The differences between USB only Batteries and Batteries with high power ports…

I get a lot of questions from people asking if they can run their Surface Pro or MacBooks from a battery that has USB only output, so I thought I’d blog about it again.

Demystifying USB only Batteries vs High Power Port Batteries:

There are primarily only two types of batteries on the market:   Smaller batteries and larger batteries.  Smaller batteries typically only have a USB port (the rectangular ports you find on computers too) and these can only output 5V. The larger batteries typically have two types of output voltages. I like calling them "High power ports" and "Low power ports".  

The high power ports can have a range of voltages from 9V all the way up to 20V and are usually adjustable. They are for use on larger devices like laptops and the larger tablets and usually also have a USB port for smaller devices like phones and smaller tablets that plug into these.  

The low power port (or USB only battery) is a mere 5V and CANNOT be used to power larger devices. Some people think that one can up convert but this is like trying to put a motorcycle engine into a truck; there simply is not enough power from a USB port on the battery to power larger devices no matter how much up converting you try.

The bottom line:

So the bottom line is that USB only batteries are meant for smaller devices and NOT larger devices like the Surface pro 3,4/Book or MacBooks, no matter how much up converting you do. The higher power port batteries, however, CAN drive all the larger devices AS WELL AS the smaller devices with minimal down converting.

Our "Little Giant"

All our Batteries including the “Little Giant” all have a low power port (USB) as well as a high power port that will drive any large devices. They differ only in the amount of time you will get out of each battery.  The “Little Giant” was given it’s name because it’s size is actually pretty comparable to other batteries on the market that are intended for smaller devices ONLY and that have USB ONLY and yet it is ALSO capable of high power output like our larger batteries such as the “CEO” or “Executive” batteries.

Next topic of discussion… 

Why are there so many different batteries on the market with such a wide range of “mAH” and “AH” and what do these actually mean? Can a small battery with a higher “mAH” actually last longer then a large battery with lower “mAH”?

Stay powered,

Mike

MCT-Corp.com

For interesting outdoor gadgets, follow The Smart Lad

Alternative power options when traveling

Hello, 

As we approach summer and the weather makes us want to spend more time outdoors, most of us will have more need for alternative power sources for your devices.  I myself will be taking a short working break, and the just the idea of being stuck up in the air in a flying metal tube for hours on end without my devices powered up the entire time is already giving me electronic withdrawals!  Thankfully, my symptoms are always short-lived, as I already know which battery I will be taking with me on my travels.

If this were a perfect world, I would instantly grab my "CEO" 52.8AH battery, as it would keep my laptop charged the whole trip and maybe even have enough power to charge my iPad, iPhone, Watch plus a few extra's. But we live in different times and because it's so big, it could be considered... ehm...  well, lets just say TSA would not be happy!

So, if I glance through the TSA website briefly, technically only our smaller batteries that we call the "platinum" line are below 100wh and therefore "legal".  Depending on your flight time, this should give you more than enough added time on your devices. 

                                  

For me, however, ...it is never enough! I considered taking chance on our "Executive" 34.2AH battery along as we have had a few reported experiences where it has gotten through security just fine.

On the other hand there have been mixed results with security even with the legal sized batteries!  So the plan now is to carry two of "the Boss"24AH batteries.  Crossing fingers!

As the primary laptop that I will be taking with me on my trip will be my Macbook Pro 13",  I can expect to get a total of about 10-12 hours of use from it with one of our "Platinum" batteries. If I apply some power saving tips that can be found on our Twitter or Facebook pages, under #HelpfulHints, I should make it through the trip by the skin of my teeth.

*Shameless plug: I'm glad to be using our very own Genuine Magsafe cables with these that plug directly into our batteries; no special boxes or unreliable converters. Now that's Magic!

Thanks for reading and stay powered up!

Mike

MCT-Corp.com

P.S. I will be blogging about my trip and experiences - probably in regards to the field of travel and keeping yourself plugged into the office while away, power wise AND data wise so why not share some of your biggest headaches during your travels with me?

P.P.S:  Just want to give a short shout-out to Liesel from Kritzinger Consulting who has recently joined our team (I know my limitations).  You may have noticed our increase on the social media front and she is our lady behind the scenes. She is doing a great job and will be here to fill in the gaps whilst I am between internet connections.

For interesting outdoor gadgets, follow The Smart Lad

Surface battery Sale

Check this out:

https://youtu.be/-lIPenSZHYU


MCT-Corp.com

Lind car adapter kit for Surface Book i7

For the professionals out there.  

MCT-Corp.com

Mikegyver External Batteries work on New Surface Book i7

Hello,

We have customers using our batteries with the Surface Book i7 without problems.

We recommend you still use at 12v setting which we set too (since our batteries will supply more amps as needed then Microsoft's own adapter, other battery sellers call this "auto adjust"), but if you are high CPU user and find it not enough, the16v setting on our battery will work too.  If you are concerned about that, we can build a small box that will reduce the voltage back to 15v.  But our tests (with the Book and with prior devices) show that a 1v variance is not a problem.

http://www.mikegyver.com/products/devices/index.php?hunt=Microsoft%20Surface

MCT-corp.com

New Batteries to our Family!

We are happy to announce our platinum Line of batteries!

Introducing our new Platinum series: “Little Giant 12AH”, “Slim Power 16AH”, “Super Slim 20AH”, “The Boss 24AH”!
While they are smaller then our Professional Series, they still pack plenty of power and features!

We provide Car charger solutions and battery solutions for your Apple MacBook, Microsoft Surface, and Dell devices (Including World’s first External Battery and Car adapters for Yoga 3 Pro, 700, 900 - Now Available!).
Our connectors are 100% Genuine cables (Not illegal inferior clones) converted from actual adapters allowing us to be the first in the World.


http://www.mikegyver.com/products/batteries/

Please use discount code "JANDISC" for 5% off!

MCT-Corp.com

Happy new year!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.  Here's a preview of what we have for the new year!  

Smaller, compact and still packed with plenty of power!

Mikegyver batteries for Surface, MacBook, Dell, Yoga!   

Power for those hard to power devices!