Tools turn laptop into power source for handheld devices

Welcome to a laptop battery specialist
of the Sony laptop battery   First post by: www.batterystores.ca

A few years ago, our cellphone batteries would poop out after an hour of talking or a day of standby, and our laptops could barely play CDs and handle word processing for two hours.

Today's digital devices are much more miserly power users, but digital road warriors are still stuck on every trip carrying several power bricks — those half-pound or heavier power adapters unique to each device that plug into wall outlets.

Even as we cut phone cords and connection cables by using cellphones, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, we're still tangled in power cords. (Wireless devices don't help; they need to be recharged because they suck down power constantly when in use.)

There's a solution, one that requires switching from bricks to USB (Universal Serial Bus) and similar cables that can trickle power to such devices as cellphones, personal digital assistants and MP3 players.

This approach allows you to centralize your power-supply needs in your laptop, reducing the clutter and confusion of dealing with numerous cables and differing connections.

Let's look at the options for charging via USB and FireWire, and the options that can help you keep a laptop battery such as Sony PCGA-BP1N battery, Sony PCGA-BP2NX battery, Sony PCGA-BP2NY battery, Sony PCGA-BP2R battery, Sony PCGA-BP2S battery, Sony PCGA-BP2T battery, Sony PCGA-BP2V battery, Sony PCGA-BP4V battery, Sony PCGA-BP71 battery, Sony VGP-BPL2 battery charged and ready for its trickling duties.

Universal power

The USB port on portable computers sold since the late 1990s isn't just for exchanging data. It also aids sending a nominal electrical charge to power sensors or controls on keyboards, mice and even scanners or digital cameras.

With the right adapter, you can even plug in devices that don't have USB connectors — such as cellphones — and slowly charge them from the laptop.

The only drawback of USB charging is that if you leave devices plugged in when your laptop is fully powered down, not just in sleep or standby mode, the computer's battery can drain the peripheral's power — a reverse flow of sorts.

American Power Conversion (APC), a veteran supplier of battery-backup systems, also makes some of the highest-quality USB charger cables. It has cellphone cables at $15 to $20 each for a large number of models. PDA adapters for Palm and Pocket PC models also support synchronization; they're $20 each.

Keyspan offers similar adapters in its Zip-Linq series of retractable cables . The retractable feature keeps the adapters neatly tucked away when not in use. The cellphone adapters cost slightly more and PDA adapters slightly less than APC models.

If you own an Apple iPod, you can charge it using its docking cable via a FireWire port on a Mac or certain IEEE 1394 ports on a PC. (Some FireWirelike ports, such as Sony's i.Link version, don't always provide power, only data transfer.)