Inverter for laptop

Get a Cobra 400 watt , it has a bigger heat sink,( it won't put out 400 watts using the cigarette lighter, ) and stays cooler without the fan kicking on.
I always keep my laptop fully charged so the inverter doesn't have to work too hard.

 

Depend on WHAT TYPE OF LAPTOP you have , I have ASUS G751 , pure gaming machine and 300w is barely enough to charge that sucker when you not playing game, if you do , you need 500w AND TRUCK WITH HI CRUISE idle option, Volvo or Freightliner did not want to charge my beast while engine was off ...

 

I agree with @tucker ... You will be using the inverter to continually "top off" your battery and probably when you are not using it. (Assumptions made)

So, if the battery is fully charged you will likely never hit 150 watts at any point. If the battery is drained, or not working, and you are doing some high end gaming or something then usage will be higher. Even then 150 watts seem very high.

You mentioned the three plugs... That too will come into play... If you are using three items and all three are plugged into the inverter then you will be spreading/sharing those 150 across all devices. A smartphone and laptop would not be an issue but a laptop and something larger could pose potential issues.

Also, as mentioned above, you will only get so many watts via an inverter plugged into the cigarette lighter... I don't know what that is but you may want to find out that max and work back from that bottleneck.

Stay Safe,
MD

 

Good example with more specific numbers... And dang that thing is power hungry... LOL

 

A lot of laptops only need about 90 watts to charge. Any inverter will only draw as much power as it needs for a given load. So a larger inverter than needed would still only draw however many watts your laptop needs.
Look at the power brick for you laptop. It will say something like output 19 volts 4 amps or whatever, multiply the output volts times output watts and that will be your needed watts, plus inefficiencies in the conversions it's best to add 20%.
About 150 watts is the absolute maximum for any cigar lighter, yours being 120 watts. I have seen 300 watt inverters that came with both the cigar lighter and direct wire hook ups. If you got one of those and used the cigar plug on it, I think would be the best option as they would indeed run cooler as tucker pointed out.

 

You can run up to 400 watts in the 12V socket. Albeit, they're bigger squares. I've done it with laptop, printer, tv, and a heated aroma. With no issues. And i don't think all of them together have come close to pulling 300 watts.

I used to leave my printer on. But now i shut it off when not in use.

I don't have the tv or aroma anymore, Only the laptop and printer. This is what i've been using for the past 12 months.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-XI14-Power-Inverter/15140199

 

I recommend going on Amazon and looking for a 12 volt "car charger" power supply made for your specific laptop. More than likely one is available and it will save you a lot of grief.

 

You can buy inverters at Wal-Mart and they're ideal for lap tops phones and portable DVD players.laptops use very little juice to charge.someone mentioned a 400 watt that works too,you'll find that at any petro.