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Bob Owen November 14th 03 08:36 PM

12 volt laptop
 
Does any know which laptops run off 12 volt and therefore do not need an
inverter I think the old Toshiba one did
Cheers Bob








Larry W4CSC November 14th 03 11:57 PM

12 volt laptop
 
On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 09:36:03 +1300, "Bob Owen"
wrote:

Does any know which laptops run off 12 volt and therefore do not need an
inverter I think the old Toshiba one did
Cheers Bob

Lots of laptops have 12V power cords with the appropriate DC to DC
converter in them made to run them off a car battery. What kind do
you have, now?



Larry W4CSC

"Very funny, Scotty! Now, BEAM ME MY CLOTHES! KIRK OUT!"


Steve November 15th 03 02:55 AM

12 volt laptop
 
My Toshiba Tecra 8000 runs nicely off the 12 volts on my boat.. I purchased
a voltage conditioner for it (DC to DC). I don't consider that an inverter..
Works fine directly into the laptop, into the docking station or into the
stand alone battery charger.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions



Bob Owen November 15th 03 03:35 AM

12 volt laptop
 
I have a compac 1700 which has a power cord that goes straight to it

I do know that some computers have a step-down converter that takes mains
voltage and brings it down to 13 volts so were that plugs into the computer
it only need 13 volts which will normally run on a 12 volt system, that is
what I am after.

Cheers Bob

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 09:36:03 +1300, "Bob Owen"
wrote:

Does any know which laptops run off 12 volt and therefore do not need an
inverter I think the old Toshiba one did
Cheers Bob

Lots of laptops have 12V power cords with the appropriate DC to DC
converter in them made to run them off a car battery. What kind do
you have, now?



Larry W4CSC

"Very funny, Scotty! Now, BEAM ME MY CLOTHES! KIRK OUT!"




Steve November 15th 03 03:35 AM

12 volt laptop
 
I don't have the "Auto Adapter for Toshiba Portege and Tecra".

I paid $10.50 for it on eBay over a year ago. It is made by a third party
and since it is onboard the boat right now, I'm afraid I can't get a model
number for you..

I'll try and get a model number and post it later.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions



Bob Owen November 15th 03 03:39 AM

12 volt laptop
 
Thanks Steve
do I understand that your Toshiba 8000 runs on 12 volt directly. I have not
come across a voltage conditioner what does that do. A inverter is not good
for me as I use the computer for weather fax and an inverter interferes with
the radio.
Cheers Bob


"Steve" wrote in message
...
My Toshiba Tecra 8000 runs nicely off the 12 volts on my boat.. I

purchased
a voltage conditioner for it (DC to DC). I don't consider that an

inverter..
Works fine directly into the laptop, into the docking station or into the
stand alone battery charger.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions





Steve November 15th 03 04:14 AM

12 volt laptop
 
Sorry, I ment to say that I HAVE the "Auto Adapter for Toshiba Portege and
Tecra"

Steve



Rodney Myrvaagnes November 15th 03 04:16 AM

12 volt laptop
 
On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 09:36:03 +1300, "Bob Owen"
wrote:

Does any know which laptops run off 12 volt and therefore do not need an
inverter I think the old Toshiba one did
Cheers Bob

I have never had trouble getting a 12-V charger for any laptop. I have
used NEC, IBM, and Toshiba.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Wanting to meet a writer because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pate."
Margaret Atwood

Bob La Londe November 15th 03 03:12 PM

12 volt laptop
 
I think all of the Laptops I have had ran off of 12V DC. I'ld just go down
to a computer store and look at some. One had a weird connector, but most
did not. The biggy is the current capacity of the power supply is fairly
high becasue it runs the laptop and charges the battery at the same time.
ON a boat I would consider putting in an outlet for it with heavier than
average wires going directly to one of your batteries. Fused of course.


