[RetBchBoy]

I'm about to go on a trip where I'll be traveling for about 16 hours.
Is there a external battery pack that will work with the PB?
The Seidio Vault doesn't list the PB as compatable....

Thanks

[ignites]

I'm about to go on a trip where I'll be traveling for about 16 hours.
Is there a external battery pack that will work with the PB?
The Seidio Vault doesn't list the PB as compatable....

Thanks

it will drain slower but it wont help charge it that quick (it'll charge at laptop speeds)

[peter9477]

I'm about to go on a trip where I'll be traveling for about 16 hours.
Is there a external battery pack that will work with the PB?
The Seidio Vault doesn't list the PB as compatable....

The Vault is probably compatible (since USB charging isn't a very exotic thing) but note that (if my quick research is correct) it's only a 2200mAh battery in there. That corresponds to about 11% of the nominal capacity of the PlayBook, so it's not going to give you a whole lot of extra time.

Turning down the brightness to the absolute minimum you can handle will give you a lot more of an increase than this will. See PlayBook: Power Consumption

[BoloMKXXVIII]

I have a 7,000 mAh USB battery that I use with my cell phone, GPS, bluetooth headset but I have not tried it with the Playbook yet. Something else to try...

[wms3]

I have a 5,000 mAh USB battery that I use with my cell phone, GPS, bluetooth headset but I have not tried it with the Playbook yet. Something else to try...

can you please try this and post the results? I'm very interested in finding an external battery that works.

this unit does not work and i had to return it http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...bUvbUpU7048481

this unit works, but you have to put the PB in standby before it will change and the charge rate is very low

Amazon.com: New Trent ifuel IMP500 5000mAh External Battery pack and Charger for Apple iPhone 4S 4 3Gs 3G (AT&T and verizon), iPod Touch (1G 2G 3G 4G 5G), Motorola Droid, HTC Android EVO, Blackberry, Samsung EPIC, Samsung Galaxy Tablet, Samsung Galax

[RetBchBoy]

Turning down the brightness to the absolute minimum you can handle will give you a lot more of an increase than this will. See PlayBook: Power Consumption

Looking at his chart I should be OK. Mainly reading and a couple of movies and I'll put the PB in Airplane mode...

Thanks for that...
Mark

[verticallimit12]

If you have a look at.my channel here i have loads of usb battery power packs [YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQR5azFU9dw/[YT] that i have reviewed. You need one that will out put at least 1amp

regards
andy

[Sith_Apprentice]

Peter, have you updated this based on the latest OS? It would be interesting to see 2.0.x compared to 1.0.8.


Update:
using the latest 2.0.0.7111

screen on, backlight 0% (nothing else running, no BT or WIFI) 1.63W
screen on, backlight 100% (nothing else running, no BT or WIFI) 3.01W

so results are still pretty close, though a little better on the low end apparently. Also my battery health is 95% at 52 charges.

[Richdog-]

I have used an external charger with 11000 mAh rating off of Amazon and it charges the PB quite quickly (you need ot use the 2A port) to around 60% while in use http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Trent-iC...bUvbUpU7048896

[peter9477]

Peter, have you updated this based on the latest OS? It would be interesting to see 2.0.x compared to 1.0.8.

I should do that. I've got 2.0 on the unit that was used for those original measurements.

Note that there can be significant differences between individual PlayBooks. I believe the reason is they've been experimenting with different LCD parts, possibly from different suppliers, or different backlights.

I have at least two different screens here amongst my three PlayBooks, though actually all have identical power consumption. I can tell they're different because one is "grayish" when seen at an angle with the light off, and the other two (under identical conditions and side-by-side) are "bluish".

Over the holidays I did extensive testing on an additional four PlayBooks that were being passed on to various family members elsewhere. At the time I noted that although most reported ~1.65W under your same conditions, two of them would consistently show about 1.3W and, overall, about 0.3W less under any conditions. I screwed up, however, by debricking each of them and giving them away before doing a Battery Guru export!!... what a maroon.

Some day I'll get one back for a repeat test, if I don't get another one with the lower power first.

