Can you run the M15x off of a car plug?

If you got a car inverter and plugged it into the car plug, then plugged the M15x into it, would it charge? Or does it suck too much power from the car's battery? Just asking because we go on road trips alot and I would love to be able to game on the road instead of blankly staring out the window.

 

I have no idea I'm afraid, might be something to ask a car specialist. Though if you do go on the road regularly it might be worth while buying a second battery.

 

http://tinyurl.com/ydjrkwb

 

you will need a big inverter the one that plugs into cigarette plug is not strong enough for the M15x.

 

http://tinyurl.com/yjascky

 

I know what I need, I was just wondering id the battery in the car is strong enough.

 

sleey0 is tearing this thread up. I Lol'd at the second time. Well do you really need your m15x so badly that you can't wait until you find an outlet? Extreme portability and battery life isn't the main idea for this rig.

 

Do you really need a 400 watt inverter? The power adaptor that come with the system is only 150 watts (I think). I did find a 400 watt inverter. I guess I could also put something else on it (like some Psyko 5.1 headphones).

 

Generally speaking the outlet port for power in a vehicle is for 140 watts (or less in Custom Vans and Recreational Vehicles 120 watts in regular vehicles) so the right answer has already been given you need an inverter that ties to the battery.

 

Does Sleey0 only speak in Google links?

 

Or, you could read, OR, actually talk to the people in the car with you! Unless you are taking trips on a regular basis with people that you don't like, which is a much bigger issue than whether or not you can run your laptop off the car battery.

(No need to flame me for this - this is actually his wife and I never read this forum, anyway.)

 

wth? Are you saying that reading or talking to someone is actually more fun than gaming??

 

You try being stuck in a 8 passenger car with 8 people plus luggage for 3 days for 6 hours. See if you can stand that without a little Crysis.

 

Dont worry about the car battery, just limit your usage of the lappy/inverter setup to when the engine is running. Dont leave it plugged in overnight or while the engine is not running for more than a couple minutes and your car batt will be fine.

If you go straight to the battery with the inverter as previously suggested, I would recomend getting a batt isolator solenoid and hooking the inverter to the isolator.....the idea being when the key is off, your inverter is off, when the key is on(and the batt is being charged by the alternator) your inverter will be powered up.

 

Yeah, that is what I was planning to do. Trust me, I would NEVER leave a $3,000 computer in the car overnight. This is for just when we're going down the interstate at 65mph.

 

The best way to do it is Buy a inverter that hard wires to the battery. The Cig. plug is only 10 Amps. I'm pretty sure that you would be close to that and be blowing fuses left and right when the fans pick up and the GPU is going like crazy. you can probably safely use a 15 amp fuse to keep from blowing the fuses, but if you catch your car on fire you didn't hear that from me.

So buy a 400watt inverter from pep boys or somewhere and get one that hard wires to the battery. you'll even have some left over for a small power strip and normal cell phone chargers or a car dvd player.

 

It's my mom's one and only car, I doubt she'd let me do anything to it.

 

I used to game on my M1730 in the car using a 350W inverter.

Battery was fine.

My Maxima has 2 1000W JL Amps juicing 2 13w7's with no problem so I don't see how an efficient, 150W laptop is going to do any harm.

 

I've used my M9750 (180w max) in a Volvo XC90 using a 400w inverter before with no issues. Ran through the cigarette lighter socket without issues, the car uses 20A fuses on the 12v circuit that runs the sockets. I would've thought even 15A ones would pose no problem as 12*15 = 180 which gives 30w extra over the m15x's max power draw.
The only problem you might have is that alot of cigarette lighter plugs that come with these inverters only have 10A fuses in them so you basically end up blowing them, if you change it for a 15A I wouldnt see any problem there

 

Last time (also first time) I plugged my M17x into an inverter connected to the 12v socket of the car..I burned all the lights in the car, all the fuses shorted. The engine was still working, I could drive, do everything as normal, just had no lights - from leds near the gear stick to the lights on the dashboard/cdplayer/head lights/stops...

Cost me about 500 euros to have all the fuses replaced on both boards (one under the wheel and another one near the battery).

Thank god it was day time when I did that!

 

you could of saved yourself 490 euros by purchasing 10 euros worth of fuses... even my grandma would be able to change a car fuse, its about as simple as changing a light bulb...

back to the topic.. it kind of depends on the car.. some cars have a higher rating on the ciggaret lighter then others... I know for sure in a allot of SUV's and trucks there is a higher rated cig lighter outlet that says how many amps it is as well... check the user manual or look it up online...

and the laptop doesnt always use 150w, only when maxing the cpu and or gpu.. so you would be fine just by going on the internet, listening to music, watching movies, writing word docs or whatever makes you happy as long as its not gaming or something cpu/gpu dependant.

 

Ok, I'll check the manual.

 

You may be able to get away with an inverter matching the charger as the laptop won't be drawing full power from the charger 100% of the time and it shouldn't get near that point because that would be very poor design on Dell's part (Due to possible blown PSUs)

One thing to remember is that an inverter isn't 100% efficent, neither is the laptop charger, For example my M17x charger puts out 19.5v @ 12.3A = Just under 240 Watt, It takes in at PEAK 240Vac @ 3.5A = 840Watt so in theory the latter is the inverter you should get (840w+), as the Watt rating on the inverter is the output wattage (Usually Short Peak On Cheaper Ones).

Again, like was said it shouldn't run max output all the time so you should be fine with a lower wattage inverter, I wouldn't worry about the inverter killing the car battery as alternators are usually overrated a substantial amount to charge the battery while driving (Not to mention on the highway/motorway the alternator will be @ full power output.) AND the fact that if you can get away with one running from the ciggy lighter socket it will do nothing but blow the fuse on the socket rather the any lasting damage.

In your instance say your 150w laptop charger draws 240Vac @ 2A = Just under 500W (It may be different i haven't seen the charger), You'll need a 500W (Peak, bearing in mind if dell designed the system well it shouldn't get near the alotted 150W and thus shouldn't draw anywhere near the 500W from the other side.)

 

you need to double check how much power can go through the cigarette lighter. You might be blowing fuses if its below 160 Watts. Whats the car?

 

My mom's Honda Pilot. I can't wait until I can afford my own car.

 

Your mom's Honda Pilot uses the same 12v supplies as my Honda RidgeLine does and it's 120 watts maximum output, the answer is still, No.

 

Why not read the M15x manual? Page 32 regarding "Stealth Mode." Allows you to use a 65W auto/air adapter.

 

I don't have one. And that's on stealth mode. No one like stealth mode.

 

dude just hook the inverter to the battery, its not that hard then run the wire from the hood through the window that way its easily taken out again.. its what im doing in few weeks when I go from florida to myrtle beach..

lol letting the girl drive all the way up while I enjoy BC2 online through my 3G of teh iphone tethered