat better, though still only half the ipad's capacity...

Amzer 3500 mAh Battery Backup Solar Charger - Fommy.com

guess you could buy two...

the guesstimated 6.25ah capacity of the ipad corroborates your 20% fill measurement of that Solio... at 1800mah... you have to factor in less than 100% efficiency...