How do you guys handle power outages especially if you play tournaments online? Where I'm located, there is frequent power outages. And this has happened quite a bit when playing tournaments. I do have internet on my phone so i tether it so that isn't a big issue for internet. But power is a whole different story. Sometimes it goes out for a few minutes... randomly... other times it could be an hour or even a few hours or the rest of the day/night. There has been rare times when it was out overnight and once for close to 2 days. I could go to a starbucks and walk there or take a cab but the issue is when there is a power outage, there is usually a huge storm and well its raining hard and going to be hard to catch a cab.



I get at max 1.5 hours with my laptop on battery with the lowest battery setting and 25% brightness. I always have it connected to the power outlet when using it as i use it similar to like a desktop computer. I connect 2 external monitors to it when im using it.



I recently bought a power bank for it that is 18000 maH.



I tried using it to check how long it gets. What i do is say i use my laptop on battery when its 100% full. Let say i get 1.5 hours of battery on it before its 5% battery only. Now i connect my already charged power bank to my laptop and while i continue to use the laptop. It would charge about 1h 45m before the powerbank runs out. And when this happens, i get at max 80% battery on my laptop. So now with battery only.. i get about 1h 15m at the absolute max. So basically if i had to use my laptop on battery and powerbank... i get around 3h45m to 4h30m at the absolute max... before i no longer have any power left. That would not be enough for me since if i just started my session or in
the middle of the session, i would need more hours than that. But if it happens later during the day, well if im done in a few hours... well the laptop battery and powerbank would be good enough. But say it happens early in the day or a bit later on... that is not enough.



I know if i buy another same powerbank, i would get another 2h30m to 3h at the absolute max on it. So that would make it 6h45m to 7h30m with the 2 powerbanks. That is good and usually more than enough.

Just go straight to a diesel generator

I read about UPS and how it powers your devices when there is power outage. Now i read they last for 8 minutes or 30 minutes at the absolute max but this is for desktops and monitors. But if i were to get a UPS... how long would it last for my laptop? Does it depend on my laptop battery such as the whr? Because surely it would give me more time than my powerbank? I would only connect the laptop to it and nothing else.



I checked the UPS online and there seem to be many of it and most cost around 100usd to 250usd. Such as i see some are 1000VA, others are 1500VA and some are 500VA only. I know the higher the better.


Can someone tell me how long a UPS would last for a laptop if i were to play poker and have holdem manager 2 running and good amount of tables? I mean if it could give me say 3 hours, thats pretty good but that would be like buying another powerbank? If it could give me 5 hours... then that is very good. Are there tournament players that have UPS backup in case of power outage. Now if you rarely have a power outage, well this isn't a big issue. Are there people with 2 of these or something in case? Obviously if you start a session and then get a power outage, you would then not reg any upcoming tournaments. But if you are already regged in a few or many, well if you go deep, well you want to make sure you have power till the end. Also you want to minimize your brightness on laptop and close chrome tabs and other programs etc which would lower your battery.



I read that UPS are for basically making your computer shut down correctly and saving your information. But its still good for continuing to use your laptop and play online poker right? Or is the powerbank what you should be using? I cannot find much information online about UPS for continuing to do something. Almost all of them say its for making sure you save your information.

PaulyJames200x,

The equipment that you need is going to be dependent on the power issues that you face.

UPS equipment is, broadly speaking, designed to cover short outages (ie, outages that last for seconds) and to allow you time to save whatever work you're working on, and shut down your equipment. That is, it will give you power for minutes.

Battery-powered equipment (eg, laptops and mobile phones) are designed to operate for long periods of time without mains electricity. That is, it will give you power for hours.


I don't know what the scope of your electricity problems are, but the most reliable solution to sustain playing for *hours* is a laptop that can connect to the internet through a mobile device (probably your phone).

A laptop that lasts only 1.5 hours of battery sounds like a very old or unusual laptop battery. A new laptop like a Dell XPS13 can be expected to operate for at least 6 hours without any problems.

Hi there. Well i googled generator... well i certain am not getting that.



Yes i read that is the purpose of a UPS. But i also read that is for desktop and monitors only. But why few information about laptop? Is it because it already has a battery and thats why they don't talk about it?



I have had lot of laptops previously. Every single laptop i got... it never came close to what it stated or advertised. New laptops i bought where it say 8 hours... im lucky to get 3 hours max even when new. This is when im web browsing only If it was playing... it would be 2.5 hours at absolute max. After a while the battery goes to 2 hours and less. Yes i know battery wears out... but its 3 hours new. When i played poker with hem2 on... i rarely got more than 2 or 2.5 hours. This was with laptops back then.



