bp888

It appears from reading the various threads in this forum that the most common method of providing "juice" to your laptop during a flight is by using the various airplane power adapters, e.g. Targus, Empower etc., which sell upwards of $100.

What about power inverters? These are devices that convert DC power from car cigarette lighter outlets to 110 Volts AC and are typically a lot less expensive (less than $40). Will this device work in airplanes? Granted, it's less convenient than the airplane power adapters in that you have two devices between the airplane power source and your laptop, i.e. airplane power source -> power inverter -> laptop "brick".

Has anybody actually used a power inverter inflight? I hope this is the case otherwise I have to buy a separate airplane power adapter for my portable DVD player, whereas with the power inverter, I just bring along the 110-volt power "brick" for any portable device I might want to bring onboard.

Speaking of airplane power adapters, the one I bought seems to work only on AA's airplane power source, i.e. the one that has the cigarette lighter plug. It doesn't work on UA flights that appears to require a much small plug. Is there some kind of adapter to make it work on both UA and AA?

Irvine

I know the airlines are not keen on having 110V at the passengers seat in case liquid gets spilled in to the system with the 110V: it can be dangerous.
I do not know if there is any regulation against them though. I do know that they emit a lot of interference, but I do not think there is any data on this.

I know the DC-AC adaptors sell for around $20-35. As you have to drag your AC-DC adaptor around anyway, you may as well generate the 110V and power everything you need.

Prior to AA installing their cigarette lighter power adaptors, there was an industry group who was trying to establish a standard for the inflight power which had a different plug. I think it was around the size and shape of a 5-pin DIN audio connector. Once AA introduced their system, I think the industry group fell apart, as I did not hear any more about them or their activities.

FYI, Fry's Electronics had the Fellowes inflight adaptors here in So Cal for 69.99 over the last few weeks: check their ads in your Bay-area papers: they may carry them there at that same price again.
If you can get the DVD-ROM drive for your notebook, then you don't have to drag your DVD player with you....

bp888

What is the Fellowes inflight adaptor for?

EPS

bp888: http://www.nescobatteries.com/air_cord.htm

pegasus8228

Input Voltage: 11-16 volts DC
Watts: 70 watts continuous, 75 watts (maximum)

above is the relevant spec for targus...check your car plug, if it has the similar spec, then u can try using it...otherwise don't
i.e.
1. is the car output aournd 11-16 volt? (has to contain this range)
2. is the power above some 70 watts? (high the better)

pegasus8228

forgot to mention one more thing...the plug shape/size also need to match......some products like targus come with a dozen of those adaptor plug to fitting different sizes

Irvine

bp888: Fellowes is the brand name: it looks like their products are mde by Nesco, but sold under the Fellowes name.

bp888

I'm confused. Doesn't the inverter take DC power (cigarette lighter plug) and convert it to 110 VAC? So the issue really is whether the inverter has enough wattage to power the brick of my portable device. Am I right?

Here's an example description of the inverter that I'm talking about:

This description came from http://shop.store.yahoo.com/laptopsf...n12vcarad.html


[This message has been edited by bp888 (edited 01-29-2001).]

Efrem

bp888,

Brookstone carries an airplane unit with the small DL/UA style plug and an adapter for AA's cigarette lighter style. (It also works in cars.) Each of the several packages comes with 4-5 computer-side plugs for a set of laptops they list on the box and on a sheet of paper the sales clerks have. The downside is that it's a tad expensive, $125 at their BOS Terminal C store a few weeks ago.

It's made by Xtend Micro. You might check them out at www.xtendmicro.com to see if they sell it direct for less. (I didn't have the time when I got mine.)

Irvine

bp888: you are correct.
Inverter takes 12V and generates 110V. Please note that it is not "true AC", but it is close. Some products may not work well off the simulated 110V AC, but most should be OK.

You would need an inverter that can generate enough power for the regular AC adaptor to work.
Inverters and "bricks" also are not efficient, so you need to allow for some inefficiency: if you have a 100 watt inverter, it may not provide enough power to power a 100W device.
So, you may want to leave a little headroom by buying a slightly higher-rating inverter than you really need.

pegasus8228

bp,

to elaborate on irvine's point......

voltage is determine whether the device can take the power, while power is a separate parameter (to take a notsogood example, if you have a 70W lamp, but your power only draw 40W, the light would dim....the leeway with smaller wattage output is not as crucial as voltage (and voltage output cannot be too hight either, but higher wattage output is acceptable).....in fact when an appliance is of lower wattage spec than ur aplliance would draw, it might burn out the device, that is what happen when your fuse at home breaks if u try to put several 3000W heater on at the same outlet



[This message has been edited by pegasus8228 (edited 01-30-2001).]

bp888

Thank you to all the respondents. I will try the inverter to provide power to my portable DVD player on my upcoming trip SJC-NRT-BKK on AA/JL. If the AA 777s to NRT were equipped with DVD players, then I wouldn't need to lug along my own. Oh well!

Helen123

Don't get the inverter. You will get in trouble with the airline. The inverter generate a lot of electrical noises. Also it has the same problem as if the airline provided 110Vac on the seat, nobody wants high voltage so close to himself and has the possibility of spill liquid on it.

(provided by Helen's hubby- power engineer)