Dc Ac Inverters For Keeping Lap Tops Alive On The Road ?

[discopotato03]

I was having a read through the K Mon thread and it seems people like Guilt Toy and a few others are a step ahead with "reliable" power supplies for Lap Tops .

Just today I was looking at inverters at my local Jaycar outlet and they carry two kinds of Digitech units in a range of outputs ie 150/300/400w - thats the modified sine wave type , and 150/380w etc in the pure sine wave type .

I gather the pure sine wave type is better but I'm not sure which wattage level is the go and what 240AC devices that say the 380w one could run .

Also I'd like to know more about the 12v 12v power pack device as well .

Cheers and thanks , A .

[paulr33]

ive got a $20 ebay ciggy converter for mine

works fine

[TiTAN]

If your laptop is has a common power plug on it (ie not the dell square connector) you are better off getting a 12v converter that just plugs into the cigarette lighter as you will generally find they are cheaper than getting a decent 12v > 240v inverter that wont introduce lots of signal noise. Check out the jaycar ones as they offer a few different options at fairly good prices.

[Guilt-Toy]

i have a cheap $70 150w in my car.. works good for my tune laptop, it wont run my home laptop, has a 17" screen tho.. 2 x hdd's etc etc.

[discopotato03]

My lap tops AC adapter "brick" (67x36x165) reckons its output is 20V 5a and it gets very warm .

Is a 12v 12v gasper adapter going to run this thing ?

Actually I've just checked out the AC adapters on the other two LT's in this joint and they are 19v 3.5a and 15v 2a . ? .

Yeah the pure sine wave Digitech 380w rated 240v AC inverter is ~ $240 .

What else would it be able to feed - 380 watt ?

Cheers A .

[Adriano]

I use the 150w digitech without drama. $48

[discopotato03]

Just back from Jaycar again , they can't supply a DC DC adapter to feed this lap top 5 amps . Up to 3.5 amps only .

They suggest that I see Hardley Normals and their best offering was a white AC and DC fed charger - for $199 ...

No chance .

Any ideas ?

[CHA54]

I was lucky enough to score a Dell Travel Adapter from a mate for my tuning notebook, works great with the Latitude D620

[TiTAN]

they must have discontinued them, they used to sell a 5.5/6A dc > dc power supply.

[mitchy_]

I use the 150w digitech without drama. $48

i bought the same one, my lappy seems to disagree with it though.

the converter only turns on for short "bursts" once every 5 seconds or so...

[tridentt150v]

You have to remember that you are talking about peak power, power usage depends on CPU usage rate, your laptop won't use 5.5 amps continuously. Things like burning CD/DVD, huge data set manipulation etc will have a high power usage. We use 150 watts units for work all the time and they never run out. I can plug my dead flat laptop in, boot it up, and use it to download big [but simple] data files from loggers [try a weather station with approx 10 parameters logged every 10 minutes for two months] and it does it easily.

I'm with Adriano and co, you will be fine with the $48 special.

[discopotato03]

I'll see if Jaycar still do that 5.5 - 6a DC power supply , fella may not have known about them if he's new or was not in stock .

All this BS is over using a dated lap top with a serial port and it only wants to work on battery power and the Datalogit few a few moments - no matter how long it's charged for .

It can play a DVD movie for nearly 40 min on battery power but caves in very quickly with the Datalogit .

Am I to assume that the Datalogit has high power demands through its serial port or is it some other weird electronic glitch ? This is using the Datalogit with the supplied USB serial converter BTW ...

Yes I can hear the thoughts - why is he bothering with serial ports and not using them ?

If that USB converter dies (and they can at times) your stuffed if you don't have the RS232 serial port .

Cheers A .

[tridentt150v]

Disco, with that sort of power drain, I'd be thinking that the laptop is also using the RS232 looking for a printer at the same time, burning up power trying, so you get conflicting issues. If you do use the USB is the power usage better? I'd have to say would be.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

go a pure signwave.

i have the modified type in my car an mhen i play my gamecube there is fair amount of "noise" on the screen

[discopotato03]

All I have used is the supplied USB/serial converter cable so far meaning USB at the lap top end .

I've stuck the missuses Toshiba 3.95a / AC power adapter into this thing to see what will happen - sky didn't fall in so cig powered 3.5a DC adapter should work ok provided the cars socket still works .

BTW I was thinking of using the socket to power the Tech Edge WB02 , is the socket going to carry it and lap top or do I really need a dedicated power supply ?

Cheers and thanks , A .

[discopotato03]

Problem solved , Jaycar DO still sell a higher powered DC auto lap top power adapter .

It's called a Power Tech Plus MP-3472 Auto Lap top Power Supply 150w .

It lets you select 15 or 16V 8.5a regulated - 18 or 19V 8a regulated - 20v 7.5a regulated - 22V 6.5a regulated - 24V 6a regulated - 150w max . Damage is $59.99 .

It's socket plug has a 15a blade fuse in it and the kit includes 9 different replaceable plugs to fit various lap tops power sockets inc a weird looking Hewlet Packard one .

Will give it a go tomorrow , cheers A .