boberonicus

First, congratulations on your entrepreneurial spirit! Arguably if the device used consumer grade batteries users could recharge those batteries themselves. For example, I am a big fan of Eneloop rechargeable batteries. But personally, I don't take the charging mechanism on the road with me. So if I relied on this device, I'd have to take the recharger with me, (which is not acceptable) or use disposables - which is also not acceptable.

You might want to take a look at Mophie, their idea was to use a MicroUSB cable to charge their iPhone case. And I would be willing to bet that most people on this forum already have a MicroUSB cable in their kit bag.

Is 95% is a random number that you chose or is there some research that you can point to? Not that it matters, I'm just interested.

AtlanticX

It looks a bit goofy, but then again, innovation is built by those that think outside of the box.

To me I see this device already having value without the charger. Not enough to kickstart it personally, but sometimes I find myself juggling my stuff at the gate and wishing I had a surface to put some of it (especially that coffee) on.

Without the charger it could be thinner. The important part is whether it's well-balanced, which would require some weighting at the point where it attaches to the handes.

In the end though, it opposes the general philosophy of travelling light: the less you bring, the better.
I'd be more likely to buy a rollaboard bag that has this "fold-out-tray" feature built-in, than a separate device.

maksimfa

Great idea, but it is solving a problem that does not really exist.

I travel quite often, and have not had the issue that I need a stand for my coffee and phone. Worst case, you can place it on the floor, or on the seat.

The charging part of it would be the one with the most value, however once again, you are marketing it the wrong way.

It should not be for the casual traveler, which let's face it, does not care, ie why they fly spirit and cattle call south west.

The people who are most likely to use it are frequent flyers, who also carry on their bag, and I venture a lot more than 5% of those have a club membership.

Lastly, keep in mind, more and more airlines are installing power USB ports in the seats.

Ok.. One more... If you place your laptop on the stand.. I am assuming the screen has to be quite upright, as the base is not that wide. Lastly on that point, you have to type very carefully and not place weight on the laptop as the bag would topple over.

lensman

It seems a *bit* of a unitasker, but I admit being intrigued by the idea when I first saw it.

I could see this being the first in a couple of evolutions of the product. Starting with disposable AA batteries does access the low end of the marketplace. I suppose it really is itself an evolution from current AA rechargers but just in the flat shape and being able to be used as a table attached to your carry-on. So I guess the target market is actually those folks currently buying a AA phone recharger.

The electronics for trickle-charging NiMH aren't that expensive. I could see adding that as a version 2 of the product.

Li-ion would increase the price significantly but I could see them in a future version - particularly lithium polymers if they could create a thinner form factor.

I dunno though. Seems more of a gift idea than something I'd buy myself. I have to admit that I already own a AA powered USB recharger that I don't use very much and a Li-ion flashlight that also provides USB phone recharging.

nmenaker

The fact that one has to put 4-10$ worth of batteries into the thing EVERYTIME one wants to use it to charge is ridiculous. Why couldn't they build int a 10000mAh battery into the thing and add 10-15$ to the total?

Decent idea, poor execution

iliketoflythesky

I appreciate the feedback, as I mentioned this is a prototype, the final design is an ongoing process, the main idea behind the campaign was to hear what others say, so this is great. Lord only knows we made enough mistakes re kickstarter that there is little chance of getting funded this time around (but that's another story (write me if you want some tips for your kickstarter campaign)).

I will say that when we started showing the idea to friends, we repeatedly got messages from them when they traveled saying, "You know what, I could really use a gatemate right now".

I've used our prototype on trips and people in droves have asked about it. There's definite interest. It slips in the front pouch of your bag and you really don't know it's there unless you need it and the final product will be 30% slimmer. It's about as cumbersome as the pull out handle on the suitcase if you want to make a comparison.

I've run low on my phone a few times, at the airport, and managed to boost the charge so my phone still had life when I arrived on the other end of the trip, and just recharged the batteries when I got back home. We are not set in stone as far as batteries are concerned though, all we know for sure, at this point, is that it will have power.

The stiffening wall is one component of the unit that we have patented, it's the little piece that flips down, when opened, and presses against the handle bars. It totally stabilizes the table, it's sturdy, it can handle a 10 pound weight without moving at all. I've set my coffee on it every time, in fact it was my coffee that got me thinking about the concept. Personally, I like to face the unit the opposite direction currently shown in pics on the KS page, so the bag is under the table. You aren't tipping it over in that position, no way.

