Laptop in Car: DC-DC Power Supply vs. DC/AC Inverter?

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I'd like to have my laptop (Sony Vaio PCG-K27) powered while in the car
for MP3s, DVD, GPS, etc. I've tried inverters, all producing the 60 hz
hum when connected to the head unit. It's my impression the 60hz tone
comes from the inverter's AC output.

Would a simple DC-DC power supply such as the one below eliminate the
source of noise? -Or- would the system then be vulnerable to engine
noise, etc?

TigerDirect.com
Item #: A250-1094
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1582835&CatId=608


Thanks-
AJ

[mastarecoil]

I am not sure about the noise, but a DC to DC converter like that would
work better. DC to AC to DC seems kind of silly, dosent it. If you
want to try it out, go to radioshack, they have one on clearance for
$12 (down from 80). If you dont like it you can return it.


--
mastarecoil

[Chad Wahls]

It will work but you still may get noise from the drives/CPU due the the
laptop's grounding scheme. You can use isolation transformers which range
from dirt cheap to damn expensive or a small USP sound card which often
times is optically isolated.

Chad
> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I'd like to have my laptop (Sony Vaio PCG-K27) powered while in the car
> for MP3s, DVD, GPS, etc. I've tried inverters, all producing the 60 hz
> hum when connected to the head unit. It's my impression the 60hz tone
> comes from the inverter's AC output.
>
> Would a simple DC-DC power supply such as the one below eliminate the
> source of noise? -Or- would the system then be vulnerable to engine
> noise, etc?
>
> TigerDirect.com
> Item #: A250-1094
> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1582835&CatId=608
>
>
> Thanks-
> AJ
>

[MOSFET]

I have a Toshiba laptop that works from 15 volts DC. Yours may be same. A
converter MAY NOT even be necessary. You may be able to connect your laptop
directly to your car's 12-14 volt power supply without any problem. It's
worth a try. The worst that can happen is that your laptop will not start
up (not enough volts). But don't worry, this won't fry anything (as long as
you have the negative going to the negative and the positive going to the
positive).

It may operate within a window of 12-16 volts. I connect my portable DVD
player directly to my car's power supply with no converter. It is rated at
14 volts and it works no problem.

MOSFET

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I'd like to have my laptop (Sony Vaio PCG-K27) powered while in the car
> for MP3s, DVD, GPS, etc. I've tried inverters, all producing the 60 hz
> hum when connected to the head unit. It's my impression the 60hz tone
> comes from the inverter's AC output.
>
> Would a simple DC-DC power supply such as the one below eliminate the
> source of noise? -Or- would the system then be vulnerable to engine
> noise, etc?
>
> TigerDirect.com
> Item #: A250-1094
> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1582835&CatId=608
>
>
> Thanks-
> AJ
>