I don't really have a question; I'm just thinking out loud here. I'm looking to upgrade my home brew portable battery box, used for QRP radio in the field and other assorted DC power needs. The upgrade I want to do would cost about $175.00 using Bioenno products. This would give me a 12 aH lithium battery and a solar controller. I would be reusing the solar panel and other stuff I already have. My conflict is that for about $30 more I can get the Bioenno power pack. The 10 AH battery, controller, everything, is done for me. It's laid out in a really nice, well planned package and includes a built-in inverter and a USB port, neither of which are on my current box. The battery is 2 aH smaller than the one in my home-brew proposal, not a big deal. I can live without the inverter but it is a nice perk, even if it's one of the less desirable modified sine wave types. A lot of my gear is home built, and I really enjoy the DIY experience vs. just buying a plug-and-play device. But it almost feels like a waste of money to upgrade my existing power box when for a few bucks more I can get a factory-made version that is much nicer and has more features.
Given the whole shooting match isn't much larger than a 9 ah SLA battery and weighs less...why not? Sure, it's more expensive (than SLA), but battery life is far superior.
