I have a question about using inverters with powerbooks. I have an off-grid cabin with solar panels and a 500W Trace inverter. I also have a cheapie small car inverter. I am hesitant to use either inverter with a powerbook, because in the course of building my place and dealing with the electricity there, I found that various items with chargers might work for a while, but some would bite the dust after not very long if used with inverters.
Solar equipment retailers I know say some charging units are not too happy with the modified sine or square wave (as opposed to true sine wave) that inexpensive inverters put out. I have killed a cordless drill and a rechargeable flashlight by using them with inverters. They appeared to work fine initially, but died within a few months when plugged into inverter power. Therefore I have been a bit surprised to see computer retailers marketing inverters for use with powerbooks. Does anyone know for certain whether this is really safe for powerbooks in the long term? Meantime I got a pb car adapter so I could use the 12 volt without inverter, because amount of available power is sometimes an issue, and running the inverter just to run the powerbook isn't particularly efficient. But I do wonder about plugging into the inverter sometimes. Thanks, Beverly >> >>yea the inverter outputs 75 watts but on the powerpack 4 my book it doesnt >>say how many watts it needs specifacaly so i took a chance and tried it 1 >>day for 5 hours i had it plugged into the inverter with no ill effect... > > That's more than sufficient, as even the G3's only need 45 watts. > Paul -- Beverly Woods Visit my Low End Mac column: http://www.lowendmac.net/woods/index.html music website: http://www.sethausten.com/ email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- PowerBooks is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PowerBooks list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
