Ask Engadget: best external laptop battery?
By Darren Murph 
posted April 30th 2010 1:52AM
posted April 30th 2010 1:52AM
For Mac owners asking a similar question, we can personally attest to the greatness of the HyperMac, but we'll be looking to the collective brain of our dear readers to help on Anthony. Go on and toss your suggestion down in comments -- you wouldn't want poor Anthony running out of juice during his first Biology lab, now would you?"I'm going off to college soon. I have a new HP TM2. Obviously the 9 hour battery life isn't realistic, and I would like the fabled "full day computing" experience. I do have a second battery, but it's awkward to charge both batteries, the shape doesn't fit into my bag well, and I have to hibernate to switch (which introduces some wonkiness to some programs). I'm looking into external batteries which provide power to the DC input of my laptop (18.5V, but 19V will work too). It would preferably be approximately 9- to 13-inches diagonally to fit into my bookbag and / or laptop bag, and not ridiculously thick. USB charging would be a definite plus too, but not required."
here is a unit for Macs.. its 12+hours
http://www.innovatronix.com/detailpage.asp?productid=378&categoryid=42
very soon. you will realize your laptop is very heavy, extra battery will add extra weight to your load. even if your 9 hours is not realistic, 5 hours is more than enough for a regular day. if you really need more than that much battery life, just bring the ac cord, power every where on campus.
of course you probably are not going to listen to me.
here is your link
http://www.hypershop.com/HyperMac-External-MacBook-Battery-and-Car-Charger-s/91.htm
@flexium
I'm pretty sure those only work with macs
@yulebellow
I am sorry i am stupid
@flexium
Average power needs:
Arts major: 2 hours
English major: 3 hours
Science major: 6 hours
Engineering major: 8 hours
[citation needed]
I use my portable pocket nuclear fission reactor. Huh... I thought everyone did that.
@ThundaChunky
I'm still using my old Mr. Fusion, since I can just dump beer cans and banana peels in it and get about 1.21 gigawatts of power.
@ThundaChunky
Your still on the old Fission bandwagon eh?
I jumped ship to nuclear fusion pocket power years back!
P.S. As an added bonus, I can get high on Helium and speak in a funny voice! HeHe!
P.P.S The "HeHe" was punintended. But I thought it was quite punny anyway when I realised, so I left it in :)
@JPeak
It's "JiggaWatts!!!"
@other: He has an HP. RTFP.
Here's the PC version: http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/EP20727964.htm?utm_medium=productsearch&utm_source=google
http://www.tekkeon.com/products-mypowerall.html this will fix your wagon :o)
I prefer a laptop that actually gets good battery life. My early 2010 MBP is getting nearly 9 hours for my needs. I don't see the need for external battery unless you are a professional that does remote work. In that case you probably have a better solution that carrying around extra batteries.
@gittenlucky
so he should just get a new laptop?
@hated one
It took you 6 minutes to get down ranked into oblivion at 2:30 in the morning. You really are the hated one tonight. lol
.
12v use motorcycle battery > free
Targus 12 to 120v car inverter > $10 on woot
Connect them to your laptops regular charger and you get 20 hours of battery life without too much extra weight.
@viper24
This is interesting. Does anyone actually do this? I would try it if it did give 20+hrs.
@damis648
I do this with my Iphone on the golf course. Went to frys picked up a lead acid 12v battery, they have a number of sizes i got the 9 amp hour variety, cig adaptor socket, pack of connectors and soldered everything together. Now when golfing I just take usb cig. charger and cable from my car plug everything in and I can leave phone on full brightness running golflogix. Have not needed to charge 12v lead acid batter yet 3 full rounds completed. Obviously for laptop sub inverter for cig charger and you are good to go. I will try charging my laptop from a fully charged 12v lead acid battery and let you know if or how many times it fully charges
@damis648
Oh yeah all the parts cost less than $30.
@brad44
Pretty neat. I'd be interested to see how much this can charge up a laptop.
If you have a MAC and do not want to buy a Hypermac but have no choice because of the lack of a MagSafe connector, you can always buy this (assuming it will fit into the battery you do buy)
http://www.hypershop.com/HyperMac-Charging-Cable-for-MacBook-Pro-p/mbp-pro.htm
If you have a PC, maybe you can try getting a Hypermac and using a cable that connects to the Hypermac and your PC.
