I need more juice!

[felixdd]

I've been using my Ipaq a lot these days, and although I can underclock and read on my device for most of the day, I still want more juice for things like movies, music, or games.

I've been considering buying an extra battery for my Ipaq, but I've also considered getting a USB auxilliary power supply -- like the one here (http://www.expansys-usa.com/product.asp?code=108719).

The advantage of a battery is simplicity and portability. But if I get a USB adapter, I can migrate to another device and still use it, providing the device supports USB charging.

So my question is twofold:
1) What PPC's out there do not support charging from USB?
2) What solution should I go for?

[arnage2]

just get s spare battery, it would be the easiest way.

[dean_shan]

I'd go with the USB battery charger. Then you can use it for other devices too.

[Kowalski]

just for 20$ i would get the usb charger. it is good that you can use this extender with future devices you will have.

BTW how much runtime do you gain by undercloacking your device?

[felixdd]

Reading ebooks alone? I don't know -- I've never read long enough to drain it. After 6 hours at 100 MHz it was still ~70%. That's pure reading though -- not much processing power involved. Not too sure about that number...but I'll find out tomorrow -- my job involves a lot of sitting and waiting :roll:

If I underclock and listen to oggs (screen off as well) , it's 10 hours.

So far I'm underclocking pretty consistently. But I know for some applications that's impossible, and since I have a few long trips coming up, I'm hunting for a power solution.

[JimPAQ]

I have a spare battery for my 2215 and I have never been in a situation were it wasn't enough. That includes geo-caching which takes you out into the wiled. Really to be honest, I only use the backup as an emergency battery. I have never really tried to drain the battery or made a conscious effort to see how long I could go without recharging.

--Jim

[Myrddin]

I have two (yes two!) spare standard batteries for my 4155. Couldn't be happier -- very useful!

What application do you use to underclock with? Does it work well for you?

[timmer]

What I would actually like to see is new battery technology that will make our Ipaqs last days rather than hours.

I like watching movies on my Ipaq on the train etc and the issue has become not how many hours can I get on my storage card but how many hours can I watch before the battery runs flat. Same for mp3 etc.

I dont want to be carrying spares with me if I can help it so we need new battery technology !

We definitely need it before we will see a true convergence of PDAs and mobile phones. Notice the new IPaq 6300 has a TI processor for extra battery life. But its no good for watching video etc.

[Stephen Beesley]

With my Jornada I had two spare batteries and found it a really handy way of carrying extra power - hardly took up any space and ohh so easy to replace during those long sessions surfing the net at my local wifi hotspot!

That said I also have one of the usb battery extenders. I never really used it when I was out and about (although it always lived in my courier bag, which I have with me most of the time), but it comes in very handy if you are on a long plane trip or planning to go away for a few days. Very handy for actually recharging the PPC when you do not have access to external power for example. The other advantage is that you can, as has already been said, use it with other devices. Now that I have just bought a Toshiba to replace my Jornada, I just needed to get a usb charge/synce cable and i can still use my battery extender.

Overall I guess for me it is not an either/or situation - I think the two solutions are complementary. I know that one of the first accessories I will be getting for the Toshiba is at least one spare battery.