Battery Backup For Laptop When Power Outage?

Pauly,

I mentioned Dell purely as a source of confirmation of your computer's compatibility with this powerpack. Now that I found your model explicitly listed as compatible in that later link, there does not seem to be any particular need to worry about that subject anymore.

I bought mine on Amazon. Because I had seen some puzzling reviews & some negative reviews, I made sure I bought it from Amazon itself rather than from an Amazon Marketplace seller [so that I knew getting a refund / replacement would be possible if it failed].

Both the US & UK Dell sites we have been exchanging links to are about the same thing, the 18000mAh powerpack with the same model number. So, yes, we have been talking about the same thing all along. And the first of the Amazon links you posted was also the same thing as well [nice that it is the cheaper one of the two Amazon links you posted].

You are still referring to the powerpack as something that you connect then disconnect.
- That is my fault as I referred to the number of times you could charge up but I did so merely as a method of expressing its power capacity and did not intend to mean that there really was a sequence of charging-recharging cycles.
- You connect it up routinely & leave it connected. Mine is connected right now.
- Both my battery & my powerpack are fully charged. If there is a power outage or I decide to move away from a power source, I just leave the powerpack connected. It keeps my battery topped up fully [until, eventually, its own power runs out after 35/15 hours].
- There is no stage at which you need to disconnect the powerpack.
- So there is no use up battery, connect, recharge battery, disconnect sequence.

Your questions about how long the computer can last with the powerpack connected are answered by that PCWorld review I posted a link to. It might be hard to believe but their test results demonstrate what is achievable [and they used an XPS 15 for their test computer].

Denis

Oh, and don't forget that I started off by saying that I knew nothing about non-Dell powerpacks. I did not find a non-Dell one that just sat routinely connected to the computer and to the power source so that both were on-charge at the same time [I think this facility is called "pass-through" charging - the powerpack charges itself and it charges the computer at the same time]. But my ignorance does not mean that none have appeared in the meantime.

That MaxOak thing you posted an Amazon link to seems, on first glance, like it connects up & works just like the Dell powerpack. It is significantly bigger and has much greater capacity than the Dell but is only about a third more expensive. If I was looking for a new powerpack now I would not dismiss that one out of hand but would study its product page then read every user question & user review to make sure just how I could use it [and I would consider how reliable MaxOak is as a brand - it is not a name I know].

Added later - you should also look at your current power adapter. It's transformer unit states its output as something like 19.5V 3.34A so when you look at things like the MaxOak you need to check if it supplies that high level of current at the necessary voltage. I have three Dell Inspirons {different models} and the MaxOak would not provide enough output current for any of them.

Denis

paulyjustin said:

Hi there. So just to make sure, this is exactly the same thing i posted with the first amazon link i gave that cost like 103.60 correct? However, seems like this item is sold by 3rd party on amazon and not amazon itself. But this seller seem to have great reviews so probably thats good enough?

Yes, your link Amazon.com: Dell Power Companion 6 Cell 18000 mAh (WCKF2): Computers Accessories costing $103.60. I can see that it is sold by an Amazon marketplace seller.
- If you look at the buying choices [Used & new (30) from $98.46 + $5.49 shipping], you'll see that for $0.35 more, you could choose one that was "fulfilled" by Amazon so you might wish to consider that.
- I am always concerned when I buy from Amazon marketplace that the seller will not be there to honour its warranty later on so choosing Amazon or at least "fulfilled" by Amazon means you know the buck stops with somebody you can contact & who will respond.
- Consumer laws are different in different countries but in the UK Amazon told me that they would honour seller obligations for items "fulfilled" by Amazon.
- So it's up to you.

paulyjustin said:

So the one that i posted back on the dell link, that is same one as this one except dell charges more right since you are buying it from them specifically?

Yes, the direct links to Dell were about the same item. The Amazon product page contains the same product code [PW7015L] that Dell's pages use. And it is the only 18000mAh power pack that Dell produce.

paulyjustin said:

I just want to make sure all of this. But if you have choice of buying it from amazon with 3rd party or directly from dell, which would you choose? That amazon seller has very good reviews.

Given the choice, I would select the seller that I trust to deliver the genuine article & to honour its obligations if there is a problem but we could spend the rest of our lives discussing how to decide which one to choose. Dell, for example, does not honour its obligations. Amazon does. Some Amazon marketplace sellers do. The shops in my town do.

paulyjustin said:

the dell xps 15 9550 i have is bit older than the dell xps 15 9560

The link I gave you to the US Dell site for the powerpack explicitly stated listed your model, "The Dell [US] webpage has a much more detailed compatibility list than the UK page I previously gave you a link to in my first post. If you look at the US page in the Tech Specs section you will see an entry for XPS 15 (9550).". I had only referred to the 9560 earlier on because a user review had mentioned it.

paulyjustin said:

Okay so this is exactly the power bank that i want for my needs right?

