External Batteries

[oryhara]

I'm planning on ordering my gp2x and the main problem with it that I can see is it's battery life. I looked online and they make external li-ion batteries for the psp. I'm wondering if these would be possible to use with the gp2x. Here's an example of what I'm talking about (there's quite a lot of these kind of things on ebay):

http://www.thegiantstore.com/index.asp?Pag...&ProdID=353

Unless anyone has any other suggestions for battery life other than a couple good sets of NiMh batteries...

 

[ydderf45]

u could always get this http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=...ts_id=8593&

 

[iignotus]

u could always get this http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=...ts_id=8593&

3.6ah isn't that much more than 2.9ah. Just get some good, high-rated batteries and you won't need this bulky external battery thing.

 

[Blah]

You could get a radioshack universal power bank and put 4 AAs in it. I have one but I never use it, 4 pairs of good rechargeable batteries is plenty for me. Just save your game every once in a while and be prepared to change batteries when needed. The battery life is pretty good though.

 

[mrsnature]

just bring an extra set of batteries around with you, smaller than this battery pack anyway.

And the battery life is not a problem anyway.

 

[DTH]

Have at least 3 pairs of batteries:

1 pair in the GP2X
1 pair in the charger
and 1 pair spair

 

[reeced]

I was considering powering my GP32 with 9000 mAh D-cell batteries, which at the time were very expensive,
but now would appear to be a viable option - certainly for the GP2X (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-x-D-Cell-Rechageable-9000-mAh-Battery-Pack-Vapextech_W0QQitemZ320019295947QQihZ011QQcategoryZ40975QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem). Two batteries, a twin D-cell holder from an electronics shop, a lead and plug, and you've got upto 20 hrs continuous on your GP2X

 

[DTH]

Can you please explain step by step how to install such a thing in the 2x?

 

[Shikaku]

Actually it's quite simple to do, but very ugly:

1. Get a tray. Quite simple to buy, get the battery sizes/numbers you need.

2. Get the batteries. You CAN hook up 3 1.2 NIMH batteries this way, but of course your tray has to support it.

3. Hook some batteries into the tray, and hook some wires TO THE BATTERY TRAY IN THE GP2X, because there is a regulator it goes through there. This is why 3 batteries is possible, if you try it with the DC port, you need a regulator somewhere before the juice goes through, and that's complicated.

http://www.nimhbattery.com/mh-2d110.htm
http://www.nimhbattery.com/battery-holders.htm

These are the supplies you can use, minus a charger for the D cells. 2 cells at 2700 last about 5 hours for me... I'll leave it to you how much battery life you can get using 3 11000+ cells =)

Note that 3 batteries could fry your GP2X because of high voltage, and I haven't tested it if it works myself, but other people have put 3 batteries before...

Even then, just 2 batteries of that power would extend battery life a hell of a lot.

OO! One more thing! You have to hook the batteries to the RIGHT connector. There is a dummy side, and you should hook it up to the right side (I think it's right, not sure). Make sure the polarity is correct too...

If anyone who knows what they are talking about wants to comment on this, go ahead, I could be wrong about something....

 

[oryhara]

Actually it's quite simple to do, but very ugly:

1. Get a tray. Quite simple to buy, get the battery sizes/numbers you need.

2. Get the batteries. You CAN hook up 3 1.2 NIMH batteries this way, but of course your tray has to support it.

3. Hook some batteries into the tray, and hook some wires TO THE BATTERY TRAY IN THE GP2X, because there is a regulator it goes through there. This is why 3 batteries is possible, if you try it with the DC port, you need a regulator somewhere before the juice goes through, and that's complicated.

http://www.nimhbattery.com/mh-2d110.htm
http://www.nimhbattery.com/battery-holders.htm

These are the supplies you can use, minus a charger for the D cells. 2 cells at 2700 last about 5 hours for me... I'll leave it to you how much battery life you can get using 3 11000+ cells =)

Note that 3 batteries could fry your GP2X because of high voltage, and I haven't tested it if it works myself, but other people have put 3 batteries before...

Even then, just 2 batteries of that power would extend battery life a hell of a lot.

OO! One more thing! You have to hook the batteries to the RIGHT connector. There is a dummy side, and you should hook it up to the right side (I think it's right, not sure). Make sure the polarity is correct too...

If anyone who knows what they are talking about wants to comment on this, go ahead, I could be wrong about something....

Thanks, that's a wonderful idea and I think that's what I just might do. However, I have a question. Since I don't yet have my gp2x, would permanently attaching one of these trays to the back of the gp2x be feasible? I don't really want to have the tray seperate, because I want it to be easy to carry. However, I also want to know how big the back of the gp2x is, as I need room to hold the thing too

The 2 Dcell tray and those 11000s are lookin pretty nice right now. I'm definitely not anything near an expert on batteries, but since most people seem to get (approximately) 5 hours of batt. life on 2 2500 AAs, would I be correct in assuming I'd get in the region of 22 hours with that ((22000 / 5000) * 5)? It should be around 1 hr per 1000 mAH, no?

 

[Shikaku]

Permenently attaching a tray for 2 of those D cells shouldn't be a problem: just remember that the GP2X was originally meant to house 2 AA batteries only. This means that there are 2 connectors DIRECTLY in the motherboard, so you have to use a bit of wiring. You just gotta remove the back cover (this is very easy with the right screwdrivers, and you don't have to remove anything else), hack off the AA tray, glue/mold/something on the new plastic tray, attach the wires to the motherboard (CORRECTLY), and put it back together. Note that it's going to stick out weird, and you might have problems putting it back together because of this...

And yes, I'm guessing 20+ hours as well, but just remember that movieplaying is the biggest juice sucker, so maybe 15 hours of that is possible... Battery life of such a dynamic console is hard to calculate, but it WILL be much much higher.

 

[Azalin]

D-cells. Dear god, what an idea. Why not go the full monty and attach one of those mini-car batteries they sell at hardware stores? The ones that power a desktop for up to 8 hours? Note that you would need a backpack to carry it though, so twould only be useful if you're going out into the middle of nowhere without electricity. Like a lake cabin or something.

 

[Shikaku]

Here's a picture (Evildragon's) of the battery connectors I'm talking about. It's the 2 little metal things sticking out of the board (it's quite obvious).

 

[Blah]

You need this.

 

[reeced]

3. Hook some batteries into the tray, and hook some wires TO THE BATTERY TRAY IN THE GP2X, because there is a regulator it goes through there. This is why 3 batteries is possible, if you try it with the DC port, you need a regulator somewhere before the juice goes through, and that's complicated.

Shikaku - I assumed you could take a lead from the battery tray directly to the DC port. Why would you need a regulator with batteries ?

Note that 3 batteries could fry your GP2X because of high voltage, and I haven't tested it if it works myself, but other people have put 3 batteries before...

The GP2x is rated at 3.3V 1A - would 3.6V be enough to fry it ?

 

[Blah]

I think it was Squidge that said that anywhere between 2 and 4 works.

Theres a voltage regulator either way you go.

 

[Shikaku]

Shikaku - I assumed you could take a lead from the battery tray directly to the DC port. Why would you need a regulator with batteries ?

Because GPH is cheap Actually, there is nothing there that will clean the power for use with the GP2X, so this has to be done yourself.

The GP2x is rated at 3.3V 1A - would 3.6V be enough to fry it ?

FROM THE DC PORT YES. From the battery tray no...

 

[oryhara]

I don't know about cutting apart my gp2x... :unsure:

I'm very new to hardware hacking, and I'm not really confident about something like that yet. Besides that, I'm not ordering the thing for its looks, but with a d-cell tray hacked onto it it would look ugly as sin. Hmm... what about using it as an external battery pack instead? The DC in has no voltage regulator, correct? So (at least with my current skills) I probably can't use that yet, but i'll consider it in the future.

Hmm... what if I just wired a wire (hehe, wire a wire :lol to the connectors, and made my own connector of some sort or salvaged one from somewhere else and had one end of said connector sticking out of the gp2x, and the other end attached to the wire from the external battery tray? So I just put a couple d-cells in, attach the connector, and I'm good to go. But would there be any problem with having that connected and the standard AAs in as well?

 

[Blah]

Dude, just use AA's, the battery life is ok.

 

[Shikaku]

It would look something like this (CHECK POLARITIESSSSS)