Dell XPS 13 9343 (2015) "Dell Power Companion" & Aftermarket Sleeve (Review & Pictures)

Sleeve - ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/261750084713?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&var=560624983690&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT)

- Sold on Ebay & Amazon.

- Fits perfectly like a glove: depth, width, height, etc.

- Obviously fake leather, but decent quality and texture. No issues of any kind. Only time will tell if the edges will hold. As you can see, there can be small amount of "bending" on the corner due to weight of the laptop, but reversible.

- Overall Recommendation: HIGHLY recommended

Dell Power Companion

- It is designed as external battery pack (45whr) for your laptop and USB devices.

- Features:
1. You can charge the power companion itself (power input) using the smaller 4.5mm ultrabook AC adapter or conventional full sized Dell AC adapter.

2. Your output into the laptop includes both the small 4.5mm for ultrabook and full sized conventional Dell power jack. Thus, this is compatible for both the XPS 13 and any other Dell laptops including Latitudes. Two power output cables will be provided for this. Obviously, use your own AC adapter. You can only charge one laptop at a time.

3. It is quite bigger than the AC adapter and weighs more, since there are actual cells inside.

4. You can plug the AC adapter from wall to Power Companion, and have the Power Companion connected to the laptop. Have yet to test which (laptop or Power Companion) will be charging first, etc.

5. Laptop at battery 60%, Power Saving mode & idle, Power Companion with full charge will charge the laptop at roughly 26-27whr speed (Batter Bar Pro). Not bad!

6. Looks like the charging speed of the Power Companion will depend on what size you use for your AC adapter.

7. Only gets barely noticeably warm, so temperature wise, perfect.
*I haven't tested further in terms of draining out Power Companion entirely, etc.

- Overall Recommendation: It looks like the Power Companion will 100% depend on your usage behavior. The AC adapter is very functional and power is usually always available. So in educational or business settings, I just do not see a "need" for one. However, if you have phone or tablet, overall, this is a great device to be able to provide insurance for not only the laptop but other mobile devices. The size isn't THAT small, neither, which is something you need to consider.

*I am now actually considering to use this as a "charging dock." So this one device can help charge XPS 13, and two other mobile devices, since XPS 13 isn't conventional dock capable. Yes the primary usage of this is external battery, but this is an interesting concept..

*I haven't quite "tested" the Power Companion just yet, so I just listed out the features that are not quite easy to find online. XPS 13's battery itself is decent and the new AC adapter design is very innovative. But I bought this as an insurance down the road.

 

Reserved for further comment.

 

That is a pretty slick case. I think I will jump on that red one !

 

The sleeve seems nice but it looks like it will only protect against scratches.
If you drop it or bang it I'm sure the aluminium body will bend.

 

Vertical drop is decently protected actually because of the beefed up edge sides of the sleeve. But sure if you are going to drop this on the edge of the street concrete, it won't bode well.

Nothing but a scratch proofer and vertical drop dent proofer (if you carry inside a bag pack and you like to vertically drop your bag to the groud). But it does the intended job without making your laptop look like an Inspiron from 2005.

 

Just ordered the XPS 13 from Microsoft and got in on the $60 power companion deal a week or two back from Dell. This preview is very promising.

I've got a well padded Chromebook sleeve that should work perfectly, otherwise I'd get this one.

Thank you for taking the time to post!

 

You mentioned 26-27w/hr speed charging, is this from the battery or from the wall?
I'm trying to determine if this will charge the laptop faster than the 45w charger that comes with the device. I'm guessing not if the internal battery needs charging but possibly if it's full

 

With the computer settings I mentioned, looks like BOTH wall and Power Companion charges around 26-27whr.

Of course, if you start loading the computer usage and laptop's battery gets closer to fully charge, the speed of charging drops dramatically.

All I was saying is that the Companion and AC adapter charges the same speed under "perfect" situation. I haven't tested if Companion will charge faster than AC adapter when laptop's battery is closer to full charge. My guess is that it will be the same!

45w is NO WHERE close from being optimal size. Again, Dell screwed up for 4th time in a row, trying to make things smaller and lighter. It takes like 3.5 hrs to charge from nothing to 100% while using on decent load. That is horrendous for extremely mobile machine like this..

 

Err, I meant the internal battery of the power companion, not the laptop. Seems like you answered my question, though

 

I know exactly what you are wondering about. I wondered about the same thing.

However, I do not have the exact time for charging rate of the Power Companion. I figure the same situation with charging the laptop's battery. Probably 2 hours.

 

Update:

I tried charging my laptop, iPhone, and the Venue tablet all at the same time. Worked very well and the USB power out provides the same power as through wall outlet, not meager as through a computer's USB. So fast USB charging via the Power Companion.

Battery cells inside were very cool on the Companion, but just a little warm where the USB connections were, which makes sense since 4 power connections were made total. Absolutely normal, of course.

All in all, it performs very well even as a charging dock/station!

 

I am also considering buying some additional runtime an bein curious how the effective/ real life capacity compares to the internal batteries? I have a 54Wh internal (4cells, Latitude E7450), which would give me more battery life? A spare internal battery or an 18Wh companion?

 

Expect real world capacity to be around 75% of internal battery.

If you had a laptop at 0%, and hooked up the power companion to let it charge, you could expect around 75% charge on your laptop when the power companion runs out of juice.

Of course, that 75% will be reduced if you are using the laptop while it is charging, or charging USB devices at the same time.

 

Yup. Pretty much stick to the easy calculation of the whr.

 

I can forget it then. A heavier unit with less capacity . I'll check the slice (97Wh), probably that one doesn't suffer the voltage conversion issue.

 

All the stuff shown above is good having a well designed gadget and supporting accessory. I am also facing the same problem with the charging of the laptop's battery. Is it the problem of the charger or any other problem?

http://www.7pcb.co.uk/