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Charge clipboard with base battery

Cothek

Active Member
The clipboard has a pretty short battery life to begin with so when it dies or is almost dead you are stuck using it with the base or with the charge cord attached. It would be great to use it and have the base charge it as the comp sleeps or i flip a toggle to start the base charging it. I posted this on the answers forum in hopes that MS would help out (MS Answers ) so head over and join me there if you can.

Also, I think we can start looking for ways to make this happen on our own...anyone have experience modifying BIOS files...hehe.
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
I talked to the engineering team about this back in November and the design was considered but was highly inefficient and impacted the over-all battery life of the Surface Book.
 
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Cothek

Cothek

Active Member
I talked to the engineering team about this back in November and the design was considered but was highly inefficient and impacted the over-all battery life of the Surface Book.
I figured this was the case, but it would still be great if they gave us the option to enable it understanding the impact on battery life.

Alas no. The main reason I didn't buy the SB over the sp4.
:(
 

flar

Member
I added a MeToo. I understand fully that it will decrease the overall battery life, but I frequently use the clipboard in cases where the keyboard is too bulky, such as for holding sheet music in my hand (replacing a folder of paper music) in chorus rehearsals. Most rehearsals are short enough (3 hours with a break) that I don't use all of the clipboard's battery, but when we have a retreat we rehearse for up to 8-10 hours in a day in a room with only a couple of outlets. It would be nice to just plug it into the base when we are on breaks (vary from 15 minutes to an hour) for some charging. Otherwise I'd have to run back to my room during the hour long meal breaks to plug it in and even then it might not be enough without additional recharging during the shorter breaks.

Exactly how inefficient is this? Even if it was only 50% efficient I'd still use it since any charge at all left in the base is of zero use to me in those situations. I'm suspecting that the real figure is closer to 90% efficiency?

The alternatives are to buy a stand and use it with the clipboard turned backwards with the keyboard still attached behind it, but I like the flexibility of holding it in my hand (though the day long rehearsals will probably leaving me wanting a stand anyway even with the frequent breaks). Another alternative is to just fight for access to one of the few wall outlets. I have one of those tiny Outlets-To-Go power strips that I could bring along to ease the congestion.

Neither of those is as flexible as having the option to enable base charging of the clipboard.
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
I added a MeToo. I understand fully that it will decrease the overall battery life, but I frequently use the clipboard in cases where the keyboard is too bulky, such as for holding sheet music in my hand (replacing a folder of paper music) in chorus rehearsals. Most rehearsals are short enough (3 hours with a break) that I don't use all of the clipboard's battery, but when we have a retreat we rehearse for up to 8-10 hours in a day in a room with only a couple of outlets. It would be nice to just plug it into the base when we are on breaks (vary from 15 minutes to an hour) for some charging. Otherwise I'd have to run back to my room during the hour long meal breaks to plug it in and even then it might not be enough without additional recharging during the shorter breaks.

Exactly how inefficient is this? Even if it was only 50% efficient I'd still use it since any charge at all left in the base is of zero use to me in those situations. I'm suspecting that the real figure is closer to 90% efficiency?

The alternatives are to buy a stand and use it with the clipboard turned backwards with the keyboard still attached behind it, but I like the flexibility of holding it in my hand (though the day long rehearsals will probably leaving me wanting a stand anyway even with the frequent breaks). Another alternative is to just fight for access to one of the few wall outlets. I have one of those tiny Outlets-To-Go power strips that I could bring along to ease the congestion.

Neither of those is as flexible as having the option to enable base charging of the clipboard.
Unfortunately any specifics would break my NDA with Microsoft but your 90 is much closer than your 50...
 
OP
Cothek

Cothek

Active Member
Since a lot of people are OK with having an external component (the keyboard) charge the clipboard, why not just get an external battery pack. It can run as well as charge the clipboard. And even charge the keyboard.
Mike Guyver at :
Mobile Connected Tech: Macbook, Surface, Dell, Yoga, External Batteries and Car Adapter Chargers has them.
Because it costs more ($70+), it's another thing to carry (size, weight and more cords) and the base is capable of doing this.
 

Yillbs

Member
For one thing the batteries on that site are not made by them, and can be found cheaper elsewhere, they just brand them different. Take a look at some of these : http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Univers..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0ST1FJFER648N19CJN2Q
you'll notice they are IDENTICAL to the ones on that site.

Additioanlly, for 107 USD, you can get a full FIVE charges out of this guy : http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-2300..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1A13HE22HR2227H1EJMQ

The cord needed to attach to the surface is like 7 bucks.

Additionally, the power you'd lose from what everyone is talking about ( using base as charger ) would be -extremely- minimal. you're basically going to lose energy in the charging process due to heat / electrons dissipating, etc. However, I do it all the time between battery packs, I have a large one, and multiple small ones that I use to pump it up when i'm out and about. I do it this way because it's wired into a backpack, and very simple to do. I lose about 3% of the energy in each smaller pack, so my 90mAh battery turns into more like an 87mah battery.

None the less, they probably were worried about the heat associated with it, my guess anyways!
 
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