Personally, I've played more Fast RMX than BOTW. Can't shake the feeling that BOTW is vastly empty compared to Horizon Zero Dawn. Kept drawing parallels between the two games and I'm engrossed more with HZD than BOTW. It doesn't help that I finished HZD right before I got my Switch and every time I look at BOTW I get reminded of HZD, and BOTW's open world is much more barren and empty compared to HZD.

Hence why I'm not spending much time in BOTW at he moment: I need to shake off that BOTW barren feeling and "forget" my HZD's experience so that when I finally take a dive into BOTW much later, I can accept the game for what it is. No offense, they're both good in their own ways, but both being so close to each other, and playing one after the other automatically makes drawing parallels against them inevitable.

In the case of Fast RMX, I've not played F-Zero GX or Wipeout Pulse/2046/XL in a long time, hence the enjoyment. I do have tested F-Zero GX on Dolphin emulator and it looks ultra gorgeous in 4K.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 12 2017, 09:41 PM

Downloading. The Testfire isn't starting until much later on March 24th.

That "hang" was speculated to be Nintendo activating playlogging on your profile in your Switch. Those who have bought their Switch on release day (3rd March) got their playlog activated in their profile in their Switches after the 7th day of playing (the activation goes in batches). Previously, you can only use the Parental Control app on your phone to view it, and it's not accurate on that app.

2 maps for the Global Testfire.

No it's not. Airlines restriction on powerbanks or open-carry-on-persons is 100Wh. Converting 30,000mAh with maximum 3V to watthour is 90Wh. https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headqu...d_batteries.pdf

Which is why you see most powerbanks tops out at 30000-32000mAh. With airline's approval, you can even carry up to 160Wh batteries. Only condition is, hand carry only, no checked in luggages. No batteries, even the smallest dry cell ones are not allowed to be checked in. It's easier to deal with visible fire in the cabin than out of sight slow-burning ones in the cargo hold.

From IATA DGR table:

http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Doc...ium-battery.pdf



Still says 100Wh with provisions for 160Wh allowed for carry-on.

Made a mistake about the calculation earlier. The actual mAh capacity of a powerbank is smaller because the 3.7 V voltage of its battery has to be boosted to 5 V (the accepted voltage supply used to charged its internal 3.7 battery cells inside the powerbank), and this results in about 10% loss from power efficiency conversion.

Redoing the calculation I mentioned earlier, assuming the airport ground staff is competent about this info, and not simply taking the voltage rating from the powerbank (since now with USB PD allowing voltage up to 20V with lowered amperage):-

3.7V at 30000mah = 111Wh. Or if the airline is stubborn about it, taking 5V at 30000mah without factoring the 3.7V-to-5V conversion efficiency loss, 150Wh. Which is still within the 160Wh IATA limitation. And if we are agreeing with either the IATA or that FAA link I posted earlier, up to 2 powerbanks are allowed to be carried on said person with up to 160Wh. I've seen cases of incompetent (or play it safe, or just plain ignorant) ground staff not accepting anything beyond 100Wh, just because 100Wh is a "good round number". Or they start waving the "company policy" manual of their airlines, and pull up any numbers they want instead of that IATA limitation. In the end, even when they were proven wrong, the airline rep is still the "decision maker" who decides who and what's allowed and what isn't. The passenger usually the one who relents first instead, because hey, who wants to miss their flights arguing with them?

P/S:

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 17 2017, 06:33 AM

I corrected myself, see my subsequent post after that. Up to 160Wh and maximum two, so you can technically carry 320Wh, so you're fine.

Two piece of the three-piece puzzle completed. Benson Leung approved USB-C cable and USB-PD charger, to charge the last remaining piece of device left missing in this picture: the powerbank. Picking up that powerbank tonight. That Aukey 30000mAh will be replaced, has been the workhorse charging all the portable devices carried out all this while, will continue to do so unless I need USD-PD.

If that happens, it's because your Switch Joycon rail stoppers has turned loose. Reddit post about this, regarding rough treatment of Joycon straps with the Joycons while taking them off.

http://imgur.com/a/dqwoH

https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/com...n_be_caused_by/

Got my coveted powerbank, will reveal the model name soon, but the result is fantastic, I'm beyond ecstatic! Charges the Switch, WHILE playing Zelda, At maximum brightness, at maximum volume, with the game's low health warning beeping constantly, in a grass-filled area fully animated blowing in the wind ...... and it charges 11% in 22 minutes. Reconfirming the standard USB-A-to-USB-C 5V 2.4A charge rate, but from impressions I read, charging via USB-A standard port is 1% every 6 seconds, and THAT is with the Switch in sleep mode! This powerbank I'm testing charges the Switch, WHILE playing Zelda at graphically intense scene, maximum brightness (turn off auto sleep mode), at maximum volume, and still charges at 1% every 2 minutes (11% at 22 minutes)! Really makes the effort getting this worthwhile.

