Medis Power Pack: A fuel cell gadget charger

As I write, a small black box on my desk--a liquid fuel cell--is charging my iPod Touch.

It's a Medis 24-7 Power Pack, a portable charger for small electronics like a cell phone or an iPod.

Medis Technologies says that one Power Pack, which recently went on sale online and at Best Buy, can give you 30 hours of talk time on an average mobile phone or 60 to 80 hours of play time on an average iPod. That translates to about five or six full charges for an iPhone. A starter kit with adapters costs about $40 and a replacement pack is about $20.

Power on the go, using a fuel-cell charger.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET News)

With the explosion in gadgets, many of them becoming more power-hungry, there are growing set of options for on-the-go recharging, including direct liquid fuel cells. Large consumer electronics manufacturers, including Sharp, are developing products that can be charged by these pint-size power sources.

The Medis 24-7 Power Pack is one of, if not the, first liquid fuel-cell chargers for small devices. You can also expect versions for laptops within two to five years, say adherents.

I'll offer my first impressions with one important disclosure: I am not a product reviewer. I'm a green-tech reporter who likes to play around with alternative energy in the home.

First, why bother?

From a technophile perspective, this is a neat device. No longer are fuel cells reserved for spacecraft and car-of-the-future demonstrations. At $40, it's a real consumer-ready fuel cell.

Medis and other portable charger makers say that this isn't a replacement for your standard AC charger. Instead, think of it as a supplemental power source when you can't get to a wall socket.

If you're on the move all day for work or school, you can pull a portable charger out to add some talk time to your cell phone or get a couple more hours of music during your commute. It can be transported on a plane and it's light, at less than half of a pound.

The Medis Power Pack before being activated. You have to squeeze the top until it snaps with the bottom to get the electricity flowing.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET News)

The Xtreme version of the Medis 24/7 puts out four watts. It took about an hour to bring my slightly-more-than-half-charged iPod to full. That seems to match the company's claim that it charges at about the same speed as an AC charger.

Unlike a stand-alone battery, this can't be recharged--you recycle it or, down the road, refill a fuel cartridge.

Green-tech cred
Medis Technologies says that it's a green product because everything in it can be recycled. It doesn't use any toxic materials like the heavy metals used in batteries, complies with RoHS hazardous waste regulations, and doesn't have harmful emissions during use, according to the company.

The company encourages recycling by including packaging to send the device back to be recycled before buying a refilled pack.

There are a number of companies that are making liquid fuel cells using methanol, but the Medis charger uses a solution of sodium borohydride, a mineral that comes from mines. It's also looking at synthetic replacements.

The fuel itself can recycled in other products, Medis Technologies vice president Michelle Rush said. The spent borates can be purified and put into detergents, cosmetics, fire retardants, and other products, she said.

The next generation of its fuel cell, expected to be ready in 18 months, will have a detachable cartridge that can be refilled, which should be more convenient than mailing a product back. Medis Technologies hopes that it can get involved in retail tech recycling programs like those for camera batteries or printer cartridges.

"Consumers really want to support green companies and we are clearly on that path," Rush said.

How to use
You could store it for at least 18 months, most likely years, before activating, according to the company. Once it has started being used, it has three months of life.

The end user, in fact, has to start the chemical reaction to get the juice flowing. To activate it, you remove a plastic strip strapped around the device and then squeeze the top so that it snaps with the bottom.

You then shake it to mix the solution around and the electricity is ready to flow. It comes with adapters for many devices.

Overall, this seems like a good application of fuel cells. And I applaud the company for making--and taking back through a partner--a product that they say can be entirely recycled.

My own needs for portable power are fairly limited but I'll keep the pack in my car for when I need an extra boost.

The Power Pack is also competing with "free" energy from my solar chargers. Another portable charger I'm waiting to go commercial is the planned motion-powered electronics charger from M2E Power.

In a couple of years, Medis plans to make fuel-cell chargers for laptops able to deliver 20 watts of electricity, which would give eight more hours of operation. The idea is to have a solid fuel that gets mixed with water as needed.

Depending on its weight, a fuel cell for laptops could attract a lot more people who would rather have a clean power source than lug around extra batteries.

Update on September 14 5:10 p.m. PT to make clear there are two editions of the Power Pack with different technical specifications.

