First plane trip with M11x r3 - Questions!

Hello! I'm about to take my first plane trip with my new m11x R3, and I was wondering if anyone knew the availability of power ports in most planes these days? I know my plane has wifi, bit it's hard to tell if it has anything else. (737-800 (738)). If it does have power ports, does anyone know what, if any power adapter I'll need? Also, if I don't have access to power, how long would my battery last on a light browsing, IMing, etc session? (I haven't run the battery through it's paces yet. )

Thanks so much!

 

not sure on the r3, but the r1 gets about 6 hours [enough from UK to US] or so on lowest graphics and dimmest settings

planes have wifi but some charge for it, so find out beforehand

as for power, some planes have a us power jack, but some dont, business class usually has power sockets for your laptop

 

I went frOm UK to Florida this year and there WAS power sockets for laptops, in regular, plebeian class.

Hope that helps

 

You'll be able to get 6.5 hours approximately for light im'ing & browsing (assuming you don't use the GT540m at all).

 

I fly around a lot for work, and bring my Alienware M11x R2 with me on just about every flight. The availability of power on your aircraft will depend on the carrier and the model of the airplane. Your best bet to find out whether your airline has power is to go to Airline Seating Charts - Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru, and look up your carrier + airplane from there.

There are generally two kinds of power adapters for airlines. Newer aircraft (constructed from 2008 - present) will have 3-prong 110V / 220V AC power sockets with a rated max output of about 80W, usually available in every seat row (including coach class). Older aircraft (1998 - 2008) may or may not have power, in coach class. If they do have power, then they will be most likely using an Empower 15V airline power connections with a max rated output of 75W, and will require that you buy a laptop power adapter that supports this kind of airplane power connection.

Since you are flying on a 737-800 with WiFi, I am guessing you're flying on American Airlines. The 737-800 planes on American Airlines are newer 737-800v2 planes, which use AC power plugs for each seat row (including coach class). You should be fine with the laptop power adapter you have, without having to buy additional hardware. If you do need to run your laptop on battery power, you can expect to get about 6.5 hours for internet / web browsing use, and about 4.0 hours for watching file-based video / movies stored on your hard drive.

It is also worth mentioning that the WiFi on these flights isn't free. Expect to pay between $5-$15 for access during a domestic flight, depending on how long your flight is. Also note that the bandwidth on the flights isn't superb... everyone on that flight is sharing a single satellite connection, which means lower bandwidth and higher latency than what you might be used to on the ground. The internet connection is good enough for things like email, web browsing, and IM. But do not expect to do any online gaming or watch streaming video (YouTube).

 

Oh, and if you're going to be flying around a lot, there are two other tips that I have:

1) Get yourself a pair of nice noise-isolating headphones (called canalphones, or In-Ear Monitors / IEMs). You can get a pair of really great canalphones for as little as $50 (Klipsch S4 sells for about $50 used), or can spend as much as $100, $200, $500, etc. IEMs will block out external sounds like the airplane engines, other people talking, crying babies, etc and put you in your own little private world for listening to music or watching movies. I actually look forward to flying now, for that reason.

2) If you will be flying around a lot, there are things you can talk about with your doctor to help you out. I won't get into it here, because it's not relevant to a technology / notebook forum. But if you're interested in learning more about this, PM me and can give you some advice.

 

Hey Kent could I pm you asking about my flight from Baltimore to Hawaii?? Wanted to see if you could help me determine the type of plane I will be on??

Going from BWI to Denver on United Via an Airbus A320 and From Denver to Hawaii on a Boeing 767.

 

Thanks so much for the help guys! I'm glad we have wifi and (possibly) a power port on my flight from SEA to Dallas. Only downside is my American Eagle flight from Dallas to Savannah is on an Embraer 50-person jet with no frills. Ugh...I really hope there's no turbulence...

 

Yes, sure. I will continue this conversation w/you in PM.

 

Dallas to Savannah should be a short flight... 2.5 hours or so. Just enough time for your plane to climb to altitude, watch a 2-hour movie, and then start your descent.

 

Yeah, it's only about 2 hours 10 minutes thankfully, but it's the "small plane" thing I'm worried about. I'm a nervous flyer.