spinedoc

Hi guys, just picked up a Xenarc touchscreen which I am going to couple with an old P3/700 laptop I have sitting around. Which power supply or inverter should I get? I already have a Lind converter which plugs into the cigarette lighter, so I would assume I mainly need some kind of inverter.

I have also heard that getting the laptops to standby with engine off is tough. My laptop is ACPI compliant. I would like it to standby when I shut the car down, and start up when I start the car with a defeat switch option to prevent it from starting if I do not want it to.

Thanks guys, I am certainly a newbie and have no idea where to start on the power supply/inverters.

Rick

spinedoc

Just to help, I would like the following to be powered: The laptop plus the Xenarc screen, various USB devices like bluetooth, wifi, memory card readers, etc etc. I am also adding a direct XM unit with TimeTrax and am not sure if this should go with the power supply or just have its own switched power.

Thanks again, it is going into a 98 Corvette.

NeckPayne

orthopod, neurosx, chiropracty?

Check out here for getting the startup/shutdown to work. Its usually a matter of hacking the power button on the laptop or hacking a docking station (which is usually preferred).

You already have a converter (DC-DC) for the laptop. So you're asking if you need an inverter for all your peripherals and the display? You can do it either way...an inverter might be easier. A carnetix power supply might also be of use to you, but it might be hard to integrate its ACPI output to your laptop application. Using a converter will require you to do a lot of wiring.

Good luck!

davis449

Regardless of whether or not you already have a 12V adapter for the laptop or not (inverter if you don't), you can use an add-a-circuit combined with the female ends of a cigarette adapter Y-splitter to hardwire both the monitor and the laptop to the car's fuse box. Using them couldn't be simpler. Search for my carputer thread in the show off section for a finished 1995 C 280 install and you will see pics and intructions on how to hardwire everything you need using this method.

toberdorf

You're going to have to spend a little $$ if you want to do it right. I just installed an xenarc screen running in my car - here is the link to my forum. I used a carnetix P-2140 power supply and hacked the power button my my laptop. It has some pretty sweet USB software that runs it and so far I dont have any complaints. Good luck.