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Extra power without having to carry around plug?

ghostchild

ghostchild

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 17, 2007
355
0
Are there any plugless solutions to giving my MBP extra power without having to bring my plug around? I know there are some USB batteries and I could always get an extra MBP battery, but those are expensive, or are those the ONLY solutions?

-John
 
ghostchild said:
Are there any plugless solutions to giving my MBP extra power without having to bring my plug around? I know there are some USB batteries and I could always get an extra MBP battery, but those are expensive, or are those the ONLY solutions?

-John
Click to expand...

I don't know if Apple has this - but other manufacturers make "accessory" batteries that go into where your Optical drive would reside. (the slide in place)

Dimming your display, disabling WIFI and Bluetooth if not needed, shutting off auto-retrieve for mail, setting hard drive spin-down times to a shorter time period, and lightening the load on your CPU would probably be the most cost effective approach.

I've also seen very gimmicky "universal laptop backup batteries" which is essentially a low-quality rechargeable battery the SIZE of a laptop - that powers a 12 volt adapter you'd get for your laptop - much like a car cigarette lighter. This isn't a very elegant, cheap, or effective solution either, IMO. Probably be cheaper and easier just buying a car battery and lugging that around.

Disabiling WIFI
 
Yea, I've been searching all over for one of those, but I guess Apple heads like looks so no one designed batteries that stick out like that. I'm only looking for around 2 extra hours of juice or so. The temporary place where I work is pretty boring.
 
You might be able to find (if not through Apple - aftermarket) an "extended" or "extra high capacity" battery that fits into the standard battery compartment. Battery density is getting higher and higher - and there might be a company with a higher energy density than the Apple OEM stuff?
 
But should I be afraid about using non-oem batteries? I've heard horror stories with DSLR cameras, not sure if this implies to notebooks too...
 
ghostchild said:
But should I be afraid about using non-oem batteries? I've heard horror stories with DSLR cameras, not sure if this implies to notebooks too...
Click to expand...

That is one thing I cannot give you a definitive answer for. Plenty of aftermarket parts are of high, or even higher quality than the orignal stuff. Not ever owning a Macbook - or needing an alternate part for one - I don't know who is who.

I do know that they're likely out there. Got an aftermarket hi-capacity battery for a couple of ipods I fixed - not one complaint from anyone. Granted, an iPod has a far cry less juice in it's battery then a laptop.

Ask around, maybe someone with experience can chime in here?
 
I did the same search and settled on a 2nd battery from Apple. Expensive, but I didn't find anything better. Then, I got the smallest case I could find (it was for sale at the Apple store -- forgot the name) that holds only the MBP, the spare battery, and the 2 parts of the power cord. It has worked well.
 
Well i did find a quite reliable extended batter via www.fastmac.com it seemed great until I read that it only adds round 15-20mins over the OEM battery.. :( Got my hopes up and the search continues...
 
ghostchild said:
Well i did find a quite reliable extended batter via www.fastmac.com it seemed great until I read that it only adds round 15-20mins over the OEM battery.. :( Got my hopes up and the search continues...
Click to expand...


:eek: Stop searching, they are the only game in town. If any other company comes up with a cheaper SAFE alternative IMO it will be front page news on this forum.
 
Sigh I guess I could get that as an extra battery.. :( I thought there was something I missed but apparently not.
 
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