Keeping the power pumped up

December 1, 2007
BY HOWARD WOLINSKY hwolinsky@suntimes.com

We were on an early a.m. flight going to the Bay Area from Chicago. The plane's lights were off, and most passengers pulled the shades and tucked in for the flight.

Most people. Not the chatterboxes in front of us.
» Click to enlarge image
A customer looks at an Apple iPod display at a Costco store in Mountain View, California.
(AP)

So in self-defense, I pulled out my Video iPod and headsets in hopes of drowning out the chitchat.

One problem: The juice was way down.

NuPower ViDEO+, a rechargeable battery pack from Woodstock-based Newer Technology, kept my iPod going and going for the length of the flight.

The NuPower ViDEO+ was a flight saver. I curled up in my own audio cocoon and passed the time listening to "This American Life" and "Radio Lab" podcasts.

And after we arrived, I used the ViDEO+ to recharge my iPod.

NuPower solves some energy problems iPod users encounter. Newer Technology promises to add four hours of video or 66 hours of audio listening to the basic batteries in an iPod. This is a great emergency energy booster.

I've tried some alternatives, such as one-time rechargers, but I had to dispose of them after a single use. NuPower ViDEO+, with a lithium-polymer fuel cell, recharges over approximately three hours, and can be recharged a minimum of 300 times.

The slender device adds 3.9 ounces to an iPod, but it's worth the schlep.

The NuPower ViDEO+ sells for $50 at Other World Computing at www.macsales.com.

Just be sure to charge up the ViDEO+ before you take off on a journey or you'll have to put up with the noisy people in Row 3.