Thread: inverter - wat shud i tell the mechanic?

Originally Posted by ky_khor

Background:
I hav 1 cd player with no aux in jack, 6 piece speakers in my car. I have made an appoinment with mechanic about installing a pre-amp and power amp so that i can connect the Laptop and Pocket PC to the car audio system.

I also bought a power inverter from a computer shop which allow me to supply power for my laptop. The power inverter in the kind that plug into the car cigarette jack.

Question:
1. How reliable is a power inverter? How to prevent power surge for damaging my laptop?

Inverters vary in quality.
Really, though. why an inverter for the laptop? Why not get a car adapter for the laptop instead? It will be more efficient than the inverter.

2. i read somewhere that we can ask the mechanic to connect a direct line from battery to power inverter to reduce the risk of power surge. Can it be done? Waht should i tell the mechanic?

Tell him to wire the inverter directly to the battery with an inline fuse.

3. so far any case or example of create a laptop mount on the dash board? (even if it's at the side passenger seat)

I think it's been done. Check the Show Off Your Project forum.

edit: new added question-
4. how can the carputer gone thru Summer extreme heat and Winter extreme cold?

Heat should be less of an issue with a laptop, but it's something to consider.
Extreme cold can prevent the hard drive from spinning up, which means you're not booting until it warms up a bit.

Where do you live that it gets extremely hot AND extremely cold? Most locations typically get one or the other but not both....