cbarnett, Where did you find those Nokia adapters?

Here is what i have found.
Offical Nokia cable

This looks like it might work but I can't find any details on it, but there are 5 on e-bay right now.

cbarnett & EIPI & others:

So what is the final verdict on the CTC 'Noma' battery packs for the N800? Do they work or not --

Here's what I bought myself for Christmas:

http://www.solio.com/charger/explore...-is-solio.html

Can be charged off the grid or the sun and uses iGo compatible tips. Bought the mini-Nokia tip at Radio Shack and it charges the N800 great on the go.

It works for me. Its pretty handy to have around - some power in a pinch.

I also have the CA-100 USB cable, and I use that to power up the N800 while at work (connected to my Fedora desktop).

Canadian Tire has a sale on the three Noma 'pocket chargers':

RX4 = $15 @ 1200mA (?)
PL12 = $21 @ 2000mA
R12 = $36 @ 3200mA

So far, people have only talked about the RX4 (I think). Are the other models (with greater storage) possibly even better choices for our Nokia tablets?

I cannot seem to find out what 'voltage' these units put out. The impression I get is that 5.7v is the max 'safe' voltage that the Nokias can handle (?).

I just saw the canadian tire sale flyer too. A great deal on that charger! The hgher capacity noma units they carry use custom batteries, not AA's. If you want higher capacity, buy the $15 unit, and swap the included batteries with higher capacity ones. More flexibility...

EIPI:

Thanks for the suggestion. However, I am a bit confused...I have (for example) 4 1500mA AA batteries, so if I slap them into the RX4 (cheapest model), I would have 6000mA of storage? So why, then, is the PL12 and R12 even more expensive for much less capacity? Does the RX4 include *4* 1200mA batteries? If so, it would have 4800mA, which is still greater than the higher-priced models.

Also, I have found that the R12 supplies both 5v and 7.2v -- so it could conceivably power my digital camera as well...does the RX4 only do 5v?

Thanks

darethehair: Good question. Batteries are funny things. The rechargeable AA's are usually 1.2V. Since most portable electronics require 5V to operate, they are wired in series within the Noma charging pack to get 4.8V. When batteries are wired in series, the voltage output multiplies by the number of batteries, but the current capacity (measured in mAh) does not. When wired in parallel, the voltage remains the same, but the current capacity multiplies. BTW - mAh stands for milli-Amp-hours.

So to answer your question, using the 4 1200 mAh batteries supplied with the unit, you get about 4.8V and 1200 mAh. If you increase the capacity of the batteries (need to change all 4), you'll get the higher rated current capacity, and still about 4.8V.

The RX4 says that it supplies 4.8-6V. Not sure about the other ones.

Higher mAh means that you get more use from the battery pack before requiring a recharge. I was suggesting getting the cheapest pack since it uses common AA's. If you need to replace the batteries in the future, you can put in higher capacity AA's. Both the PL12 and R12 use custom batteries. So you'll get more out of them, but they are not as flexible.

There is a nice experiement documented in this thread for the Tekkeon MP1550, which is the same, but newer version of the Noma RX4.... some impressive numbers in terms of power to the tablets!

EIPI:

Thanks again. I feel foolish. I know enough about electronics to realize that it should be mAh (capacity) rather than mA (current), but you reminded me of that. So, then, my four 1500 mAh batteries (in the RX4) would give me *half* the time that the R12 would give me -- and the *same* as the N800 native battery. This is nice, but not super-great -- just like carrying around another N800 Nokia battery. Yes, buying higher-capacity AA batteries would make it better.

I also have my old external camcorder 6.7v battery with 6500 mAh. It has the wrong tip for the N800 (RS would solve that), but too much voltage (perhaps a 5v voltage regulator would solve that too). However, it is much heavier than the RX4 or R12.

Hmmm...decisions, decisions...I think the R12 is looking more attractive all the time, and it is also on sale...but lithium-ion batteries have a finite life span that starts at the factory, and who knows how old a particular R12 will be

Thanks