PSPUpdates Power Reviews

July 15, 2005

We have recently received some items for a review by Hong Kong company Lik-Sang. The items are called the “Powerstation,” by Gametop and a “Large Capacity Battery Pack with Cliphook.” (Manufacturer Unknown.)

The first thing I noticed was the packaging. The packaging was made the usual way by people who put more emphasis on the super-tough plastic packaging than the products themselves. With some tools I found lying around I decided to try and open them.

After an hour of struggling to crack open the super-tough plastic, i managed to break the contents free from their clear prison. This is how they would look if they were actually IN the packaging.

So let’s get started with the Powerstation.

On the box, the Powerstation boasts the following:

– 6 Hours fully charged the power station.
– 3 Hours fully charged your PSP.
– 2 Times the playing time of your PSP original battery.

The Powerstation is roughly a 4 inch by 1/2 inch square (10cm x 1.2 cm). It comes with a 56 inch (4 ft 8 inches or 1.4 meters) cable to plug into your PSP. Upon plugging it into my PSP it passed my “wiggle and pull” test to see if it would come loose easy from my pro-style gaming, which it did not. It stayed in there firm like our anti-piracy stance.

I then proceeded to put it in my pocket, figuring thats where most people would probably want to put it when they use it. It fit easily and was not uncomfortable, the only thing i noticed was that the cable was rather long. This is good for being able to pass your PSP to your friends (but why would you want to do that?) otherwise I’d rather stuff the extra wire in my pocket too. But with most electrical products I think it better to have the extra wire just in case (if it’s in your backpack etc.)

There is a charging port located on the top of the unit so you can recharge it very easily. My one problem with it is that there is no indication anywhere as to whether it’s fully charged or not, so I just put it on the charger and went to sleep.

The thing that confuses me is their claim on the PSP’s battery life of 3 hours. With my PSP on a full charge it goes from 3 hours 30 minutes, and after a few seconds it reads 5 hours 30 minutes. I’m not sure why it fluctuates, but it does!

So let’s say their claim on 3 hours is true for the PSP. The PSP’s battery rates at 1800 mAh, while the Powerstation’s is 3800 mAh. Doing some complicated math that’s 2000 more mAh than the original battery which is more than double the stock battery capacity that Sony ships.

It was very hard to try and test its lifespan since I don’t have 3 to 5 hours of time to use draining my battery. Furthermore, when you plug it into your PSP it reads as ‘Charging.’ I then thought to myself “I know! I’ll take the battery out, then I’ll know how much power it has!” Which I did. Upon going to check the battery life, all it read was ‘External.’ No numbers or anything, just that.

I think this product does have the power it claims, but I’ll need to play some 333Mhz emulators to drain my battery first.
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Onto the “Large Capacity Battery Pack With Cliphook.” Whew, I think they need to rename it to something shorter like LCBPC which I will refer to it as from now on.

At first I was skeptical about this product because I thought it looked a bit dorky, but after playing with it some it really wasn’t that bad. The specifications on the box for this product are:

– Size: 79x63x31mm (3 x 2.4 x 1.2 inches)
– Capacity: 1800 mAh (same as stock Sony battery)
– Work voltage: 4.7V
– Work temperature: 10c – 40c (50 – 104 degrees Fahrenheit)
– Battery: Lithium rechargeable

The installation wasn’t too hard, simply put the hooks in the holes on the top f your PSP, and press the bottom hooks to latch over the metallic silver chassis on the bottom of your PSP.

The wire for this unit is the perfect length needed and fits incredibly snug, no need to worry about it coming loose. This unit also has a very ergonomic feel, and I thought the PSP to be more comfortable with it on as you get more full-controller feel.

This product is nice in that it has an on/off switch built on it with a nifty green LED to let you know if it’s powered on too. The charging port is also clearly marked if you can’t figure out where to plug in your charger.

Like the powerstation, this unit is also nearly impossible to tell its battery life it contains since it is from an external source. I tried the same techniques to get a time estimate with no avail.

My main complaint with this product is its removal. They make it so easy to put on, but fail to mention you need some fingernails and a bit of strength to pry it free. I learned the hard way and tried to take it off starting at the top hooks, only to have the bottom hooks catch on my UMD drive bay. Lucky for me the drive bay wasn’t ripped off with it. So if you get this be sure to start taking it off from the bottom.

Overall the LCBPC is a good product, I really like the more full feel it adds to the PSP. However it also adds the weight equivalent to another battery so you may need to work out some to use this if your PSP is already a bit on the heavy side.

Final thoughts. I really like both of these products and wish I could keep them for myself. These would come in handy during any long term travel or if you keep forgetting to recharge your PSP.

Things I wish included on the Powerstation would be some form of charge indicator, you really cannot tell how much charge is in it or even if it’s fully charged. The wire length has its ups and downs, but I think its better to be on the safe side with a longer wire. An on/off switch would also be nice instead of always on, but hey I guess you wouldn’t plug it in unless you needed it. The 3800mAh is also very nice, which *should* make it last longer than the LCBPC and the stock Sony battery.

The LCBPC actually turned out to be better than my first impressions were. It has an LED indicator on it and a handy on/off switch. The weight takes some time to get used to, but the ergonomics more than make up for it. It would be nice for a larger charge than 2800mAh, but would also be a bit on the large side.

If you’re looking to buy a backup battery and don’t want a seperate internal battery to keep charged, I’d recommend either of these products according to your taste. I really do like the feel the LCBPC has, but also like the Powerstation’s long external wire. They both can be charged individually which is nice, eliminating the pain of charging internal batteries separately. Either product in my opinion would be a nice grab. (If whoever wins either item and doesn’t want it, let me know please =)

So in conclusion I would give the Powerstation a 6.5 on the PSP-Scale. I would still love to own one, but it is lacking a charge indicator and a switch. Although not necessary for either, they are nice to have.

Although the Powerstation does have more punch, I do like the Large Capacity Battery Pack with Cliphook more in some aspects. I like the way my PSP feels with it on, despite the added weight. I like how it also has a switch and an LED as well. I’m going to have to give this one a 7.0.

They are both great products, but nothing that really wowed me as far as uniqueness goes, and I would say that I’d like to get either of these for myself..Even though it won’t be free =(

– Dan

If you are interested in purchasing either of these products, you can get them from Lik-Sang.com [here].

You can discuss it in our forums [here].