The Medis Xtreme 24/7, which I used, is for charging larger devices like an iPhone; the Medis 24/7 is for cell phones. The Xtreme puts out 4 watts at five volts and has a capacity of 4.5 ah (ampere-hours), while the Medis 24/7 delivers 1 watt.

[ketanc]

This is all very nice. But unless being green is your thing this is overpriced. You can get a tiny credit card sized back-up charger from maplin for £10 ($18). This has helped to get me and my TYTN II through and 9 hour flight using audio and video. It's easily recharged all over the world and is very compact. It's better than the Power Monkey. Fuels cells need to get smaller and cheaper as being green is not always enough of a reason to purchase.
This is a good first atempt though.

[skrubol]

What's it's energy capacity? Any more than a D cell or two?

[stigmattaman]

I forgot what they said exactly, but reps said it'll charge an average phone about 20 times. I agree that it's a bit overpriced, but it's very interesting and exciting.

[Lerianis]

Who knows.... at some point in the future, these things might actually be included as a INITIAL option on devices, especially laptops and gaming-class laptops that are known to be very power-hungry. This also sounds like it might be a little safer than the lithium-ion packs that we have right now, if the chemical reaction is known to be very stable and not affected by temperature.

[ralfthedog]

Sounds great for the weather kit. Some of us live in cities where the power gets knocked out by Ice storms and tornadoes quite often. When the power is out for two weeks, the only other way to recharge your cell phone is with your car.

[imhodudes]

While Texas gets flooded off the map from global warming caused by the billions of tons of carbon fueling our expanding global industrial infrastructure and by the rapid replacement of rainforests by methane-belching beef cows, we will be able to photograph the final remnants of our ecosystems using green-technology batteries so their images can be preserved for our grandchildren.

[mrpoopoo]

Well, it officially sucks. I got one last week, cracked it open and let it charge my Blackberry for a few hours. The Blackberry showed the icon indicating a power source was attached, but after about 3 hours I did not see a noticeable change in battery charge. Tried once more 2 days later for about 1 hour, I came back to check it out and the green indicator on the Medis unit was dimmed. I shook the device (you can hear fluid sloshing around) and it came back on, only to go out again 30 minutes later. Tried again today, after about 5 minutes light goes out again, so I shake, disconnect connection cord, reconnect, green light stays on for a few minutes, repeat... blah blah blah. Big disappointment.

[TryItYourself]

Tilyou is the nomme de guerre of a seemingly otherwise unemployed Manhattan lawyer who has carried a vendetta against Medis for almost six years. During all that time he has claimed that Medis is a scam, that it will never produce a product, etc., etc., etc. He also claims to have no interest in its failure - such an altruist - but there has been a large short position betting on the firms failure since forever. He posts on stock chat boards under multiple aliases and will invariably post denigrating comments in response to any online review where it is possible. He also will quote his aliases as "proof" of his contentions. Just do a Google on "tilyou medis -media" and see what I mean. What might an objective observer conclude about his motivations?

I believe mrpoopoo is another of his aliases. Note that mrpoopoo did not post his comment until five days after Mr. LaMonica's original review. Ninety-one minutes later, Tilyou posts the poopoo comment on the Yahoo stock discussion board as if it is an unbiased review, and within half an hour posts under his Tilyou ID here.

Also, as I write, the Xtreme model reviewed by Mr. LaMonica is not yet available for sale. The company is getting the first shipments from a subcontracting manufacturer and stocking Best Buy for its introduction in October. It is also only getting the first shiipments of the micro-USB tips, the standard agreed upon by several manufacturers for all of their new products, and is not yet available for sale. The 1W product is available only in a starter kit on a limited basis in Best Buy Mobile outlets, boutique mobile stores that are only in NY, NJ, and NC. It is also available online at www.savenna.com. Expect a splash in Best Buy's stores when the full product range is available.

I sincerely doubt "mrpoopoo" actually tested even the 1W product. Tilyou fears the success of the stock once sales begin. If the functionality of this cutting edge product appeals to you, by all means get it. It works as claimed. I have three, but am waiting for the micro-USB tips so I can give one to my daughter who attends university on the gulf coast. She will also get the flashlight, which I have a prototype of for my personal use during those power failures during ordinary thunderstorms - we had two this summer before I got it.

I am awaiting the release of the Xtreme product before I upgrade from my plain vanilla cell phone to a Blackberry World Edition. I travel a lot to different countries - it will be nice not to have to share a mix of adapters with my laptop.

