User Review of N-Charge II Laptop Battery

Occams Razor writes to say "I recently moved from using an N-Charge I external battery to the next version, called the N-Charge II. The series I battery was really handy and well designed; it let me work/use my laptop continuously for the 10+ hour flights that I end up taking with some regularity these day. The series 1 is slim, maybe .5 inches thick (approx. 1.5cm) and has the same footprint as an IBM T40 or T41 laptop (which is what I have). This means it fit perfectly under my laptop. Unfortunately, the Series 2 N-charge (Saphion) battery appears to be the worst kind of marketing spawn. Here are the full details that I've written up in hopes that others will learn from my mistake. (And -- who knows? -- maybe the company will listen.)" Read on below for the rest.

First and foremost, the battery simply does not last as long as the first-generation battery did. I used both batteries on flights to Japan from the west coast of the U.S. -- that's about a 10-hour flight. The first-gen battery lasted close to seven hours, and was consistent in showing me the strength of its remaining charge through the whole flight. The second-generation battery lasted more like five and a half hours, and the battery went from showing moderate charge (two lights) to dying completely in less than an hour. That is not at all what I expected from a display.

Secondly, and only slightly less important, are the changes in the shape. The first-gen battery was the perfect shape and size to fit under my laptop, even when I used it with laptops with a slightly different footprint; the battery was large enough (length & width) that even larger laptops were still stable resting on it. It was also thin enough that having a footprint mismatch wasn't a big problem (either in terms of ergonomics or in terms of stability for the laptop). The second-gen battery is a horrible form factor. Just plain and simple, it doesn't appear to have been designed to take into account how people will use it. It's too tall to fit nicely under a laptop with a different footprint and the small size (length & width) ensure that any laptop resting on top of it will be completely off-balance.

I don't know what the company's use cases were for the device, but the most common times I use the external battery are either when I am sitting somewhere with no desk or power (and hence all my devices need to be on my lap or on the floor, but I have space to spread them out), or when I am on an airplane and have the same power scenario as the first case, but also am severely cramped for space in general.

If I have space (but no desk) then I need a long enough cord to get from my power supply to my laptop. That means that either the battery has to fit under the laptop (in which case it can have a short cord) or it needs to have a nice long cord (much longer than the short non-extendable one provided). N-Charge has failed to provide for either of these options.

If I'm on an airplane, the battery needs to fit under the laptop. Period. I might be willing to place it in the seat-back pocket, but the second-gen battery is too thick to fit well there. I might be willing to have it in my backpack on the floor in front of me (though that is so awkward that it is almost certainly dangerous if I have an emergency) but the cord is far too short for that.

I think the change to three charge lights (instead of 5 in the first version) was pointless, and that more information is better than less -- but I can accept it, so long as they are accurate. Unfortunately, they aren't. They don't seem to represent 1/3 of the charge each, more like 1/6, 1/3 and 1/2 respectively.

The new power adapter tips are easier to lose and don't fit my laptop port as well as the first-gen plugs. This has caused my laptop to end up being disconnected from the battery spontaneously and it appears to be slowly damaging the socket in my laptop, possibly due to wiggling.

At this point, I am planning on trying to return the second-gen battery and go find someone who will sell me one of the first-gen batteries on e-Bay. I'm tremendously disappointed and hope that N-Charge's third generation shows better design.

Thanks to Occams Razor for the review; Slashdot's new Hardware section could use your reviews, too.

Comments

Newer Laptops

[mythosaz]

While 10+ Hours is nice, most of the newer laptops I'm reviewing (Dell D410's and D610's) have multi-hour battery life right off the shelf, and a spare battery fits nicely in the bag.

Newer laptop batteries are making these sort of gadgets not-so-nifty.

why buy?

[AmigaAvenger]

external battery packs are fairly pricy, if you are cheap like myself, check the voltage rating of laptop. My trusty old toshiba 700 mhz cele runs on a nice 18 volts, which works out to 3 6v sealed UPS type cells. They fit in my travel bag nicely and give incredible runtime! the best part is the cost, it was a grand total of $23 for the setup!

yeah, airport security sometimes look at you when you have a battery pack you soldered together yourself, but no one has stopped me yet.

Re:it would be nicer

[uncadonna]

I was on a flight a couple of months, sat in united economy plus

I agree that any flight lasting over a month should definitely provide an AC outlet.