So far this year one of our favorite tech finds has been a lithium ion battery pack. Here's the short spec from the PowerStream site where we bought our unit:

This powerful little battery pack is very flexible, it can act as a 5 volt battery or a 19 volt battery with 6 steps in between. Outputs at 5V, 6V, 7.5V, 9V, 12V, 14V, 16V and 19V. It can also be charged with voltages as low as 5 volts and as high as 24VDC.

Due to it's versatility we are able to test it with various devices. So far we have used it to power network cameras, the CradlePoint 3G wireless router, a USB hub, and an Acer Aspire One.

What really excites us about this battery pack is it's ability to take a small solar array ( we are thinking about 10 watts) as a charge input. You can also charge it and use it all at the same time. So you get a battery pack, solar charger controller and, and switching voltage regulator all in one unit - pretty nice. But there are a few limitations.

Take careful note of the maximum continuous power output. For example, the Cradlepoint Router runs at about 5V and 1 Amp continuous when the internal battery is fully charged. But plug in a Cradlepoint with a battery that needs to be charged and you might have problems. We say might because we are hesitant to test it knowing that the power draw could be closer to 5V and 2 Amps while charging the battery in the Cradlepoint. And we really do not want to smoke another test unit (yes, we smoked a cheap 12V adapter trying to charge the Cradlepoint). Moral of the story? Know how much power your devices require - especially if they have a battery on board and run at lower voltages. As you increase in voltage the continuous power rating also increase. I very good thing for devices such as netbooks.

If you do have a netbook, such as the Acer Aspire One we keep around to abuse, this battery should run it. The Aspire One comes in at 19V and runs at about 15-30 watts depending on what you are doing - say surfing the net vs watching a video. So this battery pack at 44 watt hours would give you about another 1.5 to 3 hours of use.

There is also an optional battery pack that will double your capacity to 88 watt-hours. Not bad for a fairly small package. But it's also not cheap considering the cost of a netbook is down around $200-300 US if you catch them on sale.

44 watt-hours is not as much as you think, so be realistic about your power requirements. With the edition of a small solar panel and the optional extra battery it could keep you running for a long time, but 24 hour operations could be a challenge for a power hungry device such as a laptop.

Overall we like it because of it's incredible versatility. The range of input and output voltage in a small form factor make it another great find for your gear bag. It will also force you to get to know your power requirements.

You can read all the specs and buy it here:

PowerStream battery pack

And if you want an out of the box solution with foldable solar panel REI is carrying a branded unit:

REI solar panel and battery pack

Enjoy!