You say voltage but I assume you mean wattage. AC power from the wall is a perfect sine wave, shifting from -110 V to +110 V 60 times per second. Inverters try to duplicate the gradual change of a sine wave and are grouped/calssified by how close they get.
The cheapest inverters usually just produce a signal that jumps directly from -110 V to +110 V 60 times per second. This is adequate for most things that have a "dumb Brick" type power supply like a portable CD/tape player etc. This is _not_ adequate for something that has a motor driven by the AC current like a fan. I suspect it is also inadequate for intelligent/auto-sensing power supplies. The next level is an inverter that generates a stepped approximation of a sine wave. Instead of 1/60th second at -110 and 1/60th second at +110, it will be 1/180th second at -110 then 1/180th second at -55 then 1/180th second at +55 then 1/180th second at +110 etc(not exactly but you get the idea). This is good enough for most things. Higher quality units will have more steps and thus be closer to an actual sine wave. Rather then trying to figure out if a given inverter could power your laptop, I advise you to just get the DC power supply and not bother with an inverter unless you have other things to power with it. You could try going into the store and asking if they have any inverters specifically rated for use with laptops. -Eric J --- Brian Braunschweiger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Rather than getting a 12 v adapter for my 3400 when I want to compute > > on in the car (usually on long trips with my wife driving), I got an > inverter. Unfortunately the inverter shuts itself off when I plug in > the PowerBook. Sometimes it happens right away and sometimes after a > minute or two. the voltage is well within the inverter's capacity. > > I figured the inverter was bad and bought another one but the same > thing happened. > > Any insights or solutions? > > > Brian > -- > > Brian Braunschweiger ===== PB145, iceBook Classic II(x2), Performa 405,IIci 6100/66 DOS Compatible, Blue and White G3 and random bits and pieces You are not drowning in old computer parts until you start charting tides... __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com -- 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
