Power inverter

Hello all, I was hoping someone here might be able to point me to a solid power inverter that will work for the m17x. It would be preferred if the inverter would work while running off the graphics card, however, I understand that's a lot of juice and I may have to go with integrated graphics.

I'm hoping I can still use my computer while on the road. Thanks for any info. Links are appreciated!

 

We talking for use in a Car or Airplane ? or both ?

 

In a car. I think the only other device that will be plugged into the car will be a mp3 player (won't require the use of the inverter though).

 

I suggest a 300 watt (or more) inverter,

For this kind of power your likely going to have to hard wire it, as the Cig adaptors are usually limited to 10 - 15 amps. your going to need about 30 amps to power an inverter large enough to run the laptop

 

Thanks for the info, Dave! Would a inverter of this size put the car battery at risk if used (while the car is running) for extended periods of time?

 

It should not be an issue while running. but it would be prudent to check the capacity of the Alternator first.

I would not want to be much less than 60 amps capacity on the Alternator with this kind of draw required

 

Thanks for the info. I'll do some shopping around.

 

So I picked up a 450w inverter and it turns out it wasn't powerful enough to push my m17x. I couldn't even get it to power the lights on the power cable 0.o

After looking through the manual it suggest not running anything more than 80w through the cig lighter as anything more than that can cause a fire.

So....looks like I'm going to go the route of a hard wired one. Any suggestions (with links please) on a hard wired inverter that will power a Alienware m17x?

I'd love to be able to play SC2 while on the road with my band.

 

We ran 300w on this one.

Enercell 350W High-Power Inverter with USB : Power Inverters | RadioShack.com

Just throwing that out there.

 

Why dont you just buy a "120w car adapter" just google it, instead of an inverter, it is much more energy efficient to convert 12volts to 19volts, then to convert 12volts to 120volts and then back to 19volts.

Just make sure it has a tip suitable for the m17x

I have been looking for a combined car/mains adaptor but i have only found ones with 90watts not the needed 120watts so i would have to charge the notebook when it is turned off.

 

Well if I understand the power requirements for the m17x it requires 210 watts. Is this correct?

DELL 210 Watt 3-Pin AC Adapter with 6 ft Power Cord for Dell Precision M6400/ M6500 Mobile WorkStations / Alienware M17x Laptop : Laptop Accessories | Dell

 

Merk1b2 were you running a m17x? What was the watt consumption of the laptop you were running? Did you have the inverter you linked powered through the cig lighter or direct to the battery?

 

So I just spoke with a Dell rep and they said this one would work:

Dell 65 Watt Auto/Air AC Adapter

However, it says it's 65w and I need 210. The rep I spoke with said it would work because it's going from AC to DC. Can anyone confirm this? Sorry for the noob questions. Still trying to wrap my head around all this.

 

Lots of posts I know (sorry). Just came across this inverter:

Duracell Digital Inverter 400

Thoughts?

 

That one says it will supply 320 continuous watts, so it should work. As Dave mentioned, this will have to be wired directly to the battery. Don't even bother trying the cigarette lighter. I couldn't run even my old M1710 off of the cigarette lighter. If the unit doesn't come with a way of wiring it directly to the battery, just get a length of extension cord and connect terminals to connect to both the battery and the inverter. Be very mindful of polarity though (+ and -), or you'll fry the inverter. With a good wiring job, you should be able to run your laptop at full blast for as long as you want.

EDIT: I was looking at that unit, and it says 2.8 amp continuous. My 240w adapter says 12.3 amps. I'm not an electrical wiz, but that unit probably won't meet your power demands. And it looks kind of cheap.

 

Thanks for the info TurbodTalon. Will hooking a inverter, such as the one I linked, work while the vehicle is traveling down the road? All the inverters I've seen have the battery clips but I can't imagine those are intended to be used while driving down the road?

 

Yes, they'll work better because the alternator will be applying a constant charge to the battery. I cut both ends off of an old extension cord and ran it from the engine compartment into the passenger compartment to power my inverter. How you route the wire into the passenger compartment will vary from car to car. You can do a really nice job if you intend to leave the inverter installed permanently, or you can just do something to get the 'job' done for a short term install. It's really no different than wiring up an amplifier, except you don't need power to go all the way to the trunk. And no, you don't want to use the crappy clips that come with the inverter. To get good, clean power to your laptop, you want to hard-connect the power and ground wires to the battery terminals. Like I said earlier though, look for a nicer inverter that has a higher constant amperage rating. You're not running a netbook, you're running a monster! This may still be confusing, so feel free to ask for clarification. Or just PM me. Good luck!

 

: lugs fingers in ears:: La la la, I don't hear you saying use an extension cord

You need a 300w inverter; the Duracell 400 is overpriced but will work. Have it professionally installed, though, as they will probably put a nice on/off switch in for it as well so it's not constantly draining the juice.

And if you're curious why it doesn't go into the regular lighter port.... most lighter ports are fused 15A @ 12V. To get 300W @ 120V you need 2.5A.... at 120v. At 12v, this becomes 25A (minimum, not figuring in the overhead for loss to heat and conversion of DC to AC), 10A over the fuse rating of the lighter port. And no, you can not just put a 25A or 30A fuse in unless you want to find out what happens when you run double the rated amperage over a wire (it's not pretty, I see it a lot in houses I get called to because people want to run a dryer without running a new outlet out.... so they just throw a 30A breaker in and hard-wire the dryer.... and home owner's insurance will not pay out for that kind of stupidity).

 

If I were to use an extension cord, I would cut off both ends and just use the cable, wiring one end to the battery and the other to an auxillary "cigarette lighter" type 12v socket. However, an in-line switch would be nice.

I have a 125amp Alternator in my 2001 Impala (9C3 - Police Model), one specifically built to handle this kind of application, and now the tinkerer in me is wanting to do this.

 

Thanks for all the info guys. I think I'll check with one of my local car audio guys and see what they would charge to install a system for me. I definitely don't want to fry anything. I appreciate all the help, thanks!