I bought a guide 10 a while back thinking it would a great gadget to have on my long bus trips as a High School baseball coach. I use a smartphone and a tablet to keep score for my games, live upstreaming for two games at a time. I don't know how I have ever lived without this product. My electronics never make it to the end of the games, this is not a problem any more. I have purchased several of these packs now and I don't go anywhere without them. Made a great Christmas gift for my son that plays College ball. Now his electronic devices make it through the entire bus trips. One last comment, I bought two more guide 10's for gifts this week. They were on my doorstep in two days. Thanks GOALZERO!!!!

I travel alot and am looking for a mobile battery pack from which i can power a portable speaker that needs a usb power source. basically i want to be able to plug in my mp3 player to the speaker and the speaker into a usb battery pack. is this product able to power usb devices once it's charged?

Can it use regular Alkaline or lithium AA batteries if the rechargeable type run out.

I just got my Guide 10 adventure kit (a gift from my wife!), and while checking out the reviews for the Guide 10 battery pack I just plugged it to my laptop for a first full charge. The green light its happily blinking and according to what I have just read, it has more or less 6 hours to go until fully charged. However, some of the reviews mention some problems with faulty first generation Guide 10 battery packs. Once question just formed in my mind. How can I tell if I got a first generation or second generation Guide 10 battery pack? Will the Serial number in the pack help me determine it's generation? there is a barcode sticker in the carton package of the Guide 10 adventure kit that has a "19006" on the top, and a V 1.1 at the bottom. Does this means I have a first generation battery pack? Sorry if you have been asked this question a thousand times before. Best regards.

I just purchased a guide 10 pack to charge my mp3 player and cell phone on a weekend camp trip. I have been testing it out at home. It doesn't appear that it will charge my Droid Incredible2 smartphone at all. The power drains from the pack, but I dont get any "juice" in my phone. I am fairly certain it isnt an issue with he usb cords, as they are all new. I also tried charging another Droid product and it only charged 50% before the Guide 10 was completely drained (4 double A's were fully charged at start). Is there a comprehensive list of what larger smartphones the pack will not charge??? Not much use to me if it won't give my phone at least one full charge.

Cheap products these days are usually backed by companies that outsource customer service and offer little to no support. Goal Zero is thankfully not one of those companies. I bought several items, including the Guide 10 adventure kit with rechargeable battery kit. The battery kit did not come with the AAA converter and I wondered if maybe I was supposed to buy those separately. I called customer support and was informed they are ordering more of the converters and that if I gave them my address they will send me one when they receive their shipment. How many times have we heard that line before? Surprise surprise, two months after I had spoken to that service rep a small box arrived at my door with the adapter. No questions asked, no broken promises, just darn good service. This rare in today's imported consumer products and I'm happy with the investment I've made in a quality product backed by a quality company. Keep up the good work!

I have a Guide 10 Adventure pack and have had variable results with recharging AA batteries — the main purpose I purchased the unit for. I find the indicator lights somewhat confusing: according to the instructions on the back of the recharging unit, when the green light is solid it means that either power is available or that the batteries are fully recharged. How do I know which is which? Sometimes when I insert batteries which I know are virtually exhausted the light shows solid green immediately. Does the switch need to be in a different position to test the two different functions?

Sorry, my Guide 10 came without any user manual and I would specifically like to know if either an A/C power adapter from a DROID Incredible OR a vehicle power port (with a USB adapter) can be used to safely charge up my Guide 10 unit. Are there any known USB power sources that should be avoided when attempting to charge the Guide 10?

I just recieved the 2nd generation of the Guide 10 due to the deforming issue of the 1st generation. I opened the package and began charging my Goal Zero batteries. However, after several hours of charging via USB, my Guide 10 is still slowly blinking red. Could my Goal Zero batteries from my first generation Guide 10 be bad from the melting issue? Although, the LED light does turn on and it seems to be charging an iPhone 4. Any suggestions? Thanks. Other than this, I'm VERY happy with my Sherpa 120, Nomad 13.5, and accesories

great product! to charging my nokia and sansa clip. can i use 5v./1A wall charger to charge my guide 10?

I put the solar panel and battery pack in my car to charge the batteries. It got to 104F in Houston yesterday; no telling how hot it got in the car. The battery pack melted the end with the connections. I don't know if the unit is still functioning or if the batteries are still good. What are your recommendations regarding charging in a car on the dashboard? I bought this unit for that purpose (charging batteries during the day and then charging my cell phone at night from the batteries).

The Guide 10 will not charge my iPod touch. Support responded quickly the first time, but the solution given did not work.

Just used the Guide 10 for a 1 week trip through Yosemite. It worked flawlessly. One question, Can I charge two AA batteries at a time, or do I have to do four?

