Robust Power Banks That Can Juice Up Your Laptop

Laptops are considered helpful in a way that you don't have to be connected in a fixed power source in order to use it. However, your laptop's mileage will depend on your battery. Luckily, there are power banks available today that are built to power up laptops. They feature battery capacities large enough to give life to a dying laptop. Here are some of the best performing yet affordable power banks you can choose from.

Maxoak 50000

With a battery capacity of 50,000 mAh, the Maxoak 50000 is one of the largest capacity power banks out in the market today. It features six output ports, all of which can be used simultaneously. Outputs include one 20V/3A for laptops, one 12V/2.5A, two 5V/2.1A quick charge USB ports and two 5V/1A standard USB ports.

This power bank comes with fourteen different laptop connectors, so it’s safe to say finding one to fit your laptop won’t be an issue. Additionally, the unit uses a lithium-ion polymer battery rated for 1000+ recharge cycles. As we’ve come to expect, the unit features LED indicators to display the remaining power level. Measuring 8.1″ x 5.3″ x 1.3″, the MaxOak is only slightly larger than other laptop power banks. However, at 2.77lb, it is one of the more odd item in the market.

RAVPower USB-C Power Bank

If your laptop's battery charging port is in USB, then this is the perfect power bank for you. The RAVPower USB-C Power Bank is designed specifically for USB-C devices from Macbooks to the Nintendo Switch. Boasting a 26,800 mAh battery, this device offers up to 30W of power, which is the same as an original AC Macbook charger.

A little reminder to check your device to ensure that it does not draw more than 30W. If it does, then this power bank is not compatible with your device.

Aside from that, the RAVPower USB-C power bank has two 2.4A USB charging ports. Furthermore, the unit’s battery can be recharged via the Type-C port in just four to five hours. This is a big contrast to the standard fourteen-hour recharge time.

DBPOWER Laptop Power Bank

Coined as one of the cheapest power bank options in the market so far, the DBPower Laptop Power Bank costs at less than $100. And because of that, this device has a maximum charging capacity of up to 26,400 mAh only. What makes it unique from the rest is that it opts for a full-sized AC outlet to power laptops. This means you don’t have to worry about compatible connector tips. The disadvantage of it though is that you have to lug around your laptop’s original charger.

With the DBPower Laptop Power Bank, users can power any electronic devices up to 80W such as hair dryer, projector, or drone. In addition to the AC outlet, the DBPower Laptop Powerbank features two 5V/2.2A USB charging ports. Furthermore, it supports simultaneous USB and AC charging.

Jackery PowerBar

Just like the DBPower Laptop Power Bank, the Jackery PowerBar also utilizes a standard AC outlet to power up computers. But unlike the DBPower, the Jackery PowerBar packs a respectable 20,800 mAh battery into a fairly small package. Measuring 6.5″ x 2.5″ x 2.5″ and weighing only 1.5 lbs, it’s one of the smallest and lightest laptop power banks on the market.

This small but terrible power bank has the strength of providing a whopping 85W of power. Aside from the AC power outlet, the PowerBar also features three 5V 2.4A USB charging ports.

Check Out These Awesome 4k Laptops

More laptops now are coming out with 4K screens, which is the highest resolution currently available in the market. Sporting an Ultra HD panel, you can watch movies and TV shows in 4K resolution, as well as enjoy more detail when editing photos and videos. Also, there is an increasing number of games that support this resolution.

At the moment, there is only a few selection, but you'll find these super-sharp displays on premium notebooks and 2-in-1s, gaming systems and workstations. Check out some of these awesome 4K laptops.

Razer Blade Pro	Aside from its stunning 4K display with G-sync technology, the Blade Pro is the slimmest desktop replacement around. You'll be amazed by its mechanical keyboard with Chroma backlighting and tear through games with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPU. Price: from $3,699.99
Asus ZenBook Pro UX501VW	This ZenBook laptop is a great value because it has a 4K display, aluminum chassis, Thunderbolt 3 and USB Type-C support and Nvidia 960M graphics for less than a competing MacBook. Creatives who are looking for a 4K laptop shouldn't look anywhere else. Price: from $1,499.00
HP Spectre x360 15-inch	Besides getting a 4K display, the HP Spectre x360 can provide a full day's charge on a battery, a premimum gray and copper chassis, Nvidia 940MX GPU, and great speakers tuned by Bang & Olufsen. If you want to use it as a tablet, just fold this 2-in-1s keyboard behind its screen. Price: from $1,279.99
Dell Precision 5510	The Dell Precision 5510's 4K display looks like it's floating in thin air, because of its InfinityEdge bezel. Not only does it look great, the Precision laptop has a blazing fast SSD and shares a premium chassis with the Dell XPS 15. Its Intel Xeon CPU and Nvidia Quadro GPU will make programs like Photoshop or AutoCAD run speedy and smooth. Price: from $1,329.00

