hotrod91

I have just last week bought a motorhome and nowadays with mobile internet i presume i can easily run my laptop for the kids while we are on the move...............or can we?
What would be the best dongle to use, we generally will be at stock car track locations which vary from city centres to a few out in the sticks ie Smeatharpe and whilst on the move it will almost always be motorways and main roads so who or what do i choose.?
Also my laptop says it runs off of 19v so bearing in mind we will almost always be running off the vehicle itself how on earth do i produce 19v to run it?
All thoughts appreciated!

johnsandywhite

Hi hotrod91. Any of the Mobile Internet connections will work depending on coverage where you will be.

For 19volts Laptop supply? You could use an 150 Watt Inverter (or larger) to supply 230 volts or a 12volt Laptop supply that plugs into the cigarette lighter. You can buy either from Maplins, ebay or some Motor-home suppliers.

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hotrod91

I have a 1000w inverter that i use for my racing ie to run lights and power tools so can i use that? How many watts is a lap top??? Suppose if its low wattage i will be able to run the laptop for ages, im not a massive lover of inverters as they bugga up the batteries that power them.
Also if i use a 12v supply then the laptop wont run will it and the voltage is too low?

johnsandywhite

Yes you could use the 1000W Inverter. A Laptop uses around 60 Watts.

The dedicated 12volt Converters for Laptops are usually variable up to 19 volts. I run both my Dell and Toshiba on one when I am not using the Inverter.

BTW. Inverters only B****R up the Batteries if you discharge them too LOW.

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hotrod91

But surely you cant get 19v from 12 v.....can you? So you are saying i need to run from the inverter and plug in to 240v.....so how do i get 19v without starting with 240v if you catch my drift. Maybe you could direct me to the thing i need. I want to use the inverter as little as possible as its hassle keep starting the engine or forgetting to turn the inverter off at night and waking up with a dead battery!

GJH

I bought a device Similar to This which works fine when I need to recharge the laptop away from mains.

Graham

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hotrod91

Wonderful thats just what i need.

Thepips

Hi Graham,
If you bought one similar to these be very, very careful with the tip as you can swap the polarity by simply turning the tip through 180 degrees. We saw a number of laptop motherboards blown up this way. We used to sell 120 watts adapters that used these tips but we'd superglue them on so they couldn't be reversed.

Regards
Doug

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www.action-replay.co.uk

hotrod91

Presume just about everything negative earth ie the + and the tip join yes?

Thepips

To my knowledge every laptop with a round plug and socket have the positive on the inside and the negative on the outside. Which is why I never understood the point of a reversible polarity adapter. The adapters we sell can't be accidentally reversed.

Doug

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www.action-replay.co.uk