Yes, it fulfils your needs. My only concern is that I do not know whether or not some cheaper non-Dell products might also fulfil your needs. But you would need to investigate each of them to find out. I tried but gave up and got the Dell one [from Amazon UK].

paulyjustin said:

Yes i read that guy in article says he gets 5 hours of battery on his laptop which is same laptop as mine and could get up to 1 day with that thing. But my laptop gets max 2.5 hour battery and thats if i do very little on it. Its more like 2 hour max. The interesting thing is is every laptop i ever got, they always state battery is 7 hours or 5 hours or 10 hours etc. I never ever got anywhere close to that. Example i got a chromebook acer 14 where they state like 10 hour battery. I get more like 3.5 hours if watching videos and opening lot of chrome tabs etc. But if i could get 8 hours total for my laptop when a power outage happens, that would be very good.

So the most reliable aspect of the PCWorld review and the reviews by users is not the raw statement of times but the comparison between those times. PCWorld's results were that their test computer [you model] lasted almost 5 times as long with the powerpack connected.

paulyjustin said:

Okay so if i buy this product. Most of the time, my laptop is charged to outlet even when battery is 100 percent. Is this good idea or not? The reason is because back then my laptop use to be external battery, so to preserve battery, you take out external and plug it it to outlet. But because this battery is internal like most laptops are nowadays, i dont do it not only because if i do this, then it would have less battery and then i have to recharge it again when it gets low, but say i have power outage, well i might only have 30 min battery as oppose to 2 hours. So its fine having laptop charged to outlet all day when 100 percent right? The other thing is if i unplug it, i have to unplug the whole wire from the outlet which is annoying. Thus imagine doing that every 1.5 hours. But do most ppl do that or not if they are going to use laptop on same spot anywas.

Keeping the battery connected to the power supply even after it has reached full charge is now commonplace and I have seen no recent claims that it does any harm. I recall there being issues a decade or more ago with older battery technologies but not with modern [li-ion polymer] batteries such as these. Just by way of example, my own battery also remains connected to power all the time just like yours and it has remained at a healthy 75% of its original design charge level for the year since I bought the powerpack.

paulyjustin said:

So if i buy this product, do i need to buy any other cables or does everything come with it? So when i get it, you charge it to the electric out to get 100 percent right? Curious how long that takes? Now let say im on my laptop now and am using it while connected to outlet and have to be on it for at least 8 hours. Well assuming no power outage, i have no issues. But say a bit into it, i get power outage, first thing would be unplug the power charger from outlet and connect it to this? Or wait until my laptop battery is say 10 percent or 20 percent before i do this? Then when my battery gets to 100 percent, you want me to unplug it and just keep it in until my power gets back if it does. Because my thoughts were if i dont unplug it, well then i cant recharge again etc.

Correct, no need to buy anything else. When you get it, you connect your computer's power adapter & its cable directly to the powerpack. You then connect the cable that comes with the powerpack from the powerpack to your computer. The powerpack will supply power to your computer even as it is charging itself up. And you leave them connected like this whenever you can.

As I wrote before, there is no action to take in the event of a power outage or at any other time.
- The powerpack is already connected to your power supply using your computer's adapter & cable.
- The powerpack is already connected to your computer using the cable that comes with the powerpack.
Just leave it all connected and everything is fine. Do not deliberately use your computer battery then connect - just leave everything connected all the time you can.
Do not unplug anything. It will just do its job of powering your computer and keeping your battery at 100% charge all the time.

paulyjustin said:

But you say you have your laptop charged to that powerbank all the time? Thus you never have your laptop charger connected to the outlet? If so, i dont understand why you would do that because isn't there an x amount of charges you could do on it before it wears out similar to like a laptop battery or iphone battery? Are you using your laptop mostly outside? Because if you use it inside almost always, no point in that? For me, i rarely use laptop outside at all. I basically want this power backup in case of power outage. Because if im not busy doing what im doing for 8 plus hours, its not that big of a deal i do not have power as long as im not currently doing my thing. Thus if there is power outage at night, well when i get up and power isn't back, well i won't do my thing then so it doesn't affect me. Does that make sense?

Yes, I have my computer connected to the powerpack all the time I am at my desk. And the powerpack is the thing that is connected to AC power - it uses my laptop charger to do this.

