Battery Life on an Airplane

[Michael Bidder]

I am taking a flight from Canada to Hong Kong and I would hate to run out of Clie Juice over the Pacific.

I was wondering if thier is a portable battery pack or some such after market anomally that one could buy or rig up.

What about wilderness people or campers?
How long could the Clie go with backlight turned off?

Thanks very Much. ...

P.S. I do love it but I miss my Key pad and the battery life was measured in months not hours. (I used to have a Sharp Wizard.)

Michael

[NickC]

For Pocket PCs, which often have a standard barrel type of plug for an AC Adapter, it's pretty cheap and easy to create a portable battery pack (with D-cells) from parts available at Radio Shack. For a Clie, you'll have to get more creative if you want to try this: essentially, you'll have to get a travel AC charger, cut off the transformer box (plug) and replace it with a battery pack.

It's possible something exists on the market which will let you plug in the Clie into the aircraft DC outlet under the seat, but if any such thing exists, it will probably be expensive.

It should last much longer without a backlight, but I'd find that VERY difficult to use on a darkened airplane. You can increase life by reducing brightness if you haven't already.

The bigger issue with the portable battery pack is that it could look suspicious to the security people. First of all, you would have to make sure it looks professional - you don't want visible electrical tape wrapping the splice. Then, you'll have to be ready to show how it's really a charger for the Clie.

Let me know if you want more info on the battery pack.

[JohnKes]

Sony sells such a thing for $40. There are cheapy ones on E-bay for $10 - search under battery saver. You have a T-series, right?

[Michael Bidder]

Thanks for all the advice.

I will get to the Sony Store. I hope the a/c security are ok with all the hardware I will be packing to keep this thing running.

Ohh I do miss the wizard ...(keyboard and battery life). RIP

PS

I have loaded a lot of free books into the Clie and I will be taking along a few Memory Sticks for MP3's and even perhaps photos if I get extravagant and buy a camara adaptor.

Ill keep you posted and perhaps Ill upload a few photos of Hong Kong.

Michael

[NickC]

Cool - thanks for the info JohnKes - I had no idea these things were commercially available. I may just pick one up! :)

Michael, if you get the one branded by Sony, the security at the airport should be fine, especially if you show them how it works with your Clie. The pictures of the cobbled up battery chargers I had seen looked pretty homemade - security may balk at these.

[Michael Bidder]

Nick C

Johnkey has put us onto something.

Just now I downloaded into my Sony Palm the following:

New Testament ... Searchable
Old Testament .... Searchable

Imatation of Christ.... (perhapes the second most popular book in the world after the Holy Bibel)

Complete works of Saint Louis du Montfort (5 Books)

Orthodoxy .. By G. K. Chesterton (the father of CS Louis and JRR Tolken

.... I still have 8 megs left!!!


Next to come is the Complete transtator for the European Lanquages and the Works of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen



Now does any one know how to put all that onto the Mem stick?

Thanks for the Patience with this newbee. I know its on these threads somewhere or in my manual but its nicer to get from you experts.

[elbowz]

Originally posted by Michael Bidder
What about wilderness people or campers?
How long could the Clie go with backlight turned off?


Expansys do a solar charger for handhelds that works in conjunction with a USB charge-sync cable if you're really heading off somewhere remote....

[Michael Bidder]

Thanks Elbowz :)

Michael

[Michael Bidder]

Here is the link to the little battery unit. This device uses 4 AA cells and can recharge the Unit fully. So for a long flight I would take 8 quality cells and I should be fine.

Thanks all... Hope the link works:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=S2xiRNDzKPdiRu0XLTZoT5_ifxuQdBBl9K0=?Pro ductID=Ch8KC0%2eNT3AAAADxh5tngL_j

[PDASROCK]

How to get the e-books onto a memory stick:

Well, first of all, you need a book reader for your clie that can read of the memory stick
Second: You will need a file managment system(or whatever) to get them onto the memory stick, try filez, mcphling, botzam explorer, my workbench, yishow, or something like these(if all else fails, just install them straight to the ms using hotsync or ms import).

A question: What Bible reader are you using, and what version of the Bible?
And yes, Imitation of Christ is the second most read book in the world after the Bible. Someday I'll get around to reading it:D