Best laptop for rv life

[stamar]

In the event that any generator wasn't 5 times more effecient than using your cars alternator, I don't understand why they would be made bought and most importantly used.

The toyhome is actually by design meant to be plugged in to shore power at night. Mine never is so it needs some tweaking.

Alternator charging is a bonus for you if you're on the road. I might have to get a bigger alternator down the road I'm not sure yet.

[waiter]

Stamar,

Thank you for setting me straight. Keep us posted on your findings.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[stamar]

you are totally right as I have a laptop that is very powerful already, its just ac bound.

as i improve my battery capacity it can also come on for an hour for like photoshop or something.

so in something that compliments what I have.

I dont need anything to take to coffee shops actually I can take this one, its just going to coffee shops everyday costs 100$ or more itself.

that said my favorite one does do everything its this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215392

this has the newest U series cpu with the lowest wattage use.

[stamar]

because i cant get the data to see what really works, or even translate the draw to amp hours....

on anything its just a dead equation either way.

I have definitely decided on whats smartest in the first place.

abusing costcos return policy and getting a never ending laptop.

you see theyve got that figured out already, there stuff is all 2nd gen i5 chips already anyway, kinda discount stuff.

just breaking it once a year and taking it back for a better one.

I couldnt live with buying that laptop, and then seeing it still didnt work. still a ac bound laptop just improved.

So honestly the only things in the running are costco laptops. And they dont sell anyrthing cool like that timeline they sell a peice of crap for more.

once I have used one of theirs ill have a good idea.

EDIT

Except cameras tvs and electronics which have a 90 from PURCHASE satisfaction return policy.

[86rader]

Regarding the DC-DC converter. To the best of my knowledge (Navy Electronics school, about 100 years ago) there is no such thing.

Notice that we all get our power from the grid in AC form. There's a good reason for this. AC can be stepped up or down, meaning ginormous quantities of power can be delivered through relatively small conductors because it is sent at extremely high voltages. That big can that hangs on the pole outside your house steps it down to 110V which is kind of convenient as it will not kill you as easily. Actually, it delivers two 110V lines that are out of phase with each other. Tie them together and you get 220 for high current things like dryers and stoves.

Anyhoo, getting back on track, as I said, DC can't be kicked up in voltage. It can be lowered using diodes and resistors. So, unless they have rewritten the laws of electricity since I was taught it, that DC-DC converter is actually a DC to AC to DC converter.

What I really don't understand is why the hell the manufacturers haven't made a laptop that does run off 12VDC. I realize that battery life might suffer a bit, but, it seems that the advantage of being able to run straight off your car/rv 12 volt system would be a big selling point.

[stamar]

the actual easiest solution is to have two 12v deep cells in series, 14 volt charging coming from the alternator to each but isolated ( oh no its also a resistor, only 14 v allowed either way.)

with a 19.2v resistor out to the laptop.

but also such things definitely exist. Theres nothing simple or cheap.

a coil for instance does this all in dc, 12v in thousands v out.

[stamar]

oh wait this device is quite simple

watch. 12 v><12 v resistor> 7.2 v capacitor 12 v in series> 19.2 v

there it is that takes all of 1 minute to figure out.

[waiter]

oh wait this device is quite simple

watch. 12 v><12 v resistor> 7.2 v capacitor 12 v in series> 19.2 v

there it is that takes all of 1 minute to figure out.

Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work that way. Be nice if it did. :-)

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[stamar]

No concentrate super hard karin

Costco has a satisfaction guarantee. You can turn it in as often as you want.

There is nothing against the law about it at all.

I'm a costco member the only thank you I have to do is pay the yearly fee.

It used to be you could turn in laptops as often as you want for a year, essentially forever.

But now its 90 days.

Costcos return policy makes them many more sales than it costs them, because everyone buys there stuff there.

And if it didn't... they'd change it.

Its kind of embarrasing that you didn't know that being a member. But maybe you helped educate someone else who has no idea how costco works.

I buy car batteries at costco 100 percent, its like a permanent battery. Other things like power tools, microwaves whatever because they have a satisfaction guarantee, that's how they make their sales vs sears or the gap or whoever. Especially for gifts.

[stamar]

I notice one of the co rvers here in beaverton that uses the 24 hour fitness lot

Gets up really early and moves his rig( a full size dodgetruck with a large cabover camper.) Over to the lot where the library is.

Presumably to use the wifi the library puts out.

His set up for electricity is a LOUD generator. He might not even have a deep cycle as I recall when I had a cabover the lights went straight to the trucks battery. His is much larger though

I bet the alternator in a full size truck is gnarly. But the gas running it is gnarly too.

I've never owned an american rv, is there a kind that has no generator?

I know some diesels have two alternatorss.

Anyhow his solution to computing, which would work for me without a new laptop, is a gas generator. Sounds like a worksite model

[stamar]

Costco would love it, love it if I bought a laptop there telling them I think their laptops suck and I'm going to return it.

Id carry a big sign saying I'm going to return this peice of crap and buy something somewhere else.

