laptop power adapter

[kathyshack]

thinking of using the laptop as a dvd player for little summer when we're away in the van. Hoping it might make the journeys a bit more bearable.
I've found this adapterin mapln for a laptop. My question is, will it work ok off my cig lighter socket if the laptop is drawing 19v rather than 12v? Power ack says 19v-3.42A. Presumably we have a red 10amp fuse on the socket so do you think this will be fine?
do you think it is something whch is likely to flatten the LB quickly, or not too bad? I could run it from the Car Battery when driving and LB when parked up.
oh, and how do you find out the polarity?
Thanks for any advice.
kathy

[Titus A Duxass]

It'll work fine out the the ciggy socket, I had one for my IBM lappy and that needed 16 or 19 volts.

[Hacksawbob]

Hi Kathy that should be OK Look at the power input hole in your laptop it should have the voltage and polarity usually stamped into the plastic. I will have a diagram of the hole and wheter the cetre pin is + or - when you get the adapter check you have the bit that connects into your laptop the right way round to match this. Also in the specs for it it says its not good for laptops with half voltages. Charge and use it whilst driving then run if off its own battery as much as poss when stopped. DVDs can eat the battery more than using the hard drive so it is better if poss to have the films "converted" from dvd to an AVI or WMV and put on the Hard drive. Also DVD disks will take up more space/get covered in ice cream etc.
http://www.labdv.com/dvdx/ this tool will do it.

[kathyshack]

cheers Bob, good tip on the dvd thing! will use the hard drive torun the stuff. prob easier anyway!
i've looked on the laptop and it doesn't have any info stamped on it. it has a solid line with 3 lines underneath:

__
---

underneath it says for use oly with supplied power source, but i guess they all says that??

the adapter says:-
INPUT 100-240V-, 50-60Hz 1.7A
OUTPUT 19V---3.42A

The model is Advent 7108.
presumably the half volt thing which it says its not suitable for means the 19V so should be fine yeah?

the adapter bit is 5mm across centre and has a yellow end...anyuse?

[lloyd]

Bob is right on! I rip DVDs to .avi using DVDFab Platinum and keep them on noebook HDD as well as burn a copy on DVD if all won't fit on HDD. You can copy from DVD to HDD while traveling and watch the HDD copys when parked up. A movie can be anywhere from 700MB to 1.3GB depending on bitrate you choose. On notebook screen, 700MB movie is pretty good.

If I could, I would use .rm or .rmvb as it's 1/2 the size of .avi with same quality. But it's not the popular format.

[sheffieldcoljules]

Bob is right on! I rip DVDs to .avi using DVDFab Platinum and keep them on noebook HDD as well as burn a copy on DVD if all won't fit on HDD. You can copy from DVD to HDD while traveling and watch the HDD copys when parked up. A movie can be anywhere from 700MB to 1.3GB depending on bitrate you choose. On notebook screen, 700MB movie is pretty good.

If I could, I would use .rm or .rmvb as it's 1/2 the size of .avi with same quality. But it's not the popular format.

yes, i have hundreds of movies, tv shows (gud uns) and music on a ext hard drive...best way

[Dubstar]

I used a laptop to play DVD's on - I've now got a DivX playing portable 7incher - but I had no car power adaptor for it, so I use a power invertor. Cost me £20 from Maplins, and puts out 150 watts, more than enough to power the laptop. As a side issue though, Halfords are now selling them car stereos that have a little 3inch or so screen built into the front for £80 or £100. They play DVD's, so you can load them up with a shed load of MP3's, and they have outputs to connect a bigger screen to. I might treat myself to one. If I ever get a bonus!

[ghost123uk]

thinking of using the laptop as a dvd player for little summer when we're away in the van. Hoping it might make the journeys a bit more bearable.
I've found this adapterin mapln for a laptop. My question is, will it work ok off my cig lighter socket if the laptop is drawing 19v rather than 12v? Power ack says 19v-3.42A. Presumably we have a red 10amp fuse on the socket so do you think this will be fine?
do you think it is something whch is likely to flatten the LB quickly, or not too bad? I could run it from the Car Battery when driving and LB when parked up.
oh, and how do you find out the polarity?
Thanks for any advice.
kathy

That will be fine Kathy
Just make sure you get the polarity correct, Advent laptops ( in common with most but not all laptops ) have the positive on the centre.
Make sure you get that right !! Oh and make sure the DC connector to the laptop is a nice fit, don't force it ( broken power sockets = scrap laptop usually ).

Battery consumption will not be an issue for a weekend away.

You can also get a USB "freeveiew" adapter for around £10 - but note the aerial that comes with then is useless unless you can physically see the TV transmitter mast !! - A decent "camping" aerial on a bit of a pole will often do the job though

Any Computer / Audio / Video info required - just ask - it's my job

[campervanman]

Why use a laptop?
I have Audiovox D17.3 7" LCD DVD player with clip on battery pack for sale - switched to 'worldwide' so it should run DVDs from anywhere.
Charge the battery up using the supplied mains adaptor and then connect to DVD player. It will then give you about 3 hours playing. Will play ordinary Cds and MP3 CDs
Sockets for two headphones, AV video/audio input, DVD video/audio output for a bigger screen and has infra red remote control. Virtually unused, complete with instructions

[ghost123uk]

Why use a laptop?
I have Audiovox D17.3 7" LCD DVD player

Good "pitch" Mr campervanman

Probable because Kathy already has a laptop with a 15" high def screen ( plus you can also use it to play games, go on the net ( via a phone or G3 card ) etc.

As a matter of interest, how much are you looking for for the Audiovox ?
( I ask as it is bad etiquette to "sell" on this thread but not ask the price )

[campervanman]

Apologies for gaffe.
Its a D1708 and available for £35.00 + p&p