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Charging a laptop from a bike - Inverter or ???

Anyname

Active member
I was thinking of getting a netbook or small laptop for use while traveling. When I looked for DC chargers, most references I found were for using an inverter and the laptop's standard AC charger. I suppose that this would work, but inverters tend to be heavy and are reputed to add substantial electrical load.

I have seen a couple of direct 12 volt DC chargers (such as the PWR+ sold by Amazon) that are much smaller, lighter and claim to use less power. Any electrical wizards know if these devices are any good?

I have always heard that DC does not lend itself to readily changing voltage so I am curious what the direct DC chargers are doing to step up or down the voltage.
 
Electronic tech here...

Be careful using an inverter on your electronic gear, especially a cheap unfiltered one. This is the real-world risk. They output square waves, not sine waves, and not all chargers/computers/phones can deal with that kind of harsh output. THey also do suck up a lot of power just to operate. I popped a Sony laptop about 20 years ago using the inverter method. :nono

Asus makes a car charger for their netbooks, and other vendors do too. They have appropriate filtering.

I don't know what you mean by "DC not lending itself to readily changing voltage" because one of the simplest linear voltage regulars is a DC device. Those little lighter-socket with USB charger port devices prolly have nothing more than a 5 volt regulator, a couple of capacitors, and a resistor or two. I haven't opened one, but surely will after I have one fail.

Google "linear voltage regulator' if you wanna know more. Wikipedia has a good page.
 
I am currently fond of Apple products and had been looking at a low end Mac Book Air. Unfortunately Apple doesn't make a 12v charger for their laptops.

It sounds like the cheapo, small DC chargers may actually be more technically sound than an inverter.

I actually have a Targus inverter which I have previously used on my old IBM laptop. I just dug it out and it's not as heavy as I had remembered, but it's still pretty bulky.
 
I am currently fond of Apple products and had been looking at a low end Mac Book Air. Unfortunately Apple doesn't make a 12v charger for their laptops.

The Apple "magsafe" power brick has good filtering. Is that what comes with the Air?
 
Electronic tech here...

Be careful using an inverter on your electronic gear, especially a cheap unfiltered one.
So far, I have been lucky using cheap modified sine-wave (really modified square-wave) converters on my laptop computers without any problem. I do such from my RV. But for those who do not want to take any chances, you can safely run ANY notebook computer from a true sinewave converter, but they cost more, of course. An example is here.


-Don-
 
Unless you are going to completely out in the boonies, or plan on using it constantly, you should be able keep it in good shape, by charging it at the motel, or campground every night.

Most newer laptops will run 4+ hours on a battery charge. For the price of an inverter you could get a spare battery if there will be times away from civilization for a couple of days.
 
I was thinking of getting a netbook or small laptop for use while traveling. When I looked for DC chargers, most references I found were for using an inverter and the laptop's standard AC charger. I suppose that this would work, but inverters tend to be heavy and are reputed to add substantial electrical load.

I have seen a couple of direct 12 volt DC chargers (such as the PWR+ sold by Amazon) that are much smaller, lighter and claim to use less power. Any electrical wizards know if these devices are any good?

I have always heard that DC does not lend itself to readily changing voltage so I am curious what the direct DC chargers are doing to step up or down the voltage.
Look at the DC voltage output of your AC power supply. It might be something like 20 VDC. which means the DC converter will have to have the same output voltage. It might be around 20 VDC or so at 3.5 Amps or whatever. Be sure the 12 Volt converter output matches the output voltage of your stock power supply and the current rating of the new converter should be the same or higher, but never lower, than your stock AC converter. Also, of course, make sure the DC connector and polarity is correct.

The safest way is to see if you can buy one from the same company that made your computer and claims to be compatible for your model. Check the website for your make of laptop under accessories. It might cost more this way, but at least then you know it will work.

I have used the small little DC to DC converters on some of my laptops without any problems. Most of these are step up from 12 VDC to 20VDC (or so). They are not as clean as a true sinewave converter, and charging might take a little longer, but they usually work fine. The pure sinewave converter will still require your AC adapter and that gets to be too much stuff for a motorcycle when compared to the small DC to DC converter.

BTW, many cheap netbook computers run direct from 12 VDC and then a very cheap adapter will work as no conversion is necessary.

-Don- SSF, CA
 
Look at the DC voltage output of your AC power supply. It might be something like 20 VDC.

My white MacBook has a 10.8V battery. My 2010 MacBook Pro has an internal battery, but both machines use the same Apple Magsafe Charger. It's a good bet that the MacBook Air also has a 10.8V battery.

There's a small switching power supply inside the Apple power brick, and as I say, it prolly deals fine with inverter input. The big problem with the damn thing is the output cord. The strain relief does not do a proper job. YouTube is loaded with videos about how to fix the cable. Most start with a dremel tool. The thing was not designed to be serviced.
 
