The Medis 24-7 Fuel Cell Power Pack is a novel new device with cutting-edge technology that offers yet another way to use and charge your Treo, should your battery conk out. The upside is the price is not outrageous, it's compact, and it works as it claims to work.

The downside is that if you store it unactivated, it only has a shelf-life of about a year. Of course, since I just got the thing and only one of them, I had no way to verify that. Once activated, it's good for about three months of use, or until however much energy its voltage-generating chemicals inside can produce before it's depleted. Once this happens, you have a $20.00 paperweight because you can buy a new charger by itself for $19.95 and use the same cable and Treo tip with it. Should you buy one of these and "use it up", please don't just throw it in the trash. Use the included baggie, cut the return label page out of the instruction sheet, put it back in the box and mail it off for recycling. We already have enough toxic crap polluting our world to add even more to it, so do your part and recycle, even if it costs you a little postage to do it.

It might be wise to use some other form of portable charging solution and keep the Medis on-hand (and remember where you put it!).. but don't activate it until you actually NEED to use it, because once activated, it'll last for about three months or until the energy it creates is depleted, and then that's it. If it's depleted, it's no more useful than any dead battery that can't be re-charged.

The Treo charging tip supplied with the sample I received was slightly loose with both my 700ps' charging ports. It wiggled enough to jostle it loose with a slight nudge. Medis needs to check their mfg. specs and fix this.

In my opinion, if you're going to buy one of these chargers, it'd be best to store it and NOT activate it until you really need it as an emergency charger. Since it has a finite lifespan and can't be replenished, use some other form of portable charger, like a Solio, or a battery box instead, if you have one. If you don't have one, get one.

Criteria  Rating Cost/Benefit 4 Innovation 5 Usability 3 Design 3 Overall (not an average)	Pros Innovative Fuel Cell charging technology Treo power when you need it and there is no other source Compact, does the job. Reasonably priced
	Cons Treo charging tip wiggles too much Energy-generating liquid inside cannot be replenished Finite shelf-life