G72 - Travel/Car Charging - Help a mom!

My 14 yr old son has a G72 laptop. We're planning a road trip in a few weeks and he'd like to take the laptop to use in the car. I've never traveled with a laptop so I'm clueless. We'll be traveling for about 8 hours. My confusion comes from the required power consumption and can this type of laptop with the gaming processor even be charged/played while in a car? It seems like it would require more power than the car battery can supply? I've been researching the options; so I know a bit about 'inverters' but I just want this to be kept simple. I found a 12V Cig lighter adapter made for this specific laptop for about $60 online (specs say: input=11-15V DC/Output 19VDC-up to 150 watts).

Asus Power brick says: Input: 100-240V 2.0 Output: 19.5V/7.7A (so actually just over 150 watts)

Will this adapter work without damaging laptop and/or killing the car battery (rental mini-van)? Can he continuously use laptop while it's plugged in to cig lighter? If so, should laptop battery be left in or taken out while in use? I've read different opinions and I'm just confused. Maybe he just has to deal with no laptop in the car?

Thank you so much! I hope somebody has some answers. If it was YOU, what what you do?

 

I'm not sure about the power brick of G72 being connected to the car's outlet (the cigarette lighter?) but one thing I'm sure is that it's not a good idea to run a laptop on a car outlet while driving. Why is it?

It's because when you're driving and having you're G72 plugged-in and is being used, chances are you might break or compromise your hard disk when you experience strong vibrations/shocks along the road.

If someone post here that it's safe to connect the power brick on your car's outlet while driving, then it's good, given that you only use the outlet for charging the notebook while it's not powered on.

 

Oh, sorry! I wouldn't use the power brick while in car...I was just giving the specs to save people the trouble of looking it up. The adapter I found has the 12V lighter end and then the little plug on other end that looks like a headphones plug-in.

 

We use laptops while driving all the time. The kids watch movies on them. However, there is always the issue of a large hard object loose in a car if there's an accident. That aside the main issue is buying and having installed the right power inverter. I have a 300 watt version with to AC outlets professionally installed directly to the car power system. The cigarette lighter doesn't support the amperage we use.

The inverter cost about $50 and the install was $80. They look like this and Frys, Microcenter and Radio Shack sell them too. You just need one capable of handling the load you plan on connecting.

Amazon.com: Cobra CPI 480 400-Watt 12-Volt DC to 120-Volt AC Power Inverter with 5-Volt USB Output: Automotive

Cheers,

 

Thanks. This will be a rental vehicle and its basically for ONE trip back and forth so that's why I am asking about using the 12V charger adapter option as opposed to an inverter which we wont have use for again. We do not do a lot of car trips. Maybe he'll just have to deal with a DVD player...and his Ipod while IN the car. The tragedy! :>)

 

But if you're using your laptop with SSD Hard drives, I think you don't have problems even if sudden shocks/vibrations along the road arises. Typical HDDs (that are not the SSDs) are still mechanical in nature, thus exposing it to significant shocks/vibrations might make it's read/write arm hit the magnetic platters thus making the lifespan of your disks lessened significantly.

 

I have a pretty big inverter that plugs into the accessory socket on the vehicle. I wish I could remember the exact wattage but I don't have it with me. I think it's over 200. It is aluminum and has two plugs on it.

The thing I wanted to say was that it barely keeps up with the laptop. When the inverter is overloaded it beeps and then trips it's internal circuit breaker. When the boys were gaming on my laptop in the back seat it was continuously making a slight beeping sound like it was about to shut down. It stayed on but it was on the "hairy edge" of not being able to put out enough power. If the laptop battery was 100% charged it might keep up. If it is trying to charge the battery and play at the same time I would say definitely not. You need a bigger one. If you just want to surf the internet and watch movies with it, I would say a decent sized cigarette lighter plug type inverter will be fine. The laptop doesn't draw near as much power if you aren't playing 3D video games.

I just looked it up and mine is 200W continuous and 350W peak. It's not really big enough but it did work. Walmart has a 400W that plugs into the lighter port but also has terminals for connecting directly to the battery in some way. That's probably the right one to buy. If it overloads the lighter port it will just blow the fuse and you still have the option to connect it to the battery without having to return the inverter and buy another one.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cobra-400-Watt-Power-Inverter/11020914

These inverters have fan noise since they have a small internal fan for cooling, but it never bothers me on road trips. I just turn the radio up a little.

 

Hi, I have a whole bunch of experience on this matter, so let me slap down some facts here

1) The cigarette lighter connection can only handle up to 140w max. (I found out the hard way in my company truck.)

2) While the power brick is rated to 150w, it can actually draw more at times. My G73JH will occasionally peak at 172W. This was one reason I decided to get a 180w brick replacement.

3) The only proper way to setup a DC Inverter for these power-hungry laptops is to connect it to the main power lines (the car's battery) and snake it into the car's interior. (I did this by snaking it out from under the hood, to just inside the front passenger's door. This setup doesn't interfere with door operation, and installs in minutes) Using this setup alleviates the 140w maximum draw.

4) You can perhaps get away with the cigarette lighter connection, but to minimize draw, I would suggest taking off the battery. This way you are not recharging and using the computer both. I still recommend #3 HIGHLY.

 

Ok..that's what I was afraid of. I am glad I double-checked before making any purchases for a car charger. I can't wire it...its a rental car so thats out. My son will just have to 'deal' and wait until we get to the destination to use his laptop and do his thing. I get points for trying, right?!

 

Yes you do.

Cheers,

 

Careful of voltage spikes, too. If you don't have it installed professionally, there is a small chance that if it's plugged in when you start the car, you'll overload the computer (if it's on and running).

 

Yes, and a few more for knowing how to convert amps to watts!