- High-capacity 13,500 mAh Li-ion rechargeable & portable battery pack
- Simultaneously charges two devices: one 5V USB and the other voltage selectable 8.4V / 12V / 16V / 19V
- Compatible with virtually all laptop computers, netbooks, USB compatible cell phones, tablet computers, MP3 Players, digital cameras, handheld game consoles & etc.
- 4-LED battery level indicator & automatic switch on when a device is connected
- Optional add-on 14,000 mAh battery pack doubles charging capacity, sold separately
I would like to address some of the negative reviews. Yes, Instapark's product description as a do-it-all battery pack is confusing, perhaps even misleading. Indeed, I hesitated for MONTHS before finally buying this battery pack. Here's the key factor: This battery pack is primarily designed as a backup battery for your laptop; any other use is secondary at best. Other battery packs, such as one of the Ankers, are definitely better suited for charging gadgets. The Instapark, however, is best for laptops.
Bottom line: For laptops, get this Instapark! For gadgets, get an Anker or other alternative designed primarily for them. See my usage setup below as an example. I have two battery packs -don't expect any one battery pack to "do it all".
My set up is as follows:
HP folio 13 ultra thin notebook. Light weight, gets the job done admirably.
Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive, SuperSpeed USB 3.0, 1TB, Ruby Red. My main storage drive for over one year, but it is nearly full. For that reason, I will switch it from primary to backup.
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5 TB USB 3.0 Ultra-Portable External Hard Drive. Bought a larger drive recently, but haven't fully implemented it. My plan is to make this my main storage drive, because it has greater capacity than the eGo, and switch eGo to backup drive. Non-essential elements will not be backed up, due to storage limitations on the eGo.
Patriot Memory Supersonic Magnum 128 GB Flash Drive. Ultra small, light, mobile, and no moving parts. For maximum mobility.
StarTech 6-Feet SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Extension Cable. For use with the Patriot flash drive.
Uspeed USB 3.0 7 Port Hub with 3ft USB 3.0 Cable and Power Adapter. Connects my external storage devices. I do not need 7 ports, but chose this drive over a 4 port because the ports are too close together. I use ports 1, 3, 5, and 7. The 7 port hub is very light weight.
Anker® Astro3 10000mAh Multi-voltage 5V / 9V / 12V 2A External Battery Pack. I travel to many places with occasional power outages. Whenever I use the USB 3 hub, I plug it into the Anker Astro3, and plug the Anker into the wall. IMPORTANT: The 7 port hub has a 12 Volt input, which works with this Anker. Most hubs are 5 Volts, and the connections to the spare battery pack do NOT work. Use this recommended combination for maximum reliability and functionality!
Instapark MP3450E 13,500 mAh External Battery Pack. I use this battery pack as backup for my laptop. The laptop battery lasts about 4 hours; the Instapark adds about another three to four hours of power. For even more juice, you can add a second battery to the Instapark pack, doubling the capacity to 27,000 mAh. I have not done this, simply because I don't need so much back up power and do not want to double the battery weight.
C. Crane US3 Super USB Wifi Antenna 3. Object of the current review. Long range, high power USB wifi antenna. When I stay in hotels, I normally choose the room farthest from the reception, and therefore farthest from the wifi router. This antenna makes fast wifi connection possible.
Tripp Lite U026-016 USB2.0 16-Feet Certified Active Extension Cable. This cable has a built-in signal amplifier, for best results with USB modems & wifi antennas.
Otherwise, I use a fast Microsoft mouse, with wired USB connection, and a portable Philips speaker.
I have been living in different places around the world for 17 years, and the above is what my mobile office suite has evolved into. My current abode is in a boat-only access area, with power outages more frequent than I'd like during the rainy season. I have reliable backups on all my data, in case of loss or damage. I have a 4G USB modem from the local phone company, which is powered from my notebook. I have about seven hours of power supply; so far, the most I've needed has been five... and everything worked like a charm.I had high hopes for this product, and was disappointed. For starters, the product is available from Instapark for less than Amazon's price (including shipping). I had already had the unit in hand, and didn't want to quabble over $15, so I was willing to overlook that. I did notify Amazon about the lower price I found.
No AC adapter is uncluded. You need to use some other power source (like your laptop AC power charger).
To charge this unit from a solar panel, you will probably need an additional cable. Instapark doesn't seem to offer any accesories (even though a 3-pin adapter is mentioned in the documentation).
With this unit, I also bought an Instapark 10W portable solar panel with USB outputs (THIS PRODUCT ROCKS!). I cannot charge this battery pack using their Solar panel because there is no USB to Type M Barrel cable included or available from Instapark.
