jet190rs

Some cars nowadays have the same 2 or 3 pin power outlets that you find in your house. Does the E60 have one? If so, is it on the dash?

If not, where is the cigarette lighter? And would it be possible to get some kind of adapter to plug a laptop into the cigarette lighter? Does such a thing exist? Would it be safe? (I assume a laptop consumes much more electricity than a cell phone)

phototalk123

if you go to CompUSA, or BestBuy, they do sell a
module that you can plug into the cigarette light socket and make it into a
110v - 120v house hold socket.

Price starts around US 40.00

EBMCS03

use this... its a universal air/car power adapter. I bought one for use on a long haul flight across the pacific and i've used it in cars too works great. $50 at buy.com

http://www.kensington.com/html/1961.html

P.S. make sure you research which tip is needed with your laptop. they have a tip selection guide to help you on that. If you need help post the brand and model of your laptop and I'll help you out.

EBMCS03

I have that too. It also works but I dont like the bulkyness of the converter and most of them have a fan that keeps the unit cool and thus makes a lot of noise.

Thats kinda the "wrong" way to do it Stepping the voltage up to 110V from 12V and then stepping it back down to 15V for your laptop from 110V.

jet190rs

I have that too. It also works but I dont like the bulkyness of the converter and most of them have a fan that keeps the unit cool and thus makes a lot of noise.

Thats kinda the "wrong" way to do it Stepping the voltage up to 110V from 12V and then stepping it back down to 15V for your laptop from 110V.
[/quote]

Is this the bulky thing does that converts the voltage?
http://www.kensington.com/html/3845.html

So the Universal Car/Air Adapter you suggested, it does not convert the voltage to 110V?

jet190rs

I have an IBM Thinkpad T40p, I think its supported. But can you clarify how it works? From the picture it looks like you plug the adapter directly into your laptop...instead of using the power cord that came with the laptop?

That means this Universal Car/Air Adapter is only for laptops? And the bulky adapter has a regular household outlet so you can plug in any device?

EBMCS03

Ummm ya thats the bulky thing... Forgot they made them smaller now... Then you should get that...

Ya the Car / Air one does not step the voltage up to 110v... only up to 15 16 or whatever your comp needs... For you I guess it might make more sense to get that "bulky" thing instead... unless you plan on using your laptop on a plane then you might want to get the Car/Air one.

EBMCS03

Thats right... with the car/air one you will only be using the new adapter, not in conjunction with your original adapter... and yes its only for laptops.

The Bulky one you can use other appliances also... but be sure to check the wattage rating... dont want to overload... these tiny ones can only support lower wattage appliances... the BULKY one I have from waaay back has like 3 outlets and supports like 800Watts.

See above post to decide which one to get.

Rudy

You might want to look at the iGo solutions. They are an alternative to the Kensington adapter. They have many sizes and tips to power all sorts of devices -- you can even get a model to power a laptop and cell phone simultaneously at home, in the car, or on a plane.

Check out the products at http://www.igo.com but once you find what model you are interested in, you might want to shop the net for best pricing. I found what I needed at a significant discount at http://www.pcconnection.com

Also, you can get them at Radio Shack.

To answer your question about where the power sockets are, you can find one inside the ashtray cover located just infront of the gear selector. Also, there is one under the dash near the hinge for the glove compartment door and finally, depending on your model, there may be two more outlets in the rear of the center console...

jsal

Although you kind of beat a horse to death on this, let me clarify.

The bulky thing is called an inverter and converts the voltage from 12vdc to 110vac. As pointed out, the wrong way to go for your laptop (converting 12vdc to 110vac back to 12-18vdc) will suck a lot more juice. Hence the reason for the fan.

The Universal adapter will take the 12vdc and step it up (if necessary) anywhere from 12vdc to 20vdc and provide as much power as your laptop will require.

FYI: When you plug your laptop into your home, the power supply is converting the 110vac to 12-18vdc.

Get the inverter if you want to plug in a household type of appliance (not sure what you would plug in, unless you are going camping). They will take more power and some cig lighters may not be fused for the required power. (look at what the draw is and what the accy adapters are fused at.

For running your laptop, get the universal adapter. Will require less power. You can get them from Comp USA, Circuit City, Best Buy and others.