Progo Smart Universal All in One Battery Charger with USB Output and Car Charger. Chargers Digital Camera, Camcorder Battery, Cell Phone Battery, Rechargeable Ni-MH or Ni-CD AA & AAA Battery

During my last vacation, I have to bring at least 5 chargers to recharge my two cameras, cell phone, tablet, and various AA/AAA batteries. That's why when I saw this product ( Progo brand Smart Universal All in One Battery Charger ), I just have to give it a try.The Progo charger claims to be 'universal' in the sense that:- It can recharge almost all types of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for cameras or cell phones- It can also recharge AA/AAA NiMH or NiCd batteries- It has an USB output port, which can be used to recharge most USB-powered devices such as tabletsThe AC adapter of this charger accepts 100-240V universal AC input. It also comes with a CLA (cigarette lighter adapter), which allows the charger to operate from 12V car battery.I have tested the lithium-ion charging function with battery packs from three cameras and one cell phone. All of them can be recharged without problems. The only tricky part is that, since this is a 'universal' charger, you have to carefully line up the (+) and (-) terminals of the battery pack with the two electrodes form the charger, then clamp the battery pack such that it is held firmly in place. Only then you should connect the AC power, to make sure that the charging indicator turns red.The charging current for lithium battery pack is specified as '500mA' according to the back of the charger. The actual charging current is likely higher, since I was able to recharge an exhausted  Canon LP-E5 Battery Pack  (1080mAh) in just around 70 minutes.When I first attempted to charge AA cells, however, it did not work. The problem is that the positive terminals of my rechargeable AA cells are not making contacts with the charger. After I shaved off some of the plastic cover around the contact points, it then worked correctly. See the picture I uploaded to 'Customer Images' section on how the modification was make.The charging current for AA/AAA cells is around 340mA (actually pulsed from 0 to 680mA at 50% duty cycle). That means it will take about 7 hours to fully recharge a set of 2000mAh  Sanyo eneloop AA  cells. The charger is smart in that it can monitor each cell independently, instead of charging in pairs only.The USB output port is rated for 500mA current. In actual test I was able to pull 600mA out of it. This is enough for most smaller devices, such as my  POLAROID PMID701C Internet tablet . But if you use it for a power-hungry device such as the iPad, 500mA is not sufficient. Your device will probably still be charged, just at a much slower pace. Also note that battery charging function is not available when USB port is in use.Overall, I consider this Progo charger a very versatile product. It is a great value at the present low price. Will I just bring this unit instead of 5 dedicated charges for my next trip? Probably not, because this charger is not as user-friendly (or fool-proof) as dedicated chargers. But it will serve very well as a 'catch-all' backup charger, especially when I need to recharge any appliance's battery during a long drive.[Update on Sep 29, 2012]Today as I was unplugging the AC adapter, its cover broke right off, exposing the internal (high-voltage) components. This can be fixed by a bit of epoxy glue, of course. But I have to downgrade the product rating from 4 to 3 stars due to its flimsy construction.

Great universal charger.I had a phone micro usb port go bad (I really wish they had stuck with the mini usb, micros seem to have all sorts of issues.), and needed to be able to charge the battery so I could continue using the phone.This charger works great for charging many different battery configurations. It is not plug and play like a custom charger designed for your specific battery, but as long as you make sure the contacts make a good connection then you will be fine.Your battery should have 2 terminals, one marked + and the other marked -, connect the prongs of the charger to each and the charging light will turn on. It is able to auto detect the polarity of the battery, so you do not have to worry about connecting the battery backwards. If you accidentally connect one of the wrong connectors on the battery, the device does not attempt to charge it, which is great.There is a maximum width that will fit, the galaxy s2 battery was just at the maximum size.This would also come in handy if you have 2 batteries for your device, and you want to have the second one charged up, while you're using the first.You can also charge AA and AAA batteries on here as well.

The transformer broke the first time I plugged it in. I arranged to send it back to Amazon. Before sending it back I decided to use it to recharge my Parrot Zik headphone battery. This is the reason I bought it in the first place. I glued the two halves of the case together.It worked Fine fully charging the battery in an hour and a half. For $14.00 I am going to keep it. I would never bring it on a trip as the primary charger for my camera batteries though. I just don't trust the quality. But I would keep it as a backup and for charging extra headphone batteries out of the headphones.The same device is being marketed under other brand names but this was the least expensive.Line up the contacts and slide the cover to hold the battery in place. When you plug it in it senses polarity and the red light turns to green battery is charged.

This worked for me for a while... I liked the ability to charge different batteries, but it stopped working well after a few months. When it was working, it was kinda tricky to get the terminals lined up correctly for different batteries. It's a nice idea, but wasn't successful for me. I was trying to charge camera batteries.

I bought this to work on a Samsung phone and the battery has three contacts but this only has two prongs. Did a lot of Google searches but could find nothing to help in determining which contacts to line up and after trying all of them at different times I could never get it to charge.

The concept (of a universal charger) is great. Unfortunately, this is a good case of being "a jack of all trades but a master of none." It's cheaply made, and a couple of batteries that it claims to charge wouldn't stay put in the unit, resulting in no charge. I threw it out.

It was working properly now it broke and dosent charge. After few uses

In addition to iPhones and iPads I travel with both Nikon and Sigma cameras and a FiiO headphone amp and a flashlight - all of which have specific and unique batteries and chargers. The Progo charges them all (with appropriate USB connectors for the iDevices). And it does it both from a wall plug inside and in a car. Excellent item and since it works for me, is recommended