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Unless you are going to completely out in the boonies, or plan on using it constantly, you should be able keep it in good shape, by charging it at the motel, or campground every night.

Most newer laptops will run 4+ hours on a battery charge. For the price of an inverter you could get a spare battery if there will be times away from civilization for a couple of days.

Not where we camp much of the time. No power!

I have used a small inverter both of the past two summers. My Lenova doesn't seem to mind by the time the power gets through the inverter and then the computer charging cord. Others may pose problems.

I use a small 80 watt inverter - computer calls for 65 watts.
 
Deja vu!

IBM/Lenovo has a 12 volt charger/power supply available. However, as noted by Paul, the IBM/Lenovo's have no problem at all in my experience [a lot of years with a lot of clients] with using a simple, low end power inverter. One of my bigger clients is an Engineering/Surveying firm that uses Thinkpads in the field, running off inverters and of the 15 they use daily in the field - they're never had one fail.

Can't say about other manufacturers or Apple though.
 
I was thinking of getting a netbook or small laptop for use while traveling.

Look at the iPads. They charge from a 5v USB (or lighter to USB adapter) socket and I'm not planning to carry a laptop anymore. Warning: Just don't download Angry Birds or Plants vs. Zombies.
 
+1 on the invertor

I have been using a small Trip lite for years on a lenovo and now a Dell Mini 9. Absolutely no issues at all. It is run from fused power to my tank bag. In there the inverter will power either the netbook, Zune, phone and whatever else i need.
 
I have been using a small Trip lite for years on a lenovo and now a Dell Mini 9. Absolutely no issues at all. It is run from fused power to my tank bag. In there the inverter will power either the netbook, Zune, phone and whatever else i need.

There's nothing inherently wrong with an inverter, it's just that there's a lot of cheap crap out there. You gotta choose carefully.
 
With a well chosen netbook, the need for carrying anything other than its normal power supply probably does not exist for most users and only infrequent charging would be needed.

I carry a 6 cell ASUS netbook (NOTE- most chains sells the slightly cheaper 3 cell versions which do not save enough weight to justify their lowered capability, IMO) that runs (verified by me) for 8 1/2 hours without recharging. As a practical matter, that means I can use it a lot on the road without needing to find an outlet to recharge it.

I do charge my IPhone and extra bluetooth headset off the bike while riding, to ensure the phone is always fully charged and I've got a live headset available at all times, however. Done in a power modified BMW tank bag. However, the bike battery, without running the bike, can also safely recharge a phone or headset. I do not worry about charging my camera- with a spare battery it can do about 800 pics which is way more than I'll do on any trip. Making chices about what gear to carry is part of packing on a bike so I've miniaturized the pc and its support stuff and avoided the need to draw bike power whenever possible.

When plugged in, the netbook (through USB) also acts as a phone charger etc and I carry a full set of very small wind up cables to allow all normal types of connections. In trips up to 2 weeks, including a week of camping at a rally site, I've not found a need to charge the netbook from the bike- have always been able to grab a bit of A/C once every 4 or 5 days which is about all it needs (could be while eating at a roadside joint, for example). Don't spend all that much time on a pc on the road, don't carry one of the expensive ways to hookup to the web or a hacked phone, and wi-fi is easy to find around civilization.

I suppose if you plan to video edit at a campsite you would need more computing power and more frequent charging for the more powerful pc needed for such work, but for most users this need can be eliminated by original equipment choice. The netbook also has stored on it the factory service DVD and the GS-911 software - its primary travel uses are e-mail, web cruising for local info, and as a service tool, if needed.
 
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Exactly what I'm dealing with.

Being a remote working graphic designer, I'm able to travel when I like for the most part but have no way to charge the macbook when on the road, other than the above mentioned of the hotel or wherever you may be. I zip tied a $5 dc power outlet on the bike for the phone.

When I stop, outlets are usually my main concern. I've pulled 8 hr work days at coffee shops truck stops and rest stops always keeping plugged in for the precious juice, not knowing what later is going to be like. I've crushed the 5hr battery life the laptop says is left in 3.

But there's always the moment where I'm in the middle of nowhere sitting by a creek or somewhere in the plains, or by tent making a final change to a graphic, attach to email and the comp dies before it sends. Race against time.

McDonalds and such used to be a guarantee for electric, here recently it seems the outlets have vanished, leading me to believe they don't appreciate my visit and my electric needs.

I've kept an eye out for a macbook safe charger, but afraid of whats out there as I can't risk loosing work.

Question, in this supposed mobile culture and access to anything with your fingers, why hasn't apple covered this? It's their fault we're all in this position of living by the gadget.

For the mean time, it's wall sockets for me and the continual search goes on....
 
I picked up an external battery pack for my MacBook Pro at batterygeek.com. It'll charge up the internal battery almost twice per charge. plus it has a USB port to charge my phone. BTW, the Mac chargers are 19.5 vDC which may be why their airline/car adaptor will power the laptop but not charge the battery.
 
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