Which Tablet / Notebook / Laptop Will Work ?

[READY2GO]

Well we just bought a Toshiba Thrive from Office Depot for $399. They have a 14 day return policy, so we will try it for two weeks and see. We bought a four year warrenty for $200. A bit steep, but the guy said we could drop it in the ocean and as long as we could retrive it they would replace it.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Extemporaneous

1. barnakiel, when you say "stabilized", are you talking power?

Cheers,
Extemp.

I mean a 12 Volt computer cannot be (my guess) run from a house bank that may be anything between 10 and 15 Volt. A small stabilizer is necessary that will take in 9-16 Volt on the input and deliver = 12 Volt on the PC side (output).

b.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I mean a 12 Volt computer cannot be (my guess) run from a house bank that may be anything between 10 and 15 Volt. A small stabilizer is necessary that will take in 9-16 Volt on the input and deliver = 12 Volt on the PC side (output).

b.

That's what I thought you meant. It would be good to know how far out of the 12v spec. it could run. As it is going through the laptop's charging system it may be less picky then one thinks.
Mine is 12v but I haven't tried it wired direct (always through dc).

Anyone know or have experience with this?

Cheers,
Extemp.

[zeehag]

i just use regular 120 current and a small invertor for my netbook unless i am at a dock as i had many problems on board with the 12 v adaptors and systems. didnt last any time at all before failing. the small invertor and regular acer have now lasted me 2 years of use. most of my land based friends with acer netbooks have had miserable bad luck and only had the acer function for 3-6 months.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Extemporaneous

That's what I thought you meant. It would be good to know how far out of the 12v spec. it could run. As it is going through the laptop's charging system it may be less picky then one thinks.
Mine is 12v but I haven't tried it wired direct (always through dc).

Anyone know or have experience with this?

Cheers,
Extemp.

1) it is easy to test if it can be run off 12 Volt directly .... but it is potentially a very expensive test ... ;-)

2) if you wire via 120, then it does not matter if the PC runs of 19, 12 or 9 Volt!, does it?

I also run mine off 120 (actually 240, since I am in Spain), we had a 12 volt charger, but it kicked the bucket as soon as we left NZ. Now shopping for a replacement.

cheers,
b.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by zeehag

(...) i had many problems on board with the 12 v adaptors and systems. didnt last any time at all before failing (...)

Now this is a piece of very precious info. I had the same problem. We got a quality one and it did not last - I thought it was because ours was done on Friday. But now I see maybe the fluctuations in the house bank f(beep) them up?

I guess I will stick to our 120 adapter until I learn more on the 12 Volt ones.

b.

[zeehag]

now all i use is a 120 wtt invertor an dmy regular house cord. easy breezy. with my compaq, i used a 400 wtt invertor and regular cord. worked great until i couldnt do linux anymore. i will stay with netbooks and low draw 120 wtt invertors and keep my electricity in my boat and my money in my pocket. i tried 3 kinds of 12 v adaptors before i finally gave up. all failed--mfuel, and hp and some strange named one. all bought in circuit city.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

1) it is easy to test if it can be run off 12 Volt directly .... but it is potentially a very expensive test ... ;-)

2) if you wire via 120, then it does not matter if the PC runs of 19, 12 or 9 Volt!, does it?

I also run mine off 120 (actually 240, since I am in Spain), we had a 12 volt charger, but it kicked the bucket as soon as we left NZ. Now shopping for a replacement.

cheers,
b.

At some point, I will be the Guinea Pig but not quit yet.
And of course you're right that it doesn't matter what DC voltage ones laptop uses if you use the AC adapter. I thought (and may have [see Guinea Pig results]) I was buying potential getting a laptop that ultimately used 12 Volt DC.

When the time comes, I'll let you know if there is any smoke involved.

Cheers,
Extemp.

[OErjan]

uhm, just check the net, there are voltage changers (DC-DC converters) capable of taking 9-36V in and leave very smooth 12V out.
there are even "mil spec" units that work 24/7/365 they work between -70°C and +120°C and most any humidity below condensing (just encapsulate and even that becomes a non issue), they are frequently used in things like life support, telephone exchanges, mobile phone masts...
reason I know this is that I pick electronics apart for a living and have seen units that have run for litterally decades under less than optimum conditions, then there are the cheap ones that last a day or so...

one I found on a quick search in my catalouges is Traco Power board called TEP75-2412WI-CM it is quite bit overkill it works from 9 to 36V in and delivering up to 6.3A@12V, sadly cost almost 300Euro, and you need to build a watertight shielded enclosure...
there are others more suitable if you search some.

[DeborahLee]

If you are going to be paying bills and banking get two. It can be a cheap one without a lot of disc space or programs just a good firewall and anti virus. Keep the one clean no e-mail no surfing the web and no other sites than the secure sites of the bank and bill pay. The other can be used for everything else if it gets hacked with mal ware your banking should be safe although nothing is 100%.