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...