Full disclosure, didn't buy this from Amazon. However, I know many will look for reviews of this product here before buying in a physical store.
If you want a portable solar panel that works fast (as solar goes) even in relatively low sunlight, this is the charger for you.
If you like products that come without any documentation, directions, warranty cards, compatibility lists, other any thing but just the product, the packing, and what's written on the outside packaging, this is the charger for you. You might conclude that it's a roll of the dice if this will work with your device. And if so, you'd be correct.
If you have a usb-to-(your device) adaptor, that you absolutely, positively know will work with this product (despite them not providing a detailed compatibility list in the packaging or on the website), then this is the charger for you. I plugged in my ipod 5G and even in moderate light it started charging. However (I bet you saw that however coming, didn't you?), my newer ipod, an ipod touch, wouldn't charge with these panels. There was much sadness. I looked on the Brunton web site (and also did the old Google search) to see if it needed a special adapter beyond my genuine apple usb-to-synch cable. None seem to exist. So, if you have an iphone or, like me, have an itouch, or if your device doesn't come with a usb adaptor, you're out of luck. I think it's important to note that this product was released in 2010 so you think they might have heard of these iphone/itouch thingies possibly in some obscure news article or whatever-by now and would want those customers and make the usb compatible with them.
If you only plan to recharge your devices during the day, this is the product for you. Don't confuse this product with similar looking ones that store a charge that you can use to recharge your device later on. With the Brunton Explorer you're just buying solar panels with a usb connection. No other connections. No battery pack. Period. Full stop. When there is no sun, there is no juice. I mention this because the store salesperson didn't seem to understand this and when she pushed this product on me, she assured me it held a charge. She also told me it would work with my iTouch. So, that should tell you a lot right there.
If you like having to buy additional pricy products to make the stuff that's not working (maybe) work, then this is the product you've been waiting for. If you buy one of the Brunton batteries, this product is supposed to charge it for you to use with your device later. These batteries range between $40 and $700 though. From the reviews I've scanned, not clear if the usb charging ability/compatibility is any different, nor are they apparently sturdy, but I digress.
If you don't mind adding two extra pounds (plus up to 5 lbs more if you buy one of the larger Brunton batteries) to your backpack, then this product is awesome to bring with you packing and camping. It folds up and takes up about as much space as a medium-thick magazine folded in half long-ways.
If you're going to lounge around your sunny camp while your stuff recharges, or if you or aren't afraid your stuff is going to get boosted, or your electronics getting rained on, or all of it blown away if it's windy, then you've got a cool little power station going.
But if you went hiking so you could actually go mobile during the daylight hours, and if you (an added bonus) want to look like a dork, you can connect a couple of carabineers to the grommets on it and drape it down the back of your pack, and have wires running from it to your device dangling around on the trail while it charges and you hike around looking like Solar Man. Think about the dimensions of a Playboy Centerfold hanging off your pack (the paper dimensions, dude, not the girl, grow up). Now, don't get me wrong, if you're Jack Bauer and you have to make a planet saving call dang, I hope Jack doesn't use an iPhone and, you know, you have to tell the President that his daughter was kidnapped and the girl in his house is really a clone planted by mad scientists, and clone-girl is the mole who sold the nuclear codes to the terrorists, then, by all means, dork up and make that call. Save the world, man. Otherwise, unless it's sort of a 9-1-1 situation these four solar panels are a lot of real estate flopping on your back, and you will, indeed, get some double takes and raised eyebrows.
So, all said, this appears to be more of a car camping solar array. However (yeah, you saw it coming again, you're good), why didn't you just buy a $14 dollar charger and charge in your car on the drive up to camp? If you're using the solar panels to save the environment, that's cool; but go buy the really good array and not the one that's supposed to be portable that's my point. This appears to be marketed at backpackers, hence the name "explorer" instead of what they must have called it during beta testing "may not work with your stuff and will make you look like a dork if you try to hang it off your pack solar panels."
