Cigaretter lighter plug for iBook?

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Phil Stripling - 30 Jan 2005 19:38 GMT

I'm looking for a way to power an iBook from a 12VDC cigarette
lighter. Dr. Bott has an inverter that is $110 (as I recall) that inverts
the 12VDC to 110VAC, and you plug your iBook's brick into that, and you
then convert back to DC. Sheesh.

Does anyone know of a system that will convert directly DC-DC to the
correct voltage? It's 24VDC, isn't it? That may be the killer, trying to
up 12VDC to 24VDC. Maybe a cheaper inverter?

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jt august - 30 Jan 2005 20:19 GMT

> I'm looking for a way to power an iBook from a 12VDC cigarette
> lighter. Dr. Bott has an inverter that is $110 (as I recall) that inverts
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> correct voltage? It's 24VDC, isn't it? That may be the killer, trying to
> up 12VDC to 24VDC. Maybe a cheaper inverter?

I got a 3 amp a/c adapter from the Trash Shack (old nickname from the
TRS-80 daze) for $60. There is a smaller 1.5 amper for about $30 there
also. I had to get the bigger one for a different purpose, and have
since used it for my powerbooks with great success.

Radio Shack. You got questions, they got cel phone you can use to call
someone who might know the answer.

jt

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Phil Stripling - 30 Jan 2005 22:41 GMT

> I got a 3 amp a/c adapter from the Trash Shack (old nickname from the
> TRS-80 daze) for $60.

Do you know what model? I'm looking at the Web site, and their max DC
adapter is 12V, and the converter on the iBook says it puts out 24VDC at
1.8n Watts. Are you actually powering the iBook or recharging the battery?

>SNIP<
> Radio Shack. You got questions, they got cel phone you can use to call
> someone who might know the answer.

Really funny because it's really true. :->

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jt august - 31 Jan 2005 03:57 GMT

> > I got a 3 amp a/c adapter from the Trash Shack (old nickname from the
> > TRS-80 daze) for $60.
>
> Do you know what model? I'm looking at the Web site, and their max DC
> adapter is 12V, and the converter on the iBook says it puts out 24VDC at
> 1.8n Watts. Are you actually powering the iBook or recharging the battery?

It is an a/c adapter. You plug anything in this that you would plug
into a wall outlet. In my case, I have plugged in regular powerbook a/c
plugs - referred to casually as power bricks - into this, as well as an
iBook Blueberry's yo-yo power supply. Also, my electric razor, a
camcorder battery recharger, a couple boom boxes, a drop light when
working on a car at night, and a 24 inch color tv that someone was
throwing out (it worked, but the picture was magenta, meaing the pic
tube had lost its green phosphor element drive, so I left it on the
curb). The device is grey with a black tip that plugs in the lighter
receptacle. Sorry, I don't know the model number off the top of my
head, and it is too cold out to go out just to check it. I'll bring it
in tomorrow and let you know tomorrow night.

jt

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Spud Demon - 31 Jan 2005 17:30 GMT

jt august <starsabre@att.net> writes in article <starsabre-8A9510.21564930012005@netnews.worldnet.att.net> dated Mon, 31 Jan 2005 03:57:08 GMT:

>It is an a/c adapter. You plug anything in this that you would plug
>into a wall outlet.

I just did a Yahoo Shopping search for "inverter" and found a bunch of
devices for converting 12VDC to 120VAC, some as cheap as $20. Since the
precision regulation is built into the Apple adapter you don't need it on
the upstream end. I'd buy an inverter with a 2x higher wattage rating than
you "need" for the Apple device.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

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Tom Stiller - 30 Jan 2005 20:26 GMT

I use an iGo "Juice" power adapter. It can be powered by auto cigar
lighter socket, houshold AC or an aircraft's in-flight power source. It
has tips to fit both the old and new iBook sockets and can also charge
many types of cell phones. You can probably see them at Staples or
Radio Shack or visit their website at <http://www.igo.com/>.

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Phil Stripling - 30 Jan 2005 22:46 GMT

> I use an iGo "Juice" power adapter. It can be powered by auto cigar
> lighter socket, houshold AC or an aircraft's in-flight power source. It
> has tips to fit both the old and new iBook sockets and can also charge
> many types of cell phones. You can probably see them at Staples or
> Radio Shack or visit their website at <http://www.igo.com/>.

At $120, it's more expensive that the Dr. Bott inverter I was whining
about. iGo's web site is giving error messages when I use the product
finder, so I'm not able to fully look stuff over. None of their technical
specs give output in VDC, just watts, which is not what I'm interested in
in DC. The Juice 70 is the least expensive model that list notebooks with,
though. The cheaper units list phones, PDAs, and such lesser items.

