car adapter for EEE PC

[Fayd]

I have an inverter (350w, decent construction) so dont suggest that. i'm looking for a more streamlined solution.

anyways, my question is this: will the 'dirty' power from the car harm the laptop? i assume that laptops work by constaintly draining power from the battery, and the battery is constantly charging via its power source. my question is will the dirty power from the car damage the battery?

car power fluctuates between 9 and 15 volts or more tmk... this is a pretty wild range. i'm guessing using a DC-DC laptop converter would take some of that shock out. but is it really necessary? i see lots of accessories online avail for the EEE that just hook the strait DC lead from the car right into the laptop, without cleaning it, or running it thru capacitors or anything.

is this really acceptable? or would i be shortening the laptop's life by doing this?

 

[Fayd]

er...bump

 

[Kwatt]

I would not use an adapter on my EEE PC that went straight from the car to the EEE PC.
I believe you are right about the voltages fluctuating too much. It looks like the charge circuit is built into the PC itself. I don't know if it up to the task of regulating the relatively dirty power in an car. Compared to the household adapters 12VDC 3A output.

About your inverter if it is not a TRUE SINE WAVE inverter I would not use it either.
A lot of battery chargers don't react well to a Modified Sine Wave.

I what to make sure you understand that I have not looked into the EEE PC's charging circuit enough to be sure yet. I am just playing it safe till I learn more or ASUS starts selling a auto adapter.

If you find an auto adapter from ASUS please let me know. Although I will probably go with an 300 watt TRUE SINE WAVE inverter anyway mounted under the seat. I can always use for charging and powering other things.

 

[lxskllr]

I've used Inverters a little bit with my Eee, and tons with other laptops, and I haven't had any problems so far. To give you an idea of how much I've used inverters... I used to keep my laptop on the dash of my work truck. It was run off a inverter 5 days per week, 8+ hours per day. I've done this for over 2 years on 1 laptop, and many months with some other machines. I haven't had any issues with them.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I've used Inverters a little bit with my Eee, and tons with other laptops, and I haven't had any problems so far. To give you an idea of how much I've used inverters... I used to keep my laptop on the dash of my work truck. It was run off a inverter 5 days per week, 8+ hours per day. I've done this for over 2 years on 1 laptop, and many months with some other machines. I haven't had any issues with them.

i dont have a problem with inverters, it's just a really ugly solution. (and somewhat wasteful.)

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Fayd

i dont have a problem with inverters, it's just a really ugly solution. (and somewhat wasteful.)

Yea that was just a general comment about inverters. I'm curious about your question also. I've wondered the same thing. Going from DC-AC-DC is kind of stupid. It would be nice to streamline that a bit.

 

[Kwatt]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I've used Inverters a little bit with my Eee, and tons with other laptops, and I haven't had any problems so far. To give you an idea of how much I've used inverters... I used to keep my laptop on the dash of my work truck. It was run off a inverter 5 days per week, 8+ hours per day. I've done this for over 2 years on 1 laptop, and many months with some other machines. I haven't had any issues with them.

That is good to hear!

I brought it up because my DeWalt battery charger will not work with a MSW inverter.
The newer DeWalt chargers seem to be OK. But the early ones tend to burn out.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: Fayd

i dont have a problem with inverters, it's just a really ugly solution. (and somewhat wasteful.)

Yea that was just a general comment about inverters. I'm curious about your question also. I've wondered the same thing. Going from DC-AC-DC is kind of stupid. It would be nice to streamline that a bit.

yeah. i've seen some converters online for generic laptops, but their output isnt anywhere near what i'd need for the eee. since the EEE takes a 12v input, and those adapters output 15-18v.

 

[Fayd]

bump...anyone seen/heard anything regarding this?