Topic: Laptop Power Options

[kmanshi]

I'm running an MBOX to my laptop, and I'm sure it's going to be a power hog.  It is USB powered, and has phantom power to the mics.  I haven't really benchmarked what my range is.  I've been recording in a local pub, and there is a power outlet behind the board.  Since this will certainly be an issue for me some day, I'm wondering what folks do to get around the limitations in laptop batteries.  I was thinking about investing in some spare batteries.  That's one option.  I also saw some kind of external battery at http://www.laptopbatteries.com that will run your laptop for 6-8 hours AND it charges your battery.  It's only $229 or something like that.  Has anyone ever used one of these?

Any suggestions will be welcomed.  Thanks in advance for any assistance/suggestions offered.

kmanshi

[mirth]

Anything that is bus powered will slurp battery life, so unless you have a laptop that can take multiple batteries at the same time you're going to need some type of external solution.

That external battery you found is similar to many others out there. Lots of laptop tapers use the Valence-n-Charge batteries and/or Electrovaya Powerpads.

Best Buy has the 5-hour version of the Valence for $200, with an additional 5 hour expansion pack available for roughly the same price.

What kind of laptop are you running?

[kmanshi]

It's a Dell Inspirion 8600.

[Scooter]

valence is the shit if u have the money.  I run two of these below in parallel...

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=986

[C.Clark]

valence is the shit if u have the money.  I run two of these below in parallel...

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=986

i use two of these as well as my internal battery and i never really worry about
battery power at a show

[gewwang]

Best Buy has the 5-hour version of the Valence for $200, with an additional 5 hour expansion pack available for roughly the same price.

This is what I run and I got them at Best Buy.

http://www.valence.com/ncharge2.asp

It runs for $199 and the expansion pack for $169. I got each with a $50 rebate which Best Buy has run 3 times this summer in 2-3 week runs already. From 100% down to shutting my Sony off, it lasted about 8 hours with the monitor on. More expensive than the first gen valence or the other power options mentioned but the advantages are the power meter, interchangeable tips (so if I sell the sony and got a powerbook, i would just have to go buy $10 of new tips). It also works with the iGo, and you can charge a cell phone or any other device off the same charger. It also fits with my vaio laptop in a sonicase accessory pouch.

[mirth]

Batteryspace also has this guy http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1099 which is similar to the Walmart Li-ion packs people are using for their UA-5s and can run a 12v laptop.
Has a neat-o battery meter which could definitely come in handy with whatever you're planning to power with it.

I think the next battery I'm a gonna buy will be a Valence though... unless I can find a Powerpad with few charge cycles on it for less.

[Tyler McGhee]

i run an inspiron 8500 and it's a hoss. It sucks down the energy like I do beers.
with the onboard battery and 2 valence externals (10 hour models) i can maybe get 6 hours total.

the valences are super easy to use.

[Electric Cowgirl]

I really like the LIion batteries from Electrovaya.  I have tried both with my fujitsu lifebook.  Here is my comparison.

PRICE: N-charge             200$    Best Buy
          PowerPad120      180$    Ebay (shipped)


RUN TIME:  N-charge         ~3hours
(lid open)   PowerPad120   at least 6 hours.......... indicator showed 2 green lights out of 5 total lights.

Charging:   N-charge           wallwart charger, charges quick, but didn't time this
                PowerPad120    plugs into your lap top a/c cable, charge overnight

So the PowerPad 120/160 out performs the N-charge batts from in a major way. It will run a whole show with the power showing 2 yellow lights easy with the lid open here and there to set/check levels.  If you want to run at festivals this is the battery to get.  The 160 will run at least 10 hours with the lid open according to a friend that has one.  Look on Ebay...these babies are 250-400$ new.  Also check www.electrovaya.com for a chart that will tell you which model (A B C D) you need with your lappy.

[Tyler McGhee]

they don't make a model of the powerpad for the 8600 (nor the 8500 - booooooo)...

 

so it looks like the valence is your only viable option.

[Electric Cowgirl]

That is LAME!  The powerpad rocks

[dklein]

you could probably also provide separate power just for the mbox if you wanted to hack a USB cable (and lighten the load on the laptop).  My Dell will go 4+ hours on the stock battery.

[Tyler McGhee]

wow!  is that with the lid open or closed?

[C.Clark]

you could probably also provide separate power just for the mbox if you wanted to hack a USB cable (and lighten the load on the laptop).  My Dell will go 4+ hours on the stock battery.

i get about 1.75 hrs from my internal and about the same from my
battery space externals, so i average about 5 hrs of batt time with what
i got, which is usually plenty, and i dont believe valence or eletrovaya support
my laptop, at least in the past when i looked at them

[dklein]

wow!  is that with the lid open or closed?

doesn't matter - I set it to go dark after 3 minutes or so.  I've basically turned off unnecessary stuff and dropped the brightness down.  Even if I power my emagic A62 from USB I still get over 3.5 hours.  It's a celeron 2.0 with 256MB RAM - nuthin special.  Cost me $750.