auto adapter watts

I have a Dell Inspiron 15R N5010 and am looking for a DC adapter to charge the pc while driving.
Do the watts have to be exact or if not should they be over or under and by how much?
I ask so I can buy locally as Dell is $130 with shipping.
I obviusly don't want to damage the pc.
Thank you

 

See if you like any of these. It's a minefield out there. What does Dell say they're amps or watts show on their adapter?

 

BTW, I dealt with these folks last month and got a regular adapter for an old Compaq, $25 including shipping of $12. Worked great! http://www.battdepot.com/model/dell/inspiron+15r/acunv90cr.aspx Just do your homework first. You should have specs written on a label on your A/C adapter. Type in the part # and battdepot can give you the specs.

 

Thanx for the information. It was a good read.
My wife came home with a Targus which matches the Dell 90 Watt specs and I had the company cross reference. It was about 60$ and the power pack may come in handy if mine fails. It has a two year warranty to just bring in to the store.

Question;
Do you plug it in to the car while running and unplug the same or should you do this plug/unplug when the car is not running.
I think it is the former but I am not sure.
Thank you

 

Word of caution, if you use a non company provided power unit, the weight on the cord can be different, and can cause the jack to break off inside of the laptop. Not sure what to recommend to prevent that, but hopfuly a word of warning will help.

 

Do you know the answer to the question?

 

As far as i know it doesn't matter, running or not.

 

Hi,

In a nutshell wattage of the adaptor/charger can be equal or greater than needed. Makes no difference.

Jim

 

Should the car be turned on or off when inserting the laptop charger and removing it

 

Hi

Why not simply buy a power inverter to use the regular charger with inside the car? It would be a more versatile investment, as you could use the inverter to plug other things into as well. Just be sure to get an inverter with the rated maximum watts so you don't burn it out. They aren't expensive. Example:

http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-400-Wat...OHBC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308248688&sr=8-1

 

>>Is this something that the car charges and converts to 120 volt from 12 volt?
What is the advantage over the one I got?

 

I didn't know you had a solution already. What exactly do you have?

An inverter converts the 12V DC electricity from the car's battery into 120V AC power and provides a regular power outlet to interface with any regular household plug.

As to your plug/unplug question, it doesn't matter if the car is on or off. Most newer cars now automatically disconnect power to the DC power outlet ("cigarette lighter plug") when it is shutoff, to ensure that the battery on the car doesn't get drained. Older cars don't have this feature. Simply having the key in the "on" position without the engine running is sufficient to allow the outlet to work, though it IS using your car's battery power, which isn't being recharged by the car's alternator as long as the engine is off.

Also, to clarify on the watts, as long as the inverter is rated for AT LEAST the amount of watts whatever you plug into it requires, it will be fine. You could plug something that only needs 20 watts into a 1000 watt inverter as well. Only the minimum matters.

 

It is good to hear that it does not matter so no harm can be done.
Usually I start the car before I plug my gps in, or unplug it.
I got a charger that runs from the cigarette lighter socket to the pc. It is 90 watt.
It came with a spare power pack should mine fail at home.

 

You should be set then! I'm glad you got it all worked out.