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Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

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Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#51

Post by yitchelle »

ddeck wrote: post #45

My favorite item from the Q&A [1]: What’s to prevent a Reactor from rolling off a table? We will be offering an octagonal silicone sleeve that will prevent a Reactor from rolling off surfaces and also protect it from bumps. So....your base product actually will roll off the table, but you can buy an optional extra to prevent it? I know nothing about USB power delivery, but I presume that's the value proposition (sinc…

You are missing the versatility of the cylindrical shape.

1) doubles as rolling pin in the kitchen.

2) buy two, and have a set soccer goal posts for a quick pick up game.

3) use it in a circus balancing act during a busking session.

4) many other possibilities.

By the way, I hope my sarcasm is showing...

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#52

Post by bryanlarsen »

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #43
akx wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not exactly USB output, it's USB-PD (USB Power Delivery), which is a different beast altogether. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#USB_Power_Delivery

Okaaaaaaay, and how to you connect a wire from that USB port to your magsafe port on your macbook?

with the appropriate adapter cable. https://trontium.com/answers/

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#53

Post by yread »

arethuza wrote: post #19

The should include a camera in the device as well - just to record reactions when people take it out of their bag at airport security checks. The only way I can see they could have made it look more threatening would be to write "Atomic Bomb" in large letters down the side and have a large LED display counting down to zero in 15 seconds or so. Edit: The perfect add-on for your reactor: http://www.instructables.com/id…

290Wh is not allowed no board aircraft as per ICAO rules Annex 18, the maximum without a specific agreement from the airline is 100Wh. With the agreement it's 160Wh. "Lithium batteries exceeding 160Wh are prohibited in both carry-on and checked baggage."

see for example:

http://www.airchina.com.cn/www/en/html/index/travel_informat...

All the laptops are made with 97Wh for a reason...

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#54

Post by kubiiii »

alexkiritz wrote: post #35
kubiiii wrote: post #21

Two things from the website : >We created Trontium to drive humanity forward Ok I cant discuss the reasons why you created trontium and driving humanity forward is indeed a great goal but wow this is just a (rather cool) battery. Plus I think the keyboard (a yamaha psr E403 I think) featured in the pictures is not usb powered. Other than that I'm impressed by the 8 charges you can make with the dewalt drill. Great to…

You're right. That keyboard is not USB powered. That's why we're making adapter cables. I'll be posting a tutorial on the site later today with pictures, but the general idea is that you can buy an adapter cable for whatever device you have and then set its voltage requirements in an app. https://trontalk.com/filedata/fetch?photoid=147

This (nice) feature should be more heavilly advertised on the website. Would the app also allow to schedule power off / on?

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#55

Post by bryanlarsen »

TorKlingberg wrote: post #37

The interesting part here is that it uses the new USB "Power Delivery" standard, that can switch to 20V instead of the normal 5V. This allows up to 100W of power from one USB port. It could power laptops and other somewhat power hungry devices, once they have USB power input.

Or you buy the appropriate adapter cable.

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#56

Post by blisterpeanuts »

My wife's cell phone and camera are constantly running out of juice. One of these would be great. But let's be real. This battery pack is larger than her whole purse.

The picture they have of a backpacker with a liter bottle on one side of his pack and a Trontium on the other looks nice and self-sufficient but he's got all that extra weight to lug. Is he going to be living in the wilderness for 10 days whilst writing a novel on a laptop or tablet? That's about the one use for this battery that I can foresee.

For the average Joe, this thing isn't going to be doing much traveling. And if it's not traveling, it's sitting on a counter not too far away from a wall socket.

As for taking it on a plane -- most plane trips aren't long enough to warrant a super-battery. Devices these days can last 6-8 hours between charges, and if they don't, there are all sorts of cheaper solutions. I have a $20 lipstick-size battery that's good enough to keep a phone or tablet in business for a few extra hours.

I'm afraid I just don't see the point of this product as it is. But I hope they keep doing research, and learn how to shrink it down until it's truly portable.

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#58

Post by blisterpeanuts »

[deleted] wrote: post #50
ddeck wrote: post #45

My favorite item from the Q&A [1]: What’s to prevent a Reactor from rolling off a table? We will be offering an octagonal silicone sleeve that will prevent a Reactor from rolling off surfaces and also protect it from bumps. So....your base product actually will roll off the table, but you can buy an optional extra to prevent it? I know nothing about USB power delivery, but I presume that's the value proposition (sinc…

[deleted]

Actually, it would roll momentarily until the cables are sufficiently twisted to resist further motion.

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#59

Post by userbinator »

alexkiritz wrote: post #35
kubiiii wrote: post #21

Two things from the website : >We created Trontium to drive humanity forward Ok I cant discuss the reasons why you created trontium and driving humanity forward is indeed a great goal but wow this is just a (rather cool) battery. Plus I think the keyboard (a yamaha psr E403 I think) featured in the pictures is not usb powered. Other than that I'm impressed by the 8 charges you can make with the dewalt drill. Great to…

You're right. That keyboard is not USB powered. That's why we're making adapter cables. I'll be posting a tutorial on the site later today with pictures, but the general idea is that you can buy an adapter cable for whatever device you have and then set its voltage requirements in an app. https://trontalk.com/filedata/fetch?photoid=147

and then set its voltage requirements in an app

This is going to create some unexpected excitement and lots of magic smoke for a lot of people...

Re: Show HN: Trontium Reactor, the first USB Power Delivery battery

#60

Post by ndeine »

Timshel wrote: post #41
specialp wrote: post #27

For $299 I can sure buy a lot of lithium ion batteries. There are already many such products out there that are very cheap. 290w/h is 58000 mah at 5v. I can buy a 11,000 mah pack for 29.99 on Amazon and surprise it weighs 1/4 the weight. Even if I bought 5 of them to equal the energy capacity it would be 1/2 the cost. (But it is not a REACTOR) There really is nothing novel at all about this product, and it is overpri…

I can't imagine the hassle of having to charge five battery pack. The bigger battery pack I found on amazon with decent reviews was 32000mAh for $119.99 ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DN0KBXU ). The trontium still cost more than two of those but the difference is shrinking.

Yeah, you'd have to rig up your own charger (if you wanted to make it easy to charge) and USB power output manually, and then make those things effortlessly portable.

I've had a lot of experience with Li-Ion batteries and more advanced chemistries, and I have to say I'd be scared to try rigging up something that can handle the kind of amps the Reactor is promising.

The only lithium-ion-like batteries I know of that can handle any sort of reasonable amp draws (100W at 5-20V = 5-20A currents) are e.g. really modern LiMn2O4 (hybrid? I'm not sure) cells like [1], not standard LiFePO4 or whatever. So if they happen to have really nice high-draw cells in them, with protection circuitry added to each and all the stuff to make it safe, then they're definitely in the right value range. Keeping batteries from failing dramatically and exploding when subject to abuse, electrical or otherwise, is not trivial.

[1]: http://illuminationsupply.com/batteries-c-48_50/18650-sony-u...

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