MacBook Pro on DC power?

On Oct 23, 2006, at 5:01 PM, twideman wrote:

> So, having ranted :) let me ask -- what are MacBook Pro owners
> doing on airplanes for power?

Back when I was using an iBook, I used to carry around an external
slab battery. The 8 additional hours it gave me was worth the bulk
and weight, and it freed me from having to worry about getting a
properly equipped airline seat or looking for AC outlets in the
airport terminal. The new Magsafe adapter made this option instantly
obsolete. The manufacturer of the battery was promising a new
Magsafe prong "real-soon now" for a while, but they have dropped that
promise from their website. So, count me in as yet another MBP owner
annoyed by the Magsafe adapter.

In the mean time, I've taken to carrying multiple batteries---the
internal plus spare will give me a total work time of about 5-6
hours. Not great, but will get me through most days. Now, if we can
only get Newer Tech to produce an external charger to make charging
the spare easier, but that's a separate discussion all together.

Tomoharu

There's a more general problem here: there are no third party AC adapters.

Travis wrote those two articles last year about various AC adapter
possibilities and there still aren't any third party possibilities
for the MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8312>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8315>

You can use your magsafe adapter with the cord or just with the plug.
That's it.

For me, someone who DOES NOT HAVE A PROBLEM with an obsession of
finding just the right adapter, this is livable. For others, who
might be a bit more particular than me, it could be quite disturbing.

<twitch twitch>

So, there are no airline adapters or car adapters or cheaper adapters
or smaller adapters than the standard apple magsafe adapters. $70, in
your choice of 65w (large) and 85w (extra large). The iGo does not
have a magsafe adapter, either.

So, as much as I love magsafe -- and I do -- this is a pretty big
downside, as it appears that Apple has not licensed anyone else to
use it.

--

=Alex Hoffman
Leadership Policy & Politics
Teachers College, Columbia University

While not a full solution to your requirements, I recently bought a very small inverter, the "Vector iMobile 100-watt, Microslim Power Inverter". It comes with adaptors for car and airplane power outlets and has a usb charging port in addition to the AC outlet. I don't have a postal scale handy, but it easily fits in my shirt pocket - 3 5/8" X 2 5/8" X 9/16" with a little bulge around the outlet. The efficiency is listed as > 85%.

http://www.vectormfg.com/electronics.php

On 23 Oct 2006, at 15:01 , twideman wrote:
> Am I missing something, or why isn't everyone screaming for a DC
> power solution for MB/MBP with the Magsafe adapter?

You mean like the just announced Magsafe Airplane adapter?

--
Monique: He keeps putting his testicles all over me.
Lane: Excuse me?

On Oct 23, 2006, at 5:01 PM, twideman wrote:
>
> So, having ranted :) let me ask -- what are MacBook Pro owners
> doing on airplanes for power?

Just when we thought it was safe to rant at Apple's expense...

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wo/
1.RSLID?mco=A2AF143F&nplm=MA598Z%2FA

$59 is a bit steep, but if you need one, you need one. It powers the
laptop, but won't charge the battery. (But I think that's due to the
power limitation of airline seats, not a limitation of the adapter,
per se.)

Tomoharu

On Oct 23, 2006, at 5:01 PM, twideman wrote:

> So, having ranted :) let me ask -- what are MacBook Pro owners
> doing on airplanes for power?

One thing I do is to check the CPU usage constantly using the
donationware MenuMeters in the menu bar and kill any process that
eats too much CPU using either the Terminal or the Activity Monitor,
if it isn't needed of course ;-)

For instance: you will be surprised how many widgets just eat and eat
CPU-cycles for no reason!

http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/menumeters/

Kim

On Oct 24, 2006, at 12:42 PM, cheshirenekomac.com wrote:
> The manufacturer of the battery was promising a new
> Magsafe prong "real-soon now" for a while, but they have dropped that
> promise from their website. So, count me in as yet another MBP owner
> annoyed by the Magsafe adapter.

So maybe the market doesn't support every power gizmo provider
supporting MagSafe.

Would the market support one or two providers supplying a MagSafe
dongle into which one plugs existing sorts of power tips?

   --John

On Oct 24, 2006, at 3:45 PM, LuKreme wrote:

> On 23 Oct 2006, at 15:01 , twideman wrote:
>> Am I missing something, or why isn't everyone screaming for a DC
>> power solution for MB/MBP with the Magsafe adapter?
>
> You mean like the just announced Magsafe Airplane adapter?

I'm disappointed. I would much rather see an auto adapter, since I
drive a lot more often than I fly and I've never been on a flight
where I had a power adapter by my seat.

LOL... After waiting so long, and finally posting a rant after many months of ruminating, they addressed all my issues - bigger hard drive, faster speed, dual layer DVD burning, and the power issue!