5 Awesome Second-Screen Apps to Boost Your TV Experience

Television experience hasn't changed that much since the era it was first introduced. Though we now enjoy super flat screens, high definition colors and pixel resolution, and screen sizes that can almost match those of what we see in cinemas, it's still the same method wherein we sit in front of it and just absorb what these boob tubes spit out. Second-screen apps is a new software crop designed to enhance the user's viewing experience. It's the use of an additional monitor while watching aims to make that once passive television-viewing experience more interactive by allowing viewers get program information or chat with other viewers using a smartphone or tablet.

Downloading these second-screen apps onto your mobile device lets you obtain additional information about a movie, TV show, or commercial. Want to know some background info about the artist who sang the theme song of a particular commercial you just saw? All you need to do is to launch a second-screen app. Do you need more information about the plot and cast and an intriguing TV series? Firing up a second-screen app will do the job. Or perhaps would you like to interact with other followers of a box-office hit movie? Well, you know what to do.

The collection below includes not only the popular, but also the not-so popular, but quality second-screen apps. You may want to check all of them and see which one will suit you best.

IntoNow

Powered by SoundPrint recognition technology, IntoNow is a free app that analyzes live television audio and matches it against "fingerprints" in its database to deliver supplemental program information. The app has an additional feature, a built in meme generator, that helps it stand out among numerous second-screen apps. It provides the user the season and episode numbers, an episode synopsis, a Twitter feed that features show mentions as well as cast tweets, actor bios, links to the show's official webpage, and many more.

Aside from mixing up with other fans in the dedicated Twitter stream, you can also chat with friends from Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and iOS address book, in the IntoNow chat room. With its highly entertaining add-on features, IntoNow is a great place to start learning about second-screen apps. The app is available on Android, iPad, and iPhone platforms.

Soundtracking

With its tagline, "share the soundtrack of your life," this is exactly what Soundtracking allows you to do. This free app lets users identify songs anywhere they can hear them, but strengthens the experience with a deep social networking element that lets users share, like, follow, comment on each other's music finds, or share them to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (album art), and more. The option that really sells Soundtracking is music identification. Bringing a finger to the Music ID icon while playing a track causes the app to listen to the track and identify the song, artist, and album.

If you're looking to chat about music, and even share your discoveries with others, you should not miss the SoundTracking app.

Zeebox

Zeebox is a free app that identifies the show you're watching and boosts your TV-watching experience with show times, chat rooms, live information, and social media activity.

Zeebox lets you use one app as the second screen for all your favorite shows. It's filled with information, and you'll also get live updates about actors, products, and more that appear on that particular show. If watching television is a regular routine for you, Zeebox is the perfect companion, with tons of information about each show and several ways to communicate with other fans in real time. This app is available on Android, Blackberry, iPad, iPhone, and web.

Shazam

Shazam, the free Android and iOS app that helps confused music fans to identify songs, has undergone a recent revamp which adds numerous features including auto-tagging, interactive maps, television interaction, and more. Sahazam works by processing a very small sound snippet (called a fingerprint) in your environment, and matching it against sounds in its database. When making an audio match, Shazam opens an artist's page that showcases a discography, interactive, YouTube videos, lyrics, and an iTunes store link. Shazam's map is easily one of the coolest new add-on wherein it lets users see what's popular around the globe.

Shazam has a gorgeous interface that's simple to use. Song identifications are reliable, and extras like the LiveLyrics feature are valuable. So if you find yourself frequently guessing song names or their performers, Shazam should not be missing on your app library.

Twitter

Twitter has become a giant when it comes to the second-screen playground and it has emerged as the go-to tool for social TV. Integrated Twitter usernames and hashtags have become a norm, flashing across the bottom of the TV screen, attracting viewers to pull out their mobile devices and join in the conversation via their second screens. This app is an excellent tool to have at hand when watching a television program, especially the popular ones. You can read program-specific tweets by clicking a hashtag and interacting with other people watching the show. With a massive install base with one of the most popular social apps across several app stores, the ubiquity and simplicity of Twitter puts it at the top of the list of second-screen apps to watch. And while Facebook has more users, it also has more noise and distractions. There's no doubt that this app still reigns the current battle for the second screen apps.

So the next time you're planning to spend your weekend wee hours on the sofa, fire up one of these second-screen apps to give your TV-watching experience an extra kick.