Lil'
Sync Portable USB PDA Charger Review
A quick review of the Lil' Sync portable
AA battery iPAQ PDA USB charger adapter sold by the Pocket PC Techs.
 HP iPAQ HX4700 PDA |
 Pocket DVD Studio Movie |
 Watching Video On TCPMP |
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 Extra 3.7V 1800mah Battery |
 Lil' Sync USB Charger |
 Size Comparison |
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| Before the trip I charged all of the AA Ni-MH batteries that I have for my Canon S5 IS digital camera and Canon 430EX external flash unit. Then I loaded up the iPAQ's 2GB CF card and SD card with compressed movie files that I created using the Pocket DVD Studio software. | ||||
 AA Ni-MH Batteries Collection |
 Voltage Reduction Circuitry |
 AA Battery Compartment |
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| The Lil' Sync has a Voltage Reduction Circuitry (VRC) feature that prevents the iPAQ from being damaged when Lithium Ion or Alkaline batteries are used since they both operate at 1.5V. Four of them together add up to 6.0 volts which is higher than the 5.0 volt charging sytem of the HX4700 PDA. All of my rechargeable NiMH AA batteries (Powerizer, Energizer, Accu Power & Powerex) are 1.2V cells so they total up to just 4.80 volts. | ||||
 2600mah Digital Power AA |
 Alkaline NiCad Battery Switch |
 Female USB Plug |
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| The VRC warning label on the back of the Lil' Sync had me believe that with fresh batteries I should set the "Alk." or NiCd" switch to Alkaline to enable the voltage reduction. I quickly learned that with 1.2V NiMH batteries this caused the power to drain from the PDA's battery to charge the AA batteries in the Lil' Sync. Choosing the "NiCd" option turned off the VRC and began charging the iPAQ. I guess in a pinch I might possibly be able to charge my AA camera batteries from the PDA, but I doubt that will be necessary since I rarely need to change batteries in my Canon S5 or 430EX flash when on an outing. | ||||
 HP USB PDA Sync Cable |
 Lil' Sync & Charge/Sync Cable |
 HX4700 Charging From Lil' Sync |
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| The Lil' Sync
performed flawlessly on my long airplane flight across the country. Each
four pack set of my 2500mAh to 2700mAh AA Ni-MH batteries were able to keep
the iPAQ HX4700 at 100% fully charged for an entire full length feature film
(about 1.5 to 2 hours). On the way to Vegas I watched three movies, using up
two sets of 4 AA's and 70% of the iPAQ's main battery for the third flick. For more PDA info, check out my HP iPAQ HX4700 iGuidance GPS Navigation Review, and the iPAQ Backup Ni-MH Button Cell Battery Replacement page. |
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