Psp Power Brick!

[Ikkakujyu]

Well, the Zaurus and the PSP use the same size power connector, so I gave this thing a shot. It's a pretty small, 3600mAh battery.  Seems to work just fine, but I haven't given it an extended test drive yet.  My Zaurus hasn't exploded yet, so that's a good sign...

Among other places, you can get it here: http://www.price88.com/product_info.php?pr...3016&tc=Froogle

Or here: http://www.baysoftgames.com/powerbrick.html

I found mine at the local GameStop.

It's hard to tell, but judging by the size and weight, it's probably a lithium-ion battery. NiCd batteries at that size tend to have a much lower life, but ya never know.



EDIT: The back of the battery says 3.6 volts, which is common for radio-controlled cars, which tend to use NiCd/NiMH... also, it does seem a little too heavy for Li-ion, but I wouldn't really know. The brick does get a little hot at first, but after having it plugged in for five hours it was pretty cool, so I suppose it charged all the way and shut off. The only indicator on it is a small LED that flashes when it's plugged in.

Checking the voltage with a... volt-checking thing... it outputs 5 volts, just like the regular power supply. It gets a teeny bit warm where the cable-to-PSP (or Zaurus) plugs in, so maybe it has a circuit to step the voltage up?


EDIT AGAIN: Oh yes. The brick is designed to use the standard PSP AC adapter. The Zaurus one works fine, and I'm actually using one for an iPAQ. Also, the PSP's battery is 3.6 volts, and charges at 5 volts; it's quite possible that the Power Brick's battery is a standard 3.6 volt Li-ion with the voltage stepped up. Which'd be nice, because I don't really like the whole "full discharge" thing with NiCd, and there's no way to tell how charged up the brick is.

[dreadlocks]

great find, that is pretty friggin cheap.. I wonder if any local stores will carry it.
Can you take a pix of it with your Zaurus so we can compare the size

[davidmcnaught16]

I very much doubt that you'd get a 3600mAh LiIon for under £10, I guess it's NiMH, but even so, it's a handy accessory at a great price!

[kahm]

The fact that the PSP power supply is matches the Z is *great* news for us. Due to the PSP's somewhat short battery life there is at least a half dozen external batteries planned for release in the next year. (I was down at the local EB getting the lowdown on the PSP a few days ago.)

I got to play with one for a few minutes - Ridge Racer - the visuals are an astonishing achievement for a handheld. I was waiting to see what a PSP looked like before getting a Nintendo DS, and I'm glad I waited.

I don't know what Nintendo has up their sleeves for their Gameboy successor. (The DS is not intended to be the next gen gameboy - it's called The "Nintendo DS", not the Gameboy DS.) It had better be good.

[Ikkakujyu]

Jaja, probably a NiMH. Bugger takes a looong time to charge, you'll wanna set it to do that overnight . On the plus side, you can charge it inline with your Z, just don't expect the brick to fill up all the way unless the Z is in standby mode.

Its power output is fairly decent - I messed around with it plugged in this morning, doing WiFi and everything, for a few hours, and it didn't come close to quitting, yay. Pretty soon I'm gonna see how long it can play Vorbis files before it quits.

I don't have a camera this instant, but the size is pretty nice - I could easily see putting velcro on it and sticking it to the back of a 5500/5600. The cord is a lot longer than the pictures online show.


Also this post should probably be in Accessories or something.

[MS3FGX]

Here is a picture of the Power Brick with the Zaurus SL-5500:

[img]http://img49.echo.cx/img49/3479/powerbrick8em.jpg\" border=\"0\" class=\"linked-image\" /]

The cable is coiled up so it fits in the picture, it is about 3 feet long, much larger than what is shown online. Also notice it is actually black, even though I have seen it shown as purple online.

I was surprised at how light and small it is. It is considerably smaller and lighter than a GBA SP.

I just got this today, and mine didn't come with any sort of manual, so I was wondering if anyone knows what the green LED indicates? It was solid at first, but started to blink rapidly after charging for awhile.

It was funny buying this in the store and trying to explain why I was buying it, even though I didn't have a PSP, to the clerk.

[dreadlocks]

thx for the pix, that is perfect.. I think I shall go pick one up on payday, I dont run my battery down often but when I do its damn inconvienant..

3600mAh is just slightly 2x more capacity than the 1700mAh battery in my Z so I would expect I shouldent ever run out of power again..

[Ikkakujyu]

I just got this today, and mine didn't come with any sort of manual, so I was wondering if anyone knows what the green LED indicates? It was solid at first, but started to blink rapidly after charging for awhile.

I had to dig around online, they have a PDF manual on the website somewhere. The light flashes while it's charging and stops when it's done.

[kahm]

I went looking for one of these today, but it doesn't look like they've hit Cananda yet. I did end up buying a PSP, though. And Wipeout Pure.

     

Someone ought to take my bank card away from me. I'm so weak against shiny new toys.

 

[steliosx]

so, will this baby work on c1000 / c3000 ?

[kahm]

so, will this baby work on c1000 / c3000 ?
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If it works on one Z, it'll work on another. At least with the 5x00, Cxx0, and Cx000. I'm not sure about the 6000's.

I use the same power cord for all my Z's. I haven't put a multimeter on a PSP powercord yet, but it looks like a good replacement for the EA-72 international cords that everyone always wants.

I'm definitely looking to try one of the Pelican Power Bricks, but I'll be checking voltage tolerances before I plug any of my Z's into it. The PSP power cord may be of proper quality (regulated 5v), but 3rd party accessories are still an unknown. If they put out too high of a voltage (say 5.5v) that's dangerous to the Z's charging circuitry. Who knows what the voltage tolerances on a PSP are...

[steliosx]

thanks for the reply kahm - have you seen considerable gains with this psp adaptor?

i may end up getting a psp as well

thanks again for your reply

[adf]

now.... how to mount one of those and 1.8" drive on the back of a 6000 in a psuedo-sled....?

[kahm]

thanks for the reply kahm - have you seen considerable gains with this psp adaptor?

i may end up getting a psp as well

thanks again for your reply
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I checked my PSP mains adapter (not the battery) with the multimeter and got a moderately worrisome result - It puts out 5.35v, which would seem to be strictly in Your-Mileage-May-Vary territory. I'll decline to plug it into my Z without further testing

I tested 2 of my EA-70s, and they put out 5.15 and 5.16v
My EA-72s both put out 5.29v
The Compaq powersupply is 5.07

5.35 is a bit high. I'll have to look up what the exact tolerances are again - I thought the maximum voltage was ~5.30. This is assuming my cheap multi-meter is at all accurate. The fact that both EA-70s measure 5.29 would seem to cut it too close it the meter were accurate, and they work fine.  

As for potential gains - The PSP mains supply has the exact same specs as the EA-72.
I haven't been able to find one of the pelican batteries to test yet.

[cwaig]

If it works on one Z, it'll work on another. At least with the 5x00, Cxx0, and Cx000. I'm not sure about the 6000's.

The 6K ships with exactly the same PSU as the 5500