Fortuna Clip-on and travel recharger?

MarkH

I'm thinking of buying a Fortuna Clip-on, because of it's replaceable battery and hopefully it will be good for walking around cities in XT mode. I found out that the receiver comes with a US recharger and US-UK adapter which looks fairly bulky. I presume the recharger is fairly standard (seems to have a USB type plug which looks like the mobile phone rechargers) and was wondering if anybody replaced it with a travel recharger like the one for the XDA where you can slip on US,UK and European plugs, or just a standard but small UK recharger? I will be going on holidays in Europe next month and I'm starting to realise the rechargers/power adapters for my PDA, camera and GPS will take up more room than the devices themselves - I'm trying to travel light.

Also, is the Fortuna clip-on too big for a jeans pocket - the 30mm thickness puts me off a little, which makes me look at the Emtac Trine because it's thinner but £45 more expensive.

TC · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:03 pm Post subject:

Mark,

Not sure you're going to get a good answer to you question, but for what it's worth here's a couple of things that might help you decide what to do.

Firstly the clip-on charger does have US flat pins on it. I think that you will find this will fit most European shaver outlets, it certainly fits the common UK dual voltage shaver outlet (takes round and flat pins)

The clip-on also comes with cigarette socket adaptor for use in a car. This like the main charger has a USB outlet on it. I guess if you're travelling light you might not have access to a car, but it's just a thought.

Last thing I have that might be of interest is a battery extender. This is just a case with a wire that takes 4 AA batteries and can be used to charge you dead PDA 2-3 times, when you cannot get to any power. You could also use this to charge the clip-on, and perhaps (not sure) even your mobile phone since you can get battery extenders with female USB connectors (http://www.shirtpocket.co.uk/cat/index.php?cPath=22_36_33) beware that you should only put rechargeable AAs in here and not regular Duracell type batteries that have a higher voltage.

As for the size of the thing - it's about 1/2 the length of a standard Snickers bar - is that too big for you jeans? The clip-on does come with a lanyard that you could use to wear round you neck. It also has a belt clip (hence I guess 'Clip'-on)
_________________
Ipaq 2210
Fortuna Clip-on [Xtrac V2]
Tom Tom Navigator 3
Memory Map

MarkH · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:57 pm Post subject:

I know it's a bit of a vague question. Thanks for the info. I suppose I'm trying to resolve all the issues before I buy the thing - I wish I could just hold the thing in my hand - went around the shops in Tottenham Court Road but they all had sealed boxes which they wouldn't open.

harry66 · Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:09 pm Post subject:

The thing really is quite small - took it into work and the guys couldnt beleive how small it was.

Also, as mentioned above it comes with a little pouch and belt/trouser clip. The clip is quite secure and needs to be turned through 90deg and a button depressed to release so you really could just clip onto your jeans and walk around with it.

MarkH · Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 9:04 pm Post subject:

I went ahead and got it. Some observations that might help someone else thinking of buying it:

Yes, it is small enough to fit in the pocket. While not the thinest it fits alongside my wallet. Yes it does come with a belt clip - I don't like having any of my gadgets in view - not to look too much like a geek and to avoid getting robbed. The device comes with a cable that can charge 2 devices - it seems to fit my XDA II. Interestingly on the other end is a USB plug which I'm guessing can be charged from a laptop, but I haven't tried it yet. Also it can use standard Nokia batteries. Even though the charger comes with a US-UK adapter, the charger itself is fairly compact so the whole thing isn't too bulky. I'm impressed how all these little details are well thought out (apart from the US-UK adapter).

	PocketGPS
	Web