Bummer.

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Neill Massello - 30 Jan 2005 23:10 GMT

> > I use an iGo "Juice" power adapter. It can be powered by auto cigar
> > lighter socket, houshold AC or an aircraft's in-flight power source. It
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Bummer.

Search on "iGo" at PriceGrabber <http://www.pricegrabber.com/> for some
better prices.

It looks like the iGo units are essentially identical to the Kensington
Universal line -- same Chinese factory, no doubt -- but with a longer
warranty. I have used a similar Kensington model to power my Titanium
PowerBook from my car dashboard's 12V "power outlet". You don't need a
general-purpose inverter.

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Phil Stripling - 31 Jan 2005 00:16 GMT

> Search on "iGo" at PriceGrabber <http://www.pricegrabber.com/> for some
> better prices.

Yep, thanks. I'm seeing prices as low as 80 bucks, even less on eBay.

> It looks like the iGo units are essentially identical to the Kensington
> Universal line -- same Chinese factory, no doubt -- but with a longer
> warranty. I have used a similar Kensington model to power my Titanium
> PowerBook from my car dashboard's 12V "power outlet". You don't need a
> general-purpose inverter.

The iGo is getting bad mouth on Amazon, though:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B00009V3L6/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/10
4-9540718-0545524?%5Fencoding=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=electronics

Also on epinions:
http://www.epinions.com/cmhd-Accessories-All-Mobility_Electronics_iGo_Juice_Comb
ination_AC-Auto-Inflight_Power_Adapter_PS0055-11/display_~reviews

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Clark Martin - 31 Jan 2005 06:31 GMT

Check out
<http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Sacreen=CTGY&Store_Code=
MTOS&Category_Code=ACCACAUTOADPT>, $30, best price I've seen for an Auto
adapter for the Mac. I have the other one for older PowerBooks. It's
worked great and is a lot more compact than the AC Adapter and an
inverter. Especially when you are using a 12V battery pack like I do
frequently. I've been trying to decide if I want to get one for my
iBook and I think I will for the above reason.

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Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting

"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"

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Phil Stripling - 31 Jan 2005 18:15 GMT

> Check out
> <http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Sacreen=CTGY&Store_Code=
> MTOS&Category_Code=ACCACAUTOADPT>, $30, best price I've seen for an Auto
> adapter for the Mac.

Currently out of stock, however.

I'm re-thinking my needs, after posts by a couple of guys with AC/DC combo
units -- I could carry my original AC plug and yoyo plus this unit or pay
three times more and get an all in one unit and carry only one piece of
gear. For carry on, that has a certain allure.

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Martin Trautmann - 01 Feb 2005 10:35 GMT

> I'm looking for a way to power an iBook from a 12VDC cigarette
> lighter. Dr. Bott has an inverter that is $110 (as I recall) that inverts
> the 12VDC to 110VAC, and you plug your iBook's brick into that, and you
> then convert back to DC. Sheesh.

Why do a double conversion, causing either double loss or possibly real
trouble since the inverter will not create a reasonable AC sine wave but
anything with the same effective voltage - but which may cause problems
for the iBook brick.

The easier solution is to create 24 V from 12 V directly.

Mine is "NTS 120" from reichelt.de for 18.90 EUR. You should be able to
find something matching for less than $20.

http://www.reichelt.de/bilder/web/D400/NTS70.jpg

in: 11 .. 14 V
out: 15V / 16V / 18V / 19V / 20V - 6,0A; 22V / 24V - 5,0A

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Clark Martin - 02 Feb 2005 20:08 GMT

> > I'm looking for a way to power an iBook from a 12VDC cigarette
> > lighter. Dr. Bott has an inverter that is $110 (as I recall) that inverts
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> anything with the same effective voltage - but which may cause problems
> for the iBook brick.

A switching power supply isn't going to care about the modified sine
wave that an AC inverter puts out. I had thought the inverter to AC
Adapter would have significantly lower efficiency than a straight DC-DC
converter but when I tested it once the 12V DC power draw was very
nearly the same (and I don't recall which was lower.)

The DC-DC converter is certainly more convenient. Especially when
running the laptop off a 12V battery pack. I used velcro to attach my
DC-DC converter to the battery pack making it more pertable.

> The easier solution is to create 24 V from 12 V directly.
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> in: 11 .. 14 V
> out: 15V / 16V / 18V / 19V / 20V - 6,0A; 22V / 24V - 5,0A

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Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting

"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"

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Mac Forum / General / Hardware / February 2005

Cigaretter lighter plug for iBook?