They'd sell it and say sure you are

[stamar]

I'm going with the class called ultrabooks.

Its in general what I'm looking for, like the macbook air.

It has low power usage, so it can be used on a plane. It often has ssd, and low power cpus.

The actual size isn't what sells me because id rather they also had a big battery.

[Maineah]

Regarding the DC-DC converter. To the best of my knowledge (Navy Electronics school, about 100 years ago) there is no such thing.

Notice that we all get our power from the grid in AC form. There's a good reason for this. AC can be stepped up or down, meaning ginormous quantities of power can be delivered through relatively small conductors because it is sent at extremely high voltages. That big can that hangs on the pole outside your house steps it down to 110V which is kind of convenient as it will not kill you as easily. Actually, it delivers two 110V lines that are out of phase with each other. Tie them together and you get 220 for high current things like dryers and stoves.

Anyhoo, getting back on track, as I said, DC can't be kicked up in voltage. It can be lowered using diodes and resistors. So, unless they have rewritten the laws of electricity since I was taught it, that DC-DC converter is actually a DC to AC to DC converter.

What I really don't understand is why the hell the manufacturers haven't made a laptop that does run off 12VDC. I realize that battery life might suffer a bit, but, it seems that the advanage of being able to run straight off your car/rv 12 volt system would be a big selling point.

Fairly new concept check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC-to-DC_converter We used these for our cop car Tough Books built into the mounts. Yes you are quite correct there ain't such a thing as a DC transformer.

[stamar]

Actually that is right. Panasonic makes low power consumption laptops that go for days. Expensive as it gets.

[Maineah]

the actual easiest solution is to have two 12v deep cells in series, 14 volt charging coming from the alternator to each but isolated ( oh no its also a resistor, only 14 v allowed either way.)

with a 19.2v resistor out to the laptop.

but also such things definitely exist. Theres nothing simple or cheap.

a coil for instance does this all in dc, 12v in thousands v out.

You'll need to turn it on and off won't do it by it's self it's square wave ac no dc transformers no way no how.

[Maineah]

The tough books run on 19 volts dc input the dc to dc converters do the magic.

[bufbooth]

Instead of a laptop have you considered a Kindle Fire, either the base model ($150) or the HD model ($199)?

The have a dual band dual antenna, over 11 hours of battery life, 1280x800 HD display, and a built in camera

for pictures/video/skype calling. After using the base model Kindle I have decided not to purchase a laptop

in the future. If you do not needed to do photo editing or programing/development work I think that you will

find that the Kindle will be able to do everything that you think you will be doing with a laptop.

[stamar]

I had heard something about the new kindles wifi antenae. It either goes twice as far or its twice as fast. Twice as far would be great but I think its the latter.

I've got an android phone. Its actually easier to type on this thumb. Keyboard than even a large touchscreen.

But they are getting cheap. What normally gets sold as a tablet is a lot like a cell phone with a big screen.

And that indeed covers the power consumption part. Its right on actually. Power usage is low enough to be on all day and not prevent a car battery from starting. True story.

[stamar]

Im not sure if this kind of link works to direct link

http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/outlet_us/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:expandcategory?current-catalog-id=A4A41B4CA13D4754AE2FBF7721EBF357&current-category-id=908B184AED4F29502E6EB3E1E76AFC13&menu-id=products&ref-id=products#/.UIUikMWHIac?page-index=1&page-size=100&facet-1=1&sort-criteria=1&facet-9=1

but this is a super strong contender. it has a gen 2 cpu which is why its so discounted. but it has a 11.6 screen and is very durable. low power small screen. to the best of my research this is not only the lowest power windows computer its cheap.

[Totem]

http://technorati.com/entertainment/gaming/article/world-of-warcraft-may-be-coming/

if this is true an ipad only requires 5 volts. cheers.

Also, I had that generator and plugged my shore power cable into it with a 5 dollar pigtail. It rain my outlets just fine...

Only thing to watch out for on that generator is 5the spark plug; its garbage in winter. there is a winter plug and a summer plug by champion for it that run much better.

[stamar]

ya and the ssd uses no power when its not running

they are getting to be 80 for a 128 gb one so its an after purchase buy and put the hdd that comes with the laptop in an external

[stamar]

im a few weeks away from going for it and this is top pick. it has a u series cpu, led screen and an ssd for 600 i doubt you can find better

http://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-Light-CT14-A0-14-Inch-Ultrabook/dp/B0088L182C/ref=pd_cp_pc_0

[stamar]

i can try it out if i find a sams club its for sale there

[Maineah]

Be sure you read the reviews. Most everyone hates the track pad and many say the keyboard creates a lot of errors too. That would make me hesitate to buy it. I can't stand a bad keyboard as I type at around 85wpm

Wow 85 WPM I don't think I can even make 85 mistakes a minute! Shot it takes me 10 min. to text 20 words.

[Derek up North]

I tried texting in 2005. It came out looking like Welsh! Haven't tried it since.

[stamar]

I also type 80 wpm one semester typing class in hs.

