Re: [Thinkpad] External notebook batteries

On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 10:52:37 -0800 (PST), Mitchell Yee wrote:

>I've used and bought the Plectrovaya Powerpad
>batteries (12 and 16 hr versions). I have no
>opinion about the N Charge.

I found one review of one N-Charge unit on www.epinions.com and it
only got two stars (pretty small sample set though, only the one
review). The N-Charge seems to have the option (with optional
cable?) of charging as cell phone or PDA as well as a notebook.

>2. Charging: Thinkpad power supplies supply 16 V.
>A careful review of the specifications of Powerpads
>will reveal that 17V is required to FULLY charge a
>Powerpad. Thus, Thinkpad owners will never be able
>achieve any more than an 80% or so charge on a
>Powerpad.

That's interesting, I can't find that anywhere online, including
the PDF manual. All I could find was that its capacity was 15V and
that you shouldn't use an adapter that produces >24V. They do
offer an AC adapter for use with the "D" model (TP600 and other
older machines seem to be "A" in Electrovaya's terms, and all the
newer ones "D"). I was thinking of paying the extra $20 or $30 to
get a "D" model (for compatibility if I buy a new TP) and I wonder
if using that always, would allow me to fully charge the PowerPad.
It isn't totally clear if I can leave the AC adapter plugged in
while I'm using the PP, in that case it might be dangerous.

They also recommend having a working battery in the TP, presumably
in case the connector gets pulled or the PP runs down, just like
leaving it in while plugged in. In your experience, if I'm
attentive to the PP's status could I survive without an internal
battery?

I see a lot of "generic" TP600 batteries on eBay now, I wonder if
they're old dead batteries shipped to China for new cells. Does
anyone have data on reliability of these things?

>Hope this helps. If it matters, Electrovaya is in
>Canada.

Thanks for all the advice. Their Toronto location may be handy in
terms of getting one delivered by Tuesday, tigerdirect.ca still has
a few of the 120-A but the agent I talked to said no way is "UPS
next-day air" going to get me one by Tuesday! (Shipped from IL)

andrew [awebber@wwwebbers.com]
ph 613-797-8123
fx 831-300-4097
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Received on Fri Jan 23 14:25:50 2004