When flying you can never be sure if your aircraft will be equipped with in-seat power, especially in economy. My laptop's battery only lasts a couple hours when playing movies, but most external extended batteries have been bulky and require another external charger - until now. The recently released Universal Notebook Batteries by APC finally solve the problem well.
The UPB70 model I purchased for my last trip to Europe is very light and very thin using lithium polymer batteries and it requires no extra charger. To charge up it just plugs in-line: wall plug --> laptop power supply --> APC battery --> laptop. Both the laptop and battery get charged simultaneously. It works with both of my current laptops, as well as my wife's, so we can share it (also defraying the cost). The battery also has a separate USB-charging port for your phone, iPod or any other USB-charging accessory, like my GPS, which is handy. Most importantly, it kept my laptop playing movies all the way from London to San Francisco!
They are a bit expensive at around $150, but considering those "air power" adapters are often $120 and you can almost never use it, I think this is a deal. The batteries also come with tips for several hundred specific laptop models so you can figure out how to allow the battery to be charged in-line with your laptop cord. The one thing the APC battery doesn't have is the Apple MagSafe connector yet (although they do have the G4 connector), but there are seemingly options for making an adapter for yourself.
One note: I learned quickly is that if you are taking it through airline security, it's best to take it out of your bag along with your laptop, as they will always want to see it once it goes through the X-ray.
-- Alexander Rose
APC Universal Notebook Battery
$135
Available from APC
Or $152 from Amazon
Manufactured by APC
译文:
APC通用笔记本电池
当你在乘坐飞机的时候，你很难肯定你的座位配有内置电源，尤其是在经济仓，可能性就更小了。我的笔记本电脑的电源当播放电影的时候只能够支持2个小时，但至今为止，大部分的外置式电源都很笨重而且需要有外接的充电器。但最近由APC发布的通用笔记本电源很好的解决了这个问题。
我为上次欧洲旅行所购买的UPB70型号的电池就非常的轻薄，它使用的是锂电池并且不需要外接充电器。如果需要充电的话只需要插上电源线就可以了：插座->笔记本电源->APC电池->笔记本。而且笔记本和电池可以同时充电。它可以为我和我太太的笔记本充电，我们都可以使用它（当然也需要支付费用）。这个电池还可以通过USB为你的手提电话，IPod或者其它任何可以通过USB进行充电的电器充电，例如GPS（手持全球定位系统接收器）。最重要的是，它可以让我的笔记本在从伦敦到旧金山的旅程上一直播放电影。
这个设备价格有些贵，在150美元左右，但考虑到那些“空气动力电池”的适配器也需要将近120美元并且你几乎用不到它，我觉得这个价格还是很值得的。这个电池适用于上百种型号的笔记本电脑，所以你需要弄明白连接你笔记本上的哪根线来给电池充电。有一件事情就是APC电池还不能提供Apple MagSafe 的连接器（虽然它有G4电脑的连接器），所以目前还需要你自己寻找一种适配器。
一个注意点：我的一个经验是如果你想顺利通过安检的话，最好在登机前把电池和笔记本从包里面拿出来，因为是要通过X光检查的哦。