SOLAR CHARGER FOR YOUR eREADER

One of the main joys of an eReader is that it allows you to carry enough books around with you to keep you happily in reading matter when you are traveling, without having to cart a whole case full of heavy paper books with you.

Whilst the batteries in most eReaders can keep your friendly eReader going for days on end, inevitably there comes a time when the thing runs out of juice.  This has been known to bring fervent readers such as myself to the brink of suicide!

If you are traveling with your laptop, or have a direct charger for your eReader and are staying with friends or in hotels, this isn't really a problem as you can simply charge it up using mains electricity.  However, if you are like me, and tend to wander around the less organised parts of the world and sleep in tents or some other non-electric place, sooner or later you will find yourself with a problem (the same applies to your laptop, of course).  Do not fear, there is a simple and rather wonderful solution to this problem.

Solar  and mobile battery chargers!!

There are a number of these handy little gadgets on the market, but there is one company who have really thought it through and come up with a  whole range of  interrelated solar  and battery chargers that can help your laptop, your mobile phone, your eReader and any other smallish piece of electronic equipment you are carting around with you as you travel.

This is the range of chargers that are made by an innovative British company called Portable Power, whose range of products glory in the most unlikely names - Power Monkey, Power Gorilla and such like.

The models that are of interest to us are mostly inter-linkable too, so one can start with the cheapest and sort of work one's way up to the top model, as you will see as this post goes along.

So, here they are, the entire menagerie of solar and battery chargers that will perhaps interest you.

I shall start with the cheapest model which is capable of recharging not only your eReader, but also your laptop and all your electronic gear when away from base.

MINIGORILLA:

This little gadget is really nothing more than a spare battery, which you can recharge  (either from mains electricity or by means of a car cigarette lighter type plug whilst in a car or with their solar charger, more of which below).  As you see in the picture, it can either recharge your laptop battery, or be used to run your laptop as it can deliver a wide range of voltages, specifically:-

• 8.4 Volts
• 9.5 Volts
• 10.5 Volts
• 12 Volts
• 19 Volts

The capacity of the batteries is 9000 Ampere Hours, so it will keep things going  for quite a long time.

PRICE, ABOUT 100 BRITISH POUNDS.

However, this little fellow, though useful, will only recharge your eReader about once I reckon, so it isn't enough if you are going really into the bush for a long time.   Then you need the following model to make yourself truly independent of civilization.

THE SOLAR GORILLA:

This wonderful creature is capable of directly running all manner of electronic equipment - laptops and so forth, but what is more important here, is that it can either be used to recharge your Minigorilla or be connected to your eReader and recharge it for you while you sit and contemplate the wondertul view from your tent as it does so.

It comes with a bewildering range of little plugs, so it should be capable of being connected to just about any piece of equipment you have with you, and should you have something that needs a different plug, then they seem to be good at supplying you with a plug that will fit.

In spite of its name - the solar bit - you don't actually need to have strong direct sunlight to make this small gorilla work, it uses the Ultra-Violet in sunlight which is always present, even on cloudy days, though obviously it works better in strong direct sunlight.

Obviously you can use it to charge any of the other rechargeable battery units they make.  Their website is very informative on this subject, and well worth a visit to snuffle around to see if any other products of theirs are of interest to you.

Price:  Around 140 British Pounds.

WHERE CAN YOU BUY THEM?

You can buy the entire range directly from the company itself, or from Amazon, who also sell them.

SHARE WITH US:

If you have used any of their products, and have thoughts about them, please let me know and I shall publish them.  Equally, if you have come across any other similar gadgets, do let us know about them too, and what you think about them, so we can spread the good word.

Source: Powertraveller.

ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR eREADER - OCCASIONAL SERIES - COVERS AND CASES

There is a bewildering range of accessories that you can buy for your eReader online, so I thought I should have a snuffle around and collect as wide a range of them and their suppliers for you as I could and post them in an occasional series of reviews and links.

