Searching on OzBargain tonight for a external battery for my phone, but most of the deals were expired :-(
Not keen to buy a cheap battery on eBay because of the sad news this week on dodgy chargers and the thought of a dodgy battery plugged into the wall, then in my hand while charging my phone now has me paranoid.
Lots of discussion on OzBargain about anker products here, here and here.
Long story short, while trying to find some more reviews, a good deal and cheap prices ended up at indiegogo via TNW because anker have a campaign for a spin-off brand called Zolo. They've got an external 3000mAh battery and case for US$20 including shipping to Australia. So I am thinking of getting one because it looks to better value than the cheapest Amazon Anker offering where I'd still need to pay shipping.
Here's the link to the indiegogo campaign. You need to scroll down to find the $20 case/charger option.
And here's the FAQ which confirms free shipping to Australia.
So is buying this on indiegogo a good deal? I don't mind waiting until August for it if I'm saving money but is there another reliable and safe alternative people recommend?
I have posted something related to this before on OzBargain.
"If you want more control over what you buy and include as a part of your portable battery then I suggest you head over to www.fasttech.com and pick out:
A power pack enclosure For example
Unprotected cells (Sanyo, Samsung etc.) of your choice. For example"
You can be more certain of the capacity and unit especially in regards to the battery you put in. However it doesn't necessarily solve much about potential dodgy electrical work (the battery itself should be safe, but the casing I'm not so sure about). With all that said, I have been using a similar setup for the past year or so and it has been great. (I think at the time I paid something like $14 for a pair of batteries and 2 slot casing which was a pretty good bargain in retrospect)
Also I believe Fasttech still has 5% off with coupon code "BLF"