Greetings:

I'll be going on the road in a couple of months on a motorcycle,
traveilling with a two-year-old Powerbook. I'll be on the road for 6
months or so, and will be mostly camping. I guess there are plugin
chargers that plug into car cigarette lighters. I have a cigarette
ligher outlet on my motorcyle, which I use as a power outlet for
various things, but I won't be able to travel with the laptop plugged
into it while I'm moving. When I'm not moving, a motorcycle battery is
a small and limited thing, not too many amp-hours there, so I'm worried
about keeping my laptop charged.

I suppose that some camping places will have power outlets, which will
be fine. However, I will appreciate any other ideas. I"m willing to buy
an extra battery, if I have to, and swap them now and then.

Thanks for ideas.

Paul Harris

Paul Harris wrote:
I do a lot of garage sales on a motorcycle. I've tried putting stuff
in a box on the back, tied to the seat, etc. I've experimentally
determined that the vibrations of a motorcycle beat the hell out of
electronic equipment. I've had screws fall out after only a few hours.
Only reasonable way I've found to carry sensitive stuff is in a pack on
my back. Good battery don't help much in a dead laptop.
YMMV,
mike

A few options, if you PowerBook accepts a second battery in the bay
then use this, if not carry a spare battery anyway.

Also there are external battery packs with longer running times and fit
a whole host of laptops. Known as universal laptop batteries.

Check these links out:
http://www.computerbatteries.co.uk/gb3/b/ubp0767b.html
http://www.computerbatteries.co.uk/gb3/b/ubp0766b.html

If you are going to be in the road, then I would suggest investing in a
Car Adapter. I understand your problem with motorcycle batteries, but
I am sure you can find helpful motorists who wont mind you recharging
your batteries. Meet new people, recharge your batteries, job well
done.

A very important note, set the power optimisation settings to max and
follow the tips in the following links:
http://www.batfaq.com/faqtips.html

Get rid of all the unnecessary programs that may run in the background.
This really helps in conserving CPU usage.

Hope this has been helpful. Have a safe journey.......

Battery Wizard
http://www.ComputerBatteries.co.uk

On 2006-02-22 01:19:53 -0800, mike <spamme0@netscape.net> said:


Hi Mike:

Maybe Powerbooks are better made than what you've been selling at
garage sales. Or maybe you're riding a Harley, or something with a
similar type agricultural engine that will vibrate your teeth out.

I've travelled thousands of km with my Powerbook in a padded case in
the topbox, on a Kawasaki Voyager, which is pretty vibration-free, with
zero problems.

I'll be towing a trailer in the trip that is planned, and the laptop
will be in the trailer.

Regards,

Paul Harris

On 2006-02-22 01:42:10 -0800, "answers@ComputerBatteries.co.uk"
<answers@computerbatteries.co.uk> said:
Thanks for your helpful posting. I'll follow some of the links you've
provided, and will continue to search the web for suitable products.

Regards,

PH

If you have room in the trailer you could get one of those mobile
auto-jumper/accessory pacs that come with DC lighter-type outlets, some with
AC inverters (and other options you might want on the road such as emergency
light, radio, bike jump start, etc.) They don't leak, hold a good charge,
etc. etc. I use mine for camping, fishing, even run a winch with it and it's
three years old. Charges in a few hours using any extension cord at a
rest-stop.

"Paul Harris" <p.harris@wordworks.ca> wrote in message
news:5cb8ad54758dd5d13d9581c2982a093b@grapevine.is landnet.com...

On 2006-02-23 20:00:40 -0800, "Phluge" <phluge1@yafarthoo.com> said:


Thanks. I'd forgotten about those devices. Probably a good idea, and I
could probably charge my laptop battery several times over without
re-chargin the major device.

PH