I shall concentrate on companies who make their own accessories as the ones supplied by the makers of eReaders are obviously sold by the same sites and shops who will sell you the eReader, and thus easy to find.

This is a post which will grow over time as I add covers and bags that I come across in my wanderings through the net.

COVERS AND CASES:

Even if you have a cover for your eReader, it can still get very dirty and scuffed if it lives for a lot of its life (as mine does) at the bottom of a rucksack or similar, so some sort of custom made closed case is perhaps not too much of a luxury to protect your expensive eReader.  Of course you could simply wrap it in a small plastic bag, but the things I shall now be looking at are rather more fun.

To get to the companies below, simply click  on the company name, they are links to them.

INCIPIO:

These people make a range of bags in bright and cheerful colours for Amazon, Barnes and Noble and  Sony eReaders.  They are made from tough materials and there are basically two types, the first being simply a made to measure bag for your eReader, the second having a transparent front, so you can use your eReader while it is in its bag - probably useful if you want to read in the rain.

price: about 30 US Dollars

PLAYCOM:

Playcom have a wide range of eReader accessories on offer, including several cases with transparent fronts, so once again you can use your eReader in its case. They seem to only have cases and other accessories for Sony products, but they sell a good wide range of these things.

price: about 26 British Pounds

 M-EDGE:

This is a truly extraordinary case for the smaller Kindles from Amazon, it is completely water-proof (to 1 meter) and is so constructed that you can happily read your Kindle while swimming.  Apparently you can even read it in the water "hands free" as it floats upright.  It is a rather beautiful object in itself and comes in a cheerful range of colours.

It is also unsinkable (more so than the Titanic I hope!) as it has three built in buoyancy chambers.

Fun thing for he who has everything.

price: not yet known as it will become available this coming Spring.

  
 

M-EDGE

They also make a range of very solid covers for the 6" Kindle eReaders, these are more like wallets as they have a closing flap.  I can do no better than to quote from their website here.

• Precision construction and craftsmanship make the genuine patent leather Icon jacket a must have for on-the-go Kindle readers who don't want to sacrifice style for functionality.
• The jacket's interior is made of lush grey microsuede and includes a side pocket for storage of papers as well as a smaller business card pocket and pen loop. A detachable wristlet strap allows for easy and stylish on-the-go carrying.
• Kindle is held in place via a sturdy four-point mounting system made of the exterior patent leather. The front flap closes securely as well as folds back for easy reading via a hidden magnetic closure.
• Compatible with M-Edge's e-Luminator2 booklight (sold separately)

         price around 35 US Dollars

Source M-EDGE:

 

PROPORTA

 Proporta produce among other eReader accessories, a range of cover/bags which will fit most eReaders which are quite impressive.   As with the M-EDGE products, I shall quote from their website, as they give a good and concise description of their products there.

Their description of this product:

Handcrafted from the finest quality faux leather, the beautiful Leather Style Universal Reader Case is designed to work with a range of eReaders measuring up to 134mm x 190mm x 18mm. The luxury lining will keep your device cocooned away from all the nasty little surprises that life has in store, and the button fastener prevents accidental opening. Finished with a striking green lining and a diagonal stripe with contrast overstitching, this case is as stylish as it is robust, and even has a special pocket for holding spare memory cards.

price: about 15 British Pounds.

 

Source: Proporta

EREADER CASE COM 

These people make a range of covers and bags that will fit a variety of eReaders and they come in a cheerful range of colours too, which I like.

Basically they have bags to keep your eReader clean and unscratched while it is knocking around in the bottom of your bag or under the sofa in you house.  These are simply cloth bags, which you zip open and shut.  They also have a zipped pocket on the outside to keep papers and possibly a slim pen or two, handy I feel.

Their eReader covers are impressive looking bits of kit, which seem to be adjustable to fit a wide range of eReaders, and have a pocket on the inside in which one can store papers... money for the bus and so on.

