quick laptop question folks

mengela · 02-05-2006, 01:34 AM

still in afghanistan, cant wait to get home, well gives me more time to figure out my carpc. anways i have a fujistu e7110 that has a broken screen, so i decided to use it in my car instead of a matx amd sempron system, heres the thing, ive searched these forums and got lots of info but i wanna know why, everyone talks about using inverters? laptops take dc, and there are dc-dc auto airline adapters out there even from the oem, why use this, coupled with a startup controller, i mean you dont even have to buy a startup controller to power the thing, just turn it on, the auto adapter should power it right? or am i missing something, thanks for any info

also anyone who has a startup controller for a laptop please reply with what you guys did, take care guys

DJiK · 02-05-2006, 03:30 AM

It'd be easier to help you if you at least provided a link to this "dc-dc auto/airline adapter."
Maybe it's not whithin spec of the laptop, or it draws too much power from the car...
I don't believe car/airplane adaptes have the option to turn your laptop on once it's connected. There are no practical reasons for it (other than making a CarPC out of the laptop, of course).

v8 scimitar · 02-05-2006, 05:25 AM

if you get the right auto adapter then yes it will power it but wont control it. If the laptop still has a serial/com port you can control it with that. Search the power section for startup/shutdown controler.

mengela · 02-06-2006, 02:18 AM

thanks for the replies, here is a dc-dc auto/air adapter http://www.targus.com/us/accessories_power_adapters.asp
also i know this will just power the laptop, i was thinking of hacking the power putton to attach to any startup and shutdown controller, the power could power up my screen and usb devices, the power for the laptop would be made by the auto dc dc adapter, anyone know how i can power my screen with something like the opus 80? i dont understand volt and watts and stuff, so i dont know if these power supplies they sell here puts the correct level of power for something like a screen

b8bboi · 02-06-2006, 02:26 AM

You're attempting to install electric components in a car and you don't know volts and watts? You better start learning if you don't want to fry your components or worse yet, set your car on fire.

mengela · 02-06-2006, 02:33 AM

well i noticed something, the screen i want is the mm500, its got a cigarette adapter, my notebook would be powered by a cigarette adapter also, can a car do this amount power well, the laptop power is 70w and the screen 10w? or should it get regulated by a power supply than sent to the devices? i mean what is the cons to having power sent from the car to the devices through just power adapters. i know i still need a startup controller, but i would get a startup/shutdown type power supply instead if you all think regulating the dc current is better than strait cig adapters

silveralt · 02-06-2006, 10:32 AM

I use an inverter istead of an adapter for my laptop setup for a few reasons.

- I can wire an inverter directly to the battery of my car
- An adapter runs about 80 bucks... Inverter... $20
- I can power more than just my laptop with my 400/800 inverter
- Radar detector, Laptop, and Cell all plugged into cig lighter at once would suck!

I'd go with an inverter if I where you and hardwire it to your battery. Learn how to go about it safely before you do anything if you don't already know. And if you have the extra cash, get a pure sine wave inverter. To answer your question, yes, you can safely pull 80 watts from you cig lighter. I think the max is about 140 watts.

mengela · 02-08-2006, 03:30 AM

well if i got to use the cigarette port, id rather keep the ones that are out unused, i mean i dont want see a couple of adapters going into a 3 port cig adapter hanging off my dash, well is there any way to power devices that need a cig port in the dash? i mean by splicing into a dc power cable in the car? or run the same type of cable that a cig port uses from the battery?

what about the headunit? since i wont have a head unit? can i adapt the cable that supplies power to the HU to a cigarette adapter port? or adapt the cable spliced to HU power cable directly? does HU's power cables carry enough wattage?

Legarcondemerde · 02-08-2006, 03:45 AM

The question is whether or not the wires for the headunit carry enough current, not wattage. That depends on your car, and what your connecting. I have a laptop setup in one of my vehicles, and I hacked a docking station power on/off button and connected that to a Carnetix power supply for startup/shutdown control. I use the Carnetix's output to power all my PC accessories (monitor, usb hubs, etc.) as well as to trigger a relay that connects the laptop to battery power whenever the power supply is on. That way, if the power supply is on, my laptop is charging/plugged in. I used a hacked cigarette lighter extension to go to the laptop's DC adapter.

mengela · 02-09-2006, 07:48 AM

awesome this is almost exactly what i plan to do, only i want to hack a cigarette multi port to power my laptop and screen which both have cig adapters, but the carnetix will startup the laptop? ill have to hack the power button though, my docking station has no power button, at least i dont think it does, itll be awhile before i see my stuff again though,

is it possible to do this: if power supply is gone i.e. the car is shut off, can no power at all go to the laptop? i mean it should survive on its own battery power for standby for a couple of days, and hibernate for like 4 days, well i guess maybe the power used to keep a laptop battery charged for hibernation is negligable enough for me not to worry, what do you all think?

what do guys think of this usb soundcard dongle http://www.tbeach.com/site/products/audioadv/amigo/
i want to run a digital signal to a 5.1 mobile processor like alpine, clarion, audiobahn makes