Laptop Usage

[Karl]

Jeff,

Another thought. Does your GPS have a display that's always on (like a Garmin 26xx or 27xx or Street Pilot? If you're doing your navigating with the laptop, you don't really need both displays and you may be able to turn off the one on the GPS. They use considerable power. Check your GPS manual to see if there's a way to do that.

 

[Jeff]

Karl & Bruce:

1. GPS has no display but IS powered from laptop's USB port.

2. S&T is on hard disk.

3. The only USB bus I have is 110 powered so I end up with the inverter on anyway. Brick is warm but not as hot as it gets for instance when charging a dead battery.

 

[BruceinFL]

Karl & Bruce:

1. GPS has no display but IS powered from laptop's USB port.

2. S&T is on hard disk.

3. The only USB bus I have is 110 powered so I end up with the inverter on anyway. Brick is warm but not as hot as it gets for instance when charging a dead battery.

Jeff,
Your laptop's USB bus should be powered by your laptop battery and/or by 110AC or 12vDC through the power supply/adapter so why would you also run the inverter?

What make/model auto/air power adapter do you have? Mine is the iGo Auto/Air Power 6500 Series DC Auto/Air Adapter. I run my laptop and USB powered GPS for hours on end using it with no problem. I have a Dell Inspiron 4100. What model Dell laptop do you have?

 

[Jeff]

Bruce:

Unfortunately after I bought the first new power sulloy from Best But I cheucked the old one assumong it was bad. It was the next day on the road when I realized the new one couldn't keep up either. I then exchanged it for each of the ones Best Buy had with no luck so I now run with the inverter on powering the Dell 110 brick. It is a Dell 4150.

 

[BruceinFL]

Bruce:

Unfortunately after I bought the first new power sulloy from Best But I cheucked the old one assumong it was bad. It was the next day on the road when I realized the new one couldn't keep up either. I then exchanged it for each of the ones Best Buy had with no luck so I now run with the inverter on powering the Dell 110 brick. It is a Dell 4150.

Something's not right. It should power the 4150. Sure is a lot easier to use the  auto/air power adapter instead of the inverter and power supply.

 

[King]

I have a HP laptop.  It has a 75 W charger for 110 power.  I measured it and it deaws about 75 watts almost independant of battery condition.  The USB GPS receiver (S&T) doesn't seem to add anything to the load.  I have a 600 w modified sine wave inverter.  I used it continuously on an 1800 mile trip, and the battery stayed fully charged.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Your laptop's USB bus should be powered by your laptop battery and/or by 110AC or 12vDC through the power supply/adapter so why would you also run the inverter?

Not necessarily, Bruce.  Add-on USB cards and USB hubs are often limited in how much power they can draw from the attachment interface (e.g. PCMCIA)  and use an external power supply to bring them up to the full USB power spec.  However, they don't always need the external power supply if the loa dis light - it may be required only when powering multiple, high power devices.

 

[Karl]

Very true, Gary. Got an older USB hub from Ned and the laptop (Compaq Presario 1230) wasn't able to supply enough power for a simple mouse. The newer USB2 ports can supply much more power than the original ones, but you're still limited by the capacity of the p.s. and any current-limiting circuitry in the laptop.