Laptops All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies- P46: Okay, I’ll admit it: I’ve got a strange biography. I’ve been a writer all my life. My first semi-pro job was sports editor of my high school newspaper. (Go Commodores!) After college I was a political reporter for daily newspapers in Ohio and New York (I covered four national nominating conventions and two Presidential campaigns) and a correspondent for The Associated Press. And then, in 1983, I gave in to my inner geek and became the first Executive Editor of PC Magazine, back in the days when most people asked, “What is a PC?”. | 424 Adapting to Plane and Car Powering up down on the ground We used to call a car s power outlet a cigarette lighter back when they held circular devices that glowed red hot after a few moments of power long enough to light a tube of tobacco that the user then inhaled. It all sounds so barbaric doesn t it Today many cars come with several outlets for use with adapters to power or charge cell phones music players GPS receivers and laptops. Like an airline DC source an automobile DC power outlet can generally deliver enough juice to run an electrical device like a laptop but takes a long time to recharge batteries. And there is a chance of overloading the car system if you try to draw too much power the vehicle s electrical system is protected by fuses that can shut off the charger or the engine if you really overdo it . One other option is an AC power inverter which converts the DC power from your car into 100 volts of AC which can provide voltage to an AC adapter for your laptop which then reconverts the power to DC . If that sounds like a fair amount of wasted power and possible danger from overheating that s because all of that is true. For most laptop users a better solution is to use a direct DC connection. Chapter 3 Power-Management Utilities In This Chapter Turning down the power Making a power plan and checking it twice Customizing your personal battery demands Car makers have faced a perplexing contradiction for many years People want big fast and feature-filled vehicles . . . but they also want their vehicles to sip very daintily from the gas tank. It s the same thing with laptop computers You want large screens fast microprocessors and all sorts of doodads including DVD drives WiFi communication and much more . . . and you want your batteries to last for weeks between recharges. The answer and I m back to laptops now is in two parts proper hardware design to minimize battery power demands and software that manages the system intelligently. On modern .
