[SPARCbook] RE: RDI Ultrabook I AC adapter and battery

[scott.archer at vaisala.com]

[Peter]
Thank you for the tip Scott !

I might give that a try in a little while. I'm still debating with
myself whether I should get the Tadpole unit after all. The reason is 
that the battery seem to still be good, or at least it takes charge.
If I dont have a charger but merely a power supply they will most likely
be damaged pretty quickly. I'm not sure what a proper charger does exactly, 
I think it might charge with constant current and other subtle tricks.

I wired up the connector according to the manual (the power supply error
pin goes to ground to indicate no error) to a lab power supply. I now
know why the Tadpole power supply has a fan of its own.
The power supply tripped the internal electronic fuse at 2.5A so I had
to go and get another one that more resembled a nuclear power plant than
anything else (maxed at 35A). The Ultrabook actually draws 4.5A when
running!! Thats one power hungry laptop.

So not just any old power supply will do here, but connecting an
external non Tadpole supply will work. The computer starts up\runs nicely.

Another thing. The tiny SCSI connector on the Ultrabook is that a
Tadpole proprietary connector or is it a standard one that I could possibly 
buy in a well equipped computer store?
The manual seem to indicate it is standard, but I dont think I've ever
seen one like it before. Any tip on where they can be had??
Thanks
Peter

[Scott]
Hi Peter -
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours..
ref the AC adapter and battery
1. I checked the RDI 170\200 Ultrabook hw reference guide and it states
that the factory-shipped AC adapter also provides concurrent battery
charging when the battery is installed. The lithium-ion battery that came
with the unit is rated for 500-1000 charges but as they say, your mileage
may vary. If I may ask, what is Tadpole asking for a UltraBook I AC adapter?

2. I also use the RDI 170 PowerLite-series laptop here at work, and have
sent
off this unit's 6-cell battery[ 7.2V at 5.0amp\hour] to the listed company for
an 
RFQ on making a small lot. There was a company called "House of Batteries"
in 
Huntington Beach, CA that made them as an after-market item under pn
TSLB-4200 
but now refer all inquiries to:

Sterling Batteries
attn: David
11816 Western Ave
Stanton, CA 90680
[714]893-9900

If anyone's interested, I'll post the quote and spec as it becomes
available.

3. If you don't want to use the battery, as in a lab setting, the empty
battery
well can also be used to install a 3rd internal drive: we have a
configuration
here that uses 3 drives, 1 is Solaris and Sybase ASE with drives 2 and 3 as
the
database partitions.

ref the SCSI-style external connector: it's a male, 15-pin, single row
connector
for an external floppy drive. I've never seen one of these units or the
cable,
so if you have them, I'd hold on to them.

thanks
[Scott]

Scott Archer
procurement engineer
Vaisala-TUX
Tucson, AZ  USA
fax: 520-741-2848
www.vaisala.com