There is also a "quirk" getting USB-PD to work with the Switch. If you don't do this, it will not draw the maximum charge it can via the Power Delivery profile and will instead charge at the standard USB port rate of 5V at 0.9A, the standard charging draw via your PC USB USB3.0 port. That's even slower than your 5V 2.4A charging rate from typical powerbanks. Your Switch defaults to the lowest current draw to avoid overcurrent charging and damaging your Switch if it can't determine the PD profile status of your PD charger.

Will post findings and that "quirk" soon. Current discharging my Switch so that I can monitor the rate of charge from USB-A and USB-C with PD. Discharging the Switch is easy: I plugged it USB-C-to-USB-C to my Nexus 6P, and the Switch now works as a battery now charging the Nexus 6P. Bidirectional charging.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 18 2017, 03:02 AM

Here we go.

This is the powerbank I received today, that I reckon after research and info-gathering for the past two weeks, closely matches my need of "quick-charging my Switch at maximum brightness maximum volume while playing Zelda BOTW", rather than either "maintaining charge while playing Zelda at maximum brightness maximum volume" or "trickle charging the Switch while playing Zelda BOTW at maximum brightness maximum volume". While it's entirely possible to charge the Switch using commonly available standards 5V 2.4A powerbanks adequately while in sleep mode, my routine dictates that I need the Switch charging while playing, I have this horrible habit of playing games for long hours without much pause or stopping. This habit requires a portable charger fast enough to fill the Switch battery to counter the battery drain while playing graphically intensive games like Zelda BOTW and Fast RMX.

The Xiaomi ZMI QB820. https://xiaomi-mi.com/news-and-actions/in-t...vyweight-champ/



This powerbank supports USB-PD Profile 2.0, with rapid charge capability on varying charging profiles of 5V 2.4A, 9V 2A 12V 1.5 А on its two USB-Type A ports, and a slew of USB-PD charging profiles that I will list down later. The powerbank also a USB hub, you can connect USB devices on its USB-Type A ports, shown below working as a USB hub connecting the laptop to a mouse and thumb drive, while charging the same laptop it is connected to via its USB-C PD port.



But since we're interested with how this performs charging-wise with the Switch, we need to take a look at its USB-PD charging capabilities. This analysis is done rather in depth by MyDrivers.com website here, you need to plug that into Google Translate to get a translation of the article. The USB-PD charging profiles we're interested in are:


5V 3A


9V 3A


12V 3A


15V 2.6A which incidentally is what the official Nintendo AC adapter gives your Switch while docked!


20V 2A which is what you reportedly can trickle-charge a 2016 MacBook Pro (No Touchbar) via USB-C in a pinch.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 19 2017, 02:36 PM

And now, my charging results. Bear in mind, these are totally unscientific, it's based on how fast I can charge the Switch via the USB-C PD port compared to charging it via the USB-A port delivering a 5V 2.4A charge.

Here are the ingredients:



The Xiaomi ZMI QB820 powerbank, the Nexus 6P, the USB-C to USB-C Apple cable approved by Benson Leung and Nathan K (model number MLL82AM/A (A1739), and the Switch itself.

What I did was discharge the Switch's internal battery, by connecting it to the Nexus 6P. The Switch now acts as a battery for the Nexus, with this notification coming up on the Nexus 6P.



The Switch was fresh out of the dock, at 100%. Drained its battery to 90%, but as I unplugged the Nexus 6P away from the Switch, the percentage drops to 89%, so I took it as 11% for the calculation later.

I then ran this scene in Zelda BOTW, with grass billowing in the wind, and Link's constantly beeping health warning and ambient music in the background. The display was set at maximum brightness and audio cranked up to maximum volume as well.



The Switch is then plugged into the USB-C PD port on the ZMI QB820 powerbank, and I started the timer on the Nexus 6P to measure the time it takes for the the powerbank to charge the Switch in this condition (max brightness, max volume, graphics intensive scene in Zelda BOTW with constant health warning beeping and ambient background music) to charge to 100% back again. It completed the full charge at 22 minutes 43 seconds. That's roughly 1% every 2 minutes.

