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mattmarshall · May 19, 2003, 04:38 PM

i'm going on a trip, and want to bring my pismo.....anyone know the best way to charge a powerbook off a car lighter?

any way to turn that lighter into a regular plug? (this owuld be best--other things to charge, too!)

thanks

-matt

parsec_kadets · May 19, 2003, 04:49 PM

Yes and yes. You can either get an adapter for your PB do plug right into the cigarette lighter, or you can get a power strip that converts the power from DC to AC (so your charger can convert it back to DV

). They both cost about the same usually, just look online or at BestBuy or something. Just don't do what some friends and I did on our way to MWSF 2002. We tried running 4 laptops at the same time. It almost killed the alternator. Being stuck half way between Vail and Salt Lake was a very real possibility for awhile there.

AssassyN · May 19, 2003, 05:06 PM

Absolutely, you'll just need a "Power Inveter" which is a cigarette lighter adapter that runs to a box with at least one AC outlet just like the ones found in your home that can used to charge and/or run your Pismo, or any other AC-powered appliance/charger.

Check THIS out. Just search for "power inverter" to get more results, but to be safe I'd get above a 200watt adapter and you'll be good to go.

I have one in my Explorer that I use to power my DVD player and GameCube that's hooked to my in-dash 7" Alpine LCD and it works wonderful.

nighttraitor · May 20, 2003, 12:04 AM

I have one in my Explorer that I use to power my DVD player and GameCube that's hooked to my in-dash 7" Alpine LCD and it works wonderful. [/B]

Ok I have to know what you do for a living!!! Your set up is freakin killer and now this stuff about your SUV!! I want in!!

AssassyN · May 20, 2003, 06:35 AM

Originally posted by nighttraitor:
Ok I have to know what you do for a living!!! Your set up is freakin killer and now this stuff about your SUV!! I want in!!

Hehe, I've been asked several times, and most people are shocked by the answer. Up until right now, I've made all of my money, get ready...farming. I've worked as hard as I could since my 8th grade year in farming, working 7 days a week with no days off in the summer, pulling 20-hour days, etc. and then saving portions of it in CD's in a bank, and putting portions in carefully reviewed Money Market Funds & Stocks. The market has surprisingly treated me well throughout my high school years, and now as I'm about to enter college in the fall, I'll be working one last summer in farming and then hopefully exit college landing a spot as a Network Administrator. And by the way, pictures of my Explorer are here (enlarge them to get rid of the bluriness) and pictures of my 2002 35th Anniversary Cougar are here (quad-tipped like a Vette

)

jdhindes · May 20, 2003, 06:44 AM

That shows that with hard work, you can do a lot! I am happy for you, Assassyn!

Jim

AssassyN · May 20, 2003, 07:28 AM

Thanks a bunch man.

Working your can off may not seem fun at the moment, but it does pay off.

wallinbl · May 20, 2003, 08:10 AM

Wouldn't the easiest solution just be this?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...5.10.11.1.13.0

romeosc · May 20, 2003, 10:20 AM

Originally posted by wallinbl:
Wouldn't the easiest solution just be this?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...5.10.11.1.13.0

Link bad! Timed out.

A 300 watt inverter can be bought for $20, while a 12 volt adapter is much more. Plus it alows you to use a printer, 19" LCD and other useful toys.

AssassyN · May 20, 2003, 10:37 AM

Originally posted by romeosc:

A 300 watt inverter can be bought for $20, while a 12 volt adapter is much more. Plus it alows you to use a printer, 19" LCD and other useful toys.

Exactly. The Power Inverter is so useful for so many things, much more than some proprietary adapter.

mattmarshall · May 21, 2003, 12:33 AM

i bought an ipod adapted that plugs into the lighter. if i had only known this when i bought it, i could have just bought the inveter, and been all set. oh well.

anyway, it is much better, as suggested, to have a regular plug, than an adapter for each and every "toy."

thanks for the info

- matt

AssassyN · May 21, 2003, 06:14 AM

Sure thing!

