Thread: DC-DC or Inverter for Laptop?

search string:

"power laptop"

in the newbie forum. First result:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/newb...questions.html

third result:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/newb...er-laptop.html

search string:

"power laptop"

in the power supply forum. second result:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/powe...wake-link.html

Originally Posted by jwlionking

Trust me, I understand the importance of keeping forums clear of repetitive questions.

Uh huh....

However, Just curious, did you research the true issue before you posted? I did.

I don't really need to. I've been hanging around here long enough to know what information is and is not in the FAQs, as well as in other areas of the forum.
I know what has been discussed and hasn't been discussed. If I were the statistical type, I'd pull numbers for topics of discussions and put them on pretty charts and graphs to display. Fortunately for you (and probably everyone els), I'm not that sort.

Why do I know what is discussed over and over again? I actually read the forums. Nothing major. I'm no better than anyone. I don't have any insider knowledge or super powers. I simply pay attention.

To recap:
The OP wants to know if it's better to use an inverter with his laptop-based setup or a DC-Dc power supply (car adapter). The overwhelming majority will say DC-Dc power, as it doesn't do the double-coversion from DC to AC and back to DC. There is also less risk of noise being introduced into audio and video signal. Also, inverters that are not pure sine wave inverters generaly don't play nice with laptop batteries.

I don't need to search the forums to know this. Why? I've read and answered the same questions over and over again. Just like crtamming for an exam, the information has been beaten into my brain, like it or not.

Ok, I will spell this out for you two. You pointed to the FAQ. Nothing specific there. You gave references to other areas in your comeback replys.'

Honestly, you two have been around a long time and have a lot of knowledge. Number one, don't judge someone by a number on a vbulletin forum. That doesn't account for their experience.

I have a feeling you two are getting jaded. Maybe you should sit back and think about what this forum is all about because you two are pushing it away and also making some of us think poorly about the retail site mp3car.com since you two are representatives.

For example these are right in the Forum rules:

Super Moderators

The Super Moderators do their best to maintain order and civility on the forums. They are all long-time members of the mp3car.com forums and were chosen because of their fairness and objectivity, as well as their general knowledge about the hobby, which is often put to use assisting other, newer members.

These forums exist as a community of hobbiests helping hobbiests, but also as a resource for other individuals to gain information about how to implement CarPCs in their business model.

How are you instilling this by scolding new people to the hobby and attempting to show the rest of the group your authority and experience?

All that effort and work you put into trying to prove a point to me is what we need for the new guys on the block.

How come you didn't do this for rosscarlson or the others you rebuke?

Please, in all sincerity, think about this.

jwlionking - I'm sorry you feel the way you do. It's apparent that you have your views of the way others should act.

I would encourage you to take note that many times, newbies are provided with the information they requested, it's just not in the manner they probably hoped for. As a result, harsh responses ensue. No one deserves to be talked to in that manner, not an employee, not a newbie, and not a forum regular. It's a matter of mutual respect.

I provided the OP with the direction to help him find the solution he was looking for. Rather than politely state that he did not find the information he was looking for, he decided to react in the manner he did.

Different people have different views about what it means to assist others.

To many people on these forums, assisting other members means pointing them in the direction to find the information they requested. To other members, it means spoon feeding the information.

You cannot sit back and tell us that you believe one way is right while the other is wrong.

Pointing a member to the area where they can find the answer they are looking for IS being helpful.

As has been discussed many times on this forum, spoon feeding, while helpful initially, has proven to be detrimental to newbies learning experiences.

This is because they do not learn along the way. Many times, in searching for answers to questions, one will find other solutions that might not have been prevalent before. They might also stumble across another idea or an answer to a question they didn't even know they would have yet.

While this hobby is not extremely difficult, it is fairly technical. As such, an individual looking to build and install their own CarPC solution, needs to use technical research skills to fully understand what they are doing and how they should go about tackling this project.

I have helped a few newbies by doing as you clearly want us to do. One such newbie is now on his 3rd motherboard and 3rd power supply, all because he didn't bother researching the products he was purchasing or how to properly install them. It is simply impossible to hold an individuals hand through this entire process as there are too many variables. These variables are not fully realized until someone does a bit of the leg work on their own.

As part of my job with this company, I help large customers piece together systems on a bulk basis. Many times, the customer comes to us, expecting our company to handle all of the technical aspects of installing a PC in their application. This simply is not practical, nor is it a smart move on either parties part. Because of the different environments and different needs of each install, the approaching party must be willing to put forth the effort to fully understand the process that they are about to undertake. Without this, the project is doomed from the beginning.

Well I guess I've been out of the loop huh, I just got an email saying there was a reply and I come back to all this, WOW.

It AMAZES me that this comment set this flame war off:

Thanks for the no-help reply

I mean if the moderators here have skin that thin I guess I should go somewhere else huh? To be clear on a few things:

- I DID search. Many times. I was specifically looking for someone that had either used either (DC-DC or inverter) and/or had specific knowledge on using them. I get the inefficeny of using an inverter, in the end I ordered a DC-DC regulator.

- I wasn't really trying to start a flame war, I just HATE "search and you'll find it" "look at the FAQ" type answers. If that's all you've got to say why say anything at all? I'm not an idiot, I read the FAQ and I searched first.

- I've run MANY forums in the past on technical subjects. In fact I am the founder and project leader for an open source project that gets about a million hits a month. We don't reply to our members like that.

So just wow. Still amazed that such a little comment would start this. People "warning" me about stuff? Sure am glad I haven't ordered anything from this site yet, you can bet I won't in the future, especially if the employees treat potential customers like this...

wniemcow thanks for the welcome, good to know there are some nice guys around here ;-)

Ross

wniemcow,

I got one off eBay for about $20 - I'm not near my PC now so I can't say which one. I'll post all the details as I start my work...

Ross

I'm planning a laptop build as well so am interested in see examples of people's setups as a guide so please, do post pics of your work. Also, do you have a link for DC-DC regulator purchased on ebay?

yeah i want to see the link tooo

Most common DC-DC on eBay is the M1-ATX....just do a search.