Either way, the Hypermac is pretty much your best choice (defiantly for Mac) assuming you can get it to work on a non-Mac [if possible].
@abedinthehouse
You could always go for http://www.batterygeek.net who provide an adaptor for every computer (every electronics device) - including an MagSafe for about $30. Ive had a couple of these - they work great on PC's. I've had some problems with my rather old mac, but a friend of mine bought one for his and he loves it. I bought the more expesive option, so it has a USB port in it too, so I can basically run everything from this one brick.
Just slap a bunch of these babies together: http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/52064595/3_7V_60Ah_Polymer_Battery.html
whats with al the hypermac crap, he has a pc, he said that. everyone knows what a hypermac is. its even mentioned in the OP
I have recently purchased the HP tm2 as well, and i usually set the performance setting to maximum power saving (except for wifi) when im running basic apps like office onenote and web browser; i can get up to 6-7 hours which is still great battery life for a laptop (if you dont know how to change the performace setting just click on the battery icon on the taskbar, then "more power options," then click on "change plan settings" on the "power saving" profile and then click on "change advanced power settings" and a window pops up with all configurable performance settings). if you want to squeeze out even more battery life you can disable visual effects(if you do not how to do that go to start, control panel and in the search box near the top right corner of the window type "performance." after that click on "adjust appearance and performace of windows" under "system." a window should pop up and on the "visual effects" tab click "adjust for best performance." make sure to scroll down and check the box with the label "use visual styles on windows and button" if you don't like the windows classic theme.)disableing visual styles can get you 30min-1hour of extra battery life. with all performance settings at max power saving and visual effects disable i can get up to 7 hrs using office onenote and a web browser(if you watch videos or anything else that requires significant cpu power the less battery life) at the same time. if i have the wifi off i can almost get up to eight hours of battery life. in conclusion if you just take notes during your classes and set to maximum power saving, the battery will last a long time; trust me i know. if you still want more juice, good luck on finding the best external battery.... :)
P.S. i love the hp tm2...its so.....magical......
@techologist
my tm2 arrives monday, i got the su4100 so im worried it will be slowww.
how is yours going for power?
@Punisher Plum
im not sure if this will answer your question but The specs for my tm2 are: intel core 2 dou 1.6ghtz, 4gigram, ati 4550, got it with external bluray/cd/dvd/ drive, and 470gig HDD. the best feature about this laptop is that it has switchable graphics(not sure if you know but when ever you go on battery mode itll automatically switch to integrated graphics to save power). i got those specs for almost $1200 after using $450 coupon Savings(the coupon expired about 2 weaks ago) which was the best deal!!! :) the ati 4550 gpu is powerfull enough to play mass effect at a good frame rate.
Return it and get a thinkpad. The T series should last you a VERY long time....approx 18 hours if you get the t401 with the wedge battery. Lenovo's estimates are always slightly lower too. so if you put everything on low i bet you can get more than 18
@questionexclamation Sorry dude, I run a t410 with the wedge, and the best I can achieve when I am actually using the computer is 11.5-12 hours. Internet surfing and real time use (but no video/games) puts this down around 10.
This is already phenomenal, no need to make claims about 18 hours.
@questionexclamation
for college students like myself, the hp tm2 is the way to go because its multi touch and wacom pen digittizier so its the best to take notes on(tablet mode). it also weighs less. the tm2 also comes(if configured with it) with a better gpu.
@techologist
I had the Toshiba something something convertible tablet about 3 or 4 years ago when I was in college. It was awesome for taking notes. Initially the battery lasted 6 hours which was plenty to get through an entire day of classes. Later, when the battery started to go bad I had to carry around the AC adapter with me. It didn't get unusable till the batter life dipped bellow 3 hours.
@onemadrssn well thats unfortunate....that means i gotta take care of the battey to slow done that problem....
@fopkins
I use the T400 with a 9 Cell battery and i've gotten 11 hours before! Dang! thanks for the info though.
@hated one LOL, made me fart when i chuckled... so i guess it would be more like "CTF" (chuckled then farted)
My external battery of choice is the Tekkeon MP3450. You can double the capacity by "piggy-backing" the MP3450-10 to the MP3450.
The Tekkeon external batteries come with a lot of tips (others can be purchased for around $5-$8 shipped) and can often be charged by your laptop's charger (with the right tip).
