Back in April 2016 we had a poll in the community where we asked if people would be interested in buying a second charger for the V _http://dough.community/t/poll-would-anyone-be-interested-in-buying-a-second-ac-adatper-as-an-accessory/908._ 70% of the responders said they would, but more importantly I stroke me that we can do better than just a second charger, we could combine a charger and battery in one compact housing. There would be multiple benefits for this as it would be essentially one charger/powerbank that you would use while traveling for all your devices and could expand the stamina of all your devices, not just V. With V well on its way, I noticed the revived interest in this accessory and wanted to create this dedicated thread where we can collaborate on the specs and functionality that we would like to see.
10 months after my original proposal I still think that charger with battery would be an awesome idea, however from many other threads and conversations Iāve noticed that many people were interested in a docking station with expanded ports as well. So it got me thinking whether we should combine a battery and a docking station into one instead or with a charger. Docking stations typically have some weight in them to make them stable on the table with all cables plugged in and what is a better way to add that weight than to add a battery. We would also have the option to create this docking station and battery with or without the charger built in. To make it clear I want to line all the options that I am proposing:
1) Power Combo
Original idea of charger being combined with battery in the same compact housing. The charger will have an additional USB A on it for charging other devices as well as the main USB C port to plug EVE V. The other end of this power pack will have a detachable AC power cord. When plugged into AC this combo charger will charge EVE V, any other device plugged into it and its own internal batteries. When unplugged from AC the combo charger will turn into super powerbank that will power all of your devices, including V.
2) Docking Combo
In this setup the we would combine the docking station with expanded ports (exact ports to be determined later) and a battery pack in a single compact housing. This will essentially be a powerbank with an array of ports (again we can determine these later in conversation) that you could leave on the desk for docking functionality or grab it with you when traveling or need longer runtime for your devices. This dock+power combo will NOT have a charger built in so it will need to plugged into AC via your existing EVE V charger. When plugged into a charger, the combo dock will first pass power through to charge V and then charge its own internal battery. When unplugged from AC charger the combo dock will turn into super powerbank that will power all of your devices, including V and still give you access to all the expanded ports of the dock.
3) Super Combo
This a super combo it will combine both 1 and 2 in one housing. So you would get charger + dock + battery. While this could be the most appealing it has some drawbacks vs option 1 and 2 like expanded size and weight as well as cost.
Lets kick this off with votes and your feedback on which type of the device would be the most appealing to the community. Once the majority decides of what device we want to see, we can go into all the fun technical details to work out an ultimate companion accessory for our V! I will be watching and moderating this thread often, so please feel free to ask me questions if something is unclear. I will also create diagrams to help visualize the proposed devices (if anyone is very good with 3ds or the like and want to help, please PM me).
Power Combo (Wall Charger + Powerbank)
Docking Combo (Docking station with expanded ports + Powerbank)
Ultimate Combo (Wall Charger + Docking station with expanded ports + Powerbank)
I voted for power combo, because I like the idea of refilling the tabletās battery on the go. Didnāt choose the āultimateā option because it would make the thing too clunky to be used as a power bank and more expensive. I can live with a USB hub + adapters for all my port needs
Maybe you should an the option āNo combo at allā to make this vote representative. For me personally, I donāt see any use case for this to waste any of Eveās resources on it.
There are already powerbanks out there for just charging. No need to make another one. It would make more sense to develop something that does not yet exist. Or can somebody imagine a key feature that all existing power banks are missing?
For the other options: A dock would only be useful (for me) on my desk, but in that case I donāt need a powerbank because it would only be used to connect to other devices and my screens via Thunderbolt.
Hi everyone, Iāve updated the poll to include those who are not interested in this accessory and changed it to single choice. Please choose one that best fits your needs.
yes there are lot of powerbanks on the market but most of them wonāt charge a laptop as they do not supply the needed current and voltage. The few that are available is really a mixed bag of experiences and quality despite hefty prices. Our powerbank will be built to supply at least 30W of power to V and would have verified battery high capacity cells from reputable battery vendor. And best of all if you choose option 1 or 3 you can consolidate all you chargers and powerbanks to this one device which is always charged and ready to go! I am sure I am not alone in forgetting to charge my existing powerbanks before travels. Also present high capacity powerbanks take a long while to charge, which would be eliminated with our device.
Here is a Powerbank that charges and can charge through any laptop, phone or tablet. It just doesnāt have any additional ports but that is really not what I need in a powerbank anyway.
Yes, thats the best one out there. I still think you are missing my point. That thing is expensive, huge, heavy and loses a lot of power in DC to AC to DC conversion, and you still have to bring at least you laptop charger and the charger for this powerbank. And since it is not normally used you might forget to charge it before say a long flight. I travel a lot and the idea really comes from the pains Iāve experienced and the lack of good product on the market to solve it.
I mean from the website, it looks really amazing (besides the fact that it seems completely limited to the US Plug), but as pauliunas said, that is way to expensive for my taste. I mean for that price, Iāll happily carry around a big powerbank and my charging cableā¦
It a great sounding device indeed, but seems like it is trying to do too much at the same time, hence it is quite complex. I was envisioning something simpler and more elegant, reducing number of wires, adapters and chargers.
@pauliunas what would you think if we made the dock version compatible with new MacBook Pros? Those poor souls could use some more ports and battery life and we could potentially sell a lot more of them.
What if we modify the charger so we could attach a ābattery sliceā on it, like the Sony VAIO S and VAIO Z from 3 years ago. People who prefer the charger as small as possible can keep it that way if they want to, but the battery can be attached to it very easily for those who needs the backup power.
Other benefit:
Battery can be easily replaceable
Larger battery possibility
The battery slice can have its own USB ports, to charge and be charged by devices.