Another rather pleasing range they have are slip on covers for eReaders.   These are simply fabric or neoprene bags with draw string closing, into which you stuff your eReader.  These come in an amazing range of technicolor tints and patterns, quite overwhelmingly colourful.... but fun!

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

 

They have gone yet another step, which I will report upon, even though it doesn't come under the heading of this post...... They offer brightly patterned decals (transfers for the English) to stick onto your eReader, simply to cheer it up....  Nice idea.

prices vary from about 10 US Dollars too 40 US Dollars, and they can all be bought at Amazon.

Well, this is a start, I shall be coming back to this post regularly and updating it as I come across other covers for our eReaders, so return and keep an eye on this post, it will grow!!!!!!! 

SHARE WITH US:
If you have come across a company who produce and sell  any accessories for eReaders, please do contact me so we can let the rest of the world know about your discovery.

A COUPLE OF HOME MADE COVERS FOR YOUR eREADER

I know that almost every eReader manufacturer can supply you with a cover for your eReader, and most of those I have seen have been tough, business like things, and are highly to be recommended,  but they almost all suffer from being very dull, mostly made from leather or plastic pretending to be leather, and come in a range of wonderfully sombre colours - black, brown, grey and so on. They also all look like they contain an expensive bit of electronic equipment, and are thus very attractive to thieves.  Sitting happily on the terrace of your local Starbucks, enjoying a cup of good coffee, your eReader looks well worth stealing to your average street crook, who in some parts of the world are all too common - a case in point is Cebu City, in the Philippines where I live. I have known them to steal bags from under the table we were sitting  at in a restaurant without us noticing the theft until we got up to leave.

My wife, who has her own eReader has been pondering on these points and come up with a couple of  rather neat, and fun solutions to them, and has asked me to post them for her, so here goes.......

For those who live in Britain, this will all be highly reminiscent of Blue Peter, a very popular children's TV program that always shows you how to make something using old plastic bottles and such like, so for them,...............  Here is one I made earlier.............

SIMPLE FABRIC COVER:

Materials needed:

• Cheerful fabric of your choice
• Needle and thread
• eReader in its  normal cover

The idea here is to simply make a loose cover for your eReader with the fabric you have chosen. It seems to me to be so obvious how to make this, that I don't really need to write a step by step set of instructions here, if you can thread a needle you will be able to work out how to make this one by yourself I feel.

Once you have made it, your eReader will be personalised and very much more cheerful looking, and as an added bonus, not quite so obviously a piece of expensive electronic equipment.

PAPER/CARD COVER: RECYCLING YOUR FAVORITE BOOK COVER:

Materials and tools needed:

• Sharp craft knife
• Book-binder's tape (or similar strong fabric)
• Glue to glue tape to cover
• Your eReader in its cover
• Cover from an old book, a bit larger all round than the cover for your eReader
  

How to make it: 

1. Take the paper cover that you have found and lay  it open on the table (see picture 1)
   
2. Lay your eReader in its own cover, open on the paper cover (see picture 2)
   
3. Fold paper cover flaps over your eReader as if you were placing the paper cover on it (see picture 3)
4. Now cut Book-binder's tape to correct width and length to place along top and bottom of paper cover (see picture 4)
5. Glue the tape in place
6. When the glue is dry, close book, and it is done!  (see picture 5)

Picture 1

 

Picture 2

 

Picture 3

 

Picture 4

Picture 5

Should the cover you have chosen be too floppy, you could add a couple of pieces of stiff card to the inside of the cover to strengthen it of course.

Now you  have a something that when closed, looks like a perfectly normal book, and thus of no real interest to possible thieves, and as a small added bonus, it feels like a real book when you hold it - the lack of this feeling is something that a lot of people have given as a reason not to want anything to do with eReaders I have noticed.

SHARE WITH US:

If anyone of you gets carried away and actually makes one of these covers, please send us pictures of them, so that I can post them here for others to admire.  You will of course be credited with the pictures and any pointers you have for making the covers.

Further, if anyone has any other ideas for making eReaders more attractive and personal, do let me know.