I purchased this item to use while on travel to Israel for two primary reasons.  First, since I was on a formal tour, we would be out of range of electric outlets from 8-9 hours every day.  With this item, I did not have to worry about my iPhone (used for taking pictures and email) running out of juice.  The second reason was that some electronics can be a bit temperamental when charging them in other countries and can be easily fried/damaged.  With this item (I have 2 of these devices), I would charge this item via the local outlet then use it to charge my other devices.  If this device was fried, it was relatively inexpensive when compared with the cost of an iPhone. Fortunately, this charger worked flawlessly.  In terms of size, while I generally carried it in my backpack, it was small/light enough to carry in the leg pocket of my cargo pants.  Nice!  This product is dual voltage so no transformer is required when traveling to Israel; only adapters. This product recharged within a reasonable amount of time and subsequently charged my electronics (iPhone, Blackberry, iPod Nano) fairly quickly.  The only annoying feature was the method by which the flashlight and laser pointer are turned on/off (X number of clicks to turn on and another X number of clicks to turn off).  But, certainly tolerable and not a deal breaker. Overall, this item is well worth the investment.