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May 25, 2012 7:50 pm
nowhereman: RT @xKaptain: Officially in love with @RokuPlayer . So easy and so perfect~
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May 23, 2012 7:17 pm
nowhereman: RT @postidol: Good morning everyone. Little tired this morning, laid in bed last night with the @RokuPlayer watching @LifeHacker on Nowh …
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May 22, 2012 4:30 pm
nowhereman: Time to make something spicy t.co/5yBfM5Ys
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12:33 am
nowhereman: RT @elonmusk: Final clear to launch. T zero in 14 mins #dragonlaunch
I have been so happy with the Solio Classic that when I wanted a second solar charger for some of my other gadgets I knew I wanted another Solio. The product line has changed a bit since I bought my Classic, so I ended up with a Solio Bolt and I’ve been a bit disappointed.
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nowhereman: RT @postidol: Good morning everyone. Little tired this morning, laid in bed last night with the @RokuPlayer watching @LifeHacker on Nowh …
nowhereman: An historic launch and a @wootoff. I think a pot of espresso is in order. #WhoNeedsSleep #DragonLaunch
nowhereman: [AppleInsider] Steve Jobs honored by presidents, celebrities in Webby Award tribute t.co/IdWsf1oK
nowhereman: #Eclipse is in full swing. Check out the crazy crescent shadows it’s making. t.co/1sE0lugW
nowhereman: “At the height of the eclipse, around 6:35 p.m., the moon… will block 83 percent of the sun… in the Phoenix area” t.co/V9F628sL
Husky2525: @nowhereman BBC News, CNBC vid, no audio; last few days can’t raise Ch4 when I do, it spools. Unhooked Roku for re-boot, no change. Thnks!
nowhereman: RT @CNETNews: SpaceX set for historic commercial flight to the space station t.co/X8sftIOy
nowhereman: At one point, underwriters started buying up shares to keep the stock in positive territory [ @CNBC] Facebook IPO t.co/JfeRRQV1
kylemurley: RT @nowhereman: #NotCool [GigaOm] Silly cord cutter, you will pay for cable. Oh yes. t.co/pLGSKuNl
nowhereman: [AppleInsider] Apple’s iCloud data center to use 100% renewable energy by end of year t.co/NucMAbOd
nowhereman: It was inevitable. Good news tho [AppleInsider] ‘Social Network’ scribe signs on to adapt official Steve Jobs biography t.co/9aN40zHz
nowhereman: Makeshift cooling pad. Not wild about this solution, but maybe it will help. t.co/EZ2UIpnr
nowhereman: RT @AP: AP-CNBC Poll says half of Americans say Facebook appeal will fade, IPO shares overpriced: t.co/HD8mljuJ – VW
BetterEnergy: @nowhereman That is strange as the BOLT’s battery is rated for much higher heat! Please email us at support @solio.com, it may be defective.
Solio Bolt
A few years ago, I invested in a Solio Classic, mostly to satisfy my curiosity about the solar charger market segment. Today, that little gizmo is still going strong, keeping my cell phone and my Kindle powered completely by the sun.
I have been so happy with the Solio Classic that when I wanted a second solar charger for some of my other gadgets I knew I wanted another Solio. The product line has changed a bit since I bought my Classic, so I ended up with a Solio Bolt and I’ve been a bit disappointed.
The Bolt has a larger capacity on-board battery then the Classic, 2000mAh to the Classic’s 1650mAh. The Bolt also has a very different form factor, less whimsical and more utilitarian than the Classic’s flower petal design.
Like the Classic, the Bolt has a single button for controlling all it’s functions, but that button works a bit differently than the Classic’s. The Classic has no concrete concept of “on” or “off”, any time you press the button, the unit’s LED flashes to indicate the charge level of the on-board battery. Not true with the Bolt. Pressing the Bolt’s button only flashes the LED if the unit is “off” and the button press turns it on and indicates the charge. If the Bolt is “on” when you press the button, it turns the unit off without indicating the charge. That means it sometimes takes two presses on the Bolt to accomplish what you can do with a single press on the Classic. I don’t like it.
And here’s the really frustrating part. Using the Bolt in AZ, one of the sunniest places on the planet, is quite a challenge. The unit tends to shut off and stop charging part way through a sunny day. When this happens, if I take it out of the sun for a few minutes, then put it back, it starts working, but usually shuts off again after a few minutes. My guess, based on this FAQ is that the thing is overheating. This overheating mechanism must not exist in the Classic, which has never had this problem, even during the hottest part of the brutal AZ summer.
To test my overheating hypothesis, I shimmed the Bolt’s case open with some thin slices of cork about the thickness of two pennies to provide the innards with some ventilation. No improvement, the unit stopped charging after just an hour or two in the sun. So I removed the cover completely and that did result in an improvement. Obviously, operating the thing with the cover off is not a viable long term solution, so I went back to my shimming idea, this time using pieces of cork about the thickness of five pennies. This seems to work well, after several hours in full sun, the unit has not stopped charging.
Despite the awkward button functionality and the need to mod the case to make it work right, I’m still optimistic about the Solio Bolt and I’m excited about the other products coming down the pipe like the Classic2 and the M.U.D.
UPDATE: I exchanged emails with Solio support and they confirmed that overheating is the most likely culprit. Bummer.
nowhereman: Love my #Solio Classic, but the Bolt seems to overheat way to easy in the AZ sun. Wonder if a few ventilation holes in the case would help
nowhereman: [Engadget] University of California, Riverside runs entire building floor off of 1.1-megawatt green battery t.co/IO7iOQxE
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