I returned this and exchanged it for a solar charger I can actually take on an extended hiking trip. It will charge slow, sure, but it WILL charge my devices. However, (gotcha) if you're not like me and you aren't looking to charge an iphone/itouch/or other too-super-secret-to-include-in-the-box-or-on-the-website-incompatible-usb-devices then this might really be a good product for you.
I give this two stars for rockin-fast and low-light-sensitive solar panels (even if you won't tell me what they work with, that is very cool). Then, minus a star for marketing it for hikers but not making a more backpack friendly design, and finally minus two stars for not including appropriate documentation on web or in the box thus wasting my time, plus misleading the sales staff, ironically causing me to have to use up more gas driving all the way back to the store and return it totally offsetting the whole solar power don't kill the earth thing.
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Update. I posted this original review in early 2010. Many thanks to those who enjoyed it and got the point. Just a few extra notes:
I ended up getting a Solio Hybrid. I needed to charge my iPod touch 2nd gen. Was helpful to have last year when the dericho killed all the power on the east coast and kept our phones going and connected to internet.
I was in the 5th grade in 1976. That was a while ago, but I'm almost positive that charging cell phones and mp3 players via usb wasn't part of the curriculum seeing as usb connection technology wouldn't be invented for a few years -not to mention the cell phone. It is good to know that kids are getting that info now. But I'll take a quantum leap here and say if that if you are about my age and your 5th grade teacher's name was Mr. Bakula or Mr. Stockwell you might ask your doctor about some Alzheimer's meds because you're getting fact and science fiction confused. Oh, but fun fact, do you know what was part of the 5th grade curriculum in 1976? Grammar. Too bad they don't seem to teach THAT anymore.
I do concur with some of the criticism below. One should do one's homework on a product. For example, checking the manufacturer's website is one kind of research. Asking the clerk in the store is another (who, by the way was a college kid and in charge of the counter with all the solar products. She must not have gotten her usb-to-device 5th grade power transfer lessons either). Mostly I just wanted to buy something that would charge my iPod on my hiking trip -so I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended that I didn't take the time to get my electrical engineering degree or even take a class at DeVry so I could listen to music and check email when away for a week. So, I stand corrected. Asking for "works with iPod" printed on the packaging is just wrong. I'm a bad man. Shame on me.
For the record. I like many things about this product. I'm pretty sure I listed those, and I don't think I "trashed" it. It's probably good for, um, well, whatever it's for. It just didn't do what I was told it would do, didn't have any documentation saying otherwise, and no other reviews gave me that info. It cost $120 dollars two years ago too. Nonetheless, I'm glad to know this is a good product for a bug-out bag so I'll be able to charge my flashlight and see the four horsemen of the apocalypse coming. But seeing as I won't have my earbuds in (since, you know, I don't have an explorer like you do and it won't charge my iPod), then I'll be able to hear the hoofbeats. However, the DHOH survivalist community owes you a debt of gratitude for info included in one of the reviews. In the meantime, when I don't want to carry that kind of weight when backpacking for pleasure and I'm not escaping zombies or the rape gangs, I'll go for a lighter product.
Final thought: I wouldn't be caught dead wearing smarty pants. I only wear cranky pants. Long ones. Boot cut. Sorry if that's . . . what the word? Oh yes, "stupid." Hmm. Well, you know what they say about stupid is as stupid does. Oh, wait, some of you clearly don't. Well, something to think about then.
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I got this solar charger to use charging AA eneloop batteries and my ipod. It has a high power output and works very well with the Brunton Solo Batt Pack, charging 4 AA or AAA batteries relatively quickly. What it cannot do is charge my ipod touch. It turns out that this is because of Apple, not a flaw in the charger. For whatever reason, they made it so that you simply cannot charge a 3rd gen. touch with this charger. What I found quite by accident is that if you plug a Boxwave Ipad charging adapter (
