Choosing a power inverter for your laptop

You generally get what you pay for and if you want the best go here;

http://www.lindelectronics.com

Ours says 'made in Canada' !!!!!

I HAVE A SONY VAIO VGN-NS10J LAPTOP AND A 150W CONTINUOUS SILVERLINE POWER INVERTER.

I TESTED IT WHILE THE CAR HAD ITS ENGINE ON BUT WE WERE NOT MOVING, THE LAPTOPS POWER SYMBOL FLASHED BUT NEVER BEGAN CHARGING... I WONDER WHETHER THE INVERTER ISNT POWERFUL ENOUGH OR IS IT BECAUSE THE CAR ISNT MOVING,, QUCIK REPLIES PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

DOES THE VEHICLE HAVE TO BE MOVING TO MAKE THE INVERTER POWER THE LAPTOP

The device that provides DC output to the computer should have a label on it saying how many watts it needs. A inverter capable of 150 watts continuous should be able to power it but the rating may be advertising only. Try a better inverter. Your vehicle should not have to be moving unless the car battery is faulty.

Please see if you can figure out where the CAPS LOCK key is on your keyboard. All caps is annoying and difficult to read.

Terry

Did your battery need charging or was it already charged?

Is there an indicator on the bottom of the screen that displays the battery status? When you hover your cursor over it does it tell you that it's plugged in and when it's only running on battery?

150W should be more than enough. I just finished a two hour drive with my laptop plugged into my 75W inverter. It's a full-size Acer 15" laptop and it worked fine. The inverter gets pretty hot but I expected that when I decided to go with something that small. I don't recommend it but it works.

...ken...

Why is everyone selecting inverters to power the laptop in a vehicle?

The other alternative is a DC - DC adapter which both powers the computer and charges the battery, see the lind link. We can use ours for most of the day, 6+ hours and the power supply is barely warm to the touch.

Even the least expensive laptops are over 500 bucks, why would you opt to use a 30 dollar Chinese inverter?

The advantage of an inverter is price and flexibilty. They as less expensive than any of the DC-DC converters and can be used for more than one device - often at the same time.

The disadvantage to me is extra junk I have to hide somewhere ( the inverter and the converter and wires) and having to take my converter with me in the vehicle. I like to leave it on the desk.

Terry

My cheap Canadian Tire 75 watt inverter runs my either of my IBM ThinkPads just fine.

My slightly more expensive Canadian Tire 175 watt inverter doesn't. It overheats after a little while and shuts down.

Perhaps the 75 ventilates heat better as it fits in the cigarette lighter. The other one has a short cable so it sits on the console or floor.

Go figure...

That is very interesting. I guess some manufacturers rate their products differently than others. (I'm assuming the two products sold by Canadian Tire were made by two different companies.)

Ok, I gotta know, other than the laptop just what are you guys using an inverter for? and if some are using rv type of inverters are they pure sine?

Does the 175 Watt one run ok with nothing plugged in? Sounds like it has an internal short.

Terry

Seems to run fine with no load. Just doesn't like the LapTop. Perhaps they react differently to the LapTop's (switching?) power suppply?

My power inverter is just an inexpensive one. I highly doubt it gives out pure sine, but I have not observed any problems. I use mine for the laptop, and occasionally for my cellphone charger. Nothing much else.

In the past I had a different setup. It consisted of a desktop PC tower and a 15" (later 17") desktop LCD monitor. The inverter worked great for that, too.

Some issues:

Noise: I have found that some inverters are quite noisey. Does this become less with the more money you spend?

Input voltage: As I have to move back to an inverter due to my converter not having enough continuous watts, what is the best input voltage requirement for running from a typical car battery? I've tried some that continually cycle when it is trying to charge the battery on the lap top and run the lap top at the same time.

Pure sine: worth the money?

Pure sine wave is not required for laptops. They are quite happy with the noisy modified sine wave as they just convert it back to DC anyway and are well filtered.

The converter that come with the laptop will have a label telling you how many watts it needs. Make sure the inverter can deliver at least that much full time or maybe a safe 50% margin above that. A well built one shouldn't be noisy.

Terry