NP8150 / P150HM Car Powered

I am thinking of getting this laptop. My concern is with the ability to power it from the car. Presently I use an m11xr1. I was also looking at the m14x, but want something with a beefier GPU. Will this draw too much power and blow the fuse? Can this even be powered with a DC-to-DC adpator such as those made by Lexington or Memorex? Is the Belkin adapter they allow you to check off on various sites (Gentech, xotic, etc) a DC-to-DC or is it just an inverter? And would this do the trick? Gaming in the car would be nice as my wife typcially drives when we go visit the inlaws (about a two to three hour drive).

 

What's the power limit of the car, and what are you using to power the laptop?

 

I found part of my answer:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7351381-post2380.html

I am guessing the issue is in the power draw.

At 12VDC, P = V * A, so

5 Amp fuse = 60 W
15 Amp fuse = 180W
20 Amp fuse = 240W
25 Amp fuse = 300W
30 Amp fuse = 260W

I am not sure what the rating on the car outlets (car cigarette lighters for us old timers) are. My Yukon has two of them in the front though. One looks more heavy duty than the other. Also there is one in the back and by its location, I am assuming it is to power things and not light cigarettes. What kind of fuses are on these thing typically? Can I just stick a bigger fuse? Are the wires and other conducting items rated high enough to handle this kind of load?

Does anyone make any kind of specialty DC-to-DC adapter besides the Lexington and Memorex which seem to be barely rate for 120W

Ideally to game, it would seem I need a 25 Amp fuse, verify the "outlet" conducting items are rated enough (don't want burning wire smell when I game), and a proper DC-to-DC adaptor. I actually bought one a while back, which I think was rated for 120W. From Googling around so far, these web sites seem to target the laptop model rather than let you select by power draw - confusing. After you click though, the usual answers are 65W, 90W or 120W. Is this all they make, or do any of you know of some obscure specialty place that might make such an adapter?

 

I hate Googling for this kind of stuff. Most of the time, all you get are these ugly sell-ya-stuff web sites, that just like to smoosh a bunch of model numbers and crap on a web page. And after all is said and done, just lead to the same Lexington multi-tip universal power adaptor.

Guess I'll have to wait til I get home, pull out that 120W one I bought a while back, read off the exact model number and Google on that. Maybe they make a bigger one.

 

I wasn't really sure what to recommend.. As I'm not too knowledgeable about these things, and I don't want you to blow up anything in the process...

But yes, the wattage must far exceed 180W, so in your case I would try the fuse that can support up to 240W.

I've actually never known you could power so much with a car cigarette jack..

Let us know your findings, good luck!

 

Another point I need to consider. Does the alternator (or whatever they call it nowadays) keep up or will I discharge the battery?

 

The alternator is only running when the car is running. Are you really planning to spend that much time sitting in your car doing heavy gaming while the car is running?

 

So, to answer your points:

The average car nowadays has power adapters rated for 15 Amps. Some are more, some are less. Check your owner's manual (or the fuse box) and it will list exactly what it can do. To get the amount of wattage support it's simply Ohm's Law:

15 amps * 12 Volts = 180 watts.

So the average car can support up to 180 watts maximum. If you're looking at car power inverters, most will do up to 200 watts before they need to be wired directly to the battery. If you wanted to be safe, I'd say go for a 300 watt or better power inverter, run the leads out through the conduits in the firewall (or drill a new one and seal it around the leads), attach it to the battery directly, and run your laptop from the inverter.

Replacing the fuse in the box for a higher rated fuse is a BAD idea. The wiring in the car is typically around 16 AWG which can be dangerous to run more than 20 AMP through.

I run a 200w inverter in my car and it runs the P150HM just fine, though I only ever use it to run music or videos in the backseat for passengers. I've never had to run it at full draw.

Wire Capacity Chart

If you were to run that 300w inverter directly from the battery, you won't get a ton of batter life out of it- for the same reason that leaving the cabin light on will drain your battery over night.

Your alternator is typically rated for 50-70 AMPs, so you shouldn't have any issues if you're just running a 300w, 25A power inverter. (Though again, this depends on what else you're running on it other than the basic car electronics - check your manual)

Alternator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hope this helps.

 

Malibal, what do you guys not know?

I feel like you guys answer everything...

Kudos.

 

Omg i wanna buy from malibal just because of that, haha! No Jk. I have a question for Malibal. The clevo notebooks on your website look a bit different from all the others, they have like a different white paint on the indicators, and on some borders of the outside. Is this a 3D render of the unit, or is the unit actually like that? Because it looks way better than the regular sagers/clevos.

 

It's the 3D rendering,

the chassis are alike when you buy it from any reseller..

 

Typically, I would game for an hour or so during our 2 hour trip.

 

I guess I am trying to count the beans here. According to that link where the guy with the watt meter actually measued, it seemed his "all max" measurement was 210W with a 485m. I am assuming the 580m is approx the same draw.

Also are inverters more efficient nowadays, or am I better off trying to find a DC-to-DC solution? And if so, does anyone make one?

Your 20 amp through 16AWG max would imply 240W. This seems to be 30W more than what the guy measured. Would this still be "too close for comfort"? Maybe those "heavy duty"-ish outlets in my Yukon should be able to handle this load then.

Anyway, thanks for all the valuable info. Much appreciated. Still pondering whether to get this NP8150 or take the safe route with the m14x (and performance hit too )

 

Ok I didn't read all of this but we've had a "beefier" inverter unit for awhile in our car and have run two laptops off of it during road trips, a fridge while camping, and other assorted devices. I'm not sure of the specs but the thing weighs a ton and is fairly large. Never had an issue with any car, but you do need to have the car running or you'll kill your battery.

 

DC to DC is going to be tough. You'd have to find a box that would convert the 12v battery to the voltage required for the laptop (you wouldn't be able to use the power brick, obviously). This would probably end up being more expensive to begin with.

As for the 20 amp through 16AWG, you are correct in that it can do UP TO 240w. However, if you check the article, you'll see that this is for limited run lengths. That maximum amperage only works on very short runs. The longer the run, the more resistance you get in the wire which limits the amount it can actually pull.

That's why I'd say to be safe, if you plan to run the machine at full load you'll want a 250w or higher continuous (not peak) power inverter, wired directly to the battery. If the car is running, you'll never have an issue as the alternator will keep the car battery charged (it's basically a gas generator). You don't need to worry about the efficiency of the inverter because if it's rated for a continuous output of say, 250 watt, then it will reliably give you that. You just need to check that it doesn't say a "peak" of 250 watt. This usually means that the constant output is lower, if possibly considerably so.

Your car may have heavier gauge wiring leading to the power outlet, but you need to check the fuse box. If they installed a 15 Amp fuse, then that's the most you should try to push through it. Upgrading to a 20 or 25 Amp fuse could lead to electrical problems or even melting of wires/electrical fire.

Like I said though, if you weren't running at max load, a 200 watt inverter running from your power adapter would be more than enough. It's just that the P150HM running at max performance will tend to pull down a tad over 200 watts due to losses in the 180w power adapter.

Also of note, an issue with power inverters is in the type of power they produce. Most operate just like UPS's do and use a modified sine wave instead of true alternating current. Arguably it's worse on electronics than a pure sine wave, but I can't say if it's significant

Inverter (electrical) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia