ZW99GT, I nearly ordered that box, too, especially since it has a MicroUSB port, but from the images it seems that the battery compartment might be too small for protected 18650… Could you post about that when you get it?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160918496729?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&\_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Why not to get this?
$24 for 6-cell box, and $25 for 6-cell laptop battery (to gut apart as a cheap high-quality unprotected cell source) - and you have ~60 Wh on-the-go.
One of these boxes had a photo in the eBay ad where it was hooked up to a laptop (pin connector of box to USB of laptop). Maybe that was the charge the 18650s in the mobile power box?
I would be glad to. I’m wasn’t holding my breath for this one to get here, but I did get a ebay notification that it shipped about 2 hours after I purchased it. It may be a few weeks. I will be using Panasonic 3400 unprotected cells, and they barely fit in the plain black mobile power source box. I “could” make the protected 3400 fit in there by clipping the spring and bending the positive terminal back a little bit. The positive terminal slides into some flimsy plastic ribs that could be broken/moved/glued, etc… For $8 these are worth tearing up and making them work for what you want.
http://www.quickertek.com/products/littleBlackBoxMBA.html
Does that look right to you guys? 5v 2A power an air?
Would love something like that though if it were possible
$199 ??? They’re less than $10 on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181009318882
EDIT: Oh wait, it’s for an Apple… 
An extra $190 for “more circuitry magic.”
Not familiar with that particular device (mac book air) but that I know of there’s no laptops that can be powered via usb. There is a plan to make such a device in the future by using something called “USB Power Delivery”.
“While you can currently get up to 7.5 watts of power from a specialized battery charging version of USB (USB 3.0 ordinarily provides 4.5 watts), USB PD could offer up to 100 watts of juice — more than enough to cover nearly any portable device.”
I don’t think you could charge most laptops with 1 amp on the 12v
He has another one which looks better
Xtar WP2 II will charge via USB with many different battery sizes, can use your flashlight batteries.
The "Little Black Box MBA" quoted by Alex will charge a laptop - the MacBook Air. I *think* this requires 3.5-5 amps at 12-16.5 volts. This is obviously very different from the ebay product which will only output 1A at 5V. Also note that the ebay product doesn't come with batteries. What does the "reversed connection will burning out" mean on that ebay description?
If we were to do a like-for-like comparison:
1. We'd have to add 4 18650 batteries - quickertek calls them prismatic but this doesn't make sense because they also call them 18650s. Anyway, we can call this $40-$60 at retail.
2. Let's note that we are charging and discharging 4x 18650 li-ion cells. Some might be happy with cheap electronics but I know I paid more than $10 for my charger and it only charges one cell. So let's put this at $40 as well.
This pretty much gets us up to the $99 price charged for the regular 2x 5V 2amp "Little Black Box II". Let's think about what we have to do to get this puppy up to snuff to output 5 amps at 12-18 volts.
Here I have no idea and I am sure that the fact that it has to include the Apple-patented magsafe laptop charging cable adds the expense. I'd call it $40 for the additional voltage and current regulation and the probably $40 for the Apple-specific cable and the center control pin electronics, assuming that is supported.
the wp2 has this reverse charge function to charge usb things
There are other external battery packs for Apples, here’s one at around $170: http://www.hypershop.com/HyperJuice-External-Battery-for-MacBook-iPad-60Wh-p/mbp-060.htm
Wow, interesting thread!
When I buy my next laptop, Im surelly will not focus on its built-in battery size and wont go for biggest battery possible, as long as it will be able to deliver 12+ hours of life Ill opt for lightest battery and pick up some 18650 semi-diy kits for re-charging while outdoors, neat!
This is one tough one, it survives even a truck roll over it… lol
Vid: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzgyNzcxOTg0.html
Nice bit of kit.
How much, and where can I get one please?
Anybody bought one yet? Can you do a review?
Bestvaping showed it for about $23 but shipping was extra and BLF people posted they are slow on getting shipping quotes out. Would have bought it if that was shipping included or if I knew where they have a working consumer site. Also not clear if batteries included or quality of them (20,000mAh like Chinese lumens?). Just wanted something to put known quality cells into.
Ordered a cheap smaller version on ebay (status said shipped almost immediately) as posted here:
EDIT: Jell’s link below suggests the 182A is a 2 cell version with lights but without batteries and the price between the 140 Yuan and $23US is essentially the same. The cheaper version without lights seems like the better deal if you can find it on ebay for the equivalent $13.50US.
I bought it from Chinese’s Taobao when I was in China, it costs RMB 84 for the shortest w/o LEDs.
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.28-809569764.16.8Fgua7&id=12968433540
and some ncr18650a from the same seller,
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.3.0.54.qCEz5j&id=13485304566&
I have one but I don’t know how to get the measurements.
I received this in the mail today. 20 days shipped isn’t too bad. I am a big fan of this over the plain black box. The backplate doesn’t require screws but seems sturdy enough. Panasonic unprocted 3400’s fit just fine and are on the charger now.
Please let us know how it does on charge and discharge cutoffs!
Normally I do not plan to use the charge function on this box, I’m still excited about my new Nitecore i4 V2 charger for everything. But for the sake of curiosity I will throw some batteries in at ~4.0V and see where it charges to compared to my i4. I will certainly pay close attention to all cutoffs being that I’m using unprotected cells.
The one question making me hesitate is: Do protected cells fit?