Thread: Question about Laptop Power on/off

Hello All,

I am a newbie to the carputer world, but have been reading about it for a year. I recently scored a free laptop from work, a HP nc6000: 14", 40 gig drive, dvd-rom, centrino 1.8, 1 gig ram, built in wifi, plenty for power for carputer.

Here is my question. I know powering a laptop on and off is kind of difficult compared to a desktop setup and perhaps one of the biggest cons for a laptop setup. But I was thinking to hook it up to a docking station. Then connect the docking station to a direct car adapter power plug which would goto a cigarete lighter. Now, here's the thing: The docking station has a power on/off switch of its own, I think it would be quite easier to mod that to a power switch then modding the laptop itself.

What do you guys think? Also, laptop being a docking station, I could have all my wires connected to the station adn then just undock my laptop when I leave the car and take it with me. Safer that way too.

So any opinions on that setup?

Thanks