--
Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
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Simply add it to our index page.
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"Bob Owen" wrote in message
...
Does any know which laptops run off 12 volt and therefore do not need an
inverter I think the old Toshiba one did
Cheers Bob










Splitpair November 15th 03 06:03 PM

12 volt laptop
 
If you dont need a bunch of processing power the Itronix 6250 is an
excellent very heavy duty weather-proof laptop that will run with and charge
its battery on 12vdc

SP


"Bob Owen" wrote in message
...
Does any know which laptops run off 12 volt and therefore do not need an
inverter I think the old Toshiba one did
Cheers Bob










Mark Reichow November 15th 03 08:07 PM

12 volt laptop
 
A Florida ham radio operator makes a great little power booster for
laptops. He builds it to your specific requirements. It it makes no
noise and is much more eficent than even a small portable inverter. I
and many cruisers have using this thing for years and love it. Here's
the link: http://user.gru.net/n4uau/kits/Volta...e/apvb-kit.htm

Steve November 15th 03 10:43 PM

12 volt laptop
 
What I have is a NOTEWORTHY SmartCord auto adaptor Model NW802L.

Spec:

Input 11 to 16 vdc, .4 watts Max
Output 15 vdc @ .30 watts.

It does a great job of powering both the laptop and docking station, however
it takes a long time to charge the battery at the same time, if it happens
to be low..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions



Alexander Ramlow November 16th 03 11:17 AM

12 volt laptop
 
Have a look at www.ramlowdesign.com/products/a4f.htm ... thats a full
computer system that runs of anything between 8 and 42 volts. for any
questions go to the contacts there and contact us.

Regards,

Alexander



"Bob Owen" wrote in message
...
Does any know which laptops run off 12 volt and therefore do not need an
inverter I think the old Toshiba one did
Cheers Bob










Bob Owen November 16th 03 10:03 PM

12 volt laptop
 
Thanks Steve
"Steve" wrote in message
...
What I have is a NOTEWORTHY SmartCord auto adaptor Model NW802L.

Spec:

Input 11 to 16 vdc, .4 watts Max
Output 15 vdc @ .30 watts.

It does a great job of powering both the laptop and docking station,

however
it takes a long time to charge the battery at the same time, if it happens
to be low..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions





Len Krauss November 17th 03 03:41 AM

12 volt laptop
 
I have an old Toshiba Satellite notebook that runs fine direct from 12vdc.
Few if any of the newer notebooks will do that, as their voltage
requirements are much higher. Someone suggested the higher voltage was
mainly a battery charging requirement and that by removing battery some
notebooks will run off 12vdc. My new one didn't. And it draws lots of
current too, by comparison to old notebook -- more than most pocket
inverters can handle.
Len

--
Eliminate "ns" for email address.



Dennis Pogson November 17th 03 01:09 PM

12 volt laptop
 
"Len Krauss" wrote in message
...
I have an old Toshiba Satellite notebook that runs fine direct from 12vdc.
Few if any of the newer notebooks will do that, as their voltage
requirements are much higher. Someone suggested the higher voltage was
mainly a battery charging requirement and that by removing battery some
notebooks will run off 12vdc. My new one didn't. And it draws lots of
current too, by comparison to old notebook -- more than most pocket
inverters can handle.
Len

--
Eliminate "ns" for email address.

The manufacturers wouldn't supply 16 volt power units if the modern laptops
would run on 12 volts. Since most batteries are only 10.8 volts, the power
requirements are all to do with the laptop, not the battery as has been
suggested. Can't understand why so many boat owners won't invest in an
inverter, it can't be the expense, and these voltage step-up units are more
expensive than inverters, mainly due to lack of demand I guess. My laptop
runs happily on my small 180-watt inverter, using it's own power unit for
step-down. The last laptop I got to run on 12 volts was an ancient Tosh,
which ran Dos 3.2 only, not much bloody use in a modern navigation
envirnment!

--
Remove "nospam" from return address.




Len Krauss November 17th 03 02:02 PM

12 volt laptop
 
Dennis,
Agree completely, and that's the way I run my late model notebook on board.
The limitations of old iron and old software weren't worth messing with, so
I did make the trade-off to use more juice. And I upped the amp-hours on the
latest set of boat batteries I installed just to play it safe.
Len


--
Eliminate "ns" for email address.
"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
"Len Krauss" wrote in message
...
I have an old Toshiba Satellite notebook that runs fine direct from

12vdc.
Few if any of the newer notebooks will do that, as their voltage
requirements are much higher. Someone suggested the higher voltage was
mainly a battery charging requirement and that by removing battery some
notebooks will run off 12vdc. My new one didn't. And it draws lots of
current too, by comparison to old notebook -- more than most pocket
inverters can handle.
Len

--
Eliminate "ns" for email address.

