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PRODUCT REVIEW
BatteryWerks lets you recharge any Palm device
By Dan Wolfson
A little-known corollary to Murphy's Law states, "The farther you are from a retail establishment, the greater the odds your Palm device's batteries will die." If your Palm unit model isn't rechargeable, you'd better be packing some spares. Wouldn't it be great if you could make your battery-eating Palm device rechargeable?
Entrepreneur Jim Jorrie saw a need here and filled it. His company, BatteryWerks, offers a rechargeable battery pack and charging system for several Palm device models. According to Jorrie, his 700ma Ni-Cad pack will charge in just two hours, several times faster than any other unit on the market, and it will take 1000 charge cycles, compared to half that for the competition. Currently, the recharging system is only available for Palm devices. A Handspring Visor kit will be coming out later this year.
Your cradle will rock
This setup lets you charge the pack while your Palm device is in its cradle, and you can HotSync while charging. Installation is simple. HotSync first, of course, and then replace your batteries with the NiCad pack and replace the battery compartment door with the BatteryWerks door. The charging cord snaps into mounting holes in the battery door, as shown in Figure A.
FIGURE A
 
The charging cord snaps into mounting holes in the battery door. Roll over picture for a larger image.
You can then plug it into an AC adapter power block or into your vehicle's cigarette lighter. The auto adapter has large grip wings, making it very easy to plug in or unplug.
Web site coming soon
The package will sell for $49.95 and includes the NiCad battery pack, AC power brick with car lighterplug, car adapter cord, replacement battery compartment door, case, and instructions. Most of these items are pictured in Figure B.
FIGURE B
 
The package includes the NiCad battery pack, AC power brick with car lighter plug, car adapter cord, and the replacement battery compartment door. Roll over picture for a larger image.
It will be available within the next month or so from http://www.oceanbattery.com, once they get the site up. If you just can't wait, you can order from Jim via email at jjorrie@satx.rr.com. To paraphrase the late, great Jackie Gleason, "What a re-volting development!"
Product availability and resources
For more information on BatteryWerks, email Jim Jorrie at jjorrie@satx.rr.com.
For more information about Palm computers, visit http://www.palm.com.
Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
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Dan Wolfson is a Project Manager for a southern California comunications technology company as well as a freelance writer and photographer in San Diego. His work has been published in Time, Life, USA Today and the South China Morning Post.
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