Pull the (power) plug review: Battery Pack Pro

In the upcoming issue of Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine, I'll explore alternative power solutions for Windows Mobile devices. To that end, I am now "road testing" many of the devices in the upcoming article. This week, I've been working with the Battery Pack Pro, a $22.50 device from the Boxwave Corporation. (For more information on this, and all of the alternate charging solutions I review, please check out the next issue of our magazine.)

The Battery Pack Pro uses four AA batteries to recharge your Windows Mobile device.

Pros:

• It can be used absolutely anywhere in the world that you can purchase AA batteries, or carry a supply of them with you.
• The system is fast to deploy and easy to use.
• Once the batteries are depleted below a safe level to continue charging the phone, you can use the LED light on the Battery Adapter Pro, to drain the remaining power from the cells. (So you don't throw away batteries that still have energy left in them.)

Cons:

• Uses a lot of disposable batteries to charge the phone (required 8 AA batteries to recharge my AT&T Tilt to 100% capacity).
• Requires a separate USB charging cable which adds to the bulk of an already large accessory.
• Each set of 4 AA batteries will only partially charge your device and then you're left with a set of batteries that aren't fully depleted but cannot be used to provide more power to your phone.

Summary: The Battery Pack Pro provides completely mobile power, because you do not have to connect to an AC or DC power outlet, or rely on another system (like a USB port on a laptop) to recharge your device. However this freedom comes at a price; this unit is extremely battery hungry and will run through AA batteries quite quickly. The Battery Pack Pro is perfect for outdoor adventurists who won't be near standard power sources or travelers that hop countries and don't want to deal with voltage issues and power outlet adapters.