Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Thank you, please let us know your findings asap!

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

No results yet - test just started. Both internal battery and MP1550 are fully charged and connected. Im running mplayer in the following loop in an xterm.

while [ 1 ]; do date > last.txt; mplayer n800.avi; sleep 10; done

(cant remember the full name of n800.avi - its the default video in OS2008).

If its not still going tomorrow then last.txt should show how long it was running for.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Thanks a lot! I can't wait to see the results!

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

mplayer ran continuously from 8:25pm to 5:22am - so thats just shy of 9 hours.

It might be possible to get longer if I waited until the battery was lower (i.e. 50%) before activating the battery pack.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Wow, that's REALLY good for a cheap battery pack!

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

I think I read somewhere the external packs are more efficient when used with a fully charged internal battery, the rationale being that charging the internal battery is a less efficient process than delivering current directly (which is -- more or less -- the case with a fully charged internal battery).

Don't shoot me if your Itablet explodes.

Well, you wouldn't -- because you would have exploded as well. So the disclaimer is pretty redundant then. Pfhew...

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

I'm going to have to try that with my Tekkeon MP3300. I use it for both my n800 and DSLR.

Results:
The Tekkeon MP3300 has a row of 8 LEDs which indicate, what voltage is selected, and, at the press of a button, how much battery charge is remaining. My test was run using a 56 minute video (avi) of the Boeing 787 roll out. I also left wifi turned on (so omweather could update :D and a little use of ssh and sftp to the n800 from my PC).

After 12 hours of running the video, three of the eight LEDs on the Tekkeon were still lit up, indicating around 37% battery left, and my n800's battery was still fully charged.

It wouldn't surprise me if I got 18 to 20 hours total use out of the Tekkeon and the n800's internal battery.

(gee, I wonder how many pictures I could take with my DSLR?) :cool:

MP1550 external battery test
 

Hi all,


I hope that you don't mind my jumping in here with my experience with the Tekkeon MP1550 TekCharge. I recently purchased it on January 3 from Maxwho.com for $28.99 delivered. It arrived on January 8.

I decided to use eneloop AA batteries in the unit since I've had good results with them in the past with my digital SLR camera. Their low self-discharge rate makes them a good choice to power the MP1550, in my opinion. So far, what I've seen of the unit seems to make it ideal as a backup power supply. The construction seems solid, and with the included adapters, it can handle a lot more than just the Nokia Internet Tablets. Although I've only tested the hookup with my cell phone, which worked nicely.

Last night I thought that I would test the endurance of the unit while powering my Nokia N800. I've had my N800 for about a month and it is using OS2008.

I topped off the batteries of the N800 using the normal charger, and connected it to my home wifi network. I loaded a web page that would occasionally ask for new data without my intervention (The local Nexrad radar page on weatherunderground.com.) since I would be asleep through much of this. Admittedly this was not working the N800/MP1550 too hard, especially since the screen blanks after 5 minutes. I then removed the N800 from the charger and plugged in the recently fully-charged MP1550. (All three capacity indicators showing green.) Within a minute the N800 indicated that it's battery was once again fully charged. I then went to sleep.

This morning, at the 10 hour mark, when tapping the N800 battery indicator, it continued to read, "Battery full..." and the MP1550 showed three green capacity lights also.

At about 11 hours since the start, I noticed that one of the 3 capacity lights on the MP1550 had started to flicker. And at 11.25 hours, there were two capacity lights showing on the MP1550 and the N800 remained fully charged. Interestingly, it went back up to three lights soon after I stopped checking the N800 status.

At the 11.5 hour, I decided to push it a bit harder by playing a song in a loop in the N800 media player. Output was through a set of small earphones and the volume set on full in the player and half at the N800 main volume control. At 11.75 hours, there were two steady lights and one flickering.

At the 12 hour mark, the N800 showed fully charged and the MP1550 showed two steady green and one flickering capacity light.

As I write this at the 12.25 hour mark, the MP1550 is showing two steady green capacity lights and, of course, the N800 is fully charged.

I'll continue with this test until the N800 goes back to its own battery (the MP1550 is discharged) or 24 hours, whichever comes first and report back. But so far the MP1550 seems to be extending the battery life of the N800 by quite a bit. However, I'm not really pushing it too hard considering the screen dims, then blanks after 5 minutes. But, if the MP1550 were to go dead right now, there would remain the normal full battery time of the N800.

So for my normal usage, this appears to be a nice backup battery solution.


Bill

EDIT: 15 hours since the start... 1 capacity light remains on the MP1550.

15.25 hours: That was quick... from 2 lights to one to none. MP1550 is discharged and the N800 is on its own, with battery showing: When idle 10 days, When in use 7 hours.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

That's not backup, that's freaking steroids!

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

These are two very interesting observations.

N800 Fully Charged battery + Tekkeon 3300 = 18 to 20 hours use
N800 Fully Charged Battery + Tekkeon 1550 = 12.5 hours minimum.

The price difference between the two models is about $100 so I would not have expected the cheapie to be so good.

Itsbill, let us know the final figure?

