Now I have the Power Pot as well as the Bio Lite
My first BioLite did not work (the power unit part) BioLite sent me another one and that does work.
However I still need to do some tests to know how well it works...
Today I received the Power Pot kit.

I fully charged the LiIon batt (1800 mAh) , via PC USB
It powers up my Garmin 60csx so it obviously can be used as a separate power source having 8 different adaptors.
If I get time tomorrow I will do a test burn to see if the Pot does indeed power up/charge my AA batteries or something like that.
The idea would be to start with a fully charged battery, transfer that power to your USB chargeable device then recharge it.
(some devices are particular about the type of charge they get)
Note that the first 2" of the power cable coming out of the pot are covered with a metal band the rest is also heat protected so in theory it will work on a wood burning stove of limited output.

As you can see it fits nicely on top of the Bio Lite having a bottom about 1" in diameter wider than the BioLite throat.
So the point here is that the two systems are not necessarily competing but may be able to be used with each other.
Both units will NOT work efficiently for most hikers but may work well for muli weeks unsupported expeditions (yes where wood is available...) or simply for campers or hunters that have plenty of time and to whom a pound or two extra weight is not a big deal.
With the Power Pot I do think that it has great potential as winter pot again in particular for the tipi/wood stove brigade.
Franco
BTW for 99.9% the answer is neither

Here is the video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl94FEYbk...mp;feature=plcp

Franco, I love the idea of using the two together, that's just brilliant.

If you were hiking with one or more people and could share the stove or the pot, that'd make sense, and they'd be would be great for car camping or emergencies.

Looking forward to hearing how the new BioLite works, and a comparison of the two.

Thanks for keeping us up to date on what you're learning!!

Thanks Bill
Quick update.
I'll be making a video clip of this but so far i have tested the Power Pot against a standard al pot of the same size on a boil test.
The idea was to see how much less efficient the Power Pot is (because of the extra bottom plate not because I want to rubbish it...)
I boiled 1 L in 8:40 sec , same water some output took 12:40 for the PP to come to a boil.
Next I tried the power output/charging bit and here it has become very obvious that it works well with cold water not so much once it gets up towards hot/boiling.
So it can be (in my mind) a workable solution for snow melting on a long afternoon/night if you have plenty of wood particularly in a hut or something like that.
Franco

Review of the BioLite by Philip Werner of sectionhiker.com:

The important part to remember is that at their best they charge your thingos at the same rate as it takes from the USB socket in your PC.
That is why I think that the only way to use them is to charge an indipendent USB in/USB out battery from home, than keep charging that up as you transfer that power into your devices.
Even so you can buy now a 12000mAh (not 1200...) battery of that type for less than $30.(about 5 oz)

Still the pot used on a wood burning stove on a long afternoon/winter night or three , particularly if melting snow, could work.
Franco

I think that's a bit whiny. Without the Biolite your phone would still be dead, and if you're sitting in camp after sunset doing nothing but feeding sticks to a fire, well, that's not all that bad a way to spend an evening.

And what we're talking about is really 1st generation products here, and the fact that you can charge your phone by burning sticks is pretty amazing (the fact that you have a phone like that to charge is absolutely amazing).

Lewis CK's thoughts on that help me appreciate what's good about this kind of thing more. He really puts this into a perspective that's impossible to argue with, and he's pretty darn funny about it too

Yes I like that clip, so true...
I played with a computer that had 1 kb (1024 bytes) of memory. (about two weeks wage)
About 30 years later I was selling a 1Gb (1 thousand times) Memory Stick for $1100 (RRP $1299)
Now for $100 or less you can buy a 1 Terabyte ...(another 1000x leap) and at 10x less

I have noticed too how very little seem to impress anyone.
It tends to be that if people don't see an immediate gain for themselves they don't care.
For example I am not just about to buy a 4k , 4mm thick (well thin) 80" panel , nevertheless it is amazing that you can.

http://www.flatpanelshd.com/focus.php?subaction=showfull&id=1326969771

For us of late there have been a couple of similar technologies developed to add some waterproofness to down.
(yes down is somewhat waterproof raw, but it does need to be washed , same reason we treat wool)
However rather than spotting the possible benefits many have adopted the "so what" attitude.
Franco