You know those fictional quizzes that ask "if you were on a desert island what couldn't you do without?" Or the one about the "most important invention ever"? Well the correct answer is probably electricity. In this day and age if we have no power, there is not a lot we can do.

Imagine no music or shock, horror, no mobile phone! Or you are videoing a wedding for a family member and you suddenly realise your battery only has 30 seconds left and they are about to "I do". Nightmare stuff.

Not everywhere has a power point handy - the three pronged type not the pie chart one. The aforementioned wedding for example could be on the beach, so what is a person to do? Spare batteries for everything are an obvious solution, but this can be unwieldy, heavy and expensive. Check the price of a replacement Sony battery for anything for example.

So the alternative is well, alternative. And there are three very good ways to minimise electricity interruptus; inverters, solar and storage battery sourced.

Targus APV14AU Inverter

The Targus Inverter is itself powered from a 12v source such as a car cigarette lighter, and through the magic of electronics, turns the 12v DC power going to in, to AC power coming out t'other end; 150W continuous or 200W peak in fact.  Fitting snugly into a car's cup holder (although it is rectangular and not round) this makes it useful for such things as re-charging (or powering) laptops, re- charging batteries in cradles for cameras and camcorders and so on. At a pinch, although you have to be careful to not flatten the car's battery, it could be used to run domestic 240v appliances. There have been cases where in an emergency they have powered lights on a video shoot when the ambience got too dark. Audio had to be cut later obviously as the noise of the car engine intruded. You wouldn't want to make a habit of this though.

As well as conventional 3 pin plugs, USB and tip based devices can simultaneously be plugged in to the APV14AU. The average price we found was around the $100 mark.

www.targus.com.au

Solar

Solar panels have come a long, long way. They used to be very expensive too, but the SolarGorilla is an A4 sized box of tricks that flips open to reveal two solar panels that have enough wallop to run a notebook, hand held game consoles and mobile phones. It can even be used to charge up its battery based brethren (see below), so with one of each, you need never ruin out of power - as long as the sun is shining of course! A standard kit comes with a number of common "tips" to plug into the device(s) to supply the power as well as USB connectors for devices so powered.

For the technical minded, the SolarGorilla can output 20v at 500mAh and has a USB 5v 1000mAh port. The retail price is $374.99

www.powertraveller.com.au

Storage Battery

The PowerGorilla is a high density Lithium Polymer rechargeable battery capable of pumping out 24 volts. This means you can simultaneously be running a laptop from the unit while charging say, a mobile phone. And similar to solar panels, battery technology advances means you are not humping a brick with you as the PowerGorilla only weighs 700 grams all up. If you add the 800 or so to also pack a SolarGorilla, that is not too much to lug around to almost guarantee continuous power.

For those that just must know the technical ins and outs, the PowerGorilla contains six 3500mAh polymer batteries and can output a range of power options from 8.4v to 24v and has a 5v USB port as well. It can be being charging and be charging other devices at the same time.

The RRP is $324.99

www.powertraveller.com.au

By David Hague

David Hague is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He now lives back in WA (Mandurah) on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety (he is on the Roadwise committee for Mandurah City Council), fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com, vbthedog@gmail.com via Twitter via @vbthedog. or