The unit would charge from my wife's Dell laptop (Inspiron 15R) power supply, and power same laptop when the laptops internal battery warming indicated a low charge. Plugged this unit into the laptop, and it would run the laptop, although it would not charge the laptops internal battery. I could also charge the battery from my Dell 6510E power supply, but the laptop is looking for more amperage than this unit could provide, so that was almost enough reason for me to return it right then and there.
I could not get the unit to show full battery capacity on its LEDs, despite the charging indicator showing green to indicate the unit was fully charged.
The real deal breaker came later on last night when I wanted to make sure it would charge my iPad and iPhone. I plugged the Apple cable into the battery pack and the iPad, and... Nothing... I thought that maybe the cable was bad, so I tried another. Still... Nothing... I then tried the iPhone with both cables, and had the same results. I did notice, however, that when I depressed the battery power check button on the battery, the battery lights would illuminate and the device would start charging. When I released the button on the battery pack, and the lights would go out and the device would stop charging. Re-checked the documentation and found that the power on the USB port would not activate unless the DC out cable was inserted, and although not clear in the documentation, it also needed to have one of the tips plugged into the vacant end of the cable. In plain English, if you want the USB port to supply power, you must also plug in the DC OUT cable to activate the circuitry.
For backpacking and backcountry camping, this means carrying another cable and tip that I would not ordinarily use, except to activate the USB port on the unit (like a "key").
There is a male to female type A USB converter included. I have no idea what that would be used for, and there is nothing in the documentation to indicate what it would/could/should be used for.
The documentation was obviously written by someone whom learned English as a second/third language. I could piece together the meaning, but needed help from a couple of Google searches for MP3450E. This unit is manufactured in China and distributed my several different companies, ncluding Instapark.
For the price, the kludgy operation, and the poor documentation, I would not recommend this product.This batter is total junk! I bought it for a long trip I had to make overseas and now I'm past the 30-day return period. Here is a list of reasons NOT to buy this:
1. Does not come with its own charging cord. You have to borrow a cord from something else you already own, which is inconvenient to say the least.
2. In order to turn the battery on and charge a device, you have to plug in the 5V charging cord (included with the battery) AND attach a plug adapter to the end of it. So, instead of just one cord hanging out of the battery, you have two. It looks messy and makes no sense, unless you consider that this product is junk through and through.
3. I cannot achieve a full charge (according to the LED indicators). Even after I find a way to make this horrible thing accept power, it will not get to the fourth charge light. Instead, I get three out of four.
4. This one is the MOST IMPORTANT because it shows how low-quality this item is. In order for me to charge this unit, I have to refrigerate it so that the temperature is very low. When it is at room temperature, it will only accept charge for 3-4 minutes. I assume the electronics get hot and malfunction..? I don't know? But after charging an item, the battery is warm and even though it might be at 25% charge, the battery will not accept any charging. So I cool it down for several hours and then connect my charging cord. I have been able to get up to 1 hour and 15 minutes, but that still isn't a full charge.
NOTES:
After figuring out how to overcome the obstacles described above (the instructions are just about useless and, as another reviewer suggested, seem to have been written by a person with little knowledge of the English language), I was able to use the battery to see how well it would perform. My experiences show that it can charge a smartphone and give a decent (maybe 75%) charge to an iPad2. That is NOT what a 13,500 mAh battery should provide.
But, as I pointed out, I can't get a full charge, and I CAN'T RECHARGE IT WITHOUT A REFRIGERATOR!!!!! So, if I'm traveling on a plane, for example, I get just one partial charge out of it before it becomes an expensive paper weight.
Basically, I got ripped off. When I get home I'll attempt to get a refund. I'll post again after I know whether they're willing to refund me based on what they already know that this product is HORRIBLE.
Buy at your own risk!!!!!!!!!Nice product. Two complaints, neither terribly serious. The battery tester--the button that tells you how much of a charge is left in the unit--doesn't work (at least on my unit), so I have any idea of how much of a charge is left. Second complaint: The directions for how to use the product--how to charge it, the use of all the connection items--are absolutely horrible, written (if you can call it that) by a total illiterate. But the battery seems to work okay. I found that it takes the better part of 12 hours to recharge it once it's drawn down, so give yourself plenty of time between uses.
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I can't actually attest to how this item works. But the way Amazon grouped this battery pack together with the Instapark 10watt solar panel and offered a discount for the battery if you bought the panel made it seem as if the panel could charge the battery pack. It can't. The battery pack needs a 19volt charging source and is basically designed to be a pass-through battery for a notebook computer. It doesn't even come with a charger, instead relying on your computer brick to charge it. Others have reported that you can't even get 5 volts out of the USB port unless the higher voltage port is active, though I did not verify this for myself since it was not going to do what I needed it to.
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