iPad Battery Backup in a 'New Trent Nutshell'

The portability of the iPad is simply awesome. I, like many others, strongly disagree with the people who refuse to call it a mobile device (no namedropping). One big reason for its portability is its battery. Apple claims it sustains 10 hours of web surfing, watching videos or listening to music and many hundred hours of standby time. I have seen it happen on my 32GB Wi-Fi only model which I use all the time. Leave it on the nightstand with 74% of battery left and wake up next morning, 8 hours later, with the battery showing 73% remaining. That's how awesome it is.

The iPad is perfect for use during the day, while on the go. For a device that lasts that long and for the tasks it can accomplish, it truly is a revolutionary device. All this is great for everyday use when you know you can plug it in 10 hours later and have it fully recharged in no time to be used again. What about using it for more than 10 hours without being able to recharge? Maybe on a long flight or
road trip (car chargers are available though)? While battery backups are available for smaller devices like cellphones, finding one for the iPad may not be as easy. Especially if you're looking for something small and lightweight that you can carry on a flight. With a 23 hour travel day coming up on my trip to Asia next month, I needed something just like that.

After browsing through online stores I came across a few that looked bulky and didn't give too much juice for the money either. But then I ran into the 'New Trent Super-pack IMP500'. 

New Trent IMP500 packaging

This thing looked pretty compact in pictures and boasted a 5000mAh battery which added up to 5 additional hours of battery life to the iPad. Additionally, it would charge most mobile devices including an iPhone 4 (300% or 3 charge cycles), iPods, cell phones and other mp3 players. For $39.99 on Amazon it looked like a good deal. So I purchased one and hoped for the best. 

The IMP500 Device

The UPS guy delivered the package today (Saturday). I have unboxed the IMP500 since, checked it out and really like it. It's not bulky at all and has a good design. More importantly it works great. I think it will work just fine and be very useful to me on that trip of mine. There is a 12 hour flight I have to take across the Pacific followed by a 2 hour layover and another 9 hour flight to my final destination. 

The IMP500 comes well packaged with an instruction/specification sheet, an AC adapter with a USB interface, 2 cables (one AC adapter cable and one retractable dock connector cable) and 4 adapter pins to be used with other devices. The AC adapter can also be used as a wall charger for any of these devices (including iPads, iPhones and iPods) using one of the adapter pins. The IMP500 is black in color with a blue border. A power button helps turn this thing on and off as required. It also has a capacity indicator light which shows how much battery-life is left. I should also mention that one can also use Apple's dock connector cable to charge their iDevice using the IMP500. The device itself can be charged either with the AC adapter or using the USB cable included to charge it via a computer. Full specifications can be found on the manufacturer's website here.

Here are some more pictures. I guess I'll be able to give a full review once I return from my trip late January next year.

Size matters!

Thickness compared to the iPad

IMP500 in action charging the iPad