Laptop Power Consumption

[Albro359]

I don't know why you need capacitors (unless you have some very high consumption loads switching on and off)..your batteries are the biggest capacitors you can buy !
I don't use my laptop / netbook for navigating...I have an 8" C-Map based plotter in the cockpit that draws about 1.2A..it has AIS built in and it is on all the time. The appropriate paper chart is always in the cockpit as well...laptops don't work well in yacht cockpits !...Its a lot better to be looking at the land and the chart at the same time rather than ducking below to look at a laptop screen....
Thats my 2 bobs worth !

[daddle]

Originally Posted by Albro359

I don't know why you need capacitors (unless you have some very high consumption loads switching on and off)..your batteries are the biggest capacitors you can buy!

True. But they are a long way away in electronic terms. A power supply design expecting a nearby internal battery will be quite different than one happy with a long wire to a noisy boat system. RF noise, dips, surges, resistance, inductance, and such would be unexpected with a nearby PC battery. But we digress.

[svcambria]

Originally Posted by shanson

Two things....

1) It's been a while since I've delved inside a PC, but the last I did the power requirement of the motherboard was 12V, +5v and -5v.

Also

My testing shows that my laptop, an acer aspire, draws approximately 4amps and charges the battery at approximately 4 amps both at 12v.

Cheers

SHANE

Usually the battery requires a higher voltage for recharging in order to impress the voltage needed "at rest" - so the computer would ordinarily want more than 12 volts. Some computers want the battery to be either charged or charging before they will operate, so you get nothing while trying to run on 12 v. Unfortunately I have never been able to tell what it will do from manuals or specs (before buying) - just have to hope for the best and then try it out...

Michael

[Cotemar]

clarity36,

Maybe an iPad2 will work for you better than a laptop for electronic charts.
Uses 2.5 watts with 10 hour capacity if your power goes out.
Been using one for months now and really like it.

iPad2 power consumption
25-watt-hours capacity / 10 hours run time = 2.5 watts power consumption

Mark

[allanpeda]

I am seriously thinking of an iPad2 with an Otterbox as a coastal cruising chartplotter.

[Cotemar]

allanpeda,

The iPad2 works offshore also. I use mine inside may saloon all the time and have a RAM mount at the helm if needed, but they do not work as well in bright light as a chartplotter would.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post684762

Mark

[allanpeda]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

allanpeda,

The iPad2 works offshore also. I use mine inside may saloon all the time and have a RAM mount at the helm if needed, but they do not work as well in bright light as a chartplotter would.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post684762

Mark

I kept wondering what the extra thousand dollars were for, versus a tablet PC in an Otterbox with OpenCPN. That makes a lot of sense. On my budget I find myself going with reasonable yet inexpensive fixes until I save up the money for what I really want. Still saving up for ABYC wire throughout the boat. Until then, alligator clips as needed, with the macerator pump switch turning on the nav lights. Hey, it came that way.