Solar powered Netbook?

August 6, 2009 4:39 PM

Best netbook/solar combo recommendations for keeping a journal while on safari?

I've got the chance of a lifetime and I'm going into the Rupununi, in Guyana, South America. Apparently electricity is very iffy. I would really like to keep a journal, and it's easier for me to type than write, so I think I want a small, durable netbook, preferably one that could be recharged with solar power, like one of those solar backpacks or beach totes. I've browsed around the net and I like the Asus EEE Surf 4G, but the Voltaic backpack and Generator chargers aren't compatible with it so I'm back to square one. Any suggestions, oh hivemind?

posted by The otter lady to computers & internet (8 comments total)

This?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:08 PM on August 6

OK, when I went to Kenya for the Peace Corps (OK I stayed two weeks but I had to pack for two years) the popular solar charging option was the Solio. This worked well for small things, like iPods and cell phones, but I'm not sure about computers. They don't make a plug for laptops, but they do make them for different smartphones, if that's an option. Another idea would be to get a 12V adapter, which is like a car charger (this only works with some of the Solio models so make sure!). There are some Eee models that have car charger adapter plugs. I am not certain this would work, but it might be worth looking into.

Of course, the Solio is about $100, the car charger adapter is around $50, and the netbook is $ too. Is being able to type that important? Also, computers can break or be stolen, and then if you haven't backed up, you've got nothin'! A pen and paper might be a good idea?!
posted by iliketolaughalot at 5:50 PM on August 6

You want something like this or this, combined with a high-efficiency car-charger for your computer. (Most solar panels run at 12V, but it's only a ballpark voltage - sun and clouds and angle and battery depletion etc all affects what the voltage rally ends up being, it can be all over the place, so you need a voltage adapter that can step up the voltage to what the laptop needs, and a good car charger should be ideal for this).

You're not going to get enough power from a solar backpack to be very useful for a notebook, and that 10W panel I linked to is more of a "leave it charging laptop all day to get an hour's usage out of it" sort of thing.

As you can see, this could get expensive. It might pay to check beforehand that leaving expensive things out in the sun all day isn't likely to result in losing them.
posted by -harlequin- at 6:19 PM on August 6

I would consider something like this AlphaSmart Neo. It has a small display but a full or nearly-full sized keyboard. The batteries last super long, and it takes AAs, so you could take spares or use a cheap solar charger on them. Older models go for a song on ebay.
posted by exogenous at 6:29 PM on August 6

According to this page, the battery of the Asus EEE Surf 4G is 31 Watt-hours. So in a frictionless universe, the 10W panel I linked to could charge it in 3 hours, but in the real world, even assuming it's sunny, I'd still guess at double that amount of time.

A larger (eg 20 or 30W) panel could probably run the laptop all day - supplying more power than the laptop uses, so allowing unlimited use + some battery top-up so long as the sun is high overhead. (Another site reports getting 3.5 hours battery-life, suggesting that the laptop draws a little under 10 watts per hour. I'd guess at needing 15 watts solar output to facilitate that, once various losses (such as the car adapter) are factored.
posted by -harlequin- at 6:30 PM on August 6

Another site reports getting 3.5 hours battery-life, suggesting that the laptop draws a little under 10 watts per hour.

FTFM
posted by -harlequin- at 6:32 PM on August 6

Seconding the AlphaSmart Neo suggestion. With a claimed 700 hour battery life, you might not even need to recharge.
posted by hades at 11:13 PM on August 6

Here's a Neo review you might find interesting. Also this.
posted by hades at 11:19 PM on August 6