External Battery Roundup: Stay Away From The Wall Socket

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Battery life is always such a big deal in our mobile coverage (often because gaming systems fall so short). But don't feel limited by the built-in power source. Today we round up 15 external batteries that can keep you running longer away from a socket.

Digipower Universal Notebook Battery (EBP-NB60)

Digipower's Universal Notebook Battery was a bit hard to track down for several reasons. Digipower is a brand of Mizco Electronics, and our inquiries to the company initially went unanswered. To expedite the process, we pulled this unit from Amazon. As a roundup, this story should reflect the full range of available buying options.

Unfortunately, our initial battery pack turned out to be a dud after one week into testing, which we chalked up to an anomaly. We tried to contact Digipower directly, but there is no phone number listed on its Web site. Furthermore, we submitted multiple messages via the company's comment form that went unanswered.

After tracking down the parent company's head office, we ran into even more issues. We were informed that Digipower wasn't interested in press (whoops) because its products weren't intended for the US market. Instead, it sells into overseas markets like China. The representative promptly informed us that she would hang up within three seconds and requested no further contact. As we were trying to explain our situation, we heard an immediate click. Subsequent efforts to contact the company were unsuccessful.

As a result, we can't really say if we ran into a bad batch from Digipower, or if the company's products are simply as terrible as its customer service. We did try another unit from Amazon, but ran into the same issues. According to a user-based Amazon review, we aren't the only ones experiencing problems with Digipower's Universal Notebook Battery. It just doesn't hold a charge at all beyond the one-week mark.

Unfortunately for Digipower, not only is it actually selling products in the United States, but we're also a global organization reviewing hardware for multiple countries. We take issues with the company's belief that it can ignore press. Good products are good products and bad products are bad products. Until we experience otherwise, this is a bad product supported by a manufacturer that seems to know it's selling garbage.

For the purposes of our quantitative measurements, we're excluding the results of this product due to the limited number of available test runs before it ceased working entirely. This is really unfortunate. The build quality of the aluminum shell is actually pretty good: solid, durable, and with smooth lines. The only thing we didn't like was the On/Off button, which seems to stick and has little to no tactile feedback.

Andrew Ku
27 Comments Comment from the forums
  • lashabane
    Excellent article. I had an idea that this stuff was out there but never really bothered to look. If the 4-5 hours I get from my Asus 1215t begins to not cut it, I now know where to look. Thanks!
    Reply
  • zodiacfml
    I did not understood any of the technical reading especially the part about the desktop PSU.
    At one point, it is stated that AC adapters have higher voltage than the battery on a notebook so that it can be charged. Then, how can a external battery damage a notebook's electronics with a higher voltage (only if it's too high)?

    It is not stated how to set the external battery voltage correctly. What then is the correct voltage? Correct me but I believe the voltage has to be equal that of notebook battery.
    Reply
  • burnley14
    It's pretty remarkable that after page 2 I could guess who the author of this article was (without looking of course) due to the thoroughness and good grammar/lack of typos. Hats off to you yet again, Mr. Ku. Job well done as always.
    Reply
  • @zodiacfml

    it's simple really, AC adapter spit out AC, Batteries spit out DC
    Reply
  • nukemaster
    zodiacfmlI did not understood any of the technical reading especially the part about the desktop PSU.At one point, it is stated that AC adapters have higher voltage than the battery on a notebook so that it can be charged. Then, how can a external battery damage a notebook's electronics with a higher voltage (only if it's too high)? It is not stated how to set the external battery voltage correctly. What then is the correct voltage? Correct me but I believe the voltage has to be equal that of notebook battery.Your guess is actually right. The battery with its voltage set too high can damage the notebook.
    If you need to know the voltage required, you just check on your laptop AC adapter or power brick. It is not always the same as the battery.

    For instance, a Compaq R3000 has an 18.5 volt AC->DC(120w) power supply and its battery is only 14.5 volts. The voltage regulators in the laptop(in the charging system) it self cut it down to the needed 14.5-15volts to charge the battery.

    Also note that the AC adapter does NOT spit out AC it in fact spits out DC(it has a rectifier to convert AC to DC).

    As you can see by this picture(you have to click the link), The adapter takes in AC 120V and spits out DC 18.5V. AC is shown with a ~ and DC with a --_---_-- cant make it on here, but you get the point.
    http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/1950/powerw.jpg
    Reply
  • Onus
    Thanks for the comments on Digipower. I've placed them on my personal "Do Not Buy" list.
    Reply
  • Luscious
    Quite a different experience on my end testing the Energizer XP8000 and XP18000.

    For my smartphone and MiFi, the XP8000 just can't be beat. 5x runtime guarantees me 20+ hours of 3G broadband and week-long phone use. Being barely bigger than a Blackberry, I can effortlessly stash the XP8000 on my belt, and charge my smartphone while I walk.

    The XP18000, on the other hand, was a huge disappointment. Using a Toshiba NB305 netbook, it was incapable of recharging the factory 6-cell battery while powered on, and could not provide 2 full charges while powered off. For my usage scenario, that's a failure, as I plug in the external battery when my netbook hits 3% critical, right before Windows does a force shutdown, allowing me to continue working.

    Using this deplete-charge-deplete approach SHOULD allow me 14+ hours of continuous power-on time, except that even the beefy XP18000 couldn't get through 1 netbook charge. Had it been capable of providing one full charge powered on, or two full charges powered off, I would have recommended the XP18000 as well.

    http://lgponthemove.blogspot.com/2010/07/accessory-corner-3-energizer-xp18000.html
    Reply
  • a_fortiori
    Nice article. I wonder if these units can be used as a mini-ups for equipment like a NAS, routers and modems. It would be great if you could wire these with the NAS, and be sure that a power outage wouldn't damage the NAS. Considering that the NAS units typically consume much less power than a notebook, these should be able to cover 4-5 hrs of power outage (?) Any thoughts?
    Reply
  • shineon2010
    Very good info , alot of products that im having second thoughts about.
    Reply
  • junixophobia
    shineon2010Very good info , alot of products that im having second thoughts about.
    Just buy an automatic inverter that works for hours with a car battery
    Reply