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HP Powerup Backpack can recharge your laptop

by Mark Tyson on 8 August 2016, 11:01

Tags: Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ)

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Here's another backpack-based tech product, the HP Powerup Backpack. It's available to pre-order on Amazon.com right now but won't ship until the beginning of October. As spotted by The Verge, this backpack features a Lithium ion 22,400mAh (84Wh) rechargeable battery pack and is thus capable of fully recharging a typical laptop up to 17-inch in size, or recharging the average tablet three times, or the average smartphone about ten times.

The HP Powerup Backpack looks like a standard backpack, nicely made with a heavy-duty rain repellent coated canvas outer shell, with padded straps, plus a leather carry handle. Inside you will find padded inner sections for various sized devices fed via cables routed from the high capacity rechargeable battery compartment. HP includes 3x cables; one 19V cable to charge your laptop, a 2.4A micro USB for tablets, and a 2.0A micro USB for smartphones. Users can adjust the 'power priority' to choose which devices get charged first.

A couple of important considerations have been made with this backpack design; it meets security requirements for in-flight carry-ons in most countries, and it includes built-in heat sensor monitors so the (re)charging activity doesn't overheat your bag.

This backpack has quite a weight, even when 'empty', due to the battery cells and construction. As shipped, the HP Powerup Backpack weighs 1.9Kg (4.2lbs). It measures 16 x 33 x 50 cm (6.3 x 13 x 19.7 inches).

At the present time this HP backpack is listed at $199 on Amazon US. If you would rather just buy a backpack and mobile power pack separately to make your own 'solution', a 22,400mAh+ power bank with the requisite port for charging laptops (and decent user reviews) can be bought for around $99 - $130 and will weigh in at just under a kilo (2.2lbs) or so. Of course backpack prices vary widely depending upon features, construction materials and brands.



HEXUS Forums :: 14 Comments

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I know power banks are currently a popular thing that shops give away for free with every purchase over xx bucks, but isn't charging a battery with a battery super inefficient? Lithium batteries are super cheap right now and will probably get even cheaper, but if we waste our resources for this kind of stuff, we are gonna suffer in the future.
Nifl
I know power banks are currently a popular thing that shops give away for free with every purchase over xx bucks, but isn't charging a battery with a battery super inefficient? Lithium batteries are super cheap right now and will probably get even cheaper, but if we waste our resources for this kind of stuff, we are gonna suffer in the future.

Not for a while yet though (lithium at least should outlast oil, not sure about cobalt) and the batteries are recyclable though the process is a little dangerous. I'm more concerned with how many of them are cheap junk. Those cells that provide 20% of their rated capacity are junk, those chargers that're less than 80% efficient are junk, the ones that provide power way out of spec and damage devices are junk. It's only going to get worse as manufacturers try to resist passing the increased cost of smart circuitry to handle USB-C connections on to the consumer.
Nifl
I know power banks are currently a popular thing that shops give away for free with every purchase over xx bucks, but isn't charging a battery with a battery super inefficient? Lithium batteries are super cheap right now and will probably get even cheaper, but if we waste our resources for this kind of stuff, we are gonna suffer in the future.
Indeed - you get about 40% energy waste doing it this way. But on the other hand, the compulsive craze for manufacturers to get rid of removable batteries have kinda forced this on us.
Wouldn't it just be easier to carry a spare battery for your device?
Wrinkly
Wouldn't it just be easier to carry a spare battery for your device?

Probably, but a lot of devices don't have replaceable batteries any more, and in the case of laptops it does have the advantage of not having to power off to switch cells, which is something.

Shame it looks like.. that.