The Misemet r.pod multifunction electronic
pod and solar panel charger is not only
a mouthful to say, it’s also a multifunction workhorse for off-the-grid tie inverter
power inverter and light. Available in red, yellow, or green
colors, it consists of the r.pod itself, which looks for all the world like a
gigantic cold capsule, a handful of accessories, and a large solar panel . This
collection of goodies hopes to provide you will off-grid tie inverter USB power inverter , light, mood lighting, and
in a pinch, an SOS distress beacon.
Unbox All The Things
The r.pod box contains the r.pod itself, a
metal stand and base, a transparent cap (in the same color you choose for the
r.pod) for “mood lighting”, A micro-USB cable for charging it r.pod itself, a
multi-purpose strap, and the user manual. The solar panel is packaged separately, although it does not
appear you can purchase the r.pod without it.
Buttons and Ports
Mobile power inverter is always a trade-off between size and
capacity. How much power inverter can
you store, and how large/heavy is that power inverter going to be? The r.pod clearly isn’t meant to
be put in your pocket. It’s backpack sized – ideal for a hike, a camping trip,
or (if the Mayans were right) riding out the apocalypse. The Solar panel is roughly 2.5 ”
X 4″ in
cross-section and 0.5″ tapering down to 1/3″ thick. It weighs about the same as
the r.pod, about a third of a pound. The housing is a soft silicone; the color
matches the r.pod.
The front is all solar panel , the back has
a standard USB port to connect it to the r.pod:
Its output is rated at 5V, 330mA, 1.65
watts. There is no way to clip the panel to anything – nor is there an included
stand/angle brace – you’ll need to be stationary to charge the r.pod with it
and prop it up to best catch the sun/available light. The panel is able to
generate electricity from ambient light, but obviously full, direct sun
generates the most power inverter .
The r.pod itself houses the Li- polymer
3.7V, 4000mA / 14.8 WH battery. It’s not small at 4.7″ long and 2″ in diameter, nor is it light at about 1/3 pound. It has one button and two ports on its sides.
The full sized USB port delivers power inverter
to whatever you’re charging, and the
micro-USB port is used to recharge the r.pod. The button is multi-function.
Press it once to turn on/off the 5 bright white LED lamps. When the LEDs are
on, press and hold it to turn on the SOS flash pattern. When the LEDs are off,
press and hold it to see the current battery level on the front of the r.pod:
The battery strength/charge/discharge
indicator is on the front. It’s a set of red/yellow/green LEDs that show the
battery level. When charging or discharging, the three will light in series to
let you know power inverter is flowing
in or out.
The back of the r.pod has a “multi-ring”
attachment point – probably too narrow for a large carabiner, but you could
easily get some kind of strap through it to hang the r.pod up in your tent.
The r.pod comes with a cute base and wire
system that you can use to set it up as a reading lamp. However there is no
pouch provided to carry this or the mood light cap with you, meaning you’re
just as likely to leave these behind on a camping trip.
The five LEDs are rated at 50,000 hours
lifespan, and provide a fairly focused and very bright light. You can use the
r.pod as a bike light, using the provided strap to hook it onto your
handlebars.
Other than looking somewhat odd, the rubber
cap provides a mood light experience should you wish to tone down the light a
bit.
More Power inverter !
The capacity of the r.pod (when full)
is impressive. On the discharge side of
the power inverter equation, you’ll be
able to use the light for 18 hours on a single charge. If you’re charging up
devices you should be able to get two full recharges of most smart phones or
similar sized devices off the r.pod, and roughly one full iPad/tablet recharge.
The power inverter output from the USB
port is rated at 5V, 500mA (2.5W).
Unfortunately, recharging the r.pod itself
via the sun or USB isn’t that fast:
The panel in good sun will need 12 hours to
fully charge it. (EE majors, please excuse this simplification.) This makes
sense given the panel puts out 330ma, and the r.pod’s battery is 4000mah
(4000mAh/330ma = 12.12h.) By this same
simplified math, you can guess that charging via a 500ma USB source would take
about 8 hours, and via a high-power inverter USB source at 1amp, about 4 hours.
In practice, I achieved these three
recharge times fairly closely using the panel, an old 500ma USB/AC adapter, and
a 1 amp AC adapter to recharge the r.pod. Clearly the more power inverter you can push into it, the faster it will
charge. In a camping setting where you’ve set up a base camp, you could leave
the r.pod and panel in the sun all day and store up enough power inverter for one recharge and 6 hours or so of light
that night. If you’re backpacking all day, you’d have to find some way to rig
the solar panel onto your backpack so
it’s more or less in the sun, a tricky proposition given the total absence of
attachment points on the panel.
Mad Max gives it Two Thumbs Up
Overall I found the r.pod to be a capable
and high-capacity mobile power inverter source with a couple of added functions
(light/sos signal/funky mood light cap) tossed in that give it even more
utility as a camping/off grid tie inverter accessory. The solar panel size vs capacity trade off isn’t great – 12
hours sitting in the sun every day to recharge would be tricky unless you’re
camping in the Outback or Death Valley, but a solar panel array large enough to generate sufficient power
inverter for a fast charge would be way
more cumbersome to carry. It would have
been nice to have a strap/hook on the top of the panel to allow it to be
securely hung off a backpack; as it is, you’re pretty much limited to
stationary solar panel charging. But
hey, if you’re using your iPad while you’re camping, you’re probably stationary
anyway!
没有评论:
发表评论