Travel Technology - Running a 120-watt laptop on Empower - possible?

I've got a Toshiba Qosmio AV-501 that uses 120 watts of power. From scanning through other posts in here, it seems that Empower will only put out 75-90 watts. Is there any way to use my laptop onboard? I've got a flight to Hawaii and would love to watch a couple movies on the way, but the battery is lucky to last an hour...

(The flight is on a Delta 764)

What would happen if I try to use the Empower to AC adapters - would my laptop not work at all, or just slowly drain the battery? And will taking the battery out help?

Thanks!

It will probably charge it when the device is off, but there is no way it'll have enough power to keep it running. It will simply drain the battery, turn off, then start charging the battery.

Take the battery out. Turn off ANY wireless options and don't use any USB devices. You should be fine...

I have a HP laptop that requires 90W. Flew a CO 767 that puts out 75W, but had no problem using it.

Read the tech specs on your power supply box. Usually the rating on it states what the power range is. Most power suppllies for laptops are rated to be able to plug into any voltage/wattage range for the entire world.

On the Toshiba laptop I have, it states that it can be plugged into any plug that has a voltage between 100-240, amps of .75-.35 (it's written backwards); 50-60 hertz.

If you look at the output side, the actual output is only 15 volts, laptops don't actually need 120 volts. Double check that.

Also every laptop power requirements are different even in the same brand. It all depends on what hardware you have installed, and as someone mentioned above, if you turn off your wireless that will save a bunch of power.

I just took a look at my Toshiba power supply and it is rated at 15 volt, 8 amp so that would be 120 watts. This is probably the maximum possible output. So if you turn off options not being used as noted (wireless, USB), don't use CD/DVDs (extra motor power), reduce the screen brightness (Fn-Down Arrow on mine) and are not trying to charge the battery at the same time, you are probably OK.

As a test I just plugged my laptop into my portable power station which as an ammeter built in. It's basically a car battery with an AC inverter which can supply up to 400 watts. Probably not the most accurate meter, but it gives a good approximation.

With about a 50% discharged battery in full power mode it was drawing about 85-90 watts.

Without the battery, 35-40 watts.

No battery and long life mode (dim screen, etc.) drops it to 30 -35 watts.

As stated, you should be fine if not trying to charge the battery.

I just took a look at my Toshiba power supply and it is rated at 15 volt, 8 amp so that would be 120 watts. This is probably the maximum possible output. So if you turn off options not being used as noted (wireless, USB), don't use CD/DVDs (extra motor power), reduce the screen brightness (Fn-Down Arrow on mine) and are not trying to charge the battery at the same time, you are probably OK.

yes, but he said he wanted to watch a couple of movies. Wouldn't he need the CD/DVD drive and screen at a normal setting?

I've got a Toshiba Qosmio AV-501...it seems that Empower will only put out 75-90 watts. Is there any way to use my laptop onboard?

I have HP's answer to that unit (the zd7000) and UA's emPower ports are insufficient to power it. If I plug it in with no battery and hit the power button, the lights flicker for a moment and then nothing.

emPower is sufficient to charge the battery, and if the computer is on with the battery installed but doing absolutely nothing, emPower seems to be able to keep the unit alive. But if I run any type of multimedia application (so uses the HDD or the DVD), the battery takes over in powering the unit. Even Solitaire causes it to flicker on and off battery power.

So I continue to haul three batteries with me, and charge it during meals or when I am watching something on the IFE.

I am using a 65W Compaq and honestly this is something I never gave any consideration to when buying it. If nothing else, I have learned a valuable tip for my next purchase. I know this does not help the OP at all but I just wanted to say thanks, you may have saved me a whole lot of headaches to come.

I'm too lazy to switch back to the power station right now to check the draw of the DVD drive, but if my laptop is only drawing 35-40 watts without charging a battery the DVD motor would not put it over the 75 watt limit. Screen brightness did not seem to make a difference when I tried it this afternoon.

Should be fine as long as not charging the battery from the plane.

Thanks everyone for the input!

Unfortunately, on the flight today the power sockets weren't working, so I couldn't test the theories. When I fly back next week, I'll take the battery out and disable the wireless and see what happens.

And I can always copy the movies to my hard drive, so that might help as well. I'll report back what I find next week.

As others are pointing out in this thread, the real question is not what your power supply is rated for, it's what your laptop uses. If you have a full battery to start (or you remove it) there is no draw for charging - this might be a deal breaker ;)

To track power consumption you might consider this app interesting http://www.pbus-167.com/chc.htm - I have it on my tablet and use it to see how much the draw changes with different configs... FWIW, the reported draw seems to match up reasonably well with my batteries' rated capacity.

Tweaking to lowest CPU state, HD spindown, dim screen, etc I can run 12.7W, vs ~30W with an mpeg playing/HD Defrag/Full CPU but my adaptor is rated at 60 watts to allow charging the batteries. Hope this helps :)

Disclaimer: I have no connection to the utility except as a user, virus scan it, use at own risk, etc, etc

Thanks. I'm going to download it and give a trry tomorrow.

Being that my flight back was a red-eye, I never did bother to pull out the laptop on the return, opted for sleep instead. I'll try things out next time and post the results (although it's not often I'm on a plane with Empower outlets in coach, and upgrades don't happen too often nowadays....)

Thanks again for all the advice so far!