TRY IT!

Disclaimer: I own Medis (MDTL) stock.

[Tilyou]

Medis is a big joke -- just checking a little history shows how funny (and SCAMmy) it is. It's claimed at various times to have an anti-cancer vaccine, medical devices, radical toroidal automobile motors, a refrigeration device, a device to help levitate trains, a device to remove fresh water from the air. Laughing yet?

It's a 1 watt device with a 2 watt battery, and (unlike Cellboost) too weak to power a totally dead cell phone. It's anaemic power dies quickly after activation -- so even if not used, it's even more pathetic after a few days, and totally dead 2 or so weeks later, used or not. There are MANY alternatives for external power with multiple tips for multiple devices -- and they are FAR more green because they're rechargeable. Some use AA, some use AAA and some use lithium-ion, and you don't toss $20 junk everytime. And as the previous poster pointed out, the Medis junk is too lame to do much good for a Blackberry, unless maybe you buy the more expensive power cable and wait ages for the Medis junk to trickly charge it.

When I say Medis is a scam, I'm not whistling through my hat -- I've got hard facts. Here take a look http://ragingbull.quote.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=MDTL&read=379

The short version is they've promised radical breakthroughs and products and claimed to have production lines for many "revolutionary" products but never NEVER since inception in 1992 has Medis EVER had revenue from products.

Tilyou

[notsogreenweenie]

Medis Technologies, stock symbol MDTL, and the 24-7 Power Pack are respectively... a joke as a company, and a non-starter as a product.

[opticalboom9000]

The powerpack is unbelievably great.Power anywhere anytime + It's environmentaly friendly.

[notsogreenweenie]

The only thing green about this product is the hue of the photos above.

[TryItYourself]

Tilyou is the nomme de guerre of a seemingly otherwise unemployed Manhattan lawyer who has carried a vendetta against Medis for almost six years. During all that time he has claimed that Medis is a scam, that it will never produce a product, etc., etc., etc. He also claims to have no interest in its failure - such an altruist - but there has been a large short position betting on the firms failure since forever. He posts on stock chat boards under multiple aliases and will invariably post denigrating comments in response to any online review where it is possible. He also will quote his aliases as "proof" of his contentions. Just do a Google on "tilyou medis -media" and see what I mean. What might an objective observer conclude about his motivations?

I believe mrpoopoo is another of his aliases. Note that mrpoopoo did not post his comment until five days after Mr. LaMonica's original review. Ninety-one minutes later, Tilyou posts the poopoo comment on the Yahoo stock discussion board as if it is an unbiased review, and within half an hour posts under his Tilyou ID here.

Also, as I write, the Xtreme model reviewed by Mr. LaMonica is not yet available for sale. The company is getting the first shipments from a subcontracting manufacturer and stocking Best Buy for its introduction in October. It is also only getting the first shiipments of the micro-USB tips, the standard agreed upon by several manufacturers for all of their new products, and is not yet available for sale. The 1W product is available only in a starter kit on a limited basis in Best Buy Mobile outlets, boutique mobile stores that are only in NY, NJ, and NC. It is also available online at www.savenna.com. Expect a splash in Best Buy's stores when the full product range is available.

I sincerely doubt "mrpoopoo" actually tested even the 1W product. Tilyou fears the success of the stock once sales begin. If the functionality of this cutting edge product appeals to you, by all means get it. It works as claimed. I have three, but am waiting for the micro-USB tips so I can give one to my daughter who attends university on the gulf coast. She will also get the flashlight, which I have a prototype of for my personal use during those power failures during ordinary thunderstorms - we had two this summer before I got it.

I am awaiting the release of the Xtreme product before I upgrade from my plain vanilla cell phone to a Blackberry World Edition. I travel a lot to different countries - it will be nice not to have to share a mix of adapters with my laptop.

TRY IT!

Disclaimer: I own Medis (MDTL) stock.

[notsogreenweenie]

This website should feature a product review of the Medis Power Pack. The fact that this controversy has erupted gives you an idea of the type of company you might be dealing with. Medis has burned through $250,000,000 in shareholder money without producing revenue. The Power Pack has supposedly been introduced by the company over the last year or two but sales have yet to materialize. You be the judge.

