At the iPad’s launch I wasn’t extremely impressed. The device seemed interesting, but it didn’t appear to have a tangible spot between my smartphone and my laptop in day-to-day use.
That changed fast.
After playing with the iPad for a few hours, it has certainly secured a new place in my tech arsenal. The hardware is able to handle all of the applications that I’ve used with smooth graphics processing and very quick responses to touch input (especially multitouch).
Typing on it is much better than you might imagine. After using the iPad through a full IM conversation, my typing speed was comparable to my speed on a standard keyboard. It’s a bit less comfortable, but it gets the job done well.
Multitasking? Yeah, it can’t run MSN, Facebook, Photoshop, and play a movie simultaneously. But do you really want it to? Remember how the old Windows phones handled multiple tasks? It was unbearably slow. Hopefully Apple has an elegant solution to our multitasking needs in OS 4.0, but mine are very rare. Push IM can get me all of my messages effectively, and I can play music on my iPod in the background. I’m not settling for less. I’m working with a completely different type of device.
I’m very excited to do work, watch movies, play games, and explore the iPad in a traveling situation. The battery has held up great today.
It’s time to do some research on equipping this thing with a solar panel!
More riffs I’ve been playing with. This time in the evening.
Playin’ Around – The base line of this one is credited to Laying Blame by Hilltop Hoods
I wanted to make a panorama of a few pictures I snapped with my iPhone yesterday. It was a beautiful 70 degree day (In March!) in Fort Collins.
I think this came out amazingly well. It’s surprising what you can do with a cellphone camera and Photoshop these days…
In my last post I discussed the feasibility of a 34Watt solar panel for charging portable electronics. One of the main points that I made was the charge times: With a custom 34W panel, you’re looking at about 2.5 hours to fully charge a MacBook Pro battery.
I started talking about these numbers with my roommate today. I mentioned that the MBP battery lasts a good 5 to 6 hours on casual use. This means that with a 34W panel, you could successfully USE AND CHARGE (simultaneously) a MacBookPro with that solar panel. If you dropped the panel in size to a 17Watt, you would be looking at a 5hour time for full charge. – But that means that you could use the laptop while charging, and essentially counteract the battery’s ‘uncharging’!
A 17W panel could be made small. Maybe as small as my MacBook Pro’s lid. Exciting…
After building the Solar iPhone charger, I’ve been wanting to build a Solar MacBook charger. It’s almost summer, and once I get back to Alaska it will be time for more solar projects. It will be great to get my notebook off the grid.
This is a collection of theoretical data and calculations for the charge times and feasibility of using a custom 40W solar panel to charge Apple products.
To make the most efficient charger, I want to use specific solar cells in my panel. Each device has a different charging voltage, and for efficiency sake I want to get as close to that voltage as possible with my solar cells. This is because, when I regulate my panel to the voltage I need for charging, the excess voltage is being given off as heat. If I’m regulating down a lot, I have to be concerned about heat sinks, and my panel is even bigger than I need it to be. Stupid, right?
For example, my MacBook Pro’s AC Adapter puts out 16.5Volts at 3.65Amps. If I make a 40Watt solar cell array that puts out 20Volts @ 2Amps, and then I regulate it down to 16.5Volts, I’ll be loosing (assuming my DC regulator works at 90% efficiency) – (90% * 2Amps = 1.8Amps) .2 amps for every volt that I’m outputting. This means that instead of having a 40Watt panel, I’ll actually have a 1.8*16.5 = 29.7Watt panel when everything is said and done. And that’s just from the efficiency of the regulator!
When you factor in the 3.5Volts that are being regulated away, you have (3.5*1.8 = 6.3) 6.3Watts that are being given off as heat. That’s hot and unnecessary.
So, lets say that I get my panel to put out 17Volts at 2Amps. That would be a 34W panel. I would only be loosing (.5*1.8) .9Watts to heat, and I’ll have a smaller panel in the long run. After using a 90% efficient regulator, you pull 10% off that 34W (3.4W) and you have a panel that puts out 30.6W in full sunlight. Then, shave off the .9Watts that is lost to heat and you have 29.7W again. That would take (73/29.7 = 2.46) a bit less than 2.5 hours to fully charge my MacBook Pro from a completely dead state. Not too shabby.
You can see that the best way to increase efficiency is by finding the closest voltage possible and then bringing up the amperage. That’s why it’s important that you choose the best wiring circuit for your panel! (Series or Parallel)
Here are some stats for the batteries in the newest Apple products. You can see how this hypothetical 34W panel would run them.
| MacBook Pro | MacBook | iPad | iPhone 3GS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Capacity: | 73 Watt-Hour Lithium-Polymer | 60 Watt-Hour Lithium-Polymer | 25 Watt-Hour Lithium-Polymer | 4.51 Watt-Hour Lithium-Ion |
| Charger Specs: | 60W or 85W MagSafe | 60W MagSafe | 10W USB Power Adapter - 30-pin Dock | 2.5W USB Power Adapter - 30-pin Dock |
| Time to charge- Adapter | 73 Minutes- 60W 52 Minutes- 85W | 60 Minutes | 2.5 Hours | 108 Minutes |
| Time to charge- 34W Panel | 147.5 Minutes | 121.5 Minutes | See Below | See Below |
For the iPad and iPhone, the input voltages are completely different.
I think you can safely charge an iPhone with 5Volts at a 1Amp maximum. 5V is the USB standard, and our computers put out .5Amps at that 5V. Not wanting to go too much higher than that for the iPhone, you could make a 4.5W panel at 6V and .75Amps – regulated down to 5V @ .75A that would charge the phone fully in 72 minutes.
As for the iPad, we’ll have to see what the input voltage is when it comes out!
After being on Fiverr for a few days, I’ve made connections with very cool business/website owners, and have gotten to advertise their websites on my arm.
It sparks up interesting conversation wherever I go, and as I mentioned before, has lead to quite a few new business ideas.
Here are some of the people I’ve advertised for so far:
WorldOfSolitaire is a web-based Solitaire game that has loads of options. All of the gameplay is in the browser, and you can even use custom backgrounds! I got a chance to talk to the site owner and was happy to advertise for him.
SpidVid is a new social platform for ‘Video Production Individuals’. If you like to do any type of video work, you can join the site and collaborate with other professionals.
Very neat stuff.
I came across an interesting new site while browsing yesterday: Fiverr
Fiverr is a new marketplace for Any and All services that people are willing to do for $5. You can browse the things that people are already doing, or make an account and offer up a service of your own.
I made a profile and offered to write a company name on my arm (and leave it there for 24 hours) for $5. So far I’ve gotten one order, and the idea sparked a handful of new thoughts on marketing and advertisement in a college setting.