About batteries wearing out. If you keep your battery fully charged then it will last ages with no loss of capacity. If you keep the powerpack connected [as above] then both it and your battery will stay fully charged. So you will only be using up the life of either battery when you need to.

If you go to bed with the powerpack connected [as it will always be if it is on your desk], you will wake up to find that the computer is still working and that its battery is still fully charged. If there has been a power outage then it is the powerpack that will be partially discharged not the computer.

paulyjustin said:

So other power banks on amazon like these are the same thing as well but some might not be compatible with the xps 15 9550?
Amazon.com: AC Outlet Portable Laptop Charger (TSA-approved), Jackery PowerBar 77Wh/20800mAh 85W (100W Max.) Travel Laptop Power Bank Accessories
Amazon.com: AC Portable Laptop Charger Jackery PowerBar 23200mAh 85W (100W Max.) Universal Travel Laptop Power Bank Accessories
Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Portable Charger 32000 RAVPower 32000mAh Power Banks 6A Output, External USB Battery Pack for iPhone X, iPhone 8, Galaxy and More (3-Port, 2.4A Input, Triple iSmart 2.0 USB)
From these, seem like the first 2 is good but the last one isn't strong enough?
Also i have to get one that is under x amount of mAh because i would be traveling with this and it seemed like 26000 or 30000 mAH is the cutoff for it.
But the first 2 ones i listed, is this like the dell one you talked about?

I have no idea if any of the non-Dell powerpacks on Amazon are suitable. I know that MaxOak is not strong enough for my computers but I have no idea about yours. I told you where you needed to check for the data.

About travelling - mAh do not weigh anything so do not constrain your choice using that parameter. On many Amazon product pages the item weight is given in a table of parameters partway down the page & user questions/reviews might also mention weight.The Dell powerpack weighs just under 1 lb and is the size of one of those caddies/enclosures you might put an old HDD in. So I never think twice about keeping it connected if I am travelling.

paulyjustin said:

So of all the ones i listed, get the dell one?

I chose the Dell one because I could not find out if any others were suitable but I had already checked out the Dell one and concluded that it was suitable. So you could either investigate non-Dell ones in the hope of getting one that is more powerful or cheaper or you could just get the Dell one.

paulyjustin said:

And based on that guys review, its pretty much going to help my laptop get probably 10 hours then since he mentions in article it gets an entire day almost?

Yes, you will be able to keep working all day even if there is a power outage or you are travelling. I do not know which guy you are referring to but the PCWorld article was pretty clear on the matter anyway.

paulyjustin said:

Again, im shocked that you could get 35 hours on your laptop with this. But just to make sure... if you are doing very intensive things on it and you get 3 hours... using that probably would still get you like 15 hours right?

If I was using my network or the internet intensively on my WiFi then I would only expect to get an estimated 15 hours use. If I was just using MS Office or reading PDF files then I would get an estimated 35 Hours. If I was watching videos then I would expect to get 23 hours if the PCWorld tests are anything to go by.

Denis

A UPS is merely one of the two solutions you could consider but does not seem, to me, to be as effective as the second option, a powerpack.

Yes, if you wanted enough power to be able to use AC-powered monitors then you would need to investigate UPS.

"Okay so if i get this dell product, would you say its fine if i just use my laptop as it is with the battery? And only connect it to this power bank when i have a power outage?" - I have said no at least three times to this suggestion.

"connected to your laptop always 100 percent even when you go to bed. So you never shut down your laptop?" I never said that at all. I responded to your comment about overnight outages.

I often take my laptop & powerpack to bed, into the garden or when going to town. I play recordings of radio comedies before going to sleep and could keep doing so all night if I felt like it. I do not necessarily need my powerpack to do this because my laptop has a good battery but having the pwoerpack there means I can do whatever I want.

"why don't you just connect to it when there is a power outage" - because the powerpack needs to get charged and it uses the laptop's AC adapter so having them all connected together is how to do this [your laptop's power adapter is what charges the powerpack]. This has nothing to do with any worry about power outages, it is how to use the powerpack to best effect.

Denis

"So if you have to charge the powerpack ..."
- You are free to do it in the way you suggest - connect the powerpack to the AC adapter then disconnect when it looks full [when all 5 lights on it come on when you press the test button]. Then as you suggest, you could disconnect it and put it away then only connect it to the computer when you need it. [and, yes, I suppose there might be a loss of a few percentage points during storage]
- But the intended way is to connect the powerpack to the AC adapter, connect the powerpack to the computer then just leave them all connected together.
- I am not trying to suggest that there is any problem in doing it the way you suggest. It is merely not quite what was intended.

Denis