My laptop hates cars

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Spook50

Spook50

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My laptop (Dell Inspiron 8200) hates running off vehicle power. I've tried all brands and sizes of inverters; no luck. I've tried all brands of 90W (120W peak) auto/air power supplies; no luck.

Has anyone had any issues getting their Dell laptop to run off their vehicle's power? I'm starting to think there's an issue with the laptop itself, but it runs just fine off its own batteries or off of AC power.

That and my GPS receiver sucks ass too.
 
symptoms?


ran my Dell fine off the cig lighter with a Dell multisource power supply (has built-in inverter I imagine)
 
davegonz said:
Spook,

I have a Dell LS and it runs off of a Dell brand auto power supply just fine. Do a google search to see if Dell ever made one specifically for the 8200.
Click to expand...

They did, but it was a 90W (peak, 70W nominal) power supply. I don't know if my laptop is just sucking more power since I upgraded the CPU (wouldn't think that's the case), but with this Kensington (actually with everything I've tried), the power to the laptop keeps cycling on/off about three times per second whenever there's a load on the CPU. Sits just fine idling, but not when something's running. I haven't tried the Lind yet, so I'll give that one a shot. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky...

Bluto, my GPS is the DeLorme Earthmate LT-20.
 
photogod said:
Could it be the unit is drawing to much power from the cig adapter and tripping the internal circut breaker? Just a hunch
Click to expand...

I thought of that, but if that were the case, I wouldn't think it'd cycle back on so quick. I figure it'd stay off for at least a couple seconds before coming back on (the power supply that is). It's also not giving me any indication that there's a fault in the system.
 
I have a similar problem with my Dell Latitude D620 when connected with the OEM 65W power supply to a no-brand 300W inverter. It will run Ok for a while, but then once in a while the inverter starts beeping signaling overload. If I turn the inverter off and on again, it will run fine for another while. I think the cig. lighter circuit has a 10A fuse, so it can't be drawing more than 120 W.
With an older (PIII 500 MHz) compaq laptop there isn't any problem using the same inverter.
 
One problem with some electronics is that most cheaper inverters are not true sine wave inverters (picture rolling waves with the tops chopped off so that they are flat). In some cases, this can cause operating problems. You can buy a true / pure sine wave inverter (much more, usually from marine shops, etc - likely $200 for a 300W model).

I would have thought that a DC : DC unit would work ok, especially one desinged for your machine.

Cheers, Hugh
 
CDN_Cruiser said:
One problem with some electronics is that most cheaper inverters are not true sine wave inverters (picture rolling waves with the tops chopped off so that they are flat). In some cases, this can cause operating problems. You can buy a true / pure sine wave inverter (much more, usually from marine shops, etc - likely $200 for a 300W model).

I would have thought that a DC : DC unit would work ok, especially one desinged for your machine.

Cheers, Hugh
Click to expand...

Correct. cheap invertes are Step-Wise, as you indicated. Most delicate electronics don't like this setup as the time vs. voltage rise is too small (step).

I did see a true sine DC/AC converter at West Marine for $450. Don't remember the wattage though...
 
uberhahn said:
Correct. cheap invertes are Step-Wise, as you indicated. Most delicate electronics don't like this setup as the time vs. voltage rise is too small (step).

I did see a true sine DC/AC converter at West Marine for $450. Don't remember the wattage though...
Click to expand...

aka Squareware ac. Good for tools, bad for delicate stuff
 
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