Hi-- Sorry if this is dumb or has been asked before (I did search the forum first). I am about to buy my first laptop computer and want to know if there's a way of plugging it into the Prius so I won't have to depend on the laptop battery completely. Thanks Carolyn
There are many laptop power adapters designed to plug into a car's 12v outlet. You'll have to find the right one for your computer. The 12v outlet is at the bottom of the dash. It goes off when you turn off the car.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clongwor @ Apr 22 2007, 06:54 PM) [snapback]428075[/snapback]</div> The surest way is to buy an inverter. I bought a 400 W one from Schuck's (or one of their clones, depending where you are). The clones are Advance Auto, Checker, or Kragen. Note: Even though mine is 400 W, I wouldn't try to draw that much, or it would probably blow the fuse for the outlet. It's conceivable that you could buy an adapter that let's you plug into the 12V outlet, but I wouldn't trust anything that didn't come directly from the laptop's manufacturer to be certain it's safe. Dave M.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clongwor @ Apr 22 2007, 09:54 PM) [snapback]428075[/snapback]</div> I use a Dell with a 17" widescreen in my car. Dell has a special power adapter designed for use while in a car but I found it doesn't power my laptop fully. It only gives 65w of power and my laptop needs 90w to run at full speed, so I use that as a back up and purchased an inverter from wal-mart. It's a 300-400 watt inverter and now I run my laptop (which sits on a stand I purchased from www.autolaptoplinkinc.com) and also power my phone/ear piece charger.