Well when the power goes out... my internet obviously goes out as well. However the strange thing is for some reason, my modem which is a router as well, many times it would work for a while before it stops working. I believe its because it has a battery inside that makes it last a bit before it stops working. But this isn't an issue because with my iphone, i can tether and use my iphone as a modem/router. Obviously after x amount of hours, i have to recharge my phone. But i have a powerbank for that which would charge it again so thats fine.



I got the laptop battery about 1.5 years ago to replace the old one. Even when i got laptop new... it last at max 2 hours on battery if playing with hem2. The thing is when im playing with holdem manager 2... its battery goes out faster than normal. So now its about 1.5 hours... this is with lowest battery setting and brightness 25 percent. I do have to say this battery is a 56whr one though. I know there are dell xps 15 batteries that are 97whr which would mean it last longer. My issue is my laptop does not support that battery... thus the 56whr is only 3 cell. The other one is 6 cell.



I have the xps 15 and not the xps 13. But when you say xps 13 last at least 6 hours, did you or do you have that laptop? They advertise much longer than 6 hours. But are you saying if you play 12+ tables with holdem manager 2 on battery, it will give you 6 hours? I find that a little hard to believe if thats true. If that is true, well that is pretty good. But that also mean lowest battery setting and brightness extremely low right? I cant imagine you get that many hours if brightness at max. Also i would close all my chrome windows etc.

So based on this information, what should i do? I do like my xps 15 laptop.. the issue is the battery life only. I mean a 3 cell battery isn't going to give you that much battery correct? That is the smallest cell battery. And of course if i didnt have power outages, none of this would be that big of a concern. So would getting a UPS be what i want here? I already have a powerbank. Would it be good idea to get another powerbank? However i probably cant get that now where im located. Should i get a UPS? The setup i have... with my battery and powerbank, i can get around 3h45 to 4h30m with my battery and powerbank and till my battery runs out.


Would getting a UPS make my laptop go another 5 hours? Also let say someone says the UPS makes your laptop go another 3 hours for example. Do they mean it powers it on for 3 hours before the UPS powers off? Then you still have that 1.5 hours on you laptop battery so getting that would mean 4.5 hours? Thus whatever is stated... you then add another x amount of hours your laptop gets on battery? Because if i get a UPS that last 3 hours while im using it and then runs out... then i get 4.5 hours. Then you add the 3h45m to 4h30m i get previously with my battery/powerbank. So now i get like 8-9h total? Would that be correct?


With 8-9h that certainly will be more than enough almost always unless it starts right in the beginning of a session or early on.

Yes, exactly. For your purposes, a laptop already has a backup power source (its battery) built-in.

It's difficult for me to talk much here about the specifics with you, 'cause I don't know what devices you're talking about, and I don't think you are using words as accurately as I would.

For example, a Dell XPS 15 (which you say you have) is routinely and publicly test by a bunch of different people and shows, depending on what you're doing, battery lives of over 4 hours (at least!).

Yes - this is exactly what I suggested above.

Wait - how old is your Dell XPS 15?

Yes - I am typing on it right now. I bought it 16 months ago (around Dec 2017/January 2018 if I remember it rightly).

I routinely get a full day's worth of work out of it - basically typing and web browsing.



Almost certainly not.
I don't believe anyone makes a UPS that does that.
Yes



You have two broad options:
a) Use less electricity. A modern Dell XPS 13 or a Macbook Pro will probably be more efficient. Some great options and reviews are here: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/th...ows-ultrabook/

b) Have more electricity stored. This will almost certainly be either a battery (you say "powerbank") or generator. A diesel generator with a surge protector is likely to be the most reliable option for what you describe, but certainly more messy.



PaulyJames200x,

I have visited the Manx Telecom data storage facility here in the Isle of Man, which hosts the PokerStars servers. While their baseload electricity is obviously far superior to what you have, they want to guarantee 100%, permanent, up-time for electricity. So this is their broad strategy which you can replicate to a certain extent:

a) Good, baseload, electricity, from two different external sources (you would only be able to get that by moving, I guess).

b) If (a) drops out, then their batteries automatically kick in for up to an hour or so.

c) As soon as (a) drops out, they start up their diesel generators. This can then run indefinitely.

If you do end up getting a new laptop, this gives some good advice on other options: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/be...iness-laptops/

They're likely to be more upgradeable and flexible for your needs.

Its about 2.5 years old. Also... the battery that comes along with it is a 56whr... which is only a 3 cell battery. Back when i bought the laptop, i was told to buy another quad core since i play a lot of tables and run Hem2. My previous laptop was quad core as well but stopped working so i had to get a new laptop. The xps 15... many others have the 84whr battery and that is because that one does not have a 2nd hard drive in it. My laptop has a 32gb hard drive in it as well... which i don't even use. I had no idea... that meant my battery was only 56whr... otherwise, i wouldnt have gotten this laptop.[/B]





Yes - I am typing on it right now. I bought it 16 months ago (around Dec 2017/January 2018 if I remember it rightly).

