DC-DC Car Power for Mac Mini

**MikeH** · 01-22-2005, 07:57 AM

We have confirmed that the Mac Mini power requirements will be compatible with the upcoming P1900. We'll keep you informed of the beta test status and availability information as it becomes available.

**mattdisaster** · 01-22-2005, 10:59 AM

Aw man! Hey mike would you consider a trade in with my P1260 that i just bought and havent installed yet. haha Can't wait to see this in action.

-matt

**MikeH** · 01-22-2005, 11:05 AM

....sooo...you trading your mobo in on a Mac too?

**mattdisaster** · 01-22-2005, 11:29 AM

Quite possibly, first I'll just get the mac, then I'll make the call, looks promising, my uncle and I have been looking into it for some time. I just sent him the link you posted, I'm sure once he sees it he's gonna freak out. Thanks so much, you guys rock!

-matt

**mattdisaster** · 01-22-2005, 08:13 PM

Mike do you think this will have enough power to power the mini mac(80 gig version), 2 lcds (1 ts, 1 not)? I'm eager to see what I can do with this thing!

-matt

**MikeH** · 01-22-2005, 08:23 PM

Probably. The P1900 can put out 6.3 amps @ 19V (or 20v, or 18v) plus another 15 watts @ 5V on the secondary output. If you jumper the secondary output to provide +12V instead of +5V, the total of both the +19V and +12V equals 120 watts. 85Watts max for the Mac leaves you with another 35 watts. You can draw about 2+ amps from the +12V (24W)secondary output so powering your 2 screens probably won't be a problem.

**MikeH** · 01-25-2005, 04:56 AM

Guys...

We're going to have a bit of a problem with "hibernate" (aka "Sleep") on the Mac Mini. There does not appear to be a "power off" state similar to the PC's Hibernate, where the machine's state is stored on the hard drive. The Mac Mini's Sleep mode requires that power be continually supplied to the Mac during sleep to keep the ram alive. If power is removed during sleep, the Mac will boot from scratch...which is ok, except it takes quite a while.

The Mac's sleep mode is very similar to the PC's "Standby" mode, which means there will be continuous current drain on your battery while in Sleep. The current drain will be between 150mA and 210mA, which is considerable and can quickly drain your battery (over a few days). This is a problem.

One way to use Sleep is to only allow the Mac to Sleep if you are only going to stop/turn off your system for a short time (ie gas stop, etc.), otherwise for longer stops (over nite) send the Mac into full Shutdown. This is a bit of a pain, but it's probably a decent compromise...

Thoughts?

**NiN^_^NiN** · 01-25-2005, 05:15 AM

Hmm maybe you could have the mac mini sleep for 10mins then after 10mins it cuts ALL power off?

altho that be a bit annoying cause even if its 10mins its a drain for people who dont use that feature.

I'm not sure what you can do i think the only feature you can do is put it into sleep then turn it off.

Also could you give me the amount of pins on the power plug and the pitch spacing between the pins?

I've got a few online stores that might stock it but need some info on what to search for u

**MikeH** · 01-25-2005, 05:24 AM

There are a total of 10 pins, 5 on each side. They are spaced at approximately .06" apart. Outside dimensions of the metal part of the shell are .420 x .160".

If you find this part please let us know. This, and the ACPI header connector are the only thing holding us up.

Here are pics.

Thanks!

**ePiFaNT** · 01-25-2005, 05:48 AM

Sad to hear about the hibernate problems. NiN^_^NiN`s idea about first hibernating, then shutting down is a good idea. It would also have been great to be able to individually set how long it stays in hibernate-mode before shutting down. I know 10 mins is way to short for my use.

I dont know whether the "shutdown while in hibernate" is harmful to the machine in any way, but that can easily be sorted out.