FunkyCowie

To stop me from waffling on about how good this is and how long the battery lasts I will just say...

'The i-UP 5400 Universal External Battery kicks ass!'


Ordered from GPSforless.co.uk via firstclass post, as I am in the UK, at around 09:30 am instead of the next day delivery delivery option and recieved it next day... sweet :D

See next post for pictures and the one after that for full testing :)


SPECIFICATIONS

Item:

i-UP 5400 Universal External Battery


Key Features:

* USB Output allows you to plug in USB Charge cables
* Available in ORANGE AND BLACK
* Built in LED light
* Voltage output 5.3-8.4 auto detects
* Lithium ion battery (5,400 mAh)
* No memory effect
* Long lasting
* Charges/runs using device’s standard DC connector or USB port
* 5 Different battery condition display & Battery Charging LEDs
* Replaces the need to carry multiple power adapters with a single power source.
* Rechargeable – can be charged again and again, without memory effect from mains
* Popular plugs for PDA’s, Phones and Cameras are included
* Dimensions 106mm(D)×40mm(W)×24(H) - mm
* Lightweight 148 grams
* UK A/C Adapter
* 12 Months UK Warranty


What's in the box?

* U20 i-UP 5400 Mobile power pack
* UK mains charger
* Retractable USB to DC Cable
* Various adapters for PDA’s (including mini USB)-Phones-Cameras-MP3 And Game Machines
* Warranty card
* User Manual

FunkyCowie

PICTURE POST


Below are pictures as I recieved and opened it (You'll have to excuse my messy desk)


The rather nice box it comes in


The box opened


Underneath the internal packaging are all the adapters (The mains adapter was in a seperate box in the mailbag I suppose it would not fit in the box like say the american one would)


Size difference between my Axim (also the nasty scratch where I dropped my Axim recently after two years of perfection)


The Axim connected to the I-UP 5400

FunkyCowie

TESTING POST:


1. Do a full discharge and recharge to see how long charging the unit takes

After taking ages to discharge a full recharge only took 2 hours 30 minutes


2. See how long it takes to charge my Axim X50v from 0%

Drained the axim so it was running off of backup battery and full charge took 1 hours 20 minutes and one bar down on the I-UP 5400 which according to the manual means I still have approximately 70%-90%.


3. Constant Mp3 test

Mp3 playing, screen at full brightness and set at full volume = same as video

Mp3 playing, screen off and at full volume = 100+ hours at current estimates (I`m tired of hearing the same tracks over and over) I`ve been playing it for 10 hours and it hasn`t gone below %90 yet! I tested it by using other functions to drain thebattery to make sure nothing was broken and its functioning correctly... so under 10% usage gave me 10 hours of Mp3 playback, 10x10=100 hours?

Mp3 playing, full volume, battery at 20% = best to let it charge your axim till about 60% then it'll charge and play at the same time.


4. Constant Video with audio test

Video with audio playing at full volume with battery on full charge and connected to powerless external 2W speakers = Charges whilst playing and lasts 11 hours 30 minutes

Video with audio playing at full volume with battery on full charge = Charges whilst playing and lasts 12 hours. I normally watch movies at 1 notch up from no brightness so this figure would increase a little by maybe 2+ hours for me,, possibly a lot more based on Mp3 no screen times.

Video with audio playing at full volume on partial charge (20%) = same as mp3 playback needs the ax to be at around 60%


5. Constant bluetooth test (GPS related)

Ok so this isn`t a constant test but the wife wanted to go out to a garden center that we've never been to so I took the opportunity to test my Bluetooth GPS (Visiontac I won in the comptetition here with TomTom 6 only to find a major road that was completed a year ago not on the UK map). First bit of disapointment was that my axim wasn't fully charged and although the I-UP 5400 may have extended the existing life the orange led was on on the axim but it wasn`t saying it was being charged. So whilst we were shopping I turned off the axim and left the I-UP charging the axim, we came back to it being fully charged, and on the trip back the I-UP kept the axim green ;) Not entirely sure why this would be. So I`ll test everything with a partially charged axim against a fully charged axim and see what happens.


6. Constant Wifi test

8+ hours

7. Constant Bluetooth and Wifi test

8+ hours

8. Max number of charges to Axim X50v

7 full charges to standard battery



Anyone want me to test it in any other specific way?

ken257

A while back I ran into a situation with a USB sink/charge cable for my X51v. It would sink fine but only charge the Axim if it was turned off. The cable claimed it would charge with the Axim but.........
Maybe a different USB charging cable would help.

FunkyCowie

Its fine I think its to do with the load on the battery, I had bluetooth and wifi running just to drain the battery and it was taking too much time so I was running a video with audio and attached external speakers that use power from the axim to see if I could drain the battery quicker... the axim didn`t like it at all and the I-UP 5400 couldn`t keep up, so I'm just guessing that maybe with the axim fully charged the I-UP 5400 can keep up with bluetooth and Tom Tom running just fine. I still have to test more extensively though but trying to drain this I-UP 5400 is not easy its taking forever which can only be a good thing :)

EDIT: I actually do have another cable so I will try as part of my tests

FunkyCowie

I`m doing these tests for myself and they are time consuming are other people at all interested? If not I`ll stop posting results...

alantdc

Originally Posted by FunkyCowie

I`m doing these tests for myself and they are time consuming are other people at all interested? If not I`ll stop posting results...

Please continue posting. This is really good info :) ! I've been using one of those AA battery extenders. Because of the Axim's large power requirement, though, the extender can't charge the Axim while it's on if the internal battery is below a certain threshold. Am interested if the i-Up 5400 has this limitation as well? Thanks!

ReneG77

FunkyCowie, please do continue! I'm also interested to know the results! I'm tired of bringing along spare batteries, taking it out of the case to swap the batteries and risk dropping everything in the process. I was looking to buy a AA battery extender too, but I would prefer a lithium battery i can just plug in every night to charge over charging the AA batteries.

FunkyCowie

ok I'll continue then... the mp3 test is going along nicely, its been 7 hours and just under half the battery used with the axim on full charge, screen brightness and volume :D

tomorrow will be partial charge (under 20%) and see if it charges whilst playing mp3 then will test the same for video, charge the unit and try playing video with audio non-stop all day and see how it fairs.

stevenator65

Thanks for all the time you've taken to do the testing. Great job.

FunkyCowie

I`m starting to think charging/using issues are related to how much processor is used at the time...

EDIT: Found this to be a false thought as I was able to use the axim sketching an image in pocket artist whihc has to be set at 625mhz to be functional, for me any way.

FunkyCowie

Interesting... just to keep people updated I don`t think it likes TCPMP's ability to draw more volume from the Axim. Basically in TCPMP you have a volume control slider additional to the axims control which allows you to increase the volume more than it should be allowed thus drawing more power from the the unit which then can`t charge as it plays. Bad TCPMP *spank*, it must be set at 'use system volume' in settings/advanced.

So tests are going to have to be redone...

washo

thanks for what you are doing...
I might get one ;)

see you

FunkyCowie

potentially 14+ hours of video playback! over 100+ hours of mp3 with display off! And you can charge other stuff too! Don`t think just buy this is hot! :D

ReneG77

Wow this is great! Thanks FunkyCowie for your testing!!

I'll be looking to getting one of these, hopefully with cheaper shipping to Singapore though.