4800mAh Mugen Battery Replacement for the HTC Universal / i-mate JasJar

Gadgeteer Hands On Review by Judie Hughes

September 05, 2006

Most of the time, I find that the i-mate JasJar's 1620mAh factory original battery is sufficient to make it through a typical day. However when I am using the built-in wireless extensively, when I am traveling, or when I am not able to recharge at some point during the day, I have noticed a definite need for a backup power solution. That's why I was very interested to learn that Lion Battery was carrying a 4800mAh Mugen Power Battery replacement for the HTC Universal / i-mate JasJar.

Included in the package are the 4800mAh battery and a replacement battery door.

As anyone that has ever owned an extended battery can tell you, there are trade-offs involved in their use...well, really just one: in return for better than double the original battery life, the extended battery will be at least double the size of the original. This generally means that a somewhat svelte device will acquire what amounts to a rather noticeable beer gut.

Exhibit A: In this picture we see the JasJar, already one of the larger and heavier Pocket PCs, measuring 5.175" tall x 3.134" wide x 0.932" thick and weighing 10.2 ounces.

The stock battery keeps the back of the device as level as possible.

The battery cover is a flat piece of plastic that reiterates the lower height of the battery it covers.

Exhibit B: Here is a photo of the JasJar with the 4800mAh Mugen battery installed. It now measures 5.175" tall x 3.134" wide by 1.24" thick, and it now weighs 12.2 ounces.

There is now a 0.34" protrusion rising above the JasJar's metal back.

The battery cover is 0.376" deep, reflecting the need to conceal the 0.5" thick Mugen Battery.

The addition of the extended battery does not interfere with using the Universal's keyboard, in fact I found it provided a comfortable and almost contoured resting place for my fingers on the previously flat back of the device. Of course, cases made for the Universal will no longer fit when the Mugen Battery is in place.

Have I scared you off yet? I hope not...because if you need better battery life than the factory original provides, then this is definitely the way to go. Take a look at the results I obtained when using BatteryBench.NET, a free battery life measurement utility. Both tests were conducted with the backlight on medium the entire time the utility ran. Running the media player, WiFi, BT, or another battery intensive application might lower these numbers by as much as half.

Regular battery test: 303 minutes, or approximately 5 hours

Extended battery test: 890 minutes, or close to 15 hours

Pretty impressive, wouldn't you agree?

If you are someone that sits at your desk all day, never venturing far from a power outlet, then you probably have no use for an extended battery. But if you are always on the go - traveling, visiting job sites, or commuting, then you have most likely felt the sting of an unexpected and unwanted low battery warning. The 4800mAh Mugen Power Battery was made for you. It enables and supports the word "mobile" in Windows Mobile Computing.