I'd honestly sell the iPod adapter on eBay and nab an inverter. Another thing an inverter is good for is those emergencies on the road you never think about until they happen, such as when you need an AC outlet to get your car fixed in the pouring rain.

tooki · May 21, 2003, 11:18 AM

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Check THIS out. Just search for "power inverter" to get more results, but to be safe I'd get above a 200watt adapter and you'll be good to go.

200W!?!? I don't think most cars can even sustain 200W on their lighter sockets (that's almost 20 amps at 12V... I know the wires leading to my lighter socket are not thick enough for that). Besides, a Pismo's MAXIMUM power draw is 45W, and that is only when using the computer with accessories while also charging a battery. Since the AC adapter loses some energy, double that value: a 100W inverter should be more than enough; you would probably be just fine with a 60W one.

But I don't recommend an inverter because for every power conversion done, you lose a lot of energy, meaning that with an inverter, if you wanted to run the computer with the car's engine off, you'd drain your battery a LOT faster. Additionally, most inverters that don't cost an arm and a leg don't produce a proper sine wave output (they produce a simple square wave) which is not good for AC adapters.

Instead, use a proper DC-DC power adapter for your laptop. I have one, and it works great. Lots of companies make them, such as Madsonline. Some models are even combination car DC/airplane DC/AC adapters that will run your laptop off of anything.

tooki

AssassyN · 11:43 AM

Originally posted by tooki:
200W!?!? ... <snip>

You'd be surprising about "ratings". Coming from someone w/ a ~1600 watt sound system in their Explorer with all factory batteries and alternators, I'd know.

[edit: removed extraneous quote -- tooki]

tooki · 11:47 AM

1. Your 1600W sound system doesn't draw 1600W continuously.

2. Your 1600W sound system isn't plugged into your lighter socket (which is fused, remember?). You probably have a direct wire to the battery, and you probably agree that...

3. ...you can't run your 1600W sound system off battery alone for extended periods of time.

My point isn't to say that you can't run a laptop off a lighter socket. My point is that it's a suboptimal solution for a number of reasons.

Note also that I didn't say a thing about alternators or battery capacities, other than that an inverter will drain a battery (ANY battery) more quickly than using a laptop-specific DC-DC adapter.

tooki

P.S. There's no need to quote the immediately preceding message if you aren't going to comment specifically on individual parts of it.

uberden · May 21, 2003, 02:38 PM

Just get an auto/air adapter from either:

http://www.lindelectronics.com/

or

http://www.madsonline.com/

Easiest way to do it.

AssassyN · May 21, 2003, 02:57 PM

Originally posted by tooki:
1. Your 1600W sound system doesn't draw 1600W continuously.

2. Your 1600W sound system isn't plugged into your lighter socket (which is fused, remember?). You probably have a direct wire to the battery, and you probably agree that...

3. ...you can't run your 1600W sound system off battery alone for extended periods of time.

My point isn't to say that you can't run a laptop off a lighter socket. My point is that it's a suboptimal solution for a number of reasons.

Note also that I didn't say a thing about alternators or battery capacities, other than that an inverter will drain a battery (ANY battery) more quickly than using a laptop-specific DC-DC adapter.

tooki

P.S. There's no need to quote the immediately preceding message if you aren't going to comment specifically on individual parts of it.

1.) True

2.) My sound system is fused, a really huge fuse actually.

3.) It's ran 1.5 hours with the car off with no signs of battery drainage. It cranked right up.

And I agree, a proprietary laptop charger WOULD be most efficient, however, let's weight the benefits here. With an AC inverter you can run ANYTHING with an AC outlet, with a laptop charger, you can charge a single device. I'm simply suggesting the inverter as it's MUCH more diverse as far as usage is concerned.

