Inverter & DC Charger Sources

[Ken Juul]

Still researching inverters.  Question, since most of the newer laptops/smart phones/etc run off DC power, is a pure sine wave inverter that necessary?  The difference in cost between modified and pure can be astronomical.

[Stu Jackson]

Ken, we bought our Freedom 15 combined I/C in 1998.  It is a modified sine wave unit.  It runs our microwave and I have never had trouble with anything that needs power: A.C. powered drill, battery chargers, laptop.  Regardless of what websites and the internet may tell ya...

[mainesail]

Still researching inverters.  Question, since most of the newer laptops/smart phones/etc run off DC power, is a pure sine wave inverter that necessary?  The difference in cost between modified and pure can be astronomical.

Inverter/Charger or inverter only?

Most new smartphones, laptops etc. SHOULD be run off DC not DC to AC then back to DC as it will be about 30+/-% more efficient... Using inverters to charge phones, tablets and computers is wasteful DC energy.

There are 12V adapters for nearly every computer, tablet, phone etc. and they cost less than an inverter too......

Lind, iGo and others make top quality laptop 12V adapters that remain DC and at any Wal Mart you can get a 12V adapter for any cell phone made..... Heck we converted to 12V cigarette style USB chargers years ago. Our iPads and phones charge of 12V socket style USB chargers from Wal Mart.... Our laptop uses a 12V adapter... If I charge our laptop via our pure sine inverter it is about 32% less efficient......

The only time for using an inverter for us is for large corded power tools or devices where 12V chargers are simply not available. Even our camera batteries charge with 12V adapters....

[Ron Hill]

For some unknown reason (as I previously mentioned) Toshiba has stopped selling 12V adapters for their laptops as a Toshiba accessory.

They would not mention why, when I asked, just said it was out of stock and would not be replenished!

My thought

[mainesail]

For some unknown reason (as I previously mentioned) Toshiba has stopped selling 12V adapters for their laptops as a Toshiba accessory.

They would not mention why, when I asked, just said it was out of stock and would not be replenished!

My thought

Possibly because Toshiba wanted two to three times what everyone else was selling them for and no one bought them, not even industry..... Many of the competitors chargers like Targus, iGo or Lind could also be used to charge iPads, laptops, phones, portable DVS etc. etc. all from the same brick by just purchasing a separate adapter or cable for a few bucks...

iGo Power
http://www.igo.com/power/power-tips/icat/tips

Lind
http://www.lindelectronics.com/expanded-input-dcdc-adapters-12-96vdc

When I worked in the pharmaceutical & biotech industry they supplied us with Lind and iGo chargers for the car. Only once did I have a brand specific DC charger and IIRC it was for an HP tablet, one of the first laptop/tablets back in 2004 or so.

Over the years I had laptops by HP, Gateway, IBM, Toshiba, Dell and Lenovo/IBM. As a manager my laptop in the car, airport or plane was critical and it was usually plugged into DC more than AC.

I still have some of those chargers and have adapted them to work with computers I currently have and they still work perfectly. iGo still has tips for my circa 2005 iGo Juice AC/DC laptop charger and I still use that adapter today on some of my current computers...

IMHO Lind builds the best quality DC adapters but they are a tad more expensive than iGo, Targus or many of the hundreds of DC adapters you can find for just about any computer ever made. For the NetBook I keep in my car I found a DC adapter on Amazon for $18.00 that puts out the identical voltage and current as the 120V branded wall wort that came with it....

Just search around and you can find DC adapters for just about any laptop ever made...

[Andrew Harvey]

Welcome to the "Anti Xantrex" club