I am mostly mobile and most of the time I need to use my MBP while on the road. The problem is I always run out of juice. Can you suggest other car charger solution other than a power inverter. Is Mikegyver Power Travel Kit any good? Thanks.
I think he said 'other than a power inverter'! Just curious teejay, what do you have against a power inverter? They are simple to use, relatively inexpensive and easy to find.
Thanks djmyke and icetraxx626 for your replies. @ricocamus: I read this interesting article in MikeGyver.com. I dunno if this is just BS or not. Decide for yourself.
yes i agree, do get an inverter from ace. it cost around P2200 for the 200watts unit. dont get the 100w coz it wont be adequate for the macbook. i bought a 100w for my iBook G4 but had to return it to ace since it cant power up my unit. thankfully the people from ace were kind enough to exchange mine "no questions asked"
teejay - this is what the ifonix 200w inverter looks like. its cool and you can use it during brownouts to power several electric fans from a car battery
Looks like inverter is the only way to go. @jpdm: I'll definitely check it out when i get back to manila. Thanks for your input.
The article is sort of true. Power in the car is DC, from the lighter. And the inverter does convert it to AC. And most (actually I think all, but I could be wrong) electronic devices (computers, TVs, amplifiers, radios, etc) use DC power at their core, so the Apple power supply does convert the power back to DC from AC. All of this is true. The great leap is when the article says that you will soon wind up with a dead CAR battery. This just does not follow. Yes there is probably a lot of power wasted from converting back and forth from DC to AC to DC. The real key is that you should use the inverter when the car is running and not from the battery. If your engine is running, the power does not come from the car's battery, but from the alternator of the car. In a car, the only time the battery is used is when you start the engine. After the engine is running, the batttery is not used. So if you use your inverter right, you won't have a dead car battery.
Are the inverters safe to use? Will warranty be voided if something happens to the macs as as a result of their use?
goriou812 - Yep inverters (the good ones) are pretty much safe. Ive been using mine for over a year and it just works fine. i even used a printer on it when i recently had to print on the fly at a courthouse to rush up some papers to submit. Good inverters come with a built it surge protector and safety fuse so the latter gets busted instead of our expensive equipment plugged into it.
bumping up this thread. any update on this topic? is there a solution like the magsafe airline adapter? (or does it work in the car as well)
I would love it if Apple does come up with car chargers... but have to agree that the inverters are indeed worthwhile...
how about the ridiculously cheap 150 watt inverters from cdrking? anyboy use them? they're so damn small now, very convinient to put in your laptop bag... it wont feel like lugging around a motolite battert anymore but is the 150w enough juice for the mbpro? is an unbranded (ok fine, so cdrking can be considered a brand now) inverter safe?
Yea...I was actually just looking at some of these inverters in a hardware store. They were pretty cheap from 800 to 1600 pesos...although the watt for the ones I saw were only 80 and 175. Wonder if those are enough for the stuff I might need.... I tried looking around to find out the different watt amounts our electronic appliances use... hairdryer 1100 watts!! shaver charger 3 watts AC adapter for Panasonic camera 90 watts I couldn't find out what the others were hehe.
i bought a power inverter from the states.. they come like a package na for travelling.. it includes car charger and airline adapter.. it costs me about $60 lang. I just don't know if they have that kind here. Anyway, try electronics uhmmm... i really dont know the name the store, its like a cellphone and ipod store.. i saw inverters there.. and they really come cheap.
YMMV, but I actually get very good results from the CDR-King P750 150W inverter that I bought early this year. I use it with my Macbook and it works like a charm. The inverter has an audible buzzer that warns you when the battery is being discharged heavily (e.g., when using the inverter with the engine off).
