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The Pocket-Sized Power Supply Tests Electronics Anywhere

If you're the type to hit up thrift stores or garage sales then you know that most used electronics don't have power supplies or batteries handy. Make Magazine shows you off how to build a simple pocket sized power so you can generate power anywhere you are.

You don't need much in the way of materials to get this to work, just a few capacitors, resistors, a perf board, and a 9V battery connector. When you're done, you'll have a tiny little power supply that you can fit in your pocket that you can use to test all the weird electronics you find on your shopping adventures.

Pocket-Size Power Supply | Make Magazine

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Pocket-Size Power Supply

I am a big fan of garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. They are great places to find used parts and materials for your next project. But one problem that I often run into is not being able to test battery powered electronics to see if they work. Because there are so many different combinations of batteries that are used in portable electronics, it isn't really practical to carry around batteries for testing. One device may need 6 AA's and another may require 4 D's. So I came up with this simple pocket-sized variable power supply. It can plug into either a 9V battery or a 12V battery pack. You can then adjust the output voltage to match the device that you want to test and attach the output wires to the end terminals on the device's battery connectors. This lets you power the device long enough to see if it works.Materials
LM317 Adjustable Voltage Regulator
0.1 µF Capacitor
1 µF Capacitor
220 ohm Resistor
7 x 270 ohm Resistor (preferably 1/8 watt)
8-Position DIP Switch
Perf Board
9V Battery Connector
2 x Alligator Clip Wires

Note: All these parts are available at Radio Shack. I highly recommend using 1/8 watt resistor because they take up less space on the board which makes it easier to fit everything into a smaller space. Unfortunately I only had five 1/8 watt resistor so, I had to use two 1/4 watt resistors.

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Mr. Reader is a Power User's RSS App, Now with Feedly Support and More

iPad: The looming shutdown of Google Reader is a great opportunity to look at new RSS apps to go along with your new syncing service of choice. If you like to keep up with news on your iPad, nothing matches the powerful options available in Mr. Reader.

The marquee feature in Mr. Reader is its robust support for inter-app communications. Much like our dearly-beloved Drafts, the app can send links, images, and full article text to a wide array of other apps on your device (including Drafts, for what it's worth). What's more, the developer included a "More Actions" button on iOS's standard text selection popover, allowing you to send specific words or sentences to other apps. For example, you could save only one specific paragraph from an article to Evernote, instead of full text as most apps force you to do. If your favorite services aren't included by default in the app, you can probably add them yourself with custom URL schemes. If you send lots of articles to specific friends, you can even program in email actions to automatically fill out the recipient line when you email an article. Simply put, this is one of the most powerful and flexible iOS apps available, in any category.

This power doesn't come at the expense of the reading experience either. Tabs along the top of each article let you switch quickly between RSS, web, and mobilizer views, and swiping your thumb in from the side of the screen brings up buttons directly below your finger to switch to different articles, allowing you to use the app with only one hand. If that weren't enough, the app includes a variety of different themes to skin the app to your taste, and even allows you to download new ones from the web, or even customize your own.

All this would be moot if Mr. Reader still relied solely on Google Reader for syncing, but a recent update added a ton of different options, including Feedly, Feedbin, Feed Wrangler, and Fever. I've been using the app for several months, and I can confirm that Feedly and Feed Wrangler sync seem to work just as well as Google Reader used to. If you're an RSS power user, and you own an iPad, Mr. Reader is a no brainer.

Mr. Reader ($3.99) | App Store

Related Google is closing Google Reader's doors on July 1st, meaning you'll need to find a new way to get your news fix. Here's how to export… Read…

Related The iPhone and iPad app, Drafts, is an excellent way to quickly jot down a note without worrying about where it goes. But if you dig deeper,… Read…

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Run the Peacekeeper Browser Benchmark as a Power User Battery Test

Battery benchmarks tend to err on the side of casual use, offering higher numbers than many of us actually get on our laptops. If you want to know how long your battery will last under strenuous activity, however, the popular Peacekeeper browser test can give you a good idea.

The Peacekeeper test checks browser compatibility and speed by performing a variety of tasks, some more CPU-intensive than others. While most of us won't ever use our laptops at nearly full blast for the entire duration of their batteries, when you buy a laptop you don't just want to know the battery life you'll get from casual use but also the minimum. The Peacekeeper test, which lasts about five minutes, can run itself on a loop until your battery dies. When you start, you'll get a code that you can enter when you boot your computer back up to see how long it lasted.

