Power Practical’s Lithium 4400 Rechargeable Battery Bank Review

[hawgrider]

Need a little more power?


Battery Pack Technical Specs:

The unit packs 4,400mAh of power, which is enough to charge to an average smartphone about 2-3 times. In my testing I was able to fully charge my iPhone about 2.5 times. Charging times were similar to what you would find with an average 1Amp output wall charger



http://offgridsurvival.com/powerpractical-lithium4400/

[James m]

They sell a two pack of uniden brand batteries at wally world for $10.00

They are the size of a roll of quarters and are 1,000 mah each.

[Pauls]

I was recently moved blatently into the 21st century when my wife bought me a laptop computer. it came with Windoze 8.1 and the first boot was with my Linux install disk. So I now own two desktop and a laptop all running linux and another desktop that runs DOS (not microsoft but still DOS).

I have a complaint about my ASUS X551M laptop. The batter only lasts 4 hours - and less if I am running my programming IDE. I have looked everyplace I can think of for a replacement that will fit and provide longer life to no avail. I have looked at automotive inverters but they are all modified "sine wave" inverters meaning they are step wave inverters not suitable for electronic equipment (even though they say they will run notebooks and laptops).

Does anyone have a source for either batteries that will work on this unit or an inverter that can be plugged into the lighter socket that is a true sine wave inverter? I would prefer having both but will settle for either or.

added: It has an AC adapter that puts out 19.0 volts DC at 1.75 Amps so there is no easy way to set up an alternative power supply from standard batteries. I suppose I could build a regulated supply that uses 21 volts and cut it to the needed 19 with a regulator but there has to be an easier way. I have no idea what the actual battery voltage is but it must be less than 19.

[James m]

You went straight Linux? I was going to but needed Microsoft only programs. Namely Microsoft silver light. Moon light is the Linux alternative but didn't work.

Have an SSD yet? I would think if a hard drive wasn't spinning at that many thousands of RPM it would take less battery. I have a SSD I switch out of my laptop now and then. From cold, I hit the power button and at most ten seconds later it asks for login credentials. Some people take the CD DVD drive out and swap for an SSD in that bay, just hard to find a plastic cover.

The only extended batteries I heard of were the net books. Some were Linux but most were xp.

[James m]

They have car cigarette lighter laptop chargers. The tech support company I work for sends them out with new laptops. They order them from CDW but they want double what everyone else does. They want $100 everyone else wants $50
Most are targus brand. Walmart Staples and best buy online has them.

[Inor]

I was recently moved blatently into the 21st century when my wife bought me a laptop computer. it came with Windoze 8.1 and the first boot was with my Linux install disk. So I now own two desktop and a laptop all running linux and another desktop that runs DOS (not microsoft but still DOS).

I have a complaint about my ASUS X551M laptop. The batter only lasts 4 hours - and less if I am running my programming IDE. I have looked everyplace I can think of for a replacement that will fit and provide longer life to no avail. I have looked at automotive inverters but they are all modified "sine wave" inverters meaning they are step wave inverters not suitable for electronic equipment (even though they say they will run notebooks and laptops).

Does anyone have a source for either batteries that will work on this unit or an inverter that can be plugged into the lighter socket that is a true sine wave inverter? I would prefer having both but will settle for either or.

added: It has an AC adapter that puts out 19.0 volts DC at 1.75 Amps so there is no easy way to set up an alternative power supply from standard batteries. I suppose I could build a regulated supply that uses 21 volts and cut it to the needed 19 with a regulator but there has to be an easier way. I have no idea what the actual battery voltage is but it must be less than 19.

What are you using for an IDE Paul? Also what language are programming?

