Running the Lap top

Howdy, from experience, I have found the cheapest, most efficient and least complicated method is to purchase a power supply to plug into car cig. lighter output. Readily available from Jaycar, Dick Smith etc. Make sure you match the voltage requirements of the laptop to the output of the power supply. Finally, make sure the polarity of the input plug (to the laptop) matches the correct polarity requirements as indicated. You'll probably cause terminal problems if it is not correct. Good luck.

Depending on the brand there is probably a specific power adaptor for your laptop. It might be a bit more than the ones in the post above but it will ensure your warranty is not void if anythign happens.

My computer is a DELL and i just purchased the 12 volt adapaptor from DELL. At $89 i thought it was expensive unitl i realised it replaced the existing 240 volt power supply as it runs off that, also runs off 12 volt and also has an adaptor so it can plug into aeroplanes with power, whcih some now have.

For me who travels on planes etc a lot and always carries a spare adptor it was very good value.

Mark

Got a modified sine wave inverter on ebay for $74 delivered, seems to run the laptop fine, mean't i didn't need an adaptor, another phone charger and can do a number of other things now too if I wanted to, such as run an x-box......

What is the issue with Modified sine wave inverters? I know the others are dearer and there is a difference, not sure what it is.....
NickR

Most laptop supplies are electronic ("switchmode") rather than an older style transformer type. Some require a good sine wave AC supply to operate properly. In many cases, even if the supply works it will run hotter using a modified sine (rather than a pure sine) inverter. You are unlikely to do damage to the computer but the supply may suffer.

The most efficient method (power-wise) is as others have said is to use a 12v adapter. Apart from the obvious things to watch like voltage and polarity, some of the cheaper units will only supply 2A. This is still ok (I built my own 2A max supply) as long as you start with a charged laptop battery as 2A isn't enough to run and recharage a battery at the same time.

I've found the most efficient way to run the laptop wrt the camper batteries is to charge it whilst driving and then run it on its own batteries when stationary. With an inverter or a bigger 12v supply you could be drawing up to 4 or 5 amps so a couple of hours will have some impact.

Under no circumstances run it straight off the generator unless it supplies a well filtered 240v output (only the expensive ones approach this).

Sorry about adding to the jargon - in many cases you can ignore it all and everything works!

Adrian

get JAYCARS latest book/brochure it explaines all good stuff (electrical) in 'laymens' terms.

I used a 12V power supply from Jaycar, and during one trip it caught fire. Now I have an inverter that runs the laptop as well as my mobile phone charger and rechargeable battery pack charger for the camera. Not certain what type of inverter, but it's probably the modifed sine wave type. I reckoned that if my 240V gear could survive dirty Outback power supplies, it could cope with either type of inverter.
Just my 1.8 cents worth
John

Have just returned home from 4 1/2 months on road we used a cig plug adaptor from jaycar to power up the laptop no worries for us, also used a minimax from telstra for internet service, works on CDMA network bit expensive, however good were ever your CDMA phones, work very good means of comunication.

Good Luck with it Tony

Thanks Everyone ! It is a little clearer to me now, I have a few choices & will investigate further.