American Power Conversion broke away from the stodgy beige box school of design a couple years back with an external iPod battery in glossy piano black that was a perfect match for the iPod itself. Now APC has extended its style and capacity reach upwards with a universal notebook battery that auto-senses the voltage of the connected laptop. There are also two USB jacks that provide external power for a phone or iPod, fixed at the standard 5 volts. The two auto-sensing models provide 90 watt-hours (UPB90, $225 direct) and 70 watt-hours (UPB70, $135), respectively. How much is 90 watt-hours? For most notebook computers, that's a nonstop flight across the Atlantic and maybe the Pacific. To compare, pop your laptop's current battery and multiply the voltage times the amp-hour rating (1700mAh would be 1.7Ah) and the result is watt-hours. If you have a 50 watt-hour battery (not unusual), the UPB90 would almost triple your compute time including the power of the laptop battery.

Cool, yes? Sort of. The new APC batteries are finished in rubberized black in the shape of ultra-thin laptop, 12-by-10-by-0.7 inches with a glossy black inset that houses an LED status indicator (inset in the photo). But the UPB90 weighs in at 2.5 pounds and you have to carry a connecting cord and two adapters (and make sure the adapters don't get yanked off, or you're hosed). The power cord has three connections: laptop transformer, battery, and laptop. It's charged by your laptop transformer. Universal batteries make a lot of sense for business travelers who may be away from a power cord for extended periods (not every transoceanic flight has power at every seat), for a weekend in a backwoods cabin with no power (you could, of course, go cold turkey and leave your laptop behind), or if you're worried about a power failure at home. The same device works with multiple laptops (not at the same time) and the unit includes tips for the most common laptops. APC also makes an earlier line of batteries where you have the dial in the voltage your laptop uses (UPB50, UPB60, UPB80).