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

unfortunately i'm unable to find mp1550 in italy, nor EU :(

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

The Tekkeon 3300 is on Expansys Italy. € 94.95 + shipping.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

I've edited my original post to show it, but 15.25 hours was the result of my MP1550 discharge test.

Bill

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

This is outstanding!

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

I'm going to re-run my mplayer test using the generic 4xAAA Soshine unit I bought from DealExtreme for $15 (including 4xAAA 900mah NiMH batteries - $9 for charger, $6 for batteries). At that price its hard to ignore and it also doubles as a charger for the 2xAAA needed for the iGo slim BT keyboard, and it also has a built-in torch thats handy for rummaging around gear bags.

Just kicked it off @ 4:10pm EST. Should have results later this evening.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

itsbill, what capacity AA's did you use in the test? (eg.1500 mAH, etc.)?

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

The MP1550 was powered by four Sanyo recharchable eneloop
Size AA
Model HR-3UTG
1.2V
2,000 mAh

I've found these eneloop batteries to be great for long storage use. Many times I've used them after a month of no use and have found them to have quite a bit of capacity remaining. More expensive than other rechargeables, but I think worth it.

Hope that helps.

Bill

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

I have a stash of 2700 mAH's so I am sorted. The next thing is to source the MP 1550 for the UK.

Thanks for a very helpful post.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

If anyone wants to look at the PDF user guide for the MP1550,
its at http://www.tekkeon.com/site/downloads/UG-MP1550.pdf.

And I'm not affiliated in any way with the company.

Bill

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Remember, the 1550 was not be used heavily during this test, whereas the 3300 was consantly running an AVI at full brightness and accessing the internet at least every half hour (OMWeather). I'd like to see what the 1550 is capable of when running an AVI continuously.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

I think that's a good idea. Later tonight, I'll loop a video and run the same same weather accessing web page while running off the MP1550. The only thing I can't do is keep the screen at full brightness during the test.

Bill

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Point taken, the significance of this detail didn't register with me as it should have.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

I went to Fry's today and picked this up:

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/485...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

$29.99 wasn't a bad deal, considering it's $60 on AMZN + taxes + shipping.

it's 10W (advertised) so let me charge it tonight and test tomorrow, this could be interesting...

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Got some numbers for the SoShine BeOne 4xAAA charger from DealExtreme. Starting with a fully charged n800 + Soshine using 4xAAA (SoShine 900mah) it played continuous video for 6 hours and 6 minutes.

Performance Comparision:

Tekkeon MP1550 + 4xAA (2000mah eneloop): 8 hours 56 minutes
SoShine BeOne + 4xAAA (900mah Soshine): 6 hours 6 minutes

Price Comparison

Tekkeon MP1550: $25 + ship + 4xeneloop => ~$45
SoShine BeOne: $9 + 4xAAA => ~$15

I wouldn't rule out these SoShine chargers - the price/performance is probably good for most peoples needs (i.e. medium length flight), the AAAs are good for iGo keyboards as well, and they feel slightly more robust than the Tekkeon but they are definitely not as cool looking, and have a fiddly switch. They also lack a voltage regulator but after reading recent threads of people frying their Cradlepoint routers on EvdoForums when using larger Tekkeon units I have my doubts about how effective these are.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Are you guys using the usb port or the power in slot to power the n810 thru an external battery kit?

Another MP1550 battery pack test
 

Another, but more aggressive, battery run down test with my OS2008 N800 and the MP1550. As before, I topped off the batteries of the N800 using the normal charger, and connected it to my home wifi network. I loaded the local Nexrad radar page from weatherunderground.com which reloads about every ten minutes. This time my N800 was running a continuously looping video with audio delivered through earpieces.

I then removed the N800 from the charger and plugged into the regular charging port the recently fully-charged, MP1550 (With 4 eneloop 2000 mAh rechargeable batteries.) external battery pack. I also saw that while running the video, my screen display did not dim nor blank. So this test was conducted with a full bright display.

Some of this was conducted overnight so I was unable to note the step by step as before. However, as might be expected, the results were considerably shorter. The N800, MP1550 combo went full dark after 8 hours and 16 minutes of the above run.

Bill

Re: Another MP1550 battery pack test
 

power in slot on my n800

Re: Another MP1550 battery pack test
 

That's about on par with what I got with my el-cheapo AA charger. Still, with a second set of batteries, I'm on the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi runway still watching episodes of "Galactica".

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

too much expensive for me :(

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Yeah, I agree. Besides, the 3300 has a fixed LiIon battery, which kinda negates the "always and everywhere emergency power" paradigm.

I haven't been able to find the 1550 in a European shop yet, but I can confirm that a (rather cheaply looking) 4AA charger for the Archos PMA430 I had lying around does indeed work with the Itablet -- with a Nokia tip adapter, that is.

I don't know if it has a voltage regulator -- heck, I don't even know if it has a counterflow diode! -- but it works and gives similar results as itsbill's test.

I'm not too worried about voltage regulators anyway; I've hooked my Itablets up to some crazy sh*t in the past and they're still not charred. The onboard regulator circuits seem to be working just fine...

