External Battery Pack Option
- Thread starter dc5
- Start date
Wayne Orwig
Active Member
The battery pack is about 100 watt hours. The Surface Pro is something like 42 watt hours. If the Surface is totally dead, you may get two full charges. If my Surface is at or near 100%, and I run it from the external IntoCircuit pack, at about 4 hours it is nearly about 1/2 dead and the Surface is still at 100%.
Basically, it more than doubles your total battery life. And I'm hoping increases the internal battery life by keeping it at full charge.
There are a lot of heat losses, so I don't think you will get that full 100 watt hours.
Keep in mind that you normally don't want to cycle a lithium battery, because it wears it out. BUT, a new battery needs to be cycled one or two times to condition the battery and get the most life. Run the battery pack fully dead at least one time and recharge it. See if that helps.
Thought you all might know ebay has 26000mAh Power bank battery for about $110. I think it's the same or similar the one Mikegyver sold. I went ahead and order one yesterday. Still waiting on mikegyver's SP cable order. Here is the link to ebay.
26000mAh Power Bank USB Battery Charger for iPhone 5 4S 4 New iPad Mini 2 iPod | eBay
26000mAh Power Bank USB Battery Charger for iPhone 5 4S 4 New iPad Mini 2 iPod | eBay
Has anyone ordered the Microsoft Surface Pro Car adapter from mikegyver.com? I read through and saw some people tried unsuccessfully to use the RT car adapter on the pro, but I see they have a separate Pro car adapter fro $50. I would love to just have a car adapater. I have tried to use just an AC inverter for the car, but when I plug in the audio to the car I get really bad audio feedback.
malberttoo
Well-Known Member
I believe that others have stated that the Pro draws too much current through the RT adapter, and fries the adapter. You need the Pro charger to charge the Pro.
Maybe you can try one of those Bluetooth audio device to pair your car radio with the Surface Pro. Amazon has one for the car radio auxiliary plug. Bestbuy has one as a Bluetooth FM transmitter.
Amazon.com: GOgroove SMARTmini AUX Bluetooth Car Kit with Handsfree Calling / Wireless Music Streaming for Android Smartphones , Apple iPhone , Blackberry , Tablets , MP3 Players & More!: MP3 Players & Accessories
GOgroove - Bluetooth Car Hands-free Kit with Wireless Music Streaming Works with iPhone & Android Device - GG-FLEXSMART-X2+CLOTH
Russ
Active Member
Michael --
Not if you're using the MS adapter for RT. It is current limited (or current regulated -- Wayne knows which). The example you remember is probably Wayne melting his cheapie RT adapter because it was not current limited.
The MS RT adapter will charge the Pro, albeit more slowly. It will also maintain the charge status while you use the Pro. I bought an extra RT adapter for Ladyfriend to keep at the office. I tested it here and it works just fine. I started with full charge and with the RT adapter plugged in to the Pro. After about an hour's use, the Pro battery still had full charge.
Wayne is the expert. I'm just the handyman.
Take care,
Russ
Russ
Active Member
Kcsims --
Check with me in a couple of days. I ordered two of them (one for me, one for Ladyfriend). I got an email today that they have been shipped, with expected delivery on June 1. I am fully confident that it will work just fine. Mike (at MikeGyver.com) made a mistake on the earlier chargers -- which he promptly corrected and issued refunds. He will not have made that mistake again.
Film at eleven -- on June 1st.
Regards,
Russ
malberttoo
Well-Known Member
Russ, thanks for clearing that up. I didn't know the Microsoft RT charger would work, but good to know!
Russ
Active Member
Michael --
As I said, it will charge the Pro, but more slowly. I got the RT charger because it was cheaper for her to just leave at the office. My assumption is that she will arrive at the office with a fully charged Pro, and it will stay that way all day. She doesn't need the USB charger port for her Iphone, because she already has plenty of those around. I even thought getting one for myself, but, since my office is just down the hall, that would be kinda silly.
It was interesting to watch her decision process as she planned what to take on her China trip. If she took the Pro charger, she could leave her Iphone charger block at home. She had them laid out on my coffee table, calculating the relative space consumption. When you're 5' 2" at 110 pounds, and heading for six weeks all over China, every cubic inch or ounce matters. She finally decided to take the Pro charger.
Just FYI, the notorious "center pin" comes into play here. That is the "sensing pin" that tells the Pro it is connected to an RT charger, so it will not attempt to draw more current than the RT charger can provide.
Take care,
Russ
