The FreeLoader Portable Solar Charger is a neat little device which supplies you with power for your pocket-sized devices while you're on the go, or when you otherwise don't have access to a power socket. It is versatile though, and can even be used without sun, as long as you have a computer.

The FreeLoader works in three ways, and can:

* Charge its internal battery from the sun (as is evident from the name)

* Powers its internal battery from a computer via a USB link

* Powers your portable devices without wait time either by solar power or USB if you plug them in when it's charging.

The only downsides are small ones. First, there's a kind of tedious powering-up time if you're using the solar option. It took about 8 and a half hours for me to power-up my FreeLoader Portable Solar Charger immediately after I received it on a mostly sunny day in Los Angeles. Still, that's no trouble, because if you want a faster charge time you can just plug it into a USB port (three hours, about) or charge the device directly by hooking it in while FreeLoader charges.

The only claim I don't believe from their selling rhetoric is that it will charge "any hand held device." There are two plugins on the device itself, and a further twenty two adapter tips that arrive with it. That is a lot, no fault, but I'm not sure it's enough to justify the "any hand held device" label.

Still, these are pretty much the only downside with this great charging gismo. If you have a lot of mobile devices that need powering on a regular basis, its many adapters are useful. If you spend a great deal of time outdoors away from power sockets, it's superb for that too.

Definitely worth checking out!