Can this be charged with the Nomad 13.5 thanks

I just purchase the Guide10 along with the battery pack. Being charging it via USB to DC output 5V 400mA for more than 6 hours, the package and website indicate that a full charge will be solid green but the green indicator light is still blinking. Shouldn't a pre-charge battery pack require less time for a full charge? Or is the output i'm using insufficient? Hope to get some clarification. Thank you

I fully charged the Guide 10 yesterday and used it to charge my HTC Thunderbolt smart phone. The phone was completely dead when I began charging. The guide 10 quit chargeing and my batter was barely more than 60 percent charged. Shouldn't it be able to charge it fully atleast 1 time? Do I have a bad Guide 10 pack?

Other than the buzzing problem, my Guide 10 took too long (at least 4 hours) to fully charge my HTC smart phone (battery capacity:1230mAh, charging from 10% to 100%, with AA batteries in Guide 10 fully charged). And also only after a single charge, it fully drained out all the four 2000mAh eneloop AA batteries. I used a software to measure the charging current and found that the phone only charged at 200mA, which is well below the 500mA as advertised. To check whether the USB cable is capable of high current charging, and to eliminate the possibility of bad connection, I used the same cable to charge the phone with other type of portable USB battery pack, and found it is able to charge the phone at 800mA. My main concern here is the Guide 10 seems to take too long to charge up my phone (4hrs vs 2hrs with other type of usb portable charger). It's even much slower than charging the phone directly from the Normad 7 solar panel through usb (measured at least 600mA charging current at bright sunny day). It's hardly make sense to think the unit is functioning normally! Furthermore I did noticed sometimes when the unit stop buzzing for a while, the charging current would goes up! (the buzzing stop when I disconnected the phone) I have a bad feeling about the buzzing noise. All my other portable usb chargers don't buzz. Whatever it is buzzing inside, it seems like it is impeding the charging current & draining out the AA batteries (the Guide 10 do get warmer though not to the extend of overheating). I have been worrying if the buzzing is associated with some kind of power surging in the circuitry, it might prematurely worn out my phone & other USB devices. Please tell me whether it is absolutely safe to continuously using this unit?

Bought the Nomad 7 together with the AA charge pack. Works well indoors as my window is exposed to bright sunlight for a few hours each day. Now giving it extensive tests to see if indoor charging is able to take care of my Blackberry's energy needs. Hope Goal0 can extend its publicity drive so more consumers are aware of this wonderful device, especially in sunny Singapore!

In the description of this product, you say it can charge AA batteries in 1.5 hours with the Nomad 7. But under technical specs charge times it says 6 hours to charge for both USB (DC) or Solar Nomad 7. So which is it? 1.5 hours or 6 hours? Also, I tried to charge my Droid for the first time last night and it never charged. It was weird - the charging indicator on the phone said it was charging, but it stayed at 20% for 2 hours. Thoughts?

The green light on my version 1 Guide 10 has been flashing for over 24 hours. How long until it indicates that charging is complete? The batteries are definitely warm to the touch.

I want to apologize if I seemed peckish yesterday ... I was irritated at losing an expensive piece of gear (Guide 10 battery pack) that I intended to rely upon before getting to use it in the field. But today, inspiration struck and I found it wedged under the center arm rest of my car! Yea! Then I came here, and found that you guys were going to replace it, anyway due to a defect that only shows up in a particular circumstance. That means I can use the new unit to charge batteries and this unit to charge devices from those batteries ... that's like having a stranger walk up to you on the street and just flip you a couple $20 bills. If this is how you handle a problem ... a one-way replacement ... then I can see a lot more justification for your list prices ... and a lot more reason to consider doing business with you in the future. Coming off a laptop USB port, about how long should it take for the flashing green light to shift to steady green? My version 1 charger has never gone to steady green.