I have had a MP3450 for over a year. It works great and I have found Tekkeon's customer service to be very good. I've used mine with a Dell Mini 9, Dell Mini 10 and a Fujitsu U820. I have not tried it (yet) with my new HP tm2t.
Being an IT consultant in the health care industry - i am in constant need of external laptop batteries (treatment carts, COWS (Computers on wheels)......
i have purchased numerous of every brand out there
(there used to be some good ones from APC, Targus...but are long discontinued)
at this time the ones i find best and "readily available" (i.e. in stock)
are the ones from
http://www.batterygeek.net/Laptop-Tablet-PC-Battery-Packs-s/1.htm
they come in different sizes (from about 60 WH - to something like 800 WH)
to me they seem to be the same batteries as the HyperMac (same Chinese manufacturer - just in black case - which can be sourced directly from alibaba in quantities) but come with a bunch of tips for PC's
and if it doesn't come with your tip most likely they can get a tip for you
i have about 100 of these currently in deployment - i wont say i love their quality - but i will say they are better than any of the others currently available (at least the ones i know about)
I think exactly what you're looking for is the PowerGorilla, at http://www.powertraveller.com
It's the size of a thin A5 paperback, charges from any adapter (it comes with A LOT of tips/pins to convert any notebook adapter) at any voltage, supplies any voltage upto 24v and comes with a HUGE array of tips and pins for charging mobile devices and laptops (which you can do simultaneously.) It even comes with a cigarette lighter adapter and a neoprene case.
I own one of these and they're extremely handy to charge random mobile phones and gadgets as well as juice up my laptop.
Hope this helps.
@hackm0d Thanks. Their "powergorilla" pack looks quite interesting. Will have to do some research into whether the included adapters are compatible with a Toshiba Qosmio x500.
How does one pose a question for Ask Engadget? Now that I'm accumulating an awful lot of gadgets with web browsers, my question is:
What's the best way to synchronize bookmarks across multiple devices and browsers?
@Zhuzhu
i use xmarks
http://www.xmarks.com/about/features
Energizer XP18000 Power pack. Lots of power, not too big, under $200. http://www.energizerpowerpacks.com/us/products/xp18000/
I remember reading about the Powerpad back in 2000-2001 which is basically a thin pad that is a battery and plugs into your laptop. It claimed to give you an extra 10-12 hours of laptop usage. But I never got one as the laptops I've had were not supported by Powerpad. Here's the product link: http://www.epowerpad.com/
CNet has a review on it and they rate it well but if you look at people who've used it, they claim it's pretty bad. Here's the CNet review link: http://reviews.cnet.com/notebook-batteries/electrovaya-powerpad-160/4505-19216_7-30159269.html
Just to follow up on @Centers' comment:
I use a electrovaya powerpad and have been very happy with it. (FYI The version reviewed in CNET is quite old and I only have experience with the newer models)
In particular I have the PowerPad 95. I'm not sure what the total battery life works out to be, but I can say that I was able to use my Toshiba R500 on >10 hour international flights without a problem, and have never had a battery problem during a day away from power outlets. Size wise its about the same size and weight as my R500 (10.6" x 8.2" x 0.6" and 1.8lbs). And yes it has USB ports for charging ipods etc...
I did have one problem with a defective powerpad (it died in 1 day), however my experience with the company was excellent and I had a replacement quickly.
You do need to figure out which adapters to order from them. Their compatibility list is hardly complete, but its usually easy to figure out as manufacturers tend to use only a limited number of voltages and plug styles.
Hope that helps with your decision.
I made an external battery pack charger for my Iphone on the golf course.
Went to frys picked up a lead acid 12v battery, they have a number of sizes i got the 9 amp hour variety, cig adaptor socket, pack of connectors and soldered everything together.
Now when golfing I just take usb cig. charger and cable from my car plug everything in and I can leave phone on full brightness running golflogix.
Have not needed to charge 12v lead acid battery yet 3 full rounds completed.
Obviously for laptop sub inverter for cig charger and you are good to go. I will try charging my laptop from a fully charged 12v lead acid battery. Probably get a full charge and then some.
All this for less than $30
Im just waiting for fuel cell laptops. A tiny little cylinder of hydrogen could power your laptop for over a month. now thats what I call efficient.
good post,thanks for share it
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