If you want an accurate picture of how your battery stacks up under pressure, give it a try. You just scroll down to the bottom of the page where they hide the battery test link to get started.

Peacekeeper Browser Benchmark

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Build Fake Batteries to Run Electronics On AC Power

If you have any gadgets that only use batteries, and don't accept AC power, you can convert them to run on the grid by building a fake battery pack and hooking it up to a power adapter.

Jason Poel Smith wanted to run his electronic baby swing off a wall outlet, but it lacked a standard barrel jack. This hack isn't for the faint of heart, so if you aren't comfortable with electronics, it might be better to sit this one out. Basically you'll need to convert an off-the-shelf power adapter to wire directly into the fake battery pack, which will involve soldering on resistors to match your target voltage. Once your power supply is ready, you can cut your fake batteries out of dowel rods, then add some screws to each end to act as the contacts. Finally, wire up the screws to your power supply, and pop the battery pack into your desired gadget. For complete instructions (you'll need them), check out the source link.

Convert Battery Powered Electronics to Run on AC | Instructables via Hackaday

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7-Way 550-600 Watt Power Supply Roundup Review

Legit Power Supply Reviews

It is natural for an enthusiast to be dazzled by monsters such as the Corsair AX1200i and the Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 1500W; however, even the majority of the enthusiasts would not actually purchase such a beast. It is (or should be) common knowledge that even a very good gaming system does not demand more than 300W-350W and thus, as power supplies are being designed to optimally perform at about 50% capacity, 550W-600W units are plenty for the vast majority of gamers and common users. It is only with multiple video cards, large raid arrays and other “specialized” designs that power requirements may increase substantially. As such, the bulk of a company’s sales does not come from top tier products but from their mainstream-focused designs.

Knowing that and realizing the need to offer our readers insight on products which truly are of interest to them, today we bring you a roundup review of seven quality 550W-600W power supplies. Do not be fooled however as the only common capacity of these seven power supplies virtually is their capacity, as each is designed for a different group of users. We will examine and test each unit thoroughly, all while assessing their performance in alignment with the monetary value and quality they offer. Our seven contenders are, alphabetically listed:

All power supplies will be rigorously tested, specifically in order to ensure that their quality matches the high market standards. In this article we have also implemented a 110% load test in order to assess how such these power supplies will react if overloaded for short periods of time. However, note that this is not considered to be a steady state; the power supply will certainly shut down after a short period of time and or might not be able to handle running overloaded at all once aging becomes a significant factor. 

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Anker Astro Slim2 4500mAh Power Bank Review

Legit Mobile Reviews

Astro Slim2 4500mAh Power Bank

Are you tired of your phone’s battery dying during the middle of the day, and finding an outlet can possibly be a chore? Does your tablet need some extra juice to get through the day? Well, Anker is at it again; releasing their newest slim line power bank, named the Astro Slim2. This slim power bank boasts a cool 4500mAh Li-Ion battery, which will help you recharge your gadgets throughout the day, should you need a little jump.

This lightweight, very slim, seemingly easy to use power bank can be had on Amazon for $27.99 shipped. That sounds like one great deal for a convenient way to give your gadgets a little more power during the day.

Taking a quick look at the outside of the packaging, the front and sides don’t really show you much.

When you look at the rear, you’ll notice plenty of information in regards to the power bank’s features. We’ll get into those features in a bit, but you can find the tech specs about this power bank below.

Anker Astro Slim2 Specifications:

Capacity: 4500mAhOutput: 2x DC 5V / 1AInput: DC 5V / 1AWeight: 113g (3.9oz)Size: 4.88 x 1.34 x 0.39inUnit Recharge Time: 4-5 hours (via USB)MTBF: 500+ chargesWarranty: 18 months

When I popped open the box, everything was in there all nice and neat. I was actually quite deceived by the wording “Accessory Bag” on one of the small boxes, so I feel it necessary to point out. I thought there would have been a small pouch inside with the cables and adapters, but they were all just loosely fitting in the small box. No big deal, but it was a poor choice of words on the box.

The accessories that are included are the Micro USB cable, Mini USB adapter, and a 30-pin Apple connector.

With an 18 month warranty, this should help with your buying decisions, as you know you are getting a quality product.

Anker states the finish is a grippy surface, but in all honesty it doesn't really do that. It’s a matte plastic that has a slight grip to it, but it isn’t rubberized. If it were rubberized, I would say this power bank would be darn near perfect! The finish on it may or may not mess with the finish on whatever you rest it against. In my case, I did not notice any new scratches on my Galaxy S3 after having the power bank and it in my pocket for a couple days.

