Any downsides to a laptop car adapter as a power source?

BlackAWD · 11-20-2005, 02:35 AM

I did a

but could find no answer to this question...

I have a P4M laptop with a 16V 4.5A power source and I can find various power adapters that are suitable for it's use in a car straight from a cigarette lighter.

I am wondering are there any downsides to using one of these devices - for example - is the power it delivers well regulated? Does anyone have any favourite brands? Does it wreck the laptop battery?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

arebelspy · 11-20-2005, 03:04 AM

That should be fine.. powering a regular computer through an inverter runnign from the cig lighter = no no, could start a fire. But the amount of power a laptop will draw is so little and the wattage on the adapter should be fine to run from the cig lighter.

-arebelspy

BlackAWD · 11-20-2005, 03:36 AM

Thank you for your reply... but I am talking of a gadget that takes the 12V DC and changes it to 16V DC - as far as I know this is NOT an inverter - I am not going though any 240V AC change...

So are you still talking about the same thing Arebelspy?

DarquePervert · 11-20-2005, 07:16 AM

Yes, he's talking about the same thing.

jayearl · 11-20-2005, 08:21 AM

I have been using one of these for 6 months:
http://www.powerstream.com/ADC.htm

I haven't seen any significant decrease in laptop battery capacity.
They seem to be pretty reliable.

Fox_Mulder · 11-20-2005, 08:25 AM

I have a Targus Car/Laptop adaptor, works fine!

arebelspy · 11-20-2005, 03:10 PM

Thanks Darque.

Yeah, I meant in general the advice is don't power anything from a cig lighter. For example, a regular comp running off an inverter, the inverter should be wired directly to the battery, running off the cig lighter can start a fire.

In your case "the amount of power a laptop will draw is so little and the wattage on the adapter should be fine to run from the cig lighter" - it's designed for it, in fact.

-arebelspy

BlackAWD · 11-20-2005, 03:40 PM

Thank you all for your help - this is good - I can start work on it straight away...I can wire a similar thing to the screen...

Just out of interest, has anyone checked how much the voltage output fluctuates in these devices?