Car chargers for laptops. Selection of models for different brands

Today I will tell you about my selection of laptop power supplies that can be used with a car (12 volts)

Future times have taught us to use electricity sparingly and to organize our work regardless of power outages. Many have switched to laptops, and here a natural question arises – how to power them in the event of a power outage? Most people will be tempted to say that “you can buy an inverter and connect a regular laptop charger. But, at least before, inverters cost stupid money, and the 12-220(110)-19 power conversion (12 volt battery, 110/220 volt inverter, 19 volt laptop power) is not the most economical method of charging a laptop. It is easier to take a suitable laptop charger from the car cigarette lighter and charge directly from the battery. But not everything is as easy and simple as it seems.

Problems

Purely technically, there are many “car chargers” for laptops with universal connectors on the market. But there are laptops, such as Dell or HP, which are very picky about the power source – if it is not determined by the laptop, then at best the laptop will work with reduced power, at worst, the laptop will not charge the battery from such a power supply unit. That is why it is highly desirable to select original or high-quality adapters for certain models. I decided not to experiment with universal blocks (one such Chinese one, which had several types of voltage from 15 to 20 volts, for some reason got very hot during operation) and look for those offered by the manufacturers themselves.

HP

HP will be our first. This brand is famous for perhaps the largest number of different connectors for charging laptops. But the most problematic of them is the so-called connector “with a needle” size 7.4x5.0. More modern laptops have a similar, but slightly smaller 4.5x3.0. It is interesting that these two typical sizes are also available at the competitor Dell, but despite the similar connector and voltage, these power supplies cannot replace each other. Moreover, my attempt to use a “dumb” adapter from an HP laptop from a thick connector to a thin one on a Dell laptop met with a fiasco – Dell did not recognize such a power supply unit. So keep in mind that chargers from these two manufacturers are not compatible.

The car power adapter model I dealt with is called the HP Combo Adapter Slim Combo HSTNN-DA36.

Firstly, the charger itself can be used both from a 110/220 volt network and from a 12 volt network. This gives us the opportunity to use it as an alternative to a regular charger. Moreover, its power is quite high – 90 W. Here someone will say about “what about laptops-workstations and their 180-210 W power supply” and I will say – no way. The theoretical current that we can get from a car cigarette lighter is about 10 A. The cigarette lighter itself is often limited to 150 watts. In the previous post on this adapter, I did a small test and a workstation like HP Zbook 17 G3 consumed about 60 W when playing Enter The Gungeon (a simple 2D shooter) and about 90-104 W when playing Borderlands 2. That is for normal these 90 W are quite enough for working on a workstation-type laptop.

Secondly, in addition to a charger for a laptop, it can also act as a charger for a phone or other device, because it has a USB connector on board, which has 5 V and 2 A, which will be more than enough.

Thirdly, the kit includes three adapters that allow you to use this unit to power laptops with three different connectors. Without any additional adapters.

In fact, when you pick up this power supply unit, it immediately seems to you that all similar devices should be in this form and design. Quality, functionality, style – three components that are in it. Of course, the kit includes a case for the unit itself and accessories, thanks to which it can always be stored somewhere in the car or taken with you on a trip. The price of such a charger is quite democratic – it can now be purchased at Ebay for approximately $30. $30 is a more than normal price for the ability to “charge anywhere”.

Dell

An interesting story came out of Dell. I found two different power supplies that can be used with power from 12 volts. The first is the Dell Slim auto air ac adapter DA65NS3 , from the name of which it is clear that it can be used from a cigarette lighter, in an airplane, as well as from a regular outlet. He looks like this:

Despite its large size, its power is only 65 W. The second power supply has a long and interesting name Dell D09RM, 28F6C, H536T, ADP-90ND 90W Watt Auto-Air Car Automobile/Airplane Plane Travel No Brick DC Power Adapter . In short, it is Dell ADP-90ND . Accordingly, it has a power of 90 W and looks like this:

In its composition, it also has an adapter, which is used to charge a laptop in an airplane. The connector for a laptop in both power supplies is 7.4×5.0, that is, Dell with a thin connector flies by. Google suggested that for Dells there is also an adapter from a thick to a thin connector, so the problem can be solved for about $2-2.5.

I decided to check its operation on a laptop that was just at hand – Dell Precision M4800. Yes, of course, it will not be possible to fully power a laptop that needs 180 W for power from a portable charger, but modern laptops even with Ryzen processors can consume only 45 W, so it is more interesting to load with something that really eats a lot. Well…on the one hand, the laptop really slowed down during powering it from this charger (the battery in it is not working, so the power is fully supplied from the power supply), on the other hand, it was able to be started and, although in office mode, still usable. This is given that it has an old quad-core Intel Core i7 of the fourth generation working in tandem with an AMD FirePro M5100, which, although in idle mode, is also powered by the power supply. It became interesting to check the real consumption of this laptop when using it with power supply from the network. The meter showed about 55-65 watts of consumption. So, at a minimum, such charging can fully power an average office laptop from the battery of your car (or electric bicycle, as in my case).

Lenovo

The last power supply for cars presented here will be a variant from the Lenovo company. It is the most technologically advanced and interesting here. In the network, it is more familiar as Lenovo 41R4538 41R4510 90W Ultra Slim AC/DC . This amazing adapter combines all the best.

The modularity of this solution fascinates and frightens at the same time. The fact is that, technically, these are two separate chargers, one of which is network (main unit), and the second is completed in the form of a small adapter from a cigarette lighter. The common block adapter (it is on the left in the photo) here, unfortunately, is one. So “either-or” and charging two separate devices at the same time will not work. But the versatility lies in the fact that there is an adapter for a round connector (older models) and a rectangular one (newer). In this way, you can charge it with almost any model from the modern options. Also, the kit additionally comes with an adapter with a USB connector, so in case you have the option of charging, including the phone. The back part of the cigarette lighter comes off, and we have a device for charging a laptop in an airplane. Due to such versatility, I could safely call this charger one of the most interesting among those that were in today’s review.

Conclusion

When you are looking for a full-fledged native car power supply unit, you sometimes get the feeling that it is already a relic of the past. Some manufacturers are switching to universal USB type-C, which is increasingly common in laptops. But there are still many devices in the current market that require more capital power, and the options presented above are some of the best on the market. If you do not count the DA65NS3 model, then all the other devices from the article I personally held in my hands and checked, so in my opinion they are worth it.

Many universal options are not always the best option, because as I wrote – they do not guarantee the normal operation of your equipment, as a native power supply unit can do. If you need a complete power supply for a workstation that needs more than 150 W of power, I recommend paying attention to 12-110/220 inverters with a power of 300-400 W. You will encounter noise from the cooler built into the inverter, but you will be able to fully power the laptop, provided that the power is not taken from the cigarette lighter, but from the 12-volt battery itself.

Bonus (Asus, Fujitsu, Toshiba, LG, Acer, Sager, Clevo, Etc…)

A bonus will be such a wonderful picture:

Below we see the original adapter from thin to thick connector for HP notebooks. The voltage of this power supply unit is 19.5 volts, which is not so much compared to the Asus 19V. So I decided to make blackjack casino and… your universal power supply unit. I had adapters from some station wagon. In this form, I have already used it to power the monitor during times when the lights were turned off. Thanks to this, we could watch movies on the 34″ monitor even when the lights went out.

I did not find such a plan for the original Asus power supplies, so the version I made looks no worse 🙂