A quick tour around the Anker Astro Slim2 Power Bank, up top you’ll see four LEDs (left hand side of the below picture). These LEDs are a white in color and represent 25% increments for the battery charge.  When you're down to the last 5%, the last LED will begin to blink. While charging this power bank, the appropriate LED will blink, indicating where it is at in its cycle. I would strongly recommend putting this face down if you charge this in your bedroom at night, as the LEDs are pretty bright, but not "ultra bright LED" bright.

On the flip side, you won’t see much more than the labeling for input and output.

Taking a look at one of the sides, you’ll battery specifications, letting you know that there are dual 1 amp outputs. The object on the right hand side is something that I’ll get to in a moment.

The opposite side houses the full sized USB output. In all honesty, this is the only other flaw that I could find with the design of this power bank. This should have been placed on an end, not on a side. Now when you want to charge via this port, you have to contend with the width of the power bank plus the USB end sticking out beyond it a couple inches. Talk about not cool!

Alright, remember that mystery object that I mentioned just a moment ago? Well, when you pull this out, this is the integrated Micro USB cable. Yes, this too is rated at 1 amp output, which is ideal for quickly charging your device.

When you pair it up with a device like the Samsung Galaxy S3, you will indeed see how nicely they hold hands and play nice. The short integrated Micro USB cable is very nice, so you know you won’t have a huge cable sticking out of your pocket.

Fortunately if you don’t have a device that has a Micro USB charging port, you've always got the full sized USB port to plug in a cable of your choice.

Read on to check out what I found in my brief testing and just a recap of what was said here.

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Repair Your Laptop Power Cord

After years of being thrown in travel bags, tripped over, and quite literally dragged through the dirt many laptop power cords succumb to the abuse and begin to fray.  Eventually the fraying cord will break apart and no longer power your laptop.  Here's how to rescue your power cord from the landfill, and save yourself a few bucks along the way!You will need:

1. Vise (or other means for securely holding your power "brick")
2. Soldering Iron (and solder)
3. Multimeter (not strictly needed, but its always better to check your work)
4. Flathead Screwdriver
5. Wire Cutter/Stripper
6. Utility Knife
7. Hot Glue Gun
8. Super Glue
9. Heat Shrink Tubing or Electrical Tape (not pictured)

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Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W BN603 PSU Review

Legit Power Supply Reviews

Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W - BN603

Some weeks ago we had a look at the Dark Power Pro 10 650W, the first power supply that we received from Be Quiet!, an European manufacturer which is just starting to enter the North American markets. Today we are having our second review of a Be Quiet! power supply, the Dark Power Pro 10 850W. Although the name and even the appearance of these two products is virtually identical, the 850W version is based on an entirely different design which boasts even better performance and higher efficiency.  Can it really be that much better than the already excellent 650W version? We will soon find out.

Unfortunately, although they are readily available in Europe and even some Asian countries, availability remains a great issue with Be Quiet’s products in the US and Canada. The 850W version can be found at Newegg for $239.99 plus $5.99 shipping. This is slightly higher than the MSRP of the power supply is virtually no competition at all in the North American market as very few retailers carry Be Quiet! power supplies. The Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 MSRP prices for the US market are:

be quiet! DARK POWER PRO 10 550W

be quiet! DARK POWER PRO 10 650W

be quiet! DARK POWER PRO 10 750W

be quiet! DARK POWER PRO 10 850W

be quiet! DARK POWER PRO 10 1000W

be quiet! DARK POWER PRO 10 1200W

 Manufacturer’s features and specifications

Virtually silent operation achieved through a broad array of meticulous optimizations, including use of be quiet!’s custom-designed 135mm SilentWings® fanSilentWings fan features airflow-optimized fan blades, fluid dynamic bearing with copper core and high quality IC motor controller for the quietest possible operation80PLUS Platinum certification and up to 94% power conversion efficiency let you do more work with the same power and reduce your power bills850 Watts of continuous power provide deep power reserves for demanding computing applicationsNVidia SLI and AMD CrossfireX multi-GPU certifications allow you to build intense Quad-GPU systems with utter confidenceCable management with extra long cable reach simplifies component installation and reduces annoying clutter, increasing airflow and improving cooling in even the largest PC casesOverclocking key allows switchover between quadruple independent +12V rail mode and high-performance single-rail operationGerman product conception, design and quality controlPower consumption in standby (W)

Operating temperature up to (°C)

12 V Rails (Multi-Rail operation)

Max. combined power 3,3V + 5V (W)

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