Hmm... Should I now order while my wife lays sleeping? SHE has even told me I need a new computer (the 800mHz TiBook is getting a little long in the tooth, and she wants me to use it to replace our G3/300 Wallstreet that we're using as an iTunes music server)...

Geez, anyone want me to gripe about something else so we can get it fixed? I may be on a roll. :)

Tom

On 10/25/06 07:06, "Kim Gammelgård" <kganimac.com> wrote:

>> So, having ranted :) let me ask -- what are MacBook Pro owners
>> doing on airplanes for power?
>
> One thing I do is to check the CPU usage constantly using the
> donationware MenuMeters in the menu bar and kill any process that
> eats too much CPU using either the Terminal or the Activity Monitor,
> if it isn't needed of course ;-)

Your backlight will kill FAR more battery than your CPU ever will. Drop your
backlight to on notch above "off", and you can get almost an extra hour out
of your battery.

--
John C. Welch Writer/Analyst
Bynkii.com Mac and other opinions
jwelchbynkii.com

On Oct 25, 2006, at 8:06 AM, Mike Cohen wrote:

> I'm disappointed. I would much rather see an auto adapter, since I
> drive a lot more often than I fly and I've never been on a flight
> where I had a power adapter by my seat.

There are many solutions already available that turn a car DC plug
(lighter socket) into three prong outlets. Then your normal power
adapter would work fine.

Steve

On 10/25/2006 5:06 AM, "johnbaxterlistsmac.com" wrote:
> Would the market support one or two providers supplying a MagSafe
> dongle into which one plugs existing sorts of power tips?

It might, but since Apple isn't currently licensing the MagSafe connectors
to third-party vendors, we won't see such a product until the company
licenses the connector or makes such a product itself.

Which is unfortunate. Before I upgraded to a MacBook Pro, I'd been using an
excellent power adapter from Kensington that works with AC, car accessory
("cigarette lighter") jacks, and airline power outlets. It was about half an
inch thick (though long), so it was perfect for a laptop bag. Right now,
MacBook and MacBook Pro owners looking for "universal" power have to carry
Apple's AC adapter and the new airline adapter, and they still can't get
power in the car. They also can't take advantage of high-capacity batteries
such as those from Lind.

<http://us.kensington.com/html/10200.html>
<http://www.lindelectronics.com/cgi-bin/store/shop.cgi/!ORDERID!/ppack/x/dbx
_gen_ppack_mfgs/>



On 10/25/2006 6:57 AM, "Stephen A. Cochran Lists" wrote:
> There are many solutions already available that turn a car DC plug
> (lighter socket) into three prong outlets. Then your normal power
> adapter would work fine.

Sure, but such power inverters tend to be bulky and heavy.

There is a DC Magsafe charger made by a company called MCT, Inc.

http://www.mikegyver.com/buy/index.html

I purchased one of these from him about 3 months ago and it works great on my MacBook and my 17" MacBook Pro. He modifies and existing AC charger to make it, but you then have an AC and DC solution.

Another data point, in answer to my own question.

My MBP 15" 2.33/160 showed up yesterday, and my Airline Adapter showed up today (gotta love FedEx vs. ground shipment).

First thing I did was run to the garage and plug the adapter into a 12v deep cycle battery (I use it to run my telescope and astroimaging equipment), which was showing about 12.4v. The green light in the MagSafe connector did NOT come on and the computer showed to be on battery the whole time.

I then started my truck and plugged the combo into the cigarette lighter ^W^W powerport, which was at about 14.4v. The light on the MagSafe showed green and the computer indicated it was on a power adapter. My battery was charged so I did not have the opportunity to see if it would show a charge too (the MagSafe did stay green when I put the MBP to sleep).

I was not able to run to the airplane and try that option however. :)

Having said all that, a few caveats: I would NEVER (intentionally) start up the motor while the adapter was in, due to the voltage changes, and I would like to see more "data points" (as well as a real reason from Apple, instead of "because I'm your mom and I said not to" on why the adapter cannot or should not be used in a car) regarding auto use of the adapter.

I'm not going to endanger my new baby by pressing the issue. I just hope to hear more.

Tom

The airline adapter isn't really a solution to this problem. Apple needs to start licensing magsafe to third parties. I want to connect my MBP to a Xantrex 600 powerpack that's being trickle charged with a Global Solar P3 solar panel, but as it stands right now, I'm stuck with using the powerpack's built in inverter and then down-converting the AC power back to DC, which leads to a lot of heat being generated, and electricity lost. Given that Steve Jobs and Co. are bragging on their website about how "green" Apple is, it's ironic that they're standing in the way of people who'd like to use renewable energy to power their computers.