Member Since: 18 Dec 2007
Location: Ayrshire
Posts: 1
Kids, Lap Tops Disco 3 & Power
Can anyone help
About to embark on a relatively long road trip (post Christmas) which by this time my two kids will be in possession of 2 new lap tops from Santa.
Question, how do I keep the batteries charged whilst on the move? I believe there is a power outlet, but how can this be appled (if at all) to the plugs of two lap tops?
I & my childrem would very much appreciate any proposals.
18th Dec 2007 10:46 am
simon
Member Since: 11 Jan 2005
Location: Shropshire
Posts: 18296
Most good retailers of PC's should stock power adaptors for in car use.
Quote:
Results 1 - 50 of about 212,000 for in car laptop chargers. (0.47 seconds)
Leave the laptops at home, give them a packet of Smarties between them and tell them to play I Spy......
Alternatively, just hit them over the head with the lap-tops and hope they stay knocked-out for the duration of the trip.........
Sorry..... Just showing signs of my difficult up-bringing The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom
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18th Dec 2007 11:00 am
Wex
Member Since: 16 Apr 2007
Location: Knackeragua
Posts: 5173
Quote:
Question, how do I keep the batteries charged whilst on the move? I believe there is a power outlet, but how can this be appled (if at all) to the plugs of two lap tops?
Tamser , you can use a power inverter which converts the 12v power from any of the 12v cigar/12v sockets in your D3. A conventional 220 V plug can be plugged into them ( power inverters)giving you a source of power for your kids laptops.Some D3s have 2 X 12 v outletsunder the drivers console , 1 behind the centre cubby box , 1 in the rear loading space.
A thread by Wolster was posted yesterday showing cheap 150 w versions on sale or due for sale by Aldi. The link is shown in the first post on that thread see here http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic16886.html
You can find them pretty easy as Simon stated above, Halfords for example stock different power versions of them.You might be risking it at 150 W and maybe you should think of a 300 W instead.Depending on where you buy of course you might be able to get the right advise on this.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by Wex on 18th Dec 2007 2:17 pm. Edited 1 time in total
18th Dec 2007 11:14 am
John C
Member Since: 28 Aug 2007
Location: East Yorkshire
Posts: 3292
Depending upon how much your laptop's worth you may want to decide against a 'cheap' inverter...
I used a Halfords inverter a while back to charge a MacBookPro and it wrecked the charger and battery - charger stopped charging and battery would lose charge over 20 minutes (down from 4 hours). Halfords replaced the inverter and I claimed under warranty on the charger and battery, but the same thing happened a week later.
On expensive equipment, I'd either buy a dedicated and designed car adapter from the same manufacturer or use a pure sine wave inverter.
For the money, I'd probably just buy a cheap in-car DVD player on E-bay. One of the lads in the office here bought one last year for less than the price of a decent inverter - came with a couple of screens that velcoed to the headrests - it's great.
John2020 SDV6 D5 HSE, Carpathian Grey +
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18th Dec 2007 11:21 am
tyke65
Member Since: 18 Nov 2007
Location: God's Country
Posts: 130
JMC wrote:
Alternatively, just hit them over the head with the lap-tops and hope they stay knocked-out for the duration of the trip.........
I hope that no one in their right mind will pay any attention to JMC's ludicrous suggestion. The chances of doing real damage to the laptops cannot be overstated.
18th Dec 2007 3:19 pm
wolster
Member Since: 07 Dec 2007
Location: various
Posts: 352
I'm more concerned about people snagging their headlinings on the backswing. This is a very irresponsible suggestion. What if the "Hokey Cokey" really is what it's all about?
'54 TDV6 Auto SE, Silver, Leather, HSE Wheels, Alpine Roof, Light Guards, Black Side Tubes, Tints.
Y 110 County Commercial, White, just bought it... watch this space for added bits!
18th Dec 2007 3:57 pm
John C
Member Since: 28 Aug 2007
Location: East Yorkshire
Posts: 3292
wolster wrote:
I'm more concerned about people snagging their headlinings on the backswing. This is a very irresponsible suggestion.
That's assuming that you haven't taken the necessary precautions...
...there is however a trade off against the impact on the person you're hitting...2020 SDV6 D5 HSE, Carpathian Grey +
2022 Tesla Model Y LR... almost Carpathian Grey
Previously : 2005 TDV6 SE Auto, Cairns Blue (288K) - ours for 16 years
Last edited by John C on 18th Dec 2007 4:01 pm. Edited 1 time in total
18th Dec 2007 4:00 pm
Motoberg
Member Since: 10 Dec 2007
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 46
Shirley a number of laptops have DC power supplies to charge them anyway, as in, you plug it into 240v AC and a magic black box half way along the power lead converts this to 9v DC or there abouts, so why bother inverting DC to AC, which the lead then rectifies and steps down to 9v dc
Ask Santa what the DC voltage is that goes into the back and buy a power supply that'll drop 12-14vdc down to 9vdc ( or whatever you need )
just a thought...
18th Dec 2007 4:01 pm
Motoberg
Member Since: 10 Dec 2007
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 46
Member Since: 07 Dec 2007
Location: various
Posts: 352
Or get one of those new fangled battery ones
What if the "Hokey Cokey" really is what it's all about?
'54 TDV6 Auto SE, Silver, Leather, HSE Wheels, Alpine Roof, Light Guards, Black Side Tubes, Tints.
Y 110 County Commercial, White, just bought it... watch this space for added bits!
18th Dec 2007 4:15 pm
jkp
Member Since: 16 Sep 2005
Location: Living among Bawbags
Posts: 4528
wolster wrote:
Or get one of those new fangled battery ones
That's a blast from the past
I hda one of thim
18th Dec 2007 4:36 pm
wolster
Member Since: 07 Dec 2007
Location: various
Posts: 352
My sister had one. Forgot about them until one appeared in Toy Story 2. What if the "Hokey Cokey" really is what it's all about?
'54 TDV6 Auto SE, Silver, Leather, HSE Wheels, Alpine Roof, Light Guards, Black Side Tubes, Tints.
Y 110 County Commercial, White, just bought it... watch this space for added bits!
18th Dec 2007 4:42 pm
robsmith
Member Since: 02 Sep 2007
Location: Staffordshire
Posts: 2401
Motoberg wrote:
Shirley a number of laptops have DC power supplies to charge them anyway, as in, you plug it into 240v AC and a magic black box half way along the power lead converts this to 9v DC or there abouts, so why bother inverting DC to AC, which the lead then rectifies and steps down to 9v dc
Ask Santa what the DC voltage is that goes into the back and buy a power supply that'll drop 12-14vdc down to 9vdc ( or whatever you need )
just a thought...
Word of caution,
Both my laptops (and Acer and a Compaq) are 19V DC in, so you need a DC/DC step up power supply, which for a reasonable one is "not cheap". I use a 12DC/230VAC inverter from Maplins to supply them when in use away from the mains (which is a lot of the time), and haven't had any issues with reduced battery life. I think I paid about 30 quid for the one I use, but that was in a sale a few years ago. It is rated at 300W output, and just gets plugged into whatever 12V DC supply I can find and left to get on with keeping the laptops fed with volts for hours at a time. (Just don't plug the kettle in at the same time, the inverter doesn't like it )
Rob
18th Dec 2007 5:34 pm
Wex
Member Since: 16 Apr 2007
Location: Knackeragua
Posts: 5173
I use a 300 W inverter , for laptop ( Inspiron 9400) whilst on the move , with no problems !
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