From the article posted during the early days of Switch release and powerbank tests done with USB-A ports on regular powerbanks, it was stated that standard 5V 3A powerbank used in this article by ArsTechnica only able to trickle-charge 1% every 6 minutes under unknown play condition (volume and/or brightness at what level, playing what game, and at which section of that game in?). This already beats expectation, but I had to do my own digging to be sure, so I tested it again, draining it again to 89% (for parity), and this time, charging it via the the QB820's 5V 2.4A USB-A port. After the same time (22 minutes 43 seconds) have elapse, it barely able to charge the Switch up to 91% from its previous 89%, a.k.a 2% within that span of 22 minutes.

Charging the Switch via third party USB-PD device has one quirk. You NEED to turn off your Switch, plug in your USB-C cable to the Switch, turn on your powerbank/external wall charger, before the Switch can negotiate a higher charging draw from the device that is charging it. I had previously plugged the Switch to the QB820 powerbank and the Tronsmart U5P USB-PD wall charger, and I did not get any "charging notification" at all and the Switch eventually slowly drains. I suspect the Switch did not recognise the USB-PD device that is attempting to charge it, and as such, only releases the safest charging profile available (I reckon it's 5V 0.9A charge profile, the default USB3.0 charge via PC USB port), which is too low to be recognised as a charge or fail to charge completely. Remember, reboot your Switch, plug in your third party USB-PD charger/powerbank.

These are the chain of devices that I currently have to make my Switch-playing time uninterruptible. Or, you can just carry the official Nintendo AC adapter with you and be done with.






The QB820, despite it carrying the Xiaomi's name associating itself mostly with being "affordable or cheap", feels the opposite of that. The outer shell is cold to the touch, confirming its metal escapsulating outer shell construction. Has 4 dots on the side to denote charge level left. And with the USB-PD Tronsmart U5P wall charger, I'm charging it rapidly as well. 20,000mAh in the size of a Nexus 6P. The only way this powerbank can be any more perfect is with more charge capacity. The powerbank itself doubles as a USB Hub when connected via USB-C, I don't know what other powerbank with USB-PD capable of charging a low power laptop that can do that!

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for any blown Switches or any bodily harm that happens should you choose to emulate my setup here. I wish someone more knowledgable than me like Benson Leung or Nathan K can verify this setup as safe to use.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 18 2017, 05:01 AM

None that I know of. Banggood.com have them, but they dont ship here.

Singapore Carousell. I had it shipped to a friend in Singapore who was coming up to KL. Seller tried shipping it up to KL direct to my address, but denied by Singpost.

The powerbank is relatively new. The serial number sticker at the back of the box of mine and that review linked both coincided with how new it was: released January 2017.

What charger are you pairing this powerbank with? Standard USB-A wall chargers are slow and USB-C PD ones are rare and hard to find. Are you getting a suitable charger to go with your preorder?

The problematic WiFi strength can also be fixed if you change WiFi channel to anything lower than 100. I've problems previously connecting my Switch to my AC router, and was able to connect only to the 2.4Ghz SSID, 5Ghz SSID was intermittent. After changing the 5Ghz SSID was detected easily.

It's a tradeoff, 2.4Ghz has wider range but don't go through physical obstructions, 5Ghz does go through walls but shorter range.

The more immediate pressing problem is the download throughput. Even on 5Ghz WiFi AC SSID, I'm only getting maximum HALF of my total bandwidth. Even after placing the Switch IP range in the DMZ. But not complaining, I can online multiplayer and game even on the paltry 8Mbps line on my portable MiFi whenever I'm walking around, so that's an improvement over what my previous experience was playing online on PS Vita.

Another chance of testing out the QB820 powerbank in the wild today: going out to Amcorp Mall to sell a few things and playing the Switch charged with the QB820. Lets see if the Switch can last the whole day today until midnight. Need to catch up on BOTW anyway, been putting BOTW on the backlog since I can't shake the feeling of its similarity(and inferiority to a certain extent, in my opinion) with HZD.

Something I need to try later. See if this powerbank can actually be used instead of the official AC charger on the dock as an alternative power source. If indeed it does, at what power profile? Can a standard powerbank with 5V2.4A power the dock?

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 19 2017, 03:33 PM

Play anywhere. Play everywhere.

Coffee, Switch and chill. And battery never less than 100% with the QB820.

Then don't use the stand, keep the JoyCons connected, handheld config. Or do you drink coffee in the toilet also?

A solution for a problem that didn't exist. Well done!

Ask Apple. They didn't make shorter cables. Other third party cables nobody keeps stock locally. Plus, shorter cables means harder to maneuver and route the cable around the stand.

11:07pm. Time to make a move back home. *will still continue BOTW at home though. *


Still 100%. Been 100% battery since 8pm earlier on. Quick charge. Powerful charge. <3 QB820!

Going back home to test the "QB820 as replacement dock power source" theory.