[ltp] Auxilliary external batteries

[Evan Leibovitch]

Theodore Ts'o wrote:

> I've used the Electrovaya, and I *used* to recommend them very highly.
> They're nice for a couple of different reasons:

> However, the Electrovaya battery, at least, has a very serious design
> flaw.  The internal female connector for the Electrovaya is very badly
> designed, and is succeptible to sideways pressure that can very easily
> destroy it.  Once the connector goes, the battery is useless; there's
> no real way to repair it.  I've had two Electrovaya batteries die this
> way, and I've heard of at least one other person who has had this
> happen to them.  The first time my Electrovaya battery died,
> Electrovaya did replace under warranty.

Ted's comments concerned me enough that I phoned Electrovaya (which, it 
turns out, is a local call for me).

Apparently the connector is *not* covered under warranty at all; repairs 
are $99 flat rate. They're aware of Ted's problem but say that it's not 
too common and reported by "one in a hundred" users.

The answer I received on how to avoid Ted's problem? Unplug the cable 
when it's not in use.

One other thing. For the T30 they recommend model "D", which is meant to 
be identical to the others except it runs at 20 volts instead of the 
other models which are 15V. In practical use does the higher voltage 
have any consequences for use?

> In any case, if you do buy the Electrovaya, be very, very, very
> careful about not exerting any kind of force on the plug when it is
> inserted into the battery.  It's very to bump into the plug when
> moving from one location to another while the laptop is plugged into
> the battery.  Ideally, unplug the cable completely from the battery
> before moving it at all, in order to reduce the chances that a your
> $500 brand-new electrovaya battery gets turned into a paperweight.

Hmm. Doesn't sound too good.

How about the Valence N-Charge? I notice that being advertised a lot in 
inflight magazines (good choice of audience). Does anyone have 
experience with that?

- Evan