car battery for laptop Thread poster: Yaotl Altan
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Yaotl Altan 
Mexico
Local time: 13:20
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
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I want to know the correct way to use a car battery for a laptop. The car battery outputs 12 V Direct Current, which is suposed to be the input of almost any laptop.
Why? I often visit my parents who live in a town where the electric system crashes constantly. I have been waiting up to 10 hours until the system is recovered.
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mrr2ro
United States
Local time: 14:20
English to Spanish
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| Get a power inverter | Oct 18, 2006 |
Get a DC/AC power inverter
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=100%20Watt%20POWER%20INVERTERS&btnG=Search
The input on a laptop is not just straight DC voltage, it is rectified and attenuated voltages and currents.
Connect the inverter to the car battery; connect your laptop to the 120V ac outlet in the inverter.
<... See more Get a DC/AC power inverter
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=100%20Watt%20POWER%20INVERTERS&btnG=Search
The input on a laptop is not just straight DC voltage, it is rectified and attenuated voltages and currents.
Connect the inverter to the car battery; connect your laptop to the 120V ac outlet in the inverter.
If the link above does not display properly, just do a froogle.google.com search for the word POWER INVERTERS and sort by price - low to high -- you will see they start at U$9. -- yes -- 9 dollars.
Arturo Pinzon - SpanishTech Spanish Translations Austin Texas
[Edited at 2006-10-18 04:00]
[Edited at 2006-10-18 04:00] ▲ Collapse
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| In car or separate? | Oct 18, 2006 |
Hi!
Do you plan to use it from within the car, or as a loose component (the battery standing inside your room)?
For use in the car, there are convenient adapters that you plug into the cigarette lighter jack.
Plesae clarify...
/Jan
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 21:20
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Motorcycle battery on UPS | Oct 18, 2006 |
Yaotl Altan wrote:
I want to know the correct way to use a car battery for a laptop. The car battery outputs 12 V Direct Current, which is suposed to be the input of almost any laptop.
I don't know. But on a related note: a friend of mine tells me that the battery used in a UPS device is the same or very similar to that of a motorcycle battery.
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Andrzej Lejman
Poland
Local time: 21:20
Member (2004)
German to Polish
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| Most notebooks are powered with 19 - 21 V | Oct 18, 2006 |
The best solution is to buy a standard car battery 12 V and a converter 12 V > your mains voltage. Thus you can use your standard power suply adapter.
With correct power saving settings you can work several hours long.
Regards
Andrzej
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Jo Macdonald
Spain
Local time: 21:20
Italian to English
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| Forget inverters | Oct 18, 2006 |
Hi Yaotl,
Don’t connect the laptop straight to the car battery.
You can use an inverter but this doesn’t work well (from experience) as you’re converting 12VDC to 220/110VAC then back down to 19VDC or whatever you laptop runs on. Inverters don’t like this (trips the cut-out on mine). They’re ok for running a mains appliance off a car battery but if you want to run a laptop the best way imo is with a car extension lead from your laptop manufacturer. This is des... See more Hi Yaotl,
Don’t connect the laptop straight to the car battery.
You can use an inverter but this doesn’t work well (from experience) as you’re converting 12VDC to 220/110VAC then back down to 19VDC or whatever you laptop runs on. Inverters don’t like this (trips the cut-out on mine). They’re ok for running a mains appliance off a car battery but if you want to run a laptop the best way imo is with a car extension lead from your laptop manufacturer. This is designed to be used with the variable voltage you get off a car battery and plugs into a cigarette lighter socket, which you can easily wire up and connect to the battery. The transformer in the extension lead transforms the 11-13V of the car battery to the voltage needed by your laptop, and you can use it in any car, camper etc, and it may also have another extension for plugging it into the mains. Ideal for travelling which is what they’re for. An 80ah battery will last for donkeys btw.
These car extension leads can be expensive, mine was about 130€, still less than what it’ll cost you if you try wiring the laptop straight to the battery though.
Have fun.
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Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 13:20
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER | Hi and thanx | Oct 18, 2006 |
Jan Sundström wrote:
Hi!
Do you plan to use it from within the car, or as a loose component (the battery standing inside your room)?
/Jan
I plan to use it as a loose component
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Well, I think inverters are definitely a better choice and there are special inverters (sinewave inverters) for operating computers and they work pretty well. Or you can use a good UPS which give you a back-up of 15 minutes to 4-5 hours depending on the sort of UPS you have.
I use an inverter and am pretty happy with it.
Definitely a better choice than a battery as this helps you avoid some problems that you might have if you use just a battery.
Regards,... See more Well, I think inverters are definitely a better choice and there are special inverters (sinewave inverters) for operating computers and they work pretty well. Or you can use a good UPS which give you a back-up of 15 minutes to 4-5 hours depending on the sort of UPS you have.
I use an inverter and am pretty happy with it.
Definitely a better choice than a battery as this helps you avoid some problems that you might have if you use just a battery.
Regards,
Ritu Bhanot ▲ Collapse
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Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 13:20
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Ritu Bhanot wrote:
Well, I think inverters are definitely a better choice and there are special inverters (sinewave inverters) for operating computers and they work pretty well. Or you can use a good UPS which give you a back-up of 15 minutes to 4-5 hours depending on the sort of UPS you have. ...
Ritu Bhanot
Thank you very much, all of you for your kind suggestions.
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