Nokia N800 Linux tablet gets DIY extended battery backpack

WHEN THIS scribbler reviewed the impressive Nokia N800 Internet Tablet running Linux, one the downsides I discovered was battery life. A lot of users have waited for an extended battery pack: well, wait no more.

In our review I said: "I'd pay for an "extended battery" that can be attached to it as a "backpack". I don't care if it makes the device a bit thicker". Over here, another user tells how he switched back to a Nokia 770 because of his perceived better battery life: "I find the Nokia 770 battery more durable than the N800 by leaps and bounds… I don’t know if it was just a problem with my N800 unit or if Maemo 2007 sucks more power (I had the auto connect Wi-Fi off if you wonder). I can browse the web 4 hours non-stop, twice the time that my first tablet did.".

And finally in the review of the Nokia GPS "Navigation Kit" for the N800, over here, the reviewer says: " Additionally, the N800's battery life will be much, much shorter than that of a typical hand-held GPS, which can go all day."

So one would expect that Nokia would have gotten the memo by now, but apparently they haven't. N800 user Russ Nelson got fed up and created his own " Parasitic 6.8Wh battery for the N800", Russ writes: "The internal Nokia N800 Internet Tablet battery is only 1.5Wh. An external 6.8Wh battery will greatly extend the lifetime. Problem: cables are bad and connectors fall out. Solution: make a shortie cable and backpack."

Blog showing the homemade backpack battery for the N800

He continues: "Output is 5V, 6.8Wh. By way of comparison, the internal BP-5L battery is 1.5Wh, so this battery has four times the power". He puts the cost at $26 plus the cost of some "Friendly Plastic" aka polycaprolactone -whatever that is. As an external solution, it doesn't require fiddling with the device and doesn't void your warranty.

The backpack approach is not new and it reminds me of the PCMCIA adapters for the ancient USR Palm Pilots, the "Parachute" from Unilinear. It would really help if Nokia wised up and offered an industrially-built version of this one. In the meantime,find pictures and instructions over here.µ