[stamar]

I found a very competitive modell for 499 in costco

Acer brand

Its a 14 inch with the i5u series cpu.

That is actually better than the vizio. Everything else is worse

It has a regular hard drive like 500 gb.

It has lower screen resolution and a plastic body.

Definitely thinking about getting it and returning it so I can have a feel for whether or not this kind of draw can stay on all dayy single deep cycle at all, or if the whole idea doesn't work.youu feel me?

If its not gonna work either way or it works too easy maybe get something that has more horsepower and uses more juice.

[Totem]

If it were me... I would wait for the release of the MS surface pro with windows 8...$600 ish, i5 will run w0w.

[stamar]

oh i dont even know what that is but the 3rd gen i5 and intel 4000 runs wow, and this is the LOW POWER version i5. but I dont have a feel yet for if I even need that or if it helps or doesnt matter.

were nearing christmas season and prices are already going up.

im shopping with this criteria

u series 3rd gen cpu led screen and a ssd ( or buy one for 80$ on top of the price.)

but for the same amount you can get higher horsepower computer not an ultra book.

they make it seem like this ultrabook is all the magic shiz but im not actually certain it makes enough difference to matter.

[stamar]

http://www.ebay.com/...d=271078414263

heres a big way to skip an ac converter.

Im not sure there isnt more waste in this type of device or not.

theres something wrong with it already even though my laptop uses a 150w power supply it has 8amps in and out, so it says it needs more heat disapation.

for the next laptop though it would work.

[stamar]

btw im running this through my friend whos an electrical engineer please dont post any opinions on how you think 12 volt dc works again.

friendly conversation is fine but theres a long stretch of incorrect ignorance and psycho babble earlier in the thread that defeats the whole purpose.

crap about 12 volts and then more time wasting looking for lower 12 volt stuff its all crazy. NO NO! No more speaking in toungues.

[Totem]

I can't resist... An electronics class didn't cover inductors???let alone capacitors resistors, but inductors? Magnetic field storage is in dang near everything these days. Granted you will get more of a range going from high voltage low current to low voltage high current with a boost buck, but they do go the other way also. 8 up to 16 and lowering current, and my guess would be the "red" light would come on but it would still work. Most of the Crees will accept up to 16 v anyway, so it wouldn't really matter; they would just be brighter. I will close with this: I had wanted that Beefy 180 amp alternator but Stamar has made me realize that maybe swapping out inefficient electronics would make the grade out of my stock one thereby saving me $500 .

[waiter]

Totem, You and Stamar are correct. Given the age of the technology in our Toyhouses (1980), Its very easy to find ways to reduce power consumption if you just want to stretch the time or increase the load of the power we consume.

LEDs is a perfect example, they will consume 1/5 the power for the same color and brightness as an incandescent bulb. That means I can run it 5 times longer, OR I can run 5 more lights.

The little Inverter Stamar referenced. I don't want to bore people with babble, but I would recommend checking to make sure it regulates before hooking up a computer. If you have a voltmeter, read the output voltage while the inverter is supplied with low battery input voltage (say 12.0 volts) then start the truck (Input should now read around 14.0 volts) as see if the output voltage changes. Its probably OK, but worth checking so you don't fry an $800 laptop.

ALSO - I noticed the inverter uses a switching frequency of 380khz. When you get it up and running, see if this is interfering with your radio or TV.

Stamar - If you or your Electrical Engineer friend buy one of these inverters and hook it up, give us a report on what you found and how its performing. This looks like it could be a good candidate for other projects that need something other than 12 Vdc. (i.e LCD TV)

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[waiter]

friendly conversation is fine but there's a long stretch of incorrect ignorance and psycho babble earlier in the thread that defeats the whole purpose.

One of the great features about these type of forums is a vast amount of information can be exchanged.

On this particulate forum, I've observed a wide range of participants, from absolute new person who knows nothing about a subject, all the way up to and including people who have years of training, information, and experience. I've also observed that if someone posts inaccurate or incomplete information, Its usually corrected or expanded upon in friendly manner.

As I read thru posts, one of the things that I bear in mind, I'm not the only audience or consumer of any particular post or thread, and regardless if something may appear to be "psycho babble" to me, I'd be willing to bet, someone reading the post(s) appreciates the information.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[Totem]

Thats exactly why the surface pro and rt are a game changer Karin. (they are made BY microsoft) I too made fun of windows 8 when it was beta; I ate crow though when i learned of thier secret devices. Apparently Bill gates learned from his mistakes going up against apple and for the first time in decades MS is making hardware again. You wont have any driver issues on Microsoft hardware coupled with windows 8. This is what makes ipads/iphones so great; apple has absolute control of their hardware albeit in a very conservative way (they simply put no ports at all no usb, nothing. they risk nothing because they know there will only be one kind of bus; and the driver is baked in; hence there is no dell ipad.)

Microsoft's surface tablet pc has the ports the OS and the software and their application store is said that no app will cost more than a dollar. (we'll see but i believe it now that i see office for sale for $10 and OS 8 for $40...