IceTECH sent me a couple of their solar charger products and the bigger, cooler, one is the i9005 Portable Solar Charger, a battery that can be recharged via the sun or a power outlet and can charge your devices.

About the hardware
At about 3.5 inches wide by 6 inches long, the i9005 is a little bigger than my iPhone, it’s about and inch thick and pretty light, so it’s certainly portable. The surface feels rubberized which should keep it from sliding around in on the car dash. Nice thinking, designers. On the front is a voltage selector so you can set the output voltage to 4.5V, 5.0V, 6.3V or 9.0V to match the voltage requirements of the device you intend to charge. The right side has a DC power in port and a switch to turn the charger on or off or turn on the LED. The built-in LED is a nice touch because it’s like a little extra flash light when you’re camping and have the charger with you anyway. The right side of the i9005 also has a USB out port for charging devices.

Although a lot of today’s devices can be charged via USB, many others require another type of connection. This is why IceTECH also includes seven plug adapters and a special USB cable to connect them to. While the packaging boasts compatibility with 99% Mp3/MP4 players, PDAs and cell phones, it left me scratching my head with my iPhone. I wanted to charge my most used device with the i9005 and found no adapter for it. Eventually, I was in contact with IceTECH, mentioned the compatibility issue, and had an adapter a couple days later. Other than the one piece that wasn’t included standard, the compatibility it offers seems pretty complete. If you’re wondering about compatibility, check out their compatibility chart.

Charging devices and recharging the i9005
One thing that was a problem for my review process but not for the device was that it took me a while to soak up all the power from the charger by charging devices I didn’t use very often. Charging up just one device didn’t dry this thing up, which is good to know. In my attempts, I was able to make use of a couple of the adapters. The USB cable it comes with plugs into the charger, the adapter plugs into the cable and also into the device you want to charge. With everything plugged in, the correct voltage is selected on the charger and charging begins when you turn it on. It has a handy LED to indicate that it is charging your device and how much power remains.

When there’s no more juice in the battery, you can plug it in with the included 5V DC plug or charge it with the sun. Going solar is better for a couple reasons. First, it’s greener, pulling power from the sun instead of the power company which may generate power in less “green” ways. It’s also cheaper. Imagine if you just charged all your devices with this thing and recharged it in the sun when it was depleted. I’m sure you’d save some cash.

To buy or not to buy
The only dislike I had was that it didn’t come with the adapter for my iPhone, despite all the other adapters it did include, but I found the following on the site:

We have a large variety of power adapters available to match virtually any device. If the bundled adapters do not work with your cell phone, etc.. and you do not see a compatible one in our online store – let us know and we will try to help you get the right one.

My personal experience tells me they’re definitely willing to help you out with getting the right adapter and fast. I’ve seen it priced from around $70 (Amazon) up to $100, so it measures up with other portable power devices on price, while seemingly out-performing those devices in terms of battery capacity. Granted, it’s also larger, but still portable. I wouldn’t suggest this as a solution just to keep your phone powered up on the go. There are plenty of cheaper and more portable solutions for that (although the solar aspect could be a benefit). However, if you’re on the road a lot or like to camp and hike, this would be a great item to have with you for the price. The company seems to be more hands-on, too, so you might ask about the adapter for your most-used device if it’s not included by default.

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