Available From: PDA Extreme

Price: $19.99
Test Platform: Axim x50v
Aximsite Rating (out of 5):

One of my biggest pet peeves with mobile devices these days is their complete lack of mobility. Sure, I can throw my Axim in my pocket and take it anywhere, but then what? Now, I am still stuck with a bulky power cord or sync cable, or worse yet, a cradle to carry around. If I am heading out of town, this can significantly hamper my ability to travel with portable devices. If I have to carry a power cord with me, then this takes up valuable space which could otherwise be used to carry additional peripherals such as memory cards, a GPS unit, or my Bluetooth keyboard. Fortunately, PDA Extreme has come to the rescue with a portable power solution which ensures that I can keep my devices charged while remaining mobile and portable.

What’s In The Box: This is a pretty basic package which includes only what you will need to create a portable power supply. The package includes:

• Retractable USB Sync and Charge Cable
• MultiCharge AC & Car Adapter

Overview: There is nothing worse than being caught in public with your pants down. The mobile version of this nightmare is being caught with an uncharged battery. The PDA Extreme MultiCharge Travel Kit is the perfect solution to ensure this does not happen to you. It allows you to plug your Axim into an AC plug, car power source, or a USB so it can be charged and synched from anywhere.

Retractable USB Sync and Charge: One of the biggest problems I have experienced with power cords is that they tend to be extremely long and bulky. The PDA Extreme Retractable USB Sync and Charge Cable offers an ideal solution to this problem. The cord itself is thin and flat, and wound about a spindle. When it is fully wound, it is only a few inches long, however, it unwinds to a whopping three feet. At one end of the cable is the USB plug. The other end contains an Axim connector so it can connect directly to your Axim (note that the cable I used was for the Axim x50/51 series. There is, however, a vast selection of cables for every line of Axim devices, as well as many other brands available). 

One of the really nice things about this cable, aside from its ultra-small size, is that the USB cable on the end allows this to be used to charge and sync at the same time, or it can be plugged into the included power adaptor for AC or car charging.

The cord is extremely light and easy to use. Just unwind it to the desired length and plug it in. When you are done, pull and release the ends of the cable (like a window shade) and it will rewind around the spindle. Finally, the size makes it extremely convenient. It easily fits in my gadget bag, or even a pocket, which means I am able to carry it virtually everywhere my Axim goes without adding a significant amount of bulk or weight to my load.

MultiCharge AC & Car Adapter
I love any accessory that can eliminate multiple items from my gadget bag. This is exactly what I accomplished when I added the PDA Extreme to my gadget bag. Instead of an AC Adapter and Car Charger, it combines the two into one unit. This unit may have been a bit larger than I would have preferred, but it was still considerably less bulky that carrying two separate adapters in my bag.

On one end of the adapter is a USB plug. Simply plug the retractable USB sync and charge cable into this plug to connect your device. Since this is a standard USB plug, you can use any USB compatible sync and charge cable with it. This means that this adapter can be used to power all of your mobile devices. On the back of the adapter is a standard AC plug which folds into the main body for added portability. Just unfold the plug and it is ready for use. Of course, the other end contains the car charger adapter which will plug into the power supply of your car.

I absolutely loved the fact that I could take this single adapter with me and use it to charge my device from any location. No longer will I need to consider which adapter I will need, or risk losing space to carry multiple power adapters. Now, I can rest easy knowing that this single power adapter will allow me to charge my device, regardless of whether I am driving in my car or sitting in my office when the battery starts to get low. 

The specifications for this adapter include:

• Wall Voltage Input: 100V to 220VAC (variable)
• Car Voltage Input: 12V to 24V (variable)
• Voltage Output: 5.0V ± 0.25V
• Current Output: 1Amp
• Weight: Aprox. 1.8 oz
• MultiCharge Adapter is UL and CE certified

The Results: I take my Axim with me almost everywhere I go. It stores my calendar, tasks, contacts, and of course, games and other programs which I am reviewing. Without it, I would probably spend a lot of time trying to figure out where I am going and what I have to do next. As such, it is extremely important that my 2200Mah battery remain fully powered at all times. However, I have found that lugging around a bulky power cord for my Axim when I commute to and from work is simply not a practical solution. Fortunately, the PDA Extreme cable worked perfectly in this situation. I was extremely impressed by how little space the kit took up in my gadget bag, and how quickly it fully charged my Axim. It worked much more efficiently than some other similar kits I have tried. I would note, however, that due to the Axim’s power consumption, I was not able to charge and use it simultaneously (the reasons for this have been explained to me, but they are way over my head. For more on this issue, there is a great discussion here on Aximsite). In fact, if I turned on the Axim during charging, it actually drained the battery rather than charging it. However, as long as I left it turned off while charging; my Axim charged to full capacity relatively quickly. 

I also used this kit to sync my Axim to my laptop when I was traveling. I was able to sync the two flawlessly using ActiveSync and the USB sync plug. This is a real bonus, as it allows you to sync your PDA to your laptop on the road, without the burden of carrying one more cable. One thing I did notice, however, while syncing, the Axim did not seem to be drawing enough power, and frequently reverted back to battery power or flickered. As noted above, however, this is an issue related to the Axim’s power use, not the PDA Extreme charging kit.

My only real disappointment was that the sync and charge cable would only work with one specific device, in this case, my Axim x50v. This means that I would need to carry a separate cable for each different device. Again, this can add significant bulk to my gadget bag. Other companies have devised a solution using interchangeable tips or connectors to allow one cable to power multiple devices. It would be nice if PDA Extreme offered such an option. Nonetheless, if you are like me, keep your pants on…and your battery charged with the PDA Extreme MultiCharge Travel Kit. 

Vital Statistics:

• Name: Retractable MultiCharge Travel Kit
• Platform: Dell Axim x50v/x51v
• Also Available: Numerous additional devices
• Available From: PDA Extreme
• Price: $19.99