[Pauls]

James, Yes I have been using linux now for ... about eight years. I have all open source software and the only time I miss Windows is when I need a portable ballistics program - so I am writing a C99 compatible 6 DOF ballistics program so I can use it on anything that has a C99 capable compiler. The cigarette light chargers (inverters) are only marginally compatible for use with 110 outlets. The USB chargers are fine because they are 5 vdc and do not use inverter technology. My ASUS won't charge on USB so the alternative is to use an inverter but I will only trust a pure sine wave inverter for the computer. The modified sine wave might work with the converter that came with the laptop but it might also burn it up fast.

I think the solid state drives have a ways to go before I trust them as a boot device. I keep backups on external drives (EMP protected) and CD/DVD for all my "permanent storage". I know that an SSD won't survive an E1 pulse but then unless my computer is shielded it won't either. I am working on a carry bag that has at least three layers of microscreen with insulation between them to help protect the laptop and my thumb drives.

[James m]

Clickety click.

http://targus.com/US/laptop-car-charger-dc-apd33us

????

[Pauls]

What are you using for an IDE Paul? Also what language are programming?

I am using Geany as the IDE and staying within the confines of C99 for the language. About 35 - 40 years ago I did a bit of programming in what was called "standard C" by Borland but found it was only "standard" when using DOS. When I tried to port them over to windows I got discouraged and quit. It seemed that every time windows upgraded the programs had to be reworked to keep working in windows. That is part of the reason I still have a DOS computer. Those programs still run fine and they are programs that I like using. I still have the old Borland C but I don't do much with it anymore. I don't know if you know it or not but there is no way to print from a C99 program so I print to a text file and use a word processor to print them. It maintains the formatting as long as I use a mono based #10 font. If I want to dress it up with true type fonts I have manually format it.

Added: If anyone is interested I have a program that I have just finished that computes the size and length for exhaust headers. It will work for 4, 6 and 8 cylinder four cycle engines. You have to tell it whether you want three into one or four into one headers and put in a bit of info about the engine and it gives you the length and diameter for the primary tubes and the diameter and length for the collector for the RPM range that you provide. It is open source and written in C99 so it should be compileable in any compliant C compiler. Just compile it and run. I have compiled it for Linux but I know that there are only a small percentage of users that run Linux.

Because it is a C99 program it runs in a terminal - not under Windows or OSX - but it should run in a terminal window in any OS.

[Deebo]

I am very low tech, but, there are always some lithium batteries on sale at LAPG, couldn't you make a bank yourself?

[James m]

You mean hook a battery up so it charges USB? Good idea. I have a car USB where the plastic broke, but the other stuff is intact. I was just going to chuck it. I have to see what kind of input I need.

[Arklatex]

You will get 2 full charges for an iPhone out of that thing. Or less than 2 if you use a phone with a removable battery since most of them run around 2400 mAh. I have a 10000 mAh battery and it has come in handy several times. The one hawg mentioned would be nice for iPhone people. Might consider putting it in your kit for power outages in case your phone is dead when the lights go out. You will still be able to communicate with family and friends.

[James m]

I sometimes use the car jump starters as an accessory charger. A lot of them will have a cigarette lighter adapter, some will even have a USB port built in. I had a small one that I let a neighbor borrow and it charged their dumb phone for four days. I just charged mine in my jeep.

[Pauls]

The problem with using a car battery is that the output from the AC adapter is 19 volts DC. A car battery varies between 12 and 15 volts when the car is off or running with a full charge. The average voltage (no load) of a fully charged battery is 13.4 volts but put even a small load on it and the voltage will drop to under thirteen volts in seconds. There is just no way to get 19 volts from a stack of "common" batteries. I can get 18 or 19.5 or 21 voltsbut not 19. I would have to buy or build a regulator so the easy answer is to use the AC adapter to charge the battery in my laptop. I then run into the problems associated with "modified" sine wave inverters which produce a stepped square wave power and that can cause problems (heat and magnetic stages) that can destroy the transformers in the AC adapter or cause timing errors in the electronics due to "noise" in the power supply.

If I have to go to a true (pure) sine wave inverter it will be expensive but safe. I may be able to build an inverter - I have not looked into that yet.