The manufacturers wouldn't supply 16 volt power units if the modern

laptops
would run on 12 volts. Since most batteries are only 10.8 volts, the power
requirements are all to do with the laptop, not the battery as has been
suggested. Can't understand why so many boat owners won't invest in an
inverter, it can't be the expense, and these voltage step-up units are

more
expensive than inverters, mainly due to lack of demand I guess. My laptop
runs happily on my small 180-watt inverter, using it's own power unit for
step-down. The last laptop I got to run on 12 volts was an ancient Tosh,
which ran Dos 3.2 only, not much bloody use in a modern navigation
envirnment!

--
Remove "nospam" from return address.






Mark November 18th 03 04:35 AM

12 volt laptop
 
Rodney Myrvaagnes wrote
I have never had trouble getting a 12-V charger for any laptop. I have
used NEC, IBM, and Toshiba.


I have a recent vintage Hewlett-Pacard Pavilion ZE series laptop with
an HP supplied 90 watt AC wall wart. I wanted to run off 12v DC so
called HP support and asked about an "airline adapter" (computer
geek-speak for a 12v power convertor). He said they don't make one
for the Pavilion series and recommended I not use an aftermarket
convertor, because none of them are rated for 90 watts, and typically
12v power sources aren't rated for 8 amps continuous on planes, etc.

He said the Pavilion's are power hungry workstation substitutes and
not meant to use 12v, and that I should get an invertor of the proper
size if I really had to run off 12v.

Oh well . . .

Mark Reichow November 18th 03 01:20 PM

12 volt laptop
 
"Can't understand why so many boat owners won't invest in an
inverter, it can't be the expense, and these voltage step-up units are
more
expensive than inverters..."

Most of us that are using laptop computers on boats are using them in
conjunction with an HF radio (ham or marine SSB) to receive weather
fax images, and to send a receive e-mail. Most inverters make noise
on at least some of these HF frequencies when converting AC to DC.
Also battery power on sailboats is precious and even the small
inverters are not very efficient. A small power booster like the one
made by the ham radio operator, Sam Ulbing (N4UAU), are very efficient
and quite. Perfect for this application.

Dennis Pogson November 21st 03 09:26 AM

12 volt laptop
 
I guess I'm spoiled, as the sailboat I crew on has a 2000-watt inverter
located well away from any other radios and equipment, with eight 240-volt
AC outlets at convenient locations around the boat. No HF or SSB radio, just
VHF.

It would seem that what you use to power a laptop or PC is dependant on your
total electronics setup and it's a question of "horses for courses".

--
Remove "nospam" from return address.
"Mark Reichow" wrote in message
om...
"Can't understand why so many boat owners won't invest in an
inverter, it can't be the expense, and these voltage step-up units are
more
expensive than inverters..."

Most of us that are using laptop computers on boats are using them in
conjunction with an HF radio (ham or marine SSB) to receive weather
fax images, and to send a receive e-mail. Most inverters make noise
on at least some of these HF frequencies when converting AC to DC.
Also battery power on sailboats is precious and even the small
inverters are not very efficient. A small power booster like the one
made by the ham radio operator, Sam Ulbing (N4UAU), are very efficient
and quite. Perfect for this application.




Mark Reichow November 21st 03 11:12 PM

12 volt laptop
 
Yeah, if I had no HF radio I'd probably just use my little 140 watt
inverter or the ship' 1500 watt. These make no noise on VHF.
However, you want to run a computer for many hours a day, a 2000 watt
inverter is certainly overkill and will take much more from your house
batteries than is necessary to operate a laptop. The little power
booster is both silent AND efficient.

Eric November 22nd 03 01:33 AM

12 volt laptop
 
I run a Dell Latitude off an auto/air adapter made by Lind Electronics
- works great. No need for an inverter. See:
http://www.lindelectronics.com/ they make them for a large number of
laptops.

Eric

Rodney Myrvaagnes wrote in message . ..
On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 09:36:03 +1300, "Bob Owen"
wrote:

Does any know which laptops run off 12 volt and therefore do not need an
inverter I think the old Toshiba one did
Cheers Bob

I have never had trouble getting a 12-V charger for any laptop. I have
used NEC, IBM, and Toshiba.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Wanting to meet a writer because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pate."
Margaret Atwood



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