ASUS integrates a UPS and external battery pack in one of their desktop tower PCs

Article

ASUS intros the Desktop PC G10, packing a built-in UPS and portable battery (hands-on video) | Engadget

Video

Click to view

My Comments

The classic “tower-style” desktop PC could be considered to be losing its market share amongst users other than small businesses and hardcore computer gamers as the laptops and all-in-one desktops gain hold amongst the mainstream PC buyers.

But ASUS have worked on a way to take things further for this class of computer. Typically, a computer like this that is involved in mission-critical work may be hooked up to an external uninterruptable power supply to allow users to properly shut these units down, or to provide continual service when the power goes out. Typically these devices are a loaf-size box that has to reside near the computer and can look very ugly.

Here, ASUS have provided a removable battery pack which doubles as a uninterruptable power supply for the computer or as an external battery pack for a smartphone or tablet. When it is installed in the computer, this pack will charge up and stay charged while the computer is on AC power but will provide half-an-hour’s worth of power to allow you to shut down the computer properly when the AC power is removed. But you can remove the battery pack and use that to run your battery-thirsty smartphone for longer by plugging its USB cable in to one of the USB sockets on the edge of that pack.

This is definitely one way ASUS have thought beyond the norm when it comes to power-supply design and I would like to see this design concept be taken further such as an aftermarket add-on for existing “tower” desktops or with higher-capacity batteries available for this setup.

Leave a Reply