[BoloMKXXVIII]

I have used an external charger with 11000 mAh rating off of Amazon and it charges the PB quite quickly (you need ot use the 2A port) to around 60% while in use New Trent iCruiser IMP1000 11000mAh External Battery: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

About the 2A USB port, they are typically only on batteries listed as able to charge the Apple Ipad. If you want a battery capable of charging the Playbook in a reasonable time Playbook owners should look for the 2A USB port/Ipad charging batteries.

[Unsure2]

New Trent imp99d. $62 on Amazon.

[tomkaz]

i have a zagg sparq 2.0 usb charger...haven't tried it on the playbook yet but it works great with my blackberry.
Tom

[BoloMKXXVIII]

can you please try this and post the results? I'm very interested in finding an external battery that works.

this unit does not work and i had to return it Amazon.com: i.Sound Portable Power Max with 16,000 mAh for iPod, iPad, iPad2, iPhone, DROID, and BlackBerry: MP3 Players & Accessories

this unit works, but you have to put the PB in standby before it will change and the charge rate is very low

Amazon.com: New Trent ifuel IMP500 5000mAh External Battery pack and Charger for Apple iPhone 4S 4 3Gs 3G (AT&T and verizon), iPod Touch (1G 2G 3G 4G 5G), Motorola Droid, HTC Android EVO, Blackberry, Samsung EPIC, Samsung Galaxy Tablet, Samsung Galax

I double checked and mine is the 7,000 mAh New Trent battery. It DOES charge when the Playbook is on but it charges very slowly. With the Playbook in standby is charges alot faster. It makes sense, while you are using battery power it wouldn't charge as fast but at least you are not discharging! This is something I couldn't do with my Android tablet.

[wms3]

Yes, same experience I have with my New Trent. I see there is a larger model availabe and I may spring for it.

[ignites]

if your travelling look out the window, take a nap, enjoy yourself. PB is really nice and fun but probably if your pb runs out of battery its a gd sign its time youve been staring at it too long and its time to rest your eyes

[Innovatology]

Note that there may be differences between OS versions. I have an A-Solar AL-300 battery pack. It charged (moderately slowly) on 1.03 but stopped working with 1.06.

[RetBchBoy]

if your travelling look out the window, take a nap, enjoy yourself. PB is really nice and fun but probably if your pb runs out of battery its a gd sign its time youve been staring at it too long and its time to rest your eyes

LOL, that was good... As long as no kids near by with parents feeding them M&M's like my last trip.
This slow charging might work for me since I can watch a movie while not lowering the battery, if I'm understanding this right.

Thanks everyone!

[peter9477]

LOL, that was good... As long as no kids near by with parents feeding them M&M's like my last trip.
This slow charging might work for me since I can watch a movie while not lowering the battery, if I'm understanding this right.

Mostly right... it will probably go lower, but just not as fast as it would otherwise.

Whether it charges is simply a matter of power in minus power out. If you're putting 1.5W in, but the PlayBook's using 2.5W (out) then your net power in is -1.0W.

In other words, draining at 1W, which is pretty slow... you'd get 18 hours of video watching that way (assuming watching video normally used 2.5W).

[angel_esq]

Thanks for the links because I was going to try them BOTH! You just saved me two wasted returns!!!!

If and when you find something, can you link in this thread? I'm going to subscribe so I can stay updated as I start to plan for my summer travel trips.

can you please try this and post the results? I'm very interested in finding an external battery that works.

this unit does not work and i had to return it http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...bUvbUpU7344644

this unit works, but you have to put the PB in standby before it will change and the charge rate is very low

Amazon.com: New Trent ifuel IMP500 5000mAh External Battery pack and Charger for Apple iPhone 4S 4 3Gs 3G (AT&T and verizon), iPod Touch (1G 2G 3G 4G 5G), Motorola Droid, HTC Android EVO, Blackberry, Samsung EPIC, Samsung Galaxy Tablet, Samsung Galax

[wms3]

Amazon.com: New Trent iCruiser IMP1000 11000mAh External Battery Pack and Charger for "The new iPad" the 3rd Gen ipad, iPad2, iPhone 4S 4 3Gs 3G, iPod Touch (1G to 5G), Android (Samsung Galaxy Note S S2, HTC Sensation EVO Thunderbolt, LG Optimus V),

this will charge the PB, although it charges faster if the PB is in standby.