On Tuesday 01 June 2010 04:16:09 WestHurley ComputerReCycling wrote: > A friend is planning a field trip with an older Laptop. He wants to run > this Laptop and charge its battery from a 12V auto battery. > > As a result, he was wondering what is more efficient for this a DC to DC > Converter or a DC to AC Inverter? > > I have no idea but hope someone may have researched this and knows the > answer.
In general a DC-to-DC converter should generally be more efficient than using a DC-to-AC inverter and the normal power adapter. One interesting thing to keep in mind though is that DC-to-DC converters do this by using an internal switcher to do the conversion -- this is what makes them more efficient than using a DC linear regulator. As such I believe the DC output needs some filtering to filter out the switching frequency. If you're building a circuit yourself, the data sheet should have an "app note" that shows a circuit diagram of a typical application. DC-to-AC converters are less efficient, but much more convenient, and far easier to buy. This is why most people just get one of these and use the normal power adapter, because it's a lot easier to deal with. -- Chris -- Chris Knadle [email protected] _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Jun 2 - Android Jul 7 - Patent Absurdity - The Movie Aug 4 - Samba
