need EXTERNAL BATTERY advice

[Dough54321]

Greetings.

I have a Surface Pro 2.

I'm going on an overseas trip to Africa where I will not be able to have electricity.

I'm looking for an external battery I can take with me that will charge the SP2 a number of times. I would also like for this battery to be able to allow me to use the machine WHILE it's charging, too.

Please, post links to any recommendations you have.

Thanks in advance!

 

[gpobernardo]

I'd recommend an original Sony Power bank, as seen in this page and this page. The price Sony offers is around twice the price of the other "competitors" at the same mAh rating, but there's a good reason for the higher price.

I've got the 10,000 mAh model (what I'm recommending to you is the 20,000 mAh model) since you most probably would travelling a lot without AC access. The output current is high enough that you will be able to use your device even while it's charging.

However, as for all power banks, there still are limitations - no power bank can store an infinite amount of power (not yet at least). So, depending on how much you're going to use your device, you might want to consider tweaking your device settings to maximize battery life (lower screen brightness, etc.). You could also bring a high-performance solar panel charger to charge your power bank if you're planning on staying in a place without electricity for more than two days... or if you have access to a car then you should bring a car charger with you as well.

To give you an estimate performance, my 10,000 mAh Sony power bank can support my power-hungry L1020 (travelling and taking a lot of videos and photos drains about 10%-30% per hour from the L1020) for at least a day, when I kept the L1020 plugged to the power bank when I didn't need to take photos/videos or when the L1020 battery dropped below 40% - it was able to charge it up from 40% to 100%* at least four times before the Sony power bank power reserve indicator went below 50%. Then, back in the hotel, I charged the power bank back up to 100% in preparation for the next day.

An especially useful feature of this particular model is that I can charge my device from the power bank while charging the power bank as well - I believe you would also find this feature useful while travelling.

*- Normally, I begin charging my phone even before it reaches 60% to minimize battery wear, but travelling is an exception - this practice may be useful for your Surface as well.

 

[Dough54321]

It looks like it only has USB charging. From what I understand the SP2 doesn't allow for USB charging.

 

[onlysublime]

You're going to need a power generator... something like this:

Portable Power Generator (Small) @ Sharper Image

Get it with a solar panel. But more realistically, you should get a gasoline generator because I assume at least gasoline will be in the area.