Portable battery pack for the Surface Pro?

[safe31]

Hi im from europe, i have a friend who is bringing me a surface pro from US, i want to now if i can charge it into the wall socket with simple adapter, i was looking at the tansformer power input , it has writen on it
input 110v/230V 50/60Hz. my voltageHere is 220/50
thanks in advance.

 

[MMU]

Hi im from europe, i have a friend who is bringing me a surface pro from US, i want to now if i can charge it into the wall socket with simple adapter, i was looking at the tansformer power input , it has writen on it
input 110v/230V 50/60Hz. my voltageHere is 220/50
thanks in advance.

Sounds like a "yes" to me.

 

[HD_Dude]

I don't think there are any at 3.6 Amps yet since MS just released spec this with the Surface Pro. The only possibility is if there are other laptops or device that may be similar. Something like this Amazon.com: Energizer XP18000 Universal AC Adapter with External Battery for Laptops, Netbooks, and More: Computers & Accessories. Of course you would need to make your own tip.

BTW I bought a couple of these, and returned them, for nothing related to the Pro. I actually had the newer one - the 18000A.

Turns out, they put out a maximum amperage of 3.5...which was too low for my Dell XPS (4.2 amps) and my Sony VAIO (5 amps).

Those represented rather big gaps; the laptops would not charge or be powered by the Energizers.

Does anyone here know whether the modest gap of 3.5A vs 3.6A might be allowable?

 

[Cambo]

I was thinking of getting one of these;
MiLi Power King
would this work on the surface?

 

[jeffskent]

For those rare instances when I'm on the road and need to power up my devices, I have an inverter in my car's center console which works fine, only cost about $100, and powers any normal a/c device w/o adaptors.

 

[J515OP]

BTW I bought a couple of these, and returned them, for nothing related to the Pro. I actually had the newer one - the 18000A.

Turns out, they put out a maximum amperage of 3.5...which was too low for my Dell XPS (4.2 amps) and my Sony VAIO (5 amps).

Those represented rather big gaps; the laptops would not charge or be powered by the Energizers.

Does anyone here know whether the modest gap of 3.5A vs 3.6A might be allowable?

This should be fine for the Pro. The Pro will charge on the RT unit which is 12v @ 2A. Basically you shouldn't see any difference than charging from the stock Pro unit in that case. Edit: The linked unit only puts out 12V at 2A. The higher voltages are output to see the higher amps which might be an issue for charging the Surface so 12V @ 2 A is the same as below.

I was thinking of getting one of these;
MiLi Power King
would this work on the surface?

This will work fine with the RT and would charge the Pro like it would charge from the RT charger (charging the Pro while off would be ok but pretty slow if using it while trying to charge).

Edit: RT battery is 4257mAh capacity and Pro is 5676mAh capacity. So in theory a 18,000mAh battery can charge the RT 4 times and the Pro 3 times but this seems high. Of course you are talking about a 3lb battery pack so it is possible.

 

[J515OP]

I was thinking of getting one of these;
MiLi Power King
would this work on the surface?

Just to be extra clear you will have to come up with your own solution to actually connect the Surface to this unit which means probably buying a cheap Surface charger and splicing the tip onto the battery pack cable. There are other threads discussing this custom cable making process.

 

[Russ]

RT battery is 4257mAh capacity and Pro is 5676mAh capacity.

JP --

Thanks, that's good info. I'm working on two related projects. I have some stuff left over from a previous laptop -- spare battery and charger. My plan is to convert each of them to work with the Pro. I have ordered (but not yet received) two of the cheapie chargers on eBay, just to get the cables. There is lots of good info in a couple of threads here, so I'm now pretty confident of making them work.

Take care,
Russ

 

[J515OP]

Russ, don't forget this handy reference http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/...2884-surface-rt-pro-power-charging-specs.html.

JP

 

[Russ]

Russ, don't forget this handy reference. JP

JP --

Thanks again. I remember that now, but had lost track of it. The battery I have is from my HP laptop. It is approx 4000 mAH and weighs about 12 oz. It will nearly double her usage time, and will cover her pretty much from Atlanta to Tokyo, with time out for a meal and maybe a little nap -- unless she flies Business Class, in which case she's set anyway.

Progress sure is wonderful -- on both sides of the equation: batteries are lighter and the devices use less power. I remember carrying two extra batteries for LA to London, and still couldn't work all the way.

At 12 oz. per battery, I may just buy another one for her. I'll let her decide that. She's a small person and doesn't like to carry too much. It helps that she has an orderly mind. She is keeping notes on usage time and what she was doing during that time. I am particularly interested in full video rundown time. I loaded three 64G USB drives with MP4 Chinese movies for her before she left. Those will help occupy some of her train/bus/plane rides.

Not to be too nostalgic, but when I was flying West Coast to Europe, I probably would have killed for something like the Surface Pro. (Humanely, of course.)

Take care,
Russ

 

[mitchellvii]

I'm still trying to figure out why MS felt the need to completely redesign the charging interface and what they came up with falls out every time you move the tablet. The charging port on the SP may be the greatest engineering disaster since the Challenger O-Rings.

 

[Russ]

what they came up with falls out every time you move the tablet.

Mitchell --

I really haven't seen that problem, and I do tend to move mine while it's plugged in. On the plus side, I really like the magnetic attachment of the connector. It will disengage before the Pro gets jerked off the table. My guess is that was part of the motivation for the design.

Take care,
Russ