Customer Reviews

VALENCE TECHNOLOGY NC2A N-Charge Power System

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have an Averatec laptop and it worked 4+ hrs for me. No complaints here. It's thin, less than 1'', and weighs only 1.5 lbs.

I get 3 1/2 hours on my IBM T23. You need to set the power management to battery optimized performance by hand, since the computer thinks it's still plugged into the wall. Also, I run the monitor on about half its peak brightness, which extends even the normal battery life.

It's fine, convenient enough, and _slightly_ cheaper per hour than OEM batteries. Rating is 12.8 V, 4.05 Amp-Hours. The expansion option (a second battery unit that mechanically docks) looks clever, although I only have the main unit. This external battery is particularly useful when I do not want to keep a battery in the drive bay.

Only gives under 2 hours of power, the same power u get on oem laptop batteries, at lesser space and bulk. OVER-HYPED advertisement of UP TO 5HR CHARGE. That my friends may be true if you are carrying this LOG, along with your super-mini pda, cellphone, and digicam devices. WHAT A JOKE, if you carry these around with your charger as a LUGGAGE! It's cheap, and you get what you paid for. BE VERY CAREFUL! N-Charge wants to make a quick buck by FALSE ADVERTISEMENT AND INSIDE REVIEWS (providing exemplary comments, see the 5-star reviewer here as proof). DON'T BUY THIS ITEM. GET THE APC UNIVERSAL LAPTOP CHARGER INSTEAD. PCMAG HAS CONFIRMED IT TO WORK, AND WORK FOR UP TO 8 HOURS, LEGIT.

The product falls far short of the hype. I have used it with the tiny, 12 inch screen Averatec, and it only delivers one additional hour of computer time. I have to turn the screen brightness as dim as possible, and shut down a few background programs, too. The extra hour is nice, however, as it shifts over to the laptop battery when depleted, without having to shut down to change the laptop battery. This is the only reason the system receives one star. I am going to keep on waiting and watching for an external system that really lasts.

This is not a reliable product. I had to return the main battery (overheated and the auxillary battery (NC2B, dead on arrival)once each while they were under warranty. Now that the warranty has expired I have nothing but toxic electronic waste for disposal! The manufacturer will not/cannot repair the defective system. They will not stand behind their product.
I notice that the big box retailers (Best Buy & Fry's) aren't carrying this system any more. DO NOT BUY!

I purchased this product on 12/15/2004 within a year it would not a hold a charge that lasted longer than 10 minutes. It's display 3 lights at full charge... even after charging for 8 hours straight it only gives one light.

It did give a good 3 hours of power when you used minimum monitor brightness and turned on the laptop to conserve power... but don't expect the battery to have the staying power of your standard laptop battery.

The product promises a lot and delivers way short. I had to return 2 batteries because they didn't charge up (blinking light on first, then battery light not showing charge at all). The third one that worked only powered by fully charged laptop for 1.5 hours. That's 1.5 hours of web surfing. That is no where near 5-hours it promised. For the price, you are better off investing in a 2nd laptop battery.

If you are considering buying the Valence N-Charge power system, you may want to wait until they work out the problems they've had recently. When I first bought the N-Charge battery, I thought it was a bit strange that there was an orange colored card in the box saying that problems, like blinking lights, should be reported to Valence, when the user instructions already said that. Then I plugged it in to charge and the lights began to blink. Then the system shorted out completely. I returned it to the store where I bought it, (because it was quicker than mailing it to the company), and got the battery and the adapters exchanged. I plugged them in and they seemed to charge up just fine. I didn't use it for a few weeks, didn't need to, but when I pulled it out later to use, it apparently had lost its charge. I charged it up again (which only took a few minutes), then tried it again. Nothing. Then the lights started flashing. I'm asking for my money back. It seems obvious to me that the current batches of N-charge power systems has an internal flaw, and the company probably knows it (because why else would they add that little warning card in the packaging).

Do not buy this product. You will be throwing your money away!

It does not work, period.

I am giving it 1 star, because, this is the lowest rating possible, otherwise I would give it a minus!

This piece of junk never even worked once!!!

(2004.12.30)
With this puppy (or even a better power-to-price deal, go for its 130W older brother), I get ONE battery that can power all my devices such as my Clie NX80 pda, SonyEricsson T637 phone, Sony DSC-V1 digicam, Sony VAIO laptop, and probably anything else.

I don't have to buy pricy individual batteries for each of the devices, nor backpack all their different power adapters around.

Just remember you still need to acquire powerconvertor tips for each device you want to plug to, and the Valence Peripheral Power System kit ($30) (probably sold only on their website) if you want to charge/power additional devices at the same time. Maybe also a cable extender ($10) from the battery.

Consider $125-$150 for the main battery and $10 for each tip adapter. Compared to say $50 for each Sony digicam battery, you'll break even by the 4th $50 battery you'll have to buy, and already cheaper than your your next normal/extended laptop battery. You're future-device-proofed even if this Valence battery dies; too bad it's not a longer life NiMH that supports more recharge cycles.

AND! this same system can power your other pdas, celphones, digicams, iPod on the go.

You could probably build your own power convertors and battery cels for less, so go ahead. :)

Charging takes ~4 hours using the 3 blue-dot (low-med-high) power indicators, and it is still 1.3lbs heavy. You can pass-thru charge both your main device, and this battery at the same time.

It is lithium-ion so it WILL die in a year or 3 like all lithium batteries.

Plenty of review sites on Google to check out performance.

[ABOUT A YEAR LATER (2005.10.27)]
Still works, although I'm not sure I'm getting the 4hr length anymore. Something more like 2 hours now.

It's also a bit quirky "thinking" sometimes it's "empty" while on-the-go.

I have to "reprime it" by plugging it in for a few minutes for it to reset back to what should've been a full charge.