is there a such a thing as 12-volt car adapters for laptops?

[psteng19]

i use my laptop as an mp3 player in the car (plug it into aux-in on my pioneer HU), but the battery only lasts 2 hours. is there such a thing that plugs the laptop into the 12 volt cigarette lighter thingy?

 

[warcleric]

Yep, there are ones made specifically for a certain laptop, and there are generic inverters that will make a 110v appliance run on a 12v system.

 

[psteng19]

will it drain my battery significantly?

info on where to pick up one of these, or the exact name of it?

much appreciated, thanks

 

[Rastus]

I have one for my laptop. If the laptop battery is dead or close to it when you plug the adapter in, it blows the fuse in the adapter. Also laptops suck in a vehicle in the daytime, I get a headache trying to read the screen.

 

[nd]

You can get an 12VDC->110VAC inverter at Radio Shack for $50-$150.

 

[NaughtyusMaximus]

Its too bad that to get a DC current to your DC computer appliance (from a DC power source) you need to first convert the current to AC, and then back to DC.

 

[nd]

<< Its too bad that to get a DC current to your DC computer appliance (from a DC power source) you need to first convert the current to AC, and then back to DC. >>

It's probably better this way. Computers are sensitive things and require a dedicated power supply to govern it. This is also why you CAN use a cheap inverter (if you ever look at the output of one of these things, it isn't pretty) for a laptop. The power supply in between provides a nice buffering effect.

 

[Total Refected Power]

Maybe this will help