NC Rooted - External Battery Charger

4Nails

Member
Dec 26, 2010
17
0
I'm going to be on some fairly long flights in January (5 hrs or more) and would like ot watch some movies ot pass the time. Is there any experience with external battery chargers?

Thanks
4Nails


... and by the way what is the best resolution to burn movies?
 

markiej

Member
Dec 22, 2010
87
7
I have the same issue in February - many trans-atlantic and trans-pacific flights. I happen to have a tekcharge MP1800 that I used on a little chinese media player. I've connected it to the nook, but it doesn't indicate that it's charging the Nook (but the cord light turns orange). Soon I will test it by draining the NookColor's internal battery and then see if it will provide juice. I will post my results here.

Regarding videos I recommend 720px wide by whatever height (depending upon Aspect Ratio). MP4 container, mpeg4 (or h.264) video codec at 1024 kpbs, aac audio stereo at 44100 128kbps. Looks nice and performs well.
 

gadgetrants

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 22, 2010
1,256
81
I have the same issue in February - many trans-atlantic and trans-pacific flights. I happen to have a tekcharge MP1800 that I used on a little chinese media player. I've connected it to the nook, but it doesn't indicate that it's charging the Nook (but the cord light turns orange). Soon I will test it by draining the NookColor's internal battery and then see if it will provide juice. I will post my results here.

Regarding videos I recommend 720px wide by whatever height (depending upon Aspect Ratio). MP4 container, mpeg4 (or h.264) video codec at 1024 kpbs, aac audio stereo at 44100 128kbps. Looks nice and performs well.
+1 on the 720 width for videos

One thing to be cautious about with the Nook Color: it seems to want a higher input at 1.9A, where a lot of USB-based chargers (I have a Tekkeon that I love) cannot provide enough power. I've also read a few stories about plugging the NC into a USB hub, and due to the increased power-draw, it wreaked havoc with the other devices that were plugged in (I think I saw it knock out my wireless keyboard). A few users have strongly suggested only plugging it in to a dedicated PC USB port rather than a hub (I haven't had any problem with my notebook yet). It does seem to charge on a PC, if only slowly.

I hadn't anticipated this issue, but unless one has a portable power supply that can offer more than 500mA (typical for most), the NC may not like it.

-Matt
 

markiej

Member
Dec 22, 2010
87
7
a portable power supply that can offer more than 500mA
The tekkeon above does 1000mA - I'm going to test how it behaves with a battery-depleted Nook at some point. What's the quickest way to drain a battery (is there a util that can help here)

It would be nice if it's functional in some way, though there are chargers with more capacity and amperage, they're in the +$150 range which is silly (buy a second nook why don't ya)
 

markiej

Member
Dec 22, 2010
87
7
Interesting discovery
This thing won't turn on with a very low battery- even plugged in. Instead of that goofy" touch the future" message, you get a big red battery ppicture telling you to try again in15 minutes.

Anyhow my experiment with running on my little external charger failed. The next trick would be to plug that in on s full battery and see if it increases runtime

Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using Android Tablet Forum App
 

pa49

Senior Member
Nov 29, 2010
365
38
Lithium Ion batteries need a high current to get them started if deleted too low and that's why you should not discharge them. Keep them topped up all the time or at least as often as possible. If you are going to use an external battery pack then begin to use it from the outset and remove when depleted so you can continue on the internal battery for as long as possible. The answer is to get as high a current pack as possible and it should be at least 1500mAh to give any reasonable extra power.
There is an excellent Energiser unit that is 8000mAh and will power an laptop. That would fulfill all your device requirements in one.

Sent from my Ideos S7 using Android Tablet Forum App
 

rico2001

Senior Member
Dec 8, 2010
1,599
266
Sightly off subject/side note: Install superuser, install setcpu, setup some good power profiles and your NC will live long and prosper. :)

...but getting a external changer to work for the NC is a great idea.
 

gadgetrants

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 22, 2010
1,256
81
Sightly off subject/side note: Install superuser, install setcpu, setup some good power profiles and your NC will live long and prosper. :)

...but getting a external changer to work for the NC is a great idea.
Ah, great idea! Seems that the NC kernel has three clock speeds: 300, 600, and 800 MHz. Setting SetCPU to underclock at 300 MHz will probably extend battery life quite a bit. I have my Droid set to minimum speed when it sleeps...I wonder if that would work on the NC?

-Matt
 

gadgetrants

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 22, 2010
1,256
81
Interesting discovery
This thing won't turn on with a very low battery- even plugged in. Instead of that goofy" touch the future" message, you get a big red battery ppicture telling you to try again in15 minutes.

Anyhow my experiment with running on my little external charger failed. The next trick would be to plug that in on s full battery and see if it increases runtime

Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using Android Tablet Forum App
Hey Mike, a minor follow-up to your experiment. On a whim today I attached a Duracell 4-battery charger that includes a USB output:

Amazon.com: Duracell Mobile Charger With 2AA And 2AAA Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries, CEF23DX4N: Electronics

$514MRCyXO2L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Result? Well the Nook started at 67%, and about two hours later it was up to 77%, so at least I know it took the juice (it was on standby while charging).

For some reason the unit I posted above is $60 at Amazon, but I think the same one is on special today at a deal site called PennyWise for 3-for-$30. Ah wait...I just saw that it's an "Australian" model and comes with a US wall adapter. Apparently Duracell discontinued the U.S. unit. Oh well...here's the info at Bensbargains:

3-pack Duracell Charger + 12 Rechargeable Batteries

-Matt
 
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