I routinely get a full day's worth of work out of it - basically typing and web browsing.


What about brightness? So web browse but how many chrome tabs? No videos or music? I honestly don't know how most ppl get this many hours on a laptop. I have had many laptops before this. Even when web browsing and youtube a lot... i mean continously... best i ever got was maybe over 3 hours and that was it. Brightness always set to max. Well when you get a full day... you aren't typing and using it always right? Such as you leave it idle for 10 minutes every hour at least?







You have two broad options:
a) Use less electricity. A modern Dell XPS 13 or a Macbook Pro will probably be more efficient. Some great options and reviews are here: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/th...ows-ultrabook/

b) Have more electricity stored. This will almost certainly be either a battery (you say "powerbank") or generator. A diesel generator with a surge protector is likely to be the most reliable option for what you describe, but certainly more messy.



Well i dont really want to get a new laptop. I dont want xps 13 because if power outage happens, that means i have to play on the tiny 13' screen... i don't like playing on the 15' screen already. A macbook pro... i would have to get a 15' and with a quad core processor, that would be really expensive.


I checked diesel generator. But those you can't keep inside though right? I read you are not suppose to keep these inside or use it inside. I would be inside my apartment so this is not going to work?


Well if i get a couple of more power banks, that would work. But you are against the idea of getting a UPS for this? The other thing is do you know if it uses lot of electricity? I also dont want my electric bill to get so high because of it as i read you are suppose to connect it always to the surge protector? I already have a surge protector i use where i connect monitor and everything to it. But if i use it for laptop, wouldn't i not have to since i charge the UPS once... then unplug it... and whenever i need to plug it into my laptop when power outage, i do that? Or is that not how it works?



PaulyJames200x,

I have visited the Manx Telecom data storage facility here in the Isle of Man, which hosts the PokerStars servers. While their baseload electricity is obviously far superior to what you have, they want to guarantee 100%, permanent, up-time for electricity. So this is their broad strategy which you can replicate to a certain extent:

a) Good, baseload, electricity, from two different external sources (you would only be able to get that by moving, I guess).

b) If (a) drops out, then their batteries automatically kick in for up to an hour or so.

c) As soon as (a) drops out, they start up their diesel generators. This can then run indefinitely.[/QUOTE]




Well other apartments in my area also have the same issue usually if its a power outage. Well if there is a huge power outage... most ppl in the city also do not have power. Its not like i could go to a starbucks and then use the power there to connect to my laptop. For one... it would hard to get a taxi or walk there because the storm is very strong and the wind is really strong etc. Happen lot here already.


Yea i was thinking... well if power goes out.. i use my laptop battery until it hits 5% Then i would connect to my powerbank. Use it while charging and then once it runs out of power.. use it on battery. But if electricity is still out... then i basically have to go and find a place with electricity which is not easy at all since there is almost always a storm when this happens. So i thought hey if i got a UPS... i just connect to it and get a few hours out of it. But you say thats not how it works?


So do you know how long a UPS would last for then? So basically a power bank is better than a UPS? Now if i had say 3 powerbanks... that would certainly be more than good enough on most occasions.

I looked at that site where there is that lenovo thinkpad 480 which offers a ridiculous laptop battery. Now obviously it doesn't get anywhere close to that... but isn't the other issue its not a quad core computer though so it could lag with hem2 and tables?


The other thing is that laptop... the battery is like removable. So if you running out of battery, you could take out the battery and put in your backup battery. That seems pretty neat. But the processor isn't that strong don't you agree?

Pauly,

Just get more powerbanks.

Hi there. I just read about inverters. And these do not seem to be like generators. Would that work?


So basically because im inside my apartment, the only options are only powerbanks? So UPS would work... but its not for this purpose? Thus using it could cause damage to laptop or something?


I'm confused why a UPS wouldn't be a solution for this as its easier for me to get one right now.

A UPS might generally give you electrical power for a few minutes. They are not designed to be used as a long-term battery, compared to, for example, a battery.

Do you have a specific model in mind?

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/4...lp-me-1621229/

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/4...l#post49609179

Haha, this discussion from three years ago is perfectly suited to your needs, PaulyJames200x.

What's the point of having a backup battery if there's a power outage, in terms of poker? I mean, power outages affect normal internet connectivity, as well.

It depends. A lot of internet equipment has their own UPS systems and it’s very likely even in event of power outage, the internet signal will keep going.

During Hurricane Sandy for example, even when power went out in my part of town, with UPS, I stayed online.