Battery to power computer

[JokerXIX]

I'm building a portable computer (not a laptop, a computer...all the laptop parts, especially motherboards, are proprietary...) that needs to run off of a battery. I've found some potential parts for the power system online (http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-90) but am wondering if there's anything better. Essentially, I need one or two laptop batteries to power a motherboard (idk wattage), processor (45W), HD (about 3W), CD drive (Sony Optiarc Sata Trayload Bluray/DVD, idk the wattage), and LCD monitor (16W), all on DC current of course.

Thanks in advance.

 

[somename]

What's your uptime requirement? picoPSU also makes model that can accept variable voltage range(http://www.mini-box.com/PicoPSU-120-WI-25-12-25V-DC-DC-ATX-power-supply). That would give you wider range of battery choices.

You'd also want a notebook optical drive. Optical drive can suck up quite a bit of juice during spin up. New Sandy Bridge should have the lowest power requirement once miniitx mobo starts coming out. I have i3 530 on Zotac miniitx with a 2.5" hdd and slim bluray drive on picopsu, and it draws ~25W idle. The peak is probably around 90W, but I haven't tested it thoroughly. The draw off battery would be less since my 12V power brick is probably only 80% efficient at most.

I'm guessing you might be able to squeeze about an hour of computing with a typical notebook battery. Be careful rigging up a notebook battery. If you short it accidentally, it can blow up.

 

[MisterDNA]

Might want to look into alternatives for batteries, really. It's hard to coordinate laptop battery cells with hardware they weren't designed for.

Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries for power tools are a good option. Common, mostly standardized and far more future-proof than any laptop battery. And they handle heavy drain.

 

[Dylan80]

Why dont you just get a cheapo low wattage PC power supply... then use a small battery like a golf cart or motorcycle battery and then connect a AC/DC power inverter to it (400w should do you alright, and they run about $50)

That laptop battery conversion thing sounds like a pain in the balls

 

[JokerXIX]

Well, the thing is I'm doing a mod where I'm putting a computer, monitor and all, into a briefcase (no more than 2.5" thick a side).

I looked up some similar mods online but all of them had power cords. Power tool batteries would be interesting, I hadn't thought of that. I'm hoping for at least 2 hours of battery life, but it's looking like that wont be possible. I haven't ordered any parts yet, so no harm done.

This would be my college computer. If it doesn't work out I'll either just buy a laptop or buy a netbook, make my own pc, and then remote control the pc via the netbook.

After doing some searching, I found this site http://www.wikihow.com/Run-Your-Desktop-off-DC-Power

 

[JokerXIX]

Also, there's the issue of price. I'm up to around $950, give or take because of the CD drive, and still need the batteries, briefcase, and keyboard. The keyboard is almost sure to be negligible. I'd love to keep it under $1200.

I'd only use this programming and developing, so I was thinking 16GB of RAM ,an AMD Athlon X4 610e Propus 2.4GHz CPU, and no video card. The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-MA785gM-US2H and has onboard video.

 

[Dangman]

Also, there's the issue of price. I'm up to around $950, give or take because of the CD drive, and still need the batteries, briefcase, and keyboard. The keyboard is almost sure to be negligible. I'd love to keep it under $1200.

I'd only use this programming and developing, so I was thinking 16GB of RAM ,an AMD Athlon X4 610e Propus 2.4GHz CPU, and no video card. The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-MA785gM-US2H and has onboard video.

Yeah don't get that motherboard if you want to get 16GB of RAM: That mobo only supports DDR2 RAM. DDR2 RAM prices are fairly high now to the point where you can almost get double the amount of DDR3 RAM for the same price as a set of DDR2 RAM. I.e this 4GB DDR2 RAM set costs $70 where as this 8GB DDR3 RAM set costs $77.

So in other words, if you want 16GB of RAM for a good price, then get a motherboard that only uses the AM3 socket. Not one that states "AM3/AM2+/AM2" like that Gigabyte mobo.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

Maybe I am missing something....But why not buy a laptop, and hack it apart and mount into the briefcase? Not only do you solve your power problems, but you also know everything will work and fit inside the space. You said something about not getting a laptop because of "proprietary" but what does that have to do with a full custom build? It's not like briefcases come with standard ATX mounting points (or anything else) anyway.

 

[JokerXIX]

Maybe I am missing something....But why not buy a laptop, and hack it apart and mount into the briefcase? Not only do you solve your power problems, but you also know everything will work and fit inside the space. You said something about not getting a laptop because of "proprietary" but what does that have to do with a full custom build? It's not like briefcases come with standard ATX mounting points (or anything else) anyway.

I considered doing that, but I'd only undertake this project because of the challenge. So disassembling a laptop would defeat the purpose.

Yeah don't get that motherboard if you want to get 16GB of RAM: That mobo only supports DDR2 RAM. DDR2 RAM prices are fairly high now to the point where you can almost get double the amount of DDR3 RAM for the same price as a set of DDR2 RAM. I.e this 4GB DDR2 RAM set costs $70 where as this 8GB DDR3 RAM set costs $77.

So in other words, if you want 16GB of RAM for a good price, then get a motherboard that only uses the AM3 socket. Not one that states "AM3/AM2+/AM2" like that Gigabyte mobo.

For some reason I was mistaken and thought DDR2 was cheaper than DDR3.