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Hi,

interesting thread!

Here's s.th. I found on the German Nokia website and then I found an English version:

http://europe.nokia.com/A4487188
120 EUR at Nokia Germany

Stylish, expensive, compatible with N800 and N810 - no information on what the "internal battery" is (LiIon?).

And another Nokia item, this time with AA batteries an very small:

http://europe.nokia.com/link?cid=EDITORIAL_344303
Not available at Nokia's German online store.


And a USB-charge-adapter (that I could use with the AC- and DC-plugs I just bought for othe devices that have an USB-power outlet instead of a cable...):

http://europe.nokia.com/link?cid=EDITORIAL_182803
23 EUR at Nokia Germany

But wait, there's more - and really strange stuff:

HandyBatt (made in Switzerland):

The regular product (one time disposable power source):
http://www.handybatt.com/products/default.asp?l=1

Or the "one AA Battery" version:
http://www.handybatt.com/otherproduc...oducts.asp?l=0
(unfortunately not available in English)
(which apparently is not made by them - it's also available via http://www.chargetogo.com/store/pc/v...=2&idproduct=1)

They also have solar (Solio charger) and USB chargers.

And for all the people from Germany there's www.solarc.de - they sell solar chargers that use removable AAA or AA "buffer" batteries and so can be used to charge several gadgets via adapter cables. Prices start at 39 EUR and end at 199 EUR for the biggest model.


Cheers

Franko30

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Can someone put this blunty for me, and please give me links:

I would like a battery pack (which I'll only ever use for my N800) that can push the limits of usage 12 hours and beyond, without risk of damaging the internal pack. If possible, then 20 hours (or more, if existant, without possibility of damaging my N800!)

I want the longest usage out of my N800. Rediculous ammounts of hours. Im a writer, and a musician and this little gadget is a miracle I tell you!

Can you give me links to what I'd need to achieve this, please?

So far it seems the tekkeon 1550 is the best choice. but it doesnt look to me that it uses AA's; its lithium.

Any help would be great :cool:


:)

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Hi there,

The MP1550 does use AA batteries. I used eneloop rechargeable AAs for my tests in this thread, but any good AA set would do. Those with higher than 2000mAh would probably give longer life than my tests. And you could keep a spare set of AAs and swap them into the pack if needed.

Bill

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

For those looking for a more available option, the Tekkeon MP1500 is the older version of the MP1550. It was discussed a little while back. Its available in Canada marketted under the Noma brand at Canadian Tire.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Ok so theoretically, I could just find a nice enough (and large enough) case for my N800 to be able to acquire something like this

http://batteryjunction.com/chunch4dsini.html


hahaha... im kinda serious.. would this damage the N800?


Otherwise, thats great to hear the 1550 uses AA's, but whats the highest capacity for AA NiMh? So far i've only seen 2500, and caught drift of 2700's but can't seem to find either energizer or Sanyo (though I've read Sanyo's 2700's are actually higher capacity 2500/'2600')




[EDIT] About the Tekkeon MP series chargers:

What of the MP1800? And I just read, right now, that the MP3000 automatically resets the power level to avoid 'overcharging'.. do the other models support this feature? I can't seem to find this info.. thanks

Also, that link I provided.. is there such thing as a 10000Mah NiMh external/portable device similar to teh Tekkeon? Please any info would be greatly appreciated! (as well as to whether or not a device with such power could or, more importantly, would damage my N800)

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

There is an interesting selection here
http://www.batterygeek.net/Device_Battery_Packs_s/3.htm
There is the small matter of converting Wh to MaH but I think some of the models will cover your requirement.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

SeCALPHA1, be carefull of what you get. Not so much because you'll fry the n800, as it has very good over voltage protection, but because some packs may not work at various voltages. An example of this is my Tekkeon 3300. It works great when set to 5 volts, but set it to 6 volts and almost immediately the n800 says that it is not charging. Believe me, when it says that, it really is not charging. I ran down the internal battery because I missed the message about it not charging.

Overall, considering that I actually got around 20 hours of video playback with the Tekkeon 3300 unit and internal battery, you should get a lot longer with applications that aren't as CPU intensive.

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

I had contemplated that.. seems without directly implying it, I got my answer :D

I was thinking of picking up the tekkeon 3000, or perhaps if I can find 2700 (*cough*... hint.. please help.. *cough*) AA's ,then I'll spurge for the 1550..

Yet again, doesn anyone know much, if anything, about the tekkeon 1800? And btw, the only reasong I'd rather have the 3000 is that nice auto switch for charging levels :cool:

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

Not sure where you are located, but I've bought from this company once in the past on batteries and a charger. They sell the Powerex 2700 mAh and the Accupower 2900 mAh rechargeable AA batteries.

http://thomasdistributing.com/

But I don't think that they can help you with that cough that you have. ;)

Bill

Re: External battery pack for N8x0/770.
 

haha, thx! tekkeon 1550, here I come!

*cough*... anybody got a ricola?

:D

now if only I could find a nice case for my N800... :(

LMFAO