External Battery

[twynne]

I noticed Quickertek has recently released an external battery/charger for the Air. Has anyone purchased one yet? Or any thoughts on how they 'modify' the Magsafe power adapter?

6-10 hours of *extra* battery sounds great, but I'm not so keen on the idea of either modifying the current power supply or buying a special one - not to mention the expense!

Cheers,

Tom

 

[fredrickyoon]

Pricey though. Would like to see some reviews as well.

 

[poisonapple]

Pricey though. Would like to see some reviews as well.

Man, you aren't kidding. 299 for the battery, plus an additional 100 bucks for the "altered" magsafe power adapter (25 bucks if you send them yours).
I'll wait until a larger named manufacturer comes out with one for 1/3 the price that doesn't end up required a different power adapter.

 

[Nak]

I finally received my QuickerTek battery and mod'ed charger (ordered it mid May). They are seriously backordered on this thing.

I'll be able to better comment on it after I use it on a flight tomorrow.

The quality of the battery is very high. It's a stamped aluminum case (brushed finish) nearly identical in size as the Air SuperDrive. It has a charge LED and two good coaxial connectors on it, one for charging and the other for powering the MBA. There's a big QuickerTek logo in the middle of the top and nice clear labeling of the connectors and LED.

It includes an AC adapter wall wart with the proper connector on it for the charging port. It obviously cannot be used to power or charge the MBA.

I ordered the mod'ed MBA adapter since this can be used normally to power the MBA or by changing the cable, used to charge the QuickerTek battery. The power cable coming out of it was cut about five inches from the adapter body and fitted with a female coax connector. Into this you plug either the rest of the original cable fitted with the mating male connector or the short (about 5" from tip to tip) adapter cable to charge the battery.

All the connectors that were assembled by QuickerTek appear to be nicely done and are finished with heatshrink tubing.

I'll respond to this thread with the results of using it on the plane, charging it, etc.

Nak

 

[AstroHouse]

Sounds nice. Pricey. But it could be a valuable accessory when the price comes down.

Looking forward to future reviews and competitors.

 

[dibara2003]

it does look really nice as well. maybe when the price drops...

 

[jarpod]

Probably some pics of the mentioned battery????
Not much longer till someone else "mimiks" this

 

[Kan-O-Z]

I thought I would revive this thread. I think this quickertek is a great idea. It puts to rest all those people that are so worried about a removable battery. It is pricey but think about it. If you bought a brand new second battery and a new power adapter that would charge the second battery externally, it would run $200+. I can see the price of this coming down.

I actually think this solution has advantages of a removable battery. First you can just plug this in on the fly. No need to shutdown the computer. When it's low, just plug in this external thing and you'll get 6-10 additional hours for a total of 12-16 hours!! I don't think an extra removable battery would be able to do that. You'd need 2-3 removable batteries to get you into the 12-16 hour range! Analyzing it this way, the price seems understandable. It looks to be about the same size as the superdrive and looks cool too.

So anyways, for those of you that just have to have something on the road and love the Air, this is it!

Kan-O-Z

 

[hayduke]

Does anyone make a lithium-ion battery that acts as a portable "cigarette" lighter? Seems like you might be able to use this with the magsafe airline adapter if they spec'd it right. Just a thought...

 

[justit]

Wouldn't this work?
http://www.amazon.com/iRecharge-Uni...K60/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_t/175-7275085-8378563

 

[stiphone]

I still find that the price is too steep for an external battery.

 

[hayduke]

This might work well. A little bulky and only ~2 hours extra runtime, but cheaper and maybe simpler.

http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/263/p/1/pt/32/product.asp

 

[mrvisitor]

Quickertech battery for MBA

Has anyone used this product, or seen a review anywhere?

Thanks!