I'm thinking about purchasing a laptop for internet, emails, banking etc using mobile broadband on site without mains power. Will 12volt battery power or charge laptop? How much power will it use? Do laptops differ much in power consumption? Any information on this subject would be very useful.
You could always use an inverter to provided 230v power from your 12v supply. Are there 12v chargers available for laptops? I think there are vehicle adaptors which you could use in the 12v auxillery point in the van.
Hi Dave,
as David K says, inverter is probably best bet - different laptops (probably) work off different voltages - my current one (Acer) is 19 volt, while a previous one (Toshiba) ran off 15 volt...
Gram
------------- What's the difference between a chicken?
My sony runs at 19.5 volts and despite having a genuine sony in car adapter doesn't like 12 volt. It has a very poor display on the screen certainly not good enough to watch dvd s which is what we took it for or to look at photographs. The school one however has a 12 volt transformer anyway and doesn't seem to mind being on the cigarette lighter at all. That one is a dell.
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Hi,
Yes I use an IBM T40 and my wife uses an HP nx9005. We bought a power unit 12vdc to 18vdc. You can get them from Maplin, 120W Laptop Car PSU - code: L40BB for £29.99.
I am another using an inverter; to me this is the logical and safer route. [ your so-called 12 volts is rarely that and might be up to 14.4!]
Having an inverter also offers far more flexibility if as like me you have a bag full of dedicated adaptors.
Now lets see:-
One for the Vaio 14", another for the mobile phone, two different ones for mine and the wife's digital cameras, another for the Sony TV and yet another for the videocam.
Tescos are off loading the Ring E150 for £24 in the DIY Tools/ car bits section. This is a neat "Coke-can" type rated at 120 Watts continuous, 150 peak and unless you have a very big telly it will probably cope with all the above adaptors on together if needs be.
Mine cost four times that eight years ago and is still one of my best value and most used caravan toys.
Thanks for all the useful information, would I power the unit direct from the inverter/power unit or use them to charge the laptop battery? How long does a laptop take to charge, approx? Can I use the caravan battery or would be advised to use car with engine running? Sorry about all the questions as I am new to this and your info is a great help before I start purchasing.
the maplin ones are fine, even if your 12 isnt, it regulates the supply for your lappy.
you can charge it either from your car, or the caravan, and unless you werent moving the car for days on end, one charge shouldnt flatten your battery.
as for how long does it take, how long is a peice of string, a laptop can take anything from 2-6 hours depending on the brand, battery design etc, in general the longer the battery can run the lappy, the longer it takes to charge, obviously it will charge fater when the puter is switched off than whilst running it.
a tip, enable hibernation in the contol panel power settings, then hibernate rather than shut down, the is not the same as stnd by, as this still uses power, hibernation saves all your open programs etc before turning off, it means you dont waste power on full shut down/boot ups/
ALDI were selling 150w inverters for £15.00 this is a very good price. The problem with inverters is they do use a lot of battery power. If you are only planning on using the laptop for just checking e-mails and a bit of surfing if your battery on your laptop is ok you would probably be better just giving the laptop a good charge before you go and use the laptop battery.
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Topic: Anyone use laptop from 12volt
