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Instant Power Charger for m5xx Series Palms
March 5, 2002
The Instant Power process is simple— just rip open the package for the Zinc-air battery, attach it to the SmartCord, and plug it into the bottom of your handheld device. You don’t need disposable batteries or a power outlet— all you need is air. And it only takes a few minutes to charge my handheld. When you’re done charging, simply place the battery in the recloseable pouch included with the kit to cut off its air supply and preserve the battery for the next time you want to use it. I wish that they had designed the kit with better portability in mind— sure, I can toss the individual pieces into my bag, but it would be nice to have included some sort of carrying sack or made the battery pouch big enough to tuck the SmartCord inside as well, to cut down on the clutter. That’s a minor annoyance though— the Instant Power concept is great.I’m not an engineer, so I won’t even try to explain the physics/chemisty/whatever behind all of this. But suffice it to say that it all just works, something which makes me extremely happy. As a grad school student who sits in class for hours at a time, it’s nice to know that I can toss this little kit in my bag and never have to worry about losing my “Palm Power” in the middle of class. That’s especially important since I use a keyboard to take my notes. I can’t prove it in a quantitative sense, but I feel that my Palm drains faster when I’m using it with my PPK. And since I gave up carrying pen and paper to class long ago, you can see that I would be in real trouble if my Palm ever gave out in the middle of class.
But that’s not all there is to it— the Instant Power folk have cleverly designed the Smart Cord to also work as a car charger for your Palm— instead of attaching the special zinc-air batter, attach the car lighter adapter. And if you don’t have an m5xx series Palm, don’t despair! Instant Power cartridges and chargers are available for a variety of handhelds, digital cameras, camcorders, and cellular phones. You can see for yourself at the Instant Power web site. Prices range from $9.95 for the disposable Zinc-air battery cartridges to $19.95 or $24.95 for the complete kit including SmartCord, one cartridge, and a car lighter adapter.
PocketGoddess rating for Instant Power: 
