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So lets say you had one of these:



Lets say it's partially charged. Then you plug it into something like a S Flo USB slot thingy. Do ya think it would charge the S flo or the s flo would charge the battery?

"Intelligent" devices like MP3/MP4's, PMP's, Cameras, etc would be charged by the battery and not the other way arround. PC's are designed to have a power output of 5V and 500ma on USB ports for powering things like keyboards, mice, cameras, etc. The past 10 years, companies have taken advantage of that power output and used it for charging batteries in things like media devices and whatnot. Thats why AC adaptors with USB plugs also put out similar power and USB has started to become a world wind standard. So even the worst designed player will charge from the USB port and not reverse it. Having said that, most of those USB batteries like you linked to, have a very short run time and lack enough juice to power and charge most players on their own. If you could hookup 2-3 at a time to the player you would be in business, but just one would likely result in complete waste of time. Something like the FiiO P3 (sold in this store) would let you use two of those batteries and give you the ability to charge them on the go so you wouldnt need a desktop/notebook with you.

Ah OK. Thanks!

Nicely detailed answer by the way.

Cool. Also, I dont want you to think that those batteries are worthless. They can be useful but since they have been on the market now for about 5 or so years they havent taken off very well. Thats mainly because they have a pretty short run time. They are convient for people who are always on the go and have something like a laptop with them to always keep them charged. If you you dont really work on the road then you will do better with a regualr Ni-MH/Ni-Cd charger and batteries. If you go that route, then I find Panasonic are the best in voltage/Ma (discharge rate) output vs time used (discharge time). If you're on a tight budget and looking for best bang for the buck then SoShine batteries are a great deal and they are in fact the OEM supplier for Panasonic in the battery world. While Panasonic keeps the rights to their on battery formula, SoShine uses the same material and build process since they make the Panasonic batteries. You pretty much get 90% of the name brand for 20% of the cost. You just might have to deal with mail order, but the time is worth it in money savings. ^_^

Already got some recharable batteries. Panasonic i think. Only use em for the Wii remote but they work fine! Thanks for telling me about the SoShine though, I'll have a look.

Main reason i thought it would be cool for USB batteries is charging them with this mini solar charger i have lol... doesn't do much but i like the idea of free energy.

Well, there are low power chargers that will charge off lower power sources like solar cells. SoShine does indeed make a USB charger for PC's that needs 5v at 200ma to operate. That is very much in the realm of little partable solar chargers. It will take at least a day to get a full charge on AA or AAA batteries that are about 1000ma and up. So it's slow going, but it does work. Quite some time ago, I made a wave trap (a type of crystal radio) to harness a local peanut whistle raido staion for the sole purpose of trickle charging some old C and D cells. It worked, but it was pretty slow. Still, it was nice of the station to provide me with free power for that since they keep bleeding through all the other chanels on the part of the band.

those usb rechargeable batteries are pretty sweet. never thought about a battery like that b4

When they first announced them in 2004/5 they were a big deal for a couple of months. Places like thinkgeek couldnt stop the preorders from comming in. The the reality of the battery set in on their release. People just dropped them like a bad cold. I had a pair (left them in a hotel on a trip to Germany a few years ago), and they werent bad. They just have a very short run time compared to standard recharge or normal alkies. They also have a longer recharge time compared to their run time. I found that they were a disaster for cameras (as the flash is a real killer) and to be honest, I cant think of anything that they are good for except emergency use if you have them on hand. Then again, they are only about half a battery. The other half is the USB charging system. From my use of them, I say they are on par with using AAA to AA converters. They have enough juice to work, but not for very long.

You sir know your batteries..

LOL, yeah and I really dont know why. It's almost like some sort of bizaro hobby I've had the past 20+ years. I think it rubbed off from my father when I was a kid.