I understand people can live without the product but that applies to lots of things in life, I've never bought one of those wrap around pillows, for example, but have researched the sales of them and it's a huge number, I'd be happy with a small percentage of that revenue. I'll just leave it in my bag forever, if at an airport where I find a table, or a plug in, whatever, I won't use it, but when I need it (was just in Mexico and could find no plug-ins at all) it takes me 5 seconds to pull out and lock in place. I don't really see the final product being fragile, it might last a lifetime, low cost, there when you need it, I've seen worse products do well.

Thanks for those making positive comments as well, they actually go a long way when on a journey like this!

MtlTourist

Here's some feedback from me. I'm a frequent traveler. I travel almost Sunday to Thursday weekly domestically throughout the US. Make a model with the battery charger and one without. I don't need the charger. I have a 16k Milliamp Anker battery charger that I absolutely love, and I use it all the time, regardless of whether I am at the gate or not. Having it as part of a GateMate is irrelevant to me. I'm looking for something to attach to the handle of my 22x14x9 carry on that will securely hold my 8 lb boat anchor of a laptop in place if I decide to do some work, or a small shelf for my water bottle or coffee cup, while I'm at the gate.

lensman

This should not be a problem for something built to work off of disposable Alkalines - particularly a charging circuit which will have to have voltage regulation to output a constant 5v on the usb power pin. Alkaline batteries' voltage drop to 1.2 volts at about half of their output life.

How many batteries do you think this thing is built to take? Alkaline AA's are what, 20-50 cents each, right?

Speaking of which, though, an iPhone takes about 10 Watt hours of charge.

The most economical 10 watt hour lithium ions will be 18650 sized ones. Their capacity usually runs about 3000 mAh@4 volts or 12 watt hours. This is about right to charge an iPhone. At the component level it will cost about $6 but the electronics to properly charge it will add cost at the component level. Lithium ion batteries are much more finicky to charge so I wouldn't go cheap on the charging circuitry. I'm also not sure what testing it takes to take a lithium ion charging product to market in the U.S.

High quality NiMH or Lithium ion batteries will last for years - about 1,000 charge cycles.

Three Alkaline AA batteries will give you 2800 mAh x 1.3V (average) x 3 = 11 watt hours so you're on target! Three low self discharge AA NiMH batteries will give you 2000 mAh x 1.2V x 3 = 7 watt hours.

theshaun

Personally i see zero benefit to this thing. I will chuckle when I see someone put their coffee and laptop on this thing and their bag tips over. I will scream and curse at the top of my lungs when I'm stuck behind someone who decided to roll aboard without detaching the thing and then once on board can't get it off or fiddles with it for more than 3 seconds.

i'm already fuming thinking about it.

februaryfour

Oh god, as if being stuck behind Clueless Traveller at the security checkpoints (does it REALLY take that long to get your stuff out and into those plastic bins, people?) wasn't bad enough. Then you have to deal with Clueless Gatemate User... T_T

Thank god I board Group 1 and always use the lounges until almost the last second.

DJ Bitterbarn

I would never buy this, but I also have this bad habit of badly-weighting my carry-on so that it tips forward. As in, every time unless I'm paying attention. It's due to lots of electronics in the front pockets. But counter-weighting as in the picture is actually something moderately attractive - even though when the table isn't installed it would just compound my problem - I could finally use coffee to stop my bag tipping over.

But it also seems a bit overkill to buy a table mostly to counterbalance a packing problem, especially since I hardly ever buy coffee at the airport unless there's no lounge.

Jimmie76

Whilst I like the idea of a charge pack you can use with regular AA batteries and the addition of table idea isn't a bad one, don't think I'd suggest you try pitching it on Dragons Den. Duracell sell a USB Lithium ion rechargeable battery pack that is rechargeable and sold in loads of places, others make power packs that you can power with AA batteries such as http://www.amazon.co.uk/Estone-Batte...aa+usb+charger If your only usp is the table aspect to the design then you either need to patent it fast (which may be difficult as you've gone public) or find something to add to give you protection. Because if this is popular then one of the big players in either the battery or travel accessories industry will do it themselves and make things very hard for you.

pittpanther

I think some of you likely overestimate the number of relatively frequent travelers who don't have lounge access. Lots of travelers fly every couple of weeks, but never the same airline, never to the same place, often to places without lounges.

I think this is an interesting idea, but my preference would be to have the table as a more elegant part of the carry-on bag itself. And forget batteries, it should be plug in rechargeable.

BTW, the model on the kickstarter page is Hot! Nice shoes...

nmenaker

sure, one could carry them around from home and get pricing down to some reasonable level if ordered online, but try buying some in an airport at a shop, it's going to be 4-10$ easy to fill this pack..IMHO carrying around extra replacement batteries sort of really defeats the purpose, one should just get a 7-10Kmah rechargeable for that task.

CitizenWorld

I'm having trouble seeing how this is any advantage over a regular powerbank.