[TryItYourself]

Just try the product yourself. If you can see it, feel it, and hold it, and its value proposition satisfies your needs, buy it. If it doesn't work, bring it back to Best Buy, just as you would any other product that failed to perform. Do you really care that the company spent a lot of money developing the product and has been the target of slander? The "controversy erupted" only because one or more individuals vested in the company's failure chose to post what you see here. Indeed, check it out at Best Buy when it arrives and judge for yourself.

[Tilyou]

"mrpoopoo" is not my alias -- I have no idea who that guy is, but I find him believable. As usual, Medis uses personal attacks when the facts fail them.

The reality is Medis claimed for 9 years to be selling a device useful in cancer detection, and along the way claimed improvements and new uses when it KNEW the device has NO uses -- as the CEO and Presdent later admitted on separate occassions. Medis also claimed to have an anti-cancer vaccine in an "advanced" stage. That's not just scammy, it's UGLY. Never mind its battery, train levitation, and other wild claims that all turned to NO revenue.

Bottom line: the company NEVER produces anything useful, and I have the facts, including the words of the company's CEO and President to prove it. Anyone interested can read here and see for themselves:

http://ragingbull.quote.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=MDTL&read=379

Anyone interested can see for themselves.

T

[Tilyou]

I have no "vested interest" in Medis -- failing or succeeding -- I just don't like scams. And Medis is a scam for reasons I have amply demonstrated with facts. http://ragingbull.quote.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=MDTL&read=379

Or just consider this: we're more than one year after Medis claimed to have an automated production line capable of moving at full tilt. And yet Medis has NO reported revenue. No one wants what it has!

Or consider the famed Microsoft deal -- try Googling THAT. Medis claimed big sales to Microsoft, power packs to be sold under the Microsoft label. But that was a lie, and Medis got sued as a result (the lawsuit is ongoing).

Cellboost may be lousy, but it *is* disposable (you buy it, use it, and dispose it); and it *does* power a 100% dead phone to make an almost immediate call. Medis is more expensive and incapble of both those feats.

Anyone who knows the real market laughs at Medis. The real market are AA, AAA and lithium-ion battery packs that are rechargeable and can hold their power for a long time -- not the trivial days or week or two post-activiation that the anaemic Medis trickle charge to a battery lasts. Some of those are device specific (such as iPod) but many have mutliple-tips for multiple devices. All are better than Medis, and as a bonus can be recharged and are not landfill fodder or superexpensive.

T

[Tilyou]

Here's ANOTHER terrible review that I had nothing to do with...

http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/08/23/another-forgettable-fuel-cell/

Some quotes from it below.

Now that the Medis junk is on the market, it can't hide!

T

===================
http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/08/23/another-forgettable-fuel-cell/

the Medis Power Pack costs about $US1.50 per watt-hour. The alkalines are about 13 US cents per watt-hour.

(The Medis price, by the way, doesn?t include all the cables and plugs. You have to pay more to get those, but you can of course use them again with future thirty-dollar Power Packs. The Medis FAQ says the kit with cables is supposed to cost thirty bucks, with replacement Power Packs costing only $US19.99, but they seem to have not quite hit that price point.)

UPDATE: It?s even worse than I thought. As ?Techskeptic? points out in the comments below, when he tested some 24-7 Power Packs he found they didn?t even come close to their sticker capacity.

and the article concludes with a post by Techskeptic (also not me) who wrote:

I have been looking at this product for a while now. Came to the same conclusion with some actual test data. Feel free to take a look if you like:

http://techskeptic.blogspot.com/2006/04/medis-power-pack.html
http://techskeptic.blogspot.com/2006/04/medis-power-pack-part-deux.html
http://techskeptic.blogspot.com/2008/01/medis-finale.html
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dhnk7t47_8dnxvtkcv&hl=en

yeah, ultimately the same conclusions. Its nonsense. I just have tests to back that up.

[TryItYourself]

Chat rooms and reviews where Tilyou has posted derogatory information about Medis, from a man who has no "vested interest in Medis -- failing or succeeding":
yahoo
engadget
blogs.marketwatch
ragingbull
gadling
google
ivblog.blogspot
aviationreviews
blog.wired.com
investorvillage
ctia2007
gizmodo
wallstreettape

[notsogreenweenie]

Yep, with this level of discord evident I'll bet these are really flying off the shelves.

[opticalboom9000]

It's fascinating how the powerpack only exerts power if a load is put on it.