And I apologize for the quote, but please, don't show your mod powers off in such petty matters.

kalonji · May 21, 2003, 07:34 PM

so did you have to clean chicken crap or did you get to ride around in one of those big tractors

AssassyN · May 21, 2003, 09:01 PM

Originally posted by kalonji:
so did you have to clean chicken crap or did you get to ride around in one of those big tractors

Some of both, very little of the later.

kalonji · May 22, 2003, 09:34 AM

thats too bad, i always loved those big tractors. anyway good job, you put in a lot of hours of work. theres no way i would have been able to handle farmwork for as long as you did. unless i had weed to smoke

tonewheel · May 22, 2003, 07:38 PM

This wins, hands down.

http://igo.ententeweb.com/mapfiles/juice.asp

ieye · May 26, 2003, 05:17 PM

Check madsonline.com for auto adapter. I have had no problems with my auto/air adapter (older one for pismo.) This is a slightly more expensive but simpler solution to powerbook'ing in the car. We used ours all the time with a GPS and StreetAtlas for navigating or as a DVD entertainment center.

kentuckyfried · Oct 5, 2003, 01:03 AM

dayaaaaam....$120 for an adapter?

Originally posted by tonewheel:
This wins, hands down.

http://igo.ententeweb.com/mapfiles/juice.asp

kentuckyfried · Oct 5, 2003, 01:15 AM

How about this power invertor from tomatochip.com?:

http://www.tomatochip.com/servlet/co...;searchIndex=0

I like the idea of an all in one invertor so I don't have to keep buying multiple adapters, but I am not sure if this company is legit or even if this product is any good.

The strange thing is, if you look this up on ebay, it has a completely different geometry. I guess they have different invertors marketed to people with different uses:

coolmacdude · Oct 5, 2003, 02:40 AM

Originally posted by kentuckyfried:
How about this power invertor from tomatochip.com?:

http://www.tomatochip.com/servlet/co...;searchIndex=0

I like the idea of an all in one invertor so I don't have to keep buying multiple adapters, but I am not sure if this company is legit or even if this product is any good.

Why would you buy that? It doesn't even give a wattage rating.

kentuckyfried · Oct 5, 2003, 02:17 PM

^ sure it does, just not on that website. Amazon also carries this item, it's rated at 75 W (which is higher than the 65 W adapter included with the ibooks and powerbooks).

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...726820-2549601

amazing · Oct 5, 2003, 03:43 PM

Costco has small size 70 watt inverter (2) for very reasonable. CompUSA has a variety of inverters, I got a 140 watt for around $35 as I recall.

An inverter is the way to go. I got at least 3 car adapters for previous models of powerbooks, each of which cost at least $70, and none of which will work with the present models. What a waste of money...

woodsman · Oct 5, 2003, 04:24 PM

Go to the Apple Store or go online and find the " iGo " charger kit.

I'm typing this from a hotel room in Tuscany, Italy, and the iGo is running my 15" Al PB from the 220 V wal socket. the iGo got me to Europe by powering my PB from the socket in the airplane seat.

Here in Italy I charge up the PB from my rental car with the same iGo adapter.

It is really well-made and it WORKS !!!!

Go buy the iGo !!

spitty27 · Oct 5, 2003, 06:18 PM

i got a pismo, and wanted the same thing. i bought this one, and it works great...$68

http://www.madsonline.com/index.html...html~mainFrame

(second one pictured on the site)...

NYCFarmboy · Dec 7, 2003, 06:40 PM

Originally posted by woodsman:
Go to the Apple Store or go online and find the " iGo " charger kit.

I'm typing this from a hotel room in Tuscany, Italy, and the iGo is running my 15" Al PB from the 220 V wal socket. the iGo got me to Europe by powering my PB from the socket in the airplane seat.

Here in Italy I charge up the PB from my rental car with the same iGo adapter.

It is really well-made and it WORKS !!!!

Go buy the iGo !!

Cool....how is it working for you?

madmacgames · Dec 7, 2003, 07:06 PM

Originally posted by romeosc:
A 300 watt inverter can be bought for $20, while a 12 volt adapter is much more. Plus it alows you to use a printer, 19" LCD and other useful toys.

you really should seek counselling if you've got a printer and 19" LCD installed in your car

romeosc · Dec 7, 2003, 07:12 PM

I still use an inverter...

1. can power a Printer as well!

2. if you upgrade laptop, it is still usable.

3. You can run tvs, vcr and dvd

4. I you want to go portable picnic etc. you can get a start & go that is a battery with a lighter attachment.

5. charge AA batterys for camera while on road

etc......