 

[JokerXIX]

It's beginning to look like I seriously underestimated the challenged of putting a PC into a briefcase (I thought I was doing fine up until I hit the power issue). This would be for college. Right now I'm starting to stray away from the briefcase PC (the only thing it really had going it is that it would be extremely cool) and moving towards having a netbook and a desktop. I'd remote control the desktop (I was thinking a VPN or something of that nature) through the netbook and back-up my files on an external hard drive every couple of days. The advantages to this are that I can still run everything with a slight lag, don't have to worry as much about having my netbook stolen (since all the files would be on my desktop), and only have to bring the external HD home with me for vacation. So this approach sounds more reasonable...unless I'm missing something.

Should we continue this discussion anyway for posterity?

 

[Dangman]

It's beginning to look like I seriously underestimated the challenged of putting a PC into a briefcase (I thought I was doing fine up until I hit the power issue). This would be for college. Right now I'm starting to stray away from the briefcase PC (the only thing it really had going it is that it would be extremely cool) and moving towards having a netbook and a desktop. I'd remote control the desktop (I was thinking a VPN or something of that nature) through the netbook and back-up my files on an external hard drive every couple of days. The advantages to this are that I can still run everything with a slight lag, don't have to worry as much about having my netbook stolen (since all the files would be on my desktop), and only have to bring the external HD home with me for vacation. So this approach sounds more reasonable...unless I'm missing something.

Well what will you using the netbook and desktop for in college? In addition, the internet connection at a college isn't always gonna be that great so there will be many times where you can't even get on the net let alone VPN somewhere. And depending on what exactly you'll be doing with the netbook or desktop (coding, video editing, photoshop, writing papers, etc), that netbook may not be powerful enough to handle such tasks.

 

[JokerXIX]

Well what will you using the netbook and desktop for in college? In addition, the internet connection at a college isn't always gonna be that great so there will be many times where you can't even get on the net let alone VPN somewhere. And depending on what exactly you'll be doing with the netbook or desktop (coding, video editing, photoshop, writing papers, etc), that netbook may not be powerful enough to handle such tasks.

Yet another thing I was unaware of..I assumed that colleges would have decent internet everywhere. Hmm...maybe I don't want to do that then...It's looking like I should just get a laptop.

 

[Dangman]

Yet another thing I was unaware of..I assumed that colleges would have decent internet everywhere. Hmm...maybe I don't want to do that then...It's looking like I should just get a laptop.

Nah they don't.

If you're on a budget, go for a laptop. However if you're doing rather intensive/extensive photoshop, CAD, virtualization, video editing, gaming, database, coding, heavy multi-tasking, and/or 3D modeling while in college, then your best bet would be to get a cheap laptop for note-taking and light usage (not a netbook IMO) and a desktop with the rest of the money.

 

[E4g1e]

For some reason I was mistaken and thought DDR2 was cheaper than DDR3.

In the past three months or so, DDR2 prices remained flat while DDR3 prices have tumbled by nearly 50 percent.

 

[Pyroja]

Backing up that college internet statement:

My campus WiFi pretty well sucks, but then you gotta think of how many students are all trying to use the network all at once...

With that said... I want to encourage you to keep the briefcase computer dream alive =D I certainly have always wanted to see something like that pulled off.

 

[JokerXIX]

I'll definately continue this project over the summer. So if I'm looking for at least 3 hours of uptime, what should I do?

 

[Pyroja]

This may be very out there, but maybe you could rip apart a UPS and stick it in your briefcase with a larger battery attached. That way, you'd have something you could recharge, and that would give you unplugged power. I think they just use 12v batteries, so you could likely find something that would fit.

I have a UPS with a dead battery, and I've always wondered how it'd last with a deep cycle car battery attached.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

I considered doing that, but I'd only undertake this project because of the challenge. So disassembling a laptop would defeat the purpose.

Don't underestimate the work and challenge it will be to tear apart the laptop and build the parts into the briefcase. The mounting and parts you are dealing with will be the same, you will have just bought them in one unit and it solves the power/charging problems.

This may be very out there, but maybe you could rip apart a UPS and stick it in your briefcase with a larger battery attached. That way, you'd have something you could recharge, and that would give you unplugged power. I think they just use 12v batteries, so you could likely find something that would fit.

I have a UPS with a dead battery, and I've always wondered how it'd last with a deep cycle car battery attached.

While you could get some good run time off that, UPS's often use SLA (sealed lead acid) batteries, because they are cheap, not because they are light, which the point of this project it seems, is to be portable. I doubt he wants to carry around 10-15lbs+ of battery weight alone

 

[Pyroja]

Don't underestimate the work and challenge it will be to tear apart the laptop and build the parts into the briefcase. The mounting and parts you are dealing with will be the same, you will have just bought them in one unit and it solves the power/charging problems.



While you could get some good run time off that, UPS's often use SLA (sealed lead acid) batteries, because they are cheap, not because they are light, which the point of this project it seems, is to be portable. I doubt he wants to carry around 10-15lbs+ of battery weight alone

Well, that's the sticking point of the whole project, I would think. I can't really see how you'd solve the battery issue without using something very expensive, or very heavy.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

Well, that's the sticking point of the whole project, I would think. I can't really see how you'd solve the battery issue without using something very expensive, or very heavy.

Laptop.

That's why picking it for the project is so nice, not only does it come with a battery that will work, and be light enough, but it also has its own charging system built in.

 

[Pyroja]

Laptop.

That's why picking it for the project is so nice, not only does it come with a battery that will work, and be light enough, but it also has its own charging system built in.

Well, bah, getting a laptop just seems too easy