Is it possible to plug my HP laptop into a power inverter in my car without it ruining the laptop battery?

I'm planning a road trip, and would like to have the capability of running the laptop in my vehicle without running out of (laptop) battery power. I have heard that using an inverter may cause problems. I checked HP and they do not sell a DC power connection for laptops, only for printers.

Has anyone tried this? Did it work okay? Asked by Phoebster 48 months ago Similar questions: plug HP laptop power inverter car ruining battery Computers > Hardware > Desktops & Laptops.

Similar questions: plug HP laptop power inverter car ruining battery.

.. We use converters in our police patrol cars all the time. We use laptops in our police cars daily, and they all are powered by inverters and they have no problesm at all with it or the battery. In fact we plug them into a docking station that in turn is connected to power through an inverter.

We have been doing this for years now without it causing any battery problems when we pull them out of the police car. ALso I have used my own personal laptop on trips just like you are talking about, and used an inverter. I have never had any problems.

Radio Shack makes a nice small one that I use: radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?product... its really small and works great for me. It will also run a playstation for an entire 8 hour drive! :) Hope this hleps..

Yes, it shouldn't harm your laptop or battery I've used an inverter several times for several hours on 2 different laptops with no issues at all. Just make sure you buy an inverter with enough wattage and one with a cooling fan.

It depends on the inverter You should be able to use a 12v to 110v power inverter with your computer’s plug-in battery charger. You would plug the inverter into your car’s accessory (lighter) outlet, then plug the charger into the 110v outlet. However, there are some things to know about power inverters.

The cheapest ones produce a square-wave output. Consider this diagram (Courtesy MathWorld): The solid black line is a representation of how the inverter produces power, while the red line shows how the power you get from conventional house current is produced. The steep transition from positive to negative can cause problems for some kinds of circuits.

While your computer’s battery charger may be perfectly happy producing a nice, flat DC voltage - 15v is typical - with house current, it may allow some harmful harmonics, or jagged voltages, through if it’s being powered from a square-wave inverter. Computers, laptops in particular, depend on very good voltage regulation to work properly. Any noise that might be introduced by a poorly filtered power supply could cause the computer to work improperly, or even cause damage.

For this reason, better DC to AC converters, such as those used in computer UPSs, produce a modified square wave, or modified sine wave (depending on how you look at it) similar to this (courtesy panelectron.hu/): With the MSW output being represented by the blue line. The stepped transition is easier on the filtering components of your power supply and will give you a DC output that’s less likely to cause problems for your computer. Finally, there are inverters that produce a pure sine wave, no different from what you would have at home.

Those are the best of all, but they are also the most expensive. I’ve added some Amazon links to help you pick out a product. Sources: Cited IchtheosaurusRex's Recommendations Amptronix 12V 150W Pure Sinewave Power Inverter (ATS150-12A) Amazon List Price: $138.00 150/550W Wagan 9135 Modified Sine Wave Power Inverter Amazon List Price: $59.95 Amptronix 12V 300W Pure Sinewave Inverter (ATS300-12A) Amazon List Price: $189.00 A few to consider.

You don't need much to power a battery charger.

I know Dell sells car charger kits for thier laptops, I would think HP does the same... if not, they do make universal adapters. We use them at work when we work on customer's laptops that forget to bring in their cords. Just make sure you follow the supplied charts to make sure you use the right tips.

They make both standard (regular outlet) and car models.

The short answer is yes, yes yes! While the technical facts provided by IchtheosaurusRex are indeed accurate, the fact is is that overwhelmingly 99% of laptops work fine with the modified sine wave. I have been using inexpensive inverters for years $30~40 dollar variety to power laptops.So far, no problems on six different models I have used for daily use.

One of the reasons why laptops don't care is because you are actually charging the battery BEFORE the power goes to the internal circuitry. While some noise can be transferred or "inducted" it is highly unlikely to affect anything. I would avoid the $10 dollar variety that you see at some discount stores but as long as you stay in the $30-50 dollar range for a 150-400 watt model you will be fine.

Happy mobile computing! .

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And desktops?

Want to put a string of small Christmas lights in my car. What size inverter do I need to plug into my lighter (watts)?

Why does my laptop screen get dimmer when I plug into a power source?...it is always brighter when on battery power.

What power inverter will I need to power a laser copier that uses max of 600 watts...in my car.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.