Communication needs when you travel
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@Minion-Queen said:
Yup I think I will go with the Ipad so I can charge from battery packs if needed. Just wondered what you all do.
Yeah I can't wait until we can charge something like the Surface Pro 3 through USB - it's coming.
I picked up a 10K Watt battery pack to keep my phone alive while traveling. I used it the first time a few weeks ago it was great. The battery has two full sized USB ports so you can plug in two normal cables and charge two phones at once. Then you can reverse the cord add in the wall wart and charge the battery. Yeah it's a bit heavy, but not worrying one second about having enough power to last 3 days was great!
For full disclosure, I did choose to charge the phone fully at night, but my high usage during the day was normally killing the phone around 3 or 4 PM, but use the cord and charging allowed me to keep on trucking the rest of the day.
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@Dashrender yup, agreed on usb charging.
I'm currently investigating making my own battery pack. Already have batteries & holders (8x 18650's which is... a lot).
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I want to get something like the surface pro 3. I tried the Asus T300LA-XH71T, it had a few problems and was just too big to use as a tablet.
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I have 2/ 5200 MaH batteries that are pretty small that I carry with me. Love them. I can charge a phone from 1% back to full about 2 times with one of them. I can't wait till there is USB charging for the surface that will make it much better for travel.
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The last time I flew anywhere it was to the other side of the country for my honeymoon... 9 years ago.
So I almost never go anywhere far away and as such I haven't invested in much portable tech.
Anyhoo, back on topic...
I'd like to take everything but that's just not practical.
How many chargers do you really want to take?
What ever you decide, make sure it has remote wipe capabilities or makes it uncomfortably difficult for someone else to access your stuff. -
I have everything setup with passwords and then find my IPhone/Ipad all set up so no matter what is taken 1. I can track it down and 2. erase if needed.
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I've got an HP x2 612 that I'll be bringing for computer and then my phone.
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@Kelly said:
I've got an HP x2 612 that I'll be bringing for computer and then my phone.
Darn you and posting a tablet/laptop I actually like. Now I'll look at reviews of these.. These things look like I might like them better than a surface pro 3 and I'm looking for something similar. Now to see what I can get one for used (yeah, I'm cheap and almost always buy used for home use).
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@Kelly said:
I've got an HP x2 612 that I'll be bringing for computer and then my phone.
Darn you and posting a tablet/laptop I actually like. Now I'll look at reviews of these.. These things look like I might like them better than a surface pro 3 and I'm looking for something similar. Now to see what I can get one for used (yeah, I'm cheap and almost always buy used for home use).
It has pros and cons. It is heavier than an SP3 with the keyboard attached, but it has a ton of battery life (after you update the firmware). Out of the box its sleep battery life was about the same as its active. Luckily HP fixed that relatively quickly. It has a ton of ports between the keyboard attachment and the device itself. Unfortunately most of the ports on the device are not accessible when it is docked. Biggest deal on this one that puts it over the SP3 in my opinion, fingerprint reader. Being able to swipe to login to a tablet is a big deal when you're trying to use it while holding it.
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@MattSpeller said:
@Dashrender yup, agreed on usb charging.
I'm currently investigating making my own battery pack. Already have batteries & holders (8x 18650's which is... a lot).
How d you plan to charge the 18650's? Many laptops use this cell to power it, and I have pulled about 20 battery packs that 'failed' but have found that 80% of them the batteries are still good, just the circuit board failed. I've got plans to make a external battery for a radio I have using a total of eight cells configured for ~12 volts. Four cells paired is a bit more than 13 volts - closer to 14-15 volts.
As for eight cells being 'a lot' not so much when you think that the Dell e5400 series has six cells in it.
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@g.jacobse said:
@MattSpeller said:
@Dashrender yup, agreed on usb charging.
I'm currently investigating making my own battery pack. Already have batteries & holders (8x 18650's which is... a lot).
How d you plan to charge the 18650's? Many laptops use this cell to power it, and I have pulled about 20 battery packs that 'failed' but have found that 80% of them the batteries are still good, just the circuit board failed. I've got plans to make a external battery for a radio I have using a total of eight cells configured for ~12 volts. Four cells paired is a bit more than 13 volts - closer to 14-15 volts.
As for eight cells being 'a lot' not so much when you think that the Dell e5400 series has six cells in it.
You'd get more power with less using LiPo's but they are quite dangerous. And uses it most newer laptops (especially all apple laptops).
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@g.jacobse @thecreativeone91 18650's are Lithium ion, which are plenty freaking dangerous! Batteries and caps are the only things that really scare the poop outta me in electronics.
For the charging/discharging/maintenance/safety stuff you can get cheap LI pack minders on ebay with a full LCD screen and all the goodies. Then you roll your own enclosure (mine will be sheet steel, a project box or wood). I will also integrate a speaker and amp in mine so when I go camping I've got tunes + battery charger for phone.