I will be buying a replacement G-10 battery pack in the very near future because I lost mine on the first trip out ... but I find the retail of $40 (without batteries) a bit steep. But ... $40 it is. For now. Another $20 for tossing in four AA batteries and a cheap plastic adapter is just nonsense. I'm glad for you that you can get it, but $5 a battery? Get real. I didn't get a chance to actually field test it because I lost it so soon into its first excursion, but these are my observations from the month it sat on my desk, charging batteries. ---- According to the guide on the back of my dearly-departed unit, it should have glowed a steady green when the batteries were fully charged, yet, after 24 hours charging off my laptop, it was still just flashing green. Did I have a dud? I was charging fresh-from-the-blister-pack LSD NiMH batteries, both AA and AAA, all one size and, at least at first, correctly inserted. About the 4th set of batteries I charged, I carelessly reversed the battery polarity. The unit DID get hot enough to smell, but it didn't melt and it cooled right off and charged as before when I corrected the orientation. How about making the + and - symbols a tad more prominent? ... I'm probably not your only near-sighted user. I gave it 3 stars for durability simply because, as a retired machinist / die-maker and long-time gadget user, I wasn't impressed by the hinges. I think that a captive slide cover might be sturdier. (Snap on during manufacture, never snap off by user.) Also, the video uses a slapping motion to remove the batteries. Bad idea. Hit the cover once and those hinges are toast. With a slide cover, that's not a problem because there are no hinges to break - and nothing flapping around loose. It's not too hard to imagine the batteries finding hiding places when they pop out of the case, either. Why not mold a small slot in the lip of one side (or both) to fit a fingernail or paperclip under the first battery for a slower, more controlled, exit? Once the first one is out, the rest come easily enough: this would just help ease the first one out. Also, find a place to store the AAA adapter ... maybe mold full-length slots on the back of the charger to mate with lips on the adapter. Or vice versa. (There are other designs that would retain it, too. The suggestion is not written in stone.) That polycarbonate you mentioned using is plenty strong enough for this. Loose pieces = lost pieces. The Nomad 7 needs to be re-designed to accommodate the battery pack and all the cables that ship with it. I could stuff the battery pack and the USB cable in (barely), but the 12v socket was a lost cause. Because I'm so good at losing things, I'm somewhat compulsive about keeping cables with the gadget they are intended for. Again: loose pieces = lost pieces. Well, that's my 2 cents worth. I'll trade you engineering sketches for a replacement battery pack. Send the pack and I'll do take-offs or send drawings and I'll annotate them. bill 13510 at gmail.com (that's my junk account so I don't care if yet another bot picks it up)

just got thiss in the mail today and charged it with my nomad 7 solar pannel.pluged it into my phone later and it dident charge. well i waited for a minuit for it to kick on or something. a few minuits later i gust gave it a light hit and it changes my phone. the only problem was that at first it made thiss really high pitched noise but now it stoped . overall its great and i would highly recomend it . :)

Picked one up at teva mountain games this weekend. The nomad 7 solar panel charged the battery pack and I used the battery pack to charge my nearly dead iPhone 4 up to full charge. I'm using an older iPhone charger to recharge the battery pack since the sun is now down - it's taken a few hours (about the same speed as solar) but nothing is hot and it seems like it will be a good gentle charge for the nimh batteries. It's nearly done - rapid green led flashing. Very impressed so far. Thanks for a great product. Might have to get one of your big 350 units for camping.

I bought both the Solar panel and the 4AA battery pack from Amazon. Both work properly and are more powerful than the Powerfilm solar panel that I have to charge 4AA NiMH batteries. The 4AA battery pack can power and charge my Ipod touch, but not the Ipad2 (no charging symbol). The 4AA battery pack emits a annoying buzzing sound when the USB output is used. I don't know if this is normal. Overall, I'm satisfied.

When I plug in 3rd gen iPod Touch an alert appears on screen: "Charging is not supported with this accessory" This is with a known good cord. Happens with other known good 30-pin charging cords as well, either OEM Apple or cords from other travel chargers that work just fine with any other source, but not with the 4-battery Goal Zero Guide 10 charge unit. Original Goal Zero silver & black batteries; they are charged and will turn on case LED light, & status light = green. The charger is new, from REI. For now I consider this a good way to charge AA batteries on the road via solar or the mini USB input, otherwise it is good as a flashlight. Disappointed it won't do iPod charge as that was primary reason for purchase and maker claims it works.

Won't charge an iPhone 4. Yes, the phone LOOKS like it is charging when you plug it in to the USB port, but the battery percentage actually goes down over time, like normal (even though it is 'charging'). I guess this is fine for charging batteries slowly, though.... but for the price, the performance is weak, and it feels cheap in your hand. I doubt the unit costs more than 1 or 2 dollars to make, that's how cheap it feels.

My battery pack melted. There are a stack of resistors inside the plastic shell that became so hot they melted the plastic. One resistor is even melted INTO the plastic. This result is a frightening example of poor design.

I used the batteries that cam with the unit (rechargeables) they appeared to be fully charged. I pluged my iphone into it and let it set for 2+ hours and no charge to the phone at all.

Doesnt charge anything if you put regular AA Batteries in it. You would think if you had some spare AA's you wanted to use to charge you phone, you could do it. But no. It charges my phone fine with the rechargeable batteries. But when I put regular AA's in it to charge my phone the light turns green but it doesnt charge. They should put a disclaimer on this saying you cant use regular AA's with this item.

Simply fantastic! Daisy chain it with other devices to charge both at the same time. 4 channel operation to charge 1 2 3 or 4 batteries. It is the best AA/AAA solar solution around!