USB battery pack

I'll be going on a very very long flight (3 flights) next month.
From experience, I know that I will spend a good 6 hours without access to a power source for my iphone.
So I was thinking of buying a battery pack.

On eBay I can buy a 1900MAh pack for the iphone4 for about 30$ (I won't order from China because I risk of not getting it in time).
Or I can buy a 4000MAh usb battery pack for 15$.

I'm not just leaning towards the usb battery pack because it's cheaper and bigger, but because my iPhone has a Otter Defender case which makes it hard to connect anything else than a cable into its port. The case is thick so it doesn't allow an object larger than a plug to connect. I had a bad experience with an iPhone speaker station :p

I'm not sure what experience people have with USB packs (not iphone). I know the iPhone is very finnicky in its power source for charging, so I'm worried the USB battery pack will not be accepted by the iPhone.

Any recommendations/experiences with generic USB battery packs in hooking it up to their iPhones?

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Originally Posted by alkizmo

I'll be going on a very very long flight (3 flights) next month.
From experience, I know that I will spend a good 6 hours without access to a power source for my iphone.
So I was thinking of buying a battery pack.

On eBay I can buy a 1900MAh pack for the iphone4 for about 30$ (I won't order from China because I risk of not getting it in time).
Or I can buy a 4000MAh usb battery pack for 15$.

I'm not just leaning towards the usb battery pack because it's cheaper and bigger, but because my iPhone has a Otter Defender case which makes it hard to connect anything else than a cable into its port. The case is thick so it doesn't allow an object larger than a plug to connect. I had a bad experience with an iPhone speaker station :p

I'm not sure what experience people have with USB packs (not iphone). I know the iPhone is very finnicky in its power source for charging, so I'm worried the USB battery pack will not be accepted by the iPhone.

Any recommendations/experiences with generic USB battery packs in hooking it up to their iPhones?

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Planes have power jacks you can use
if you still want to get battery pack. get this one http://ncix.com/products/?sku=78022&...ure=Mediasonic
it uses Sanyo Battery cells

They are very useful for long trips, but $30 seems like a lot for just 1900 mah. I got my 3000 mah battery pack at XSCargo for $10, which is pretty consistent with the Chinese online stores. But the stock at XSCargo is variable, and always iffy in quality (watch out for very old units that might have an outdated battery). For iPhone recharging just carry your USB cable.

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Originally Posted by Keigotw

Planes have power jacks you can use

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Yes but as I said, for a good 6 hours I won't have access to anything.
The flight from Toronto to shanghai has power jacks, however once I arrive in Shanghai, I have another flight to catch. There will be 6 hours in between my landing in Shanghai and the landing to my final destination. Last time I did that trip, I had to hunt for an outlet in an inconvenient location without seats.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Keigotw

if you still want to get battery pack. get this one http://ncix.com/products/?sku=78022&...ure=Mediasonic
it uses Sanyo Battery cells

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by JamesA1

They are very useful for long trips, but $30 seems like a lot for just 1900 mah. I got my 3000 mah battery pack at XSCargo for $10, which is pretty consistent with the Chinese online stores. But the stock at XSCargo is variable, and always iffy in quality (watch out for very old units that might have an outdated battery). For iPhone recharging just carry your USB cable.

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Yeah well from further reading online and amazon reviews, I found a consistency with complaints that the batteries stop accepting a charge after a few weeks/months. Meaning it would be a toss away battery after my trip. However I want to keep that battery for future travels, you never know!

I found this on amazon.ca

Seems pretty decent, lots of good reviews, a flashlight is always useful in a 16 hour flight (They turn down the lights most of the time).
3200mah is about double the size of the iphone4 battery, so that's a good enough buffer.
I might go for 5000mah and not have to worry about charging my iphone while I'm moving around while in China. Here we have car chargers and we charge at the office. In China I'll hardly have those options to charge during the day and I'll extensively use the GSM/WIFI network... and GPS ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Keigotw

Planes have power jacks you can use
if you still want to get battery pack. get this one http://ncix.com/products/?sku=78022&...ure=Mediasonic
it uses Sanyo Battery cells

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not all planes do... aircanada does but i've taken air transat and sunwing and they dont :(

They make 12,000 mAh USB charger for around $99, NewTrent. We used one on a trip to Paris (iOS devices including iPads, iPhone etc...)
http://www.newtrent.com/store/ipad-e...l-battery.html

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Originally Posted by BlueBill

They make 12,000 mAh USB charger for around $99, NewTrent. We used one on a trip to Paris (iOS devices including iPads, iPhone etc...)
http://www.newtrent.com/store/ipad-e...l-battery.html

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A weee bit too expensive.
I can get two of the 10,000mah batteries of the brand I linked on amazon.com.

I think I'll go with the 10,000mah, it could be useful for my tablet. My wife took it with her as she went to China before me but we're gonna travel back together.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

KONNET PowerEZ Pro - Black Compact External Rechargeable Battery with 11200mAh
$49.99 .. I think sometimes goes on sale for $39.99?
http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=053044

DX has a Long March 12,000 mAh for $30. That's the most millis for the buck that I've found. It claims to do 2.1A for iPad but it only charged my iPad to 50% in 6 hours. Of course, I've never actually timed how long it took with the 12W AC outlet... it also has a fairly high self-discharge rate of 30% in a month...

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Originally Posted by rf134a

dx has a long march 12,000 mah for $30. That's the most millis for the buck that i've found. It claims to do 2.1a for ipad but it only charged my ipad to 50% in 6 hours. Of course, i've never actually timed how long it took with the 12w ac outlet... It also has a fairly high self-discharge rate of 30% in a month...

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dx?

edit -Nm I figured it out :p I never knew about that store before. I have a feeling their stuff ships from China. If that's the case, it won't arrive in time for my flight :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alkizmo

dx?

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dealextreme http://dx.com/

Question: are there any limitations on what types or sizes of batteries you can bring on a plane?