12 Oct
2000
12 Oct
'00
3:43 a.m.
At 07:30 PM 10/10/00 -0700, Shawn T. Rutledge wrote:
>Because it's grossly inefficient. Why convert from 12V to 120V AC and
>then back to 12V, 5V, etc... they design some really efficient DC-DC
>converters for laptops (to convert battery voltage to 5V) so it should
>be possible (cheaply) for desktops also.
The worst problem about running power directly from the car's supply is
that it's not a clean, steady stream of juice. Computers run best on clean
power, and a car's power is anything but. Hence, the deal of being grossly
inefficient in changing 12V-->120V-->12/5V is true, but if you're using an
inverter + UPS or some such, you get the benefit of the cleaning up of that
power supply.
Now, granted, with all my electronics around my apartment (25-30 computers
+ audio + phone), no doubt my power is less than clean, not to say anything
about transmission rates for my ethernet or the cancer I'm getting from the
EMF radiation. :)
Tarsi
210