DC charger and WiFi bits for laptop

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pcatterall

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Just bought a small lap top for use in my camper and on the boat.
It is a Dell D400 and I want to run it from my leisure batteries. The mains charger is rated at 19.5 volts and 3.34 Amps.
I have seen 12 to 19/20 volt DC 'chargers' at Maplins at about £20 for a low power (3amps at 20v) and £30 for what they call high power version.
I guess that the high power version will be best and ask if anyone has used one and is the price right??

I want to use the WiFi capabilities and understand that there are devices which may help my PC to receive more signals. I would appreciate advice on this.
Thanks in anticipation of the usual excellent advice!!
Regards
 
U can get cheaper if u go the China / ebay route, but beware their specifications are sometimes a little ... optimistic..., but that said I have had a couple of ebay laptop 12v power supplies and never had any problems with them, just a chance you take.

As to teh wifi, it depends how weak teh signal is that you are trying to utilise. The wifi adapters built into laptops are typically the worst at receiving weak signals, next up you can go for a USB adapter. These do vary from one unit to another, but typically the ;arger units have the larger antennas and thus copre better with the weaker signals, the other advantage of them is that you can put them on a cable and so hang them outside the boat for better reception (somewhere dry of course). Third option is to go with an external antenna, you can get both USB and PC card (PCMCIA) wifi adapters that have sockets in which to plug in an antenna. Just a 5db indoor antenna which is a stick about 6" long will show a big iomprovement over a built in system, and if that still isnt enouig you can do what I did, and put a 1m long antenna at the top of my 40' mast and run coax down to the nav station. With that and a high power (200mw) Seneo card I could pull in reliable signals that others just couldnt even get a sniff of!

So a few options, for general / marina use a USB device will prob be suffiecent, if it has a half decent antenna.

Anthony
 
Dell plug compatibility...

Cheap DC laptop power adapters usually come with a selection of different-sized plug tips, to suit a variety of laptop models. Unfortunately, not all of these adapters include a plug tip to fit your Dell. Before you buy, make sure a compatible tip is included.

A higher-power version will probably be a better choice, as it may run cooler.
 
Re: Dell plug compatibility...

Thanks guys. I find that the outputs are all rated to the nearest volt. My instinct would be to go for 20 volts to feed my 19.5 volt battery but Maplins say the voltage must match exactly. Are they just being cautious?
If I cant find the right adapterI guess that I could use the connector from my mains charger provided I didnt mix the polarity up??
The chinese ones all seem to be low voltage, max 3.5 volts.
Thanks again
 
Re: Dell plug compatibility...

I measured the output on my one set to 19v - it was 19.4, so just about spot on.

HOWEVER, the cheap ones can't sustain the 3.5-4.5Amps, which is needed when running AND charging most notebooks.
 
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