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Powering My Laptop In My Truck

Grip72

By Grip72
in Audio, Electronics & Software

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Grip72 Enthusiast

Grip72

Posted
Posted

so i'm a consultant and i will be spending alot of time in my truck being bored out of my mind haha.

i have my trusty work laptop and a flash drive i can fill full of movies

 

i have a ac to dc convertor in the truck already that plugs into the cigarette plug but it only allows me to watch maybe 1.5-2hours worth of movies and my days will be 10hrs+

 

so,

what's the best way to get more life out of my laptop (besides running the truck, cause i tried that and would have to run the truck for probably 2 hours to fully charge the laptop again).

 

would adding a second battery benefit me at all?

compulynx Enthusiast

compulynx

Posted
Posted

The right adapter will charge your laptop whether the truck is running or not. You got something wrong.

 

You can run it all day off of the truck battery with the correct adapter.

 

C

Grip72 Enthusiast

Grip72

Posted
  • Author
Posted

it's a power convertor, not an adapter. it's not specifically for the laptop, it'll power any household 120v item.. would an adapter designed for the laptop be better?

georgecdisc Enthusiast

georgecdisc

Posted
Posted
i have a ac to dc convertor in the truck already that plugs into the cigarette plug but it only allows me to watch maybe 1.5-2hours worth of movies and my days will be 10hrs+

 

You mean DC to AC inverter?

 

If you purchase the specific car adapter for your laptop that would be the best option. It would be a DC to DC change, which is better than going DC to AC back to DC. I would estimate around $60-75 for the laptop's manufacturer's price on a car adapter. I would start there.

MarkD Senior Enthusiast

MarkD

Posted
Posted

I would purchase an AC/DC inverter. Wire it directly to the battery with a solenoid protected switch. A small 100w inverter should work. My dell uses a 90 AC power cord.

 

I had big problems running my laptop through the cig lighter.

Zembonez Senior Enthusiast

Zembonez

Posted
Posted

I've run an inverter in my company car with my laptop plugged into it for years. It'll run for hours without the engine running and have no effect on the battery. I use it every day... plus it sharges the laptop battery.

97SierraGMC Senior Enthusiast

97SierraGMC

Posted
Posted

im going to need to do this soon, and have always thought that a power inverter takes up a lot of power, i am going to see if HP has a car charger for my laptop

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