12V Power Supplies

[GrafSpee]

Sick of listening to my CDs, I've decided to build a PC for my car and put all of my MP3s on it.

I guess the first real problem that I have (besides space), is that I need some sort of power supply that runs at 12VDC instead of 120 VAC. If i were to convert the 12V to 120V, not only would I lose some power, but it would bring noise into the system. Not good.

The only reasonable course of action for me then is to find a 12V power source. I can't find one. I found a company (Arise), that sells them but it seems that they havent been around for a couple of years.

Is anyone familiar with a company that makes 12VDC power supplies?

 

[Mulga]

Apart from the power supply I can foresee other problems running a desktop PC in a vehicle, principally vibration and shock which may dislodge components or even damage the HDD. There are special cases available, mainly intended for marine use, which overcome this, they also cater for 12v power. Unfortunateky I have no idea where to source one but you might try a marine electronics supplier. You could also consider a laptop or portable MP3 player. All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

 

[GrafSpee]

Hmm...do labtop HDDs run at the same voltage as desktops? I plan on using fiberglass as a case (I have a bunch of spare stuff lying around) - so the case should fit the contours of my car quite nicely.

Someone said to me that if you mount a HDD on its side, the risks of it failing are fewer.

I like this idea, because it's custom and cheap. (I only have to pay for a power source and possibly another HDD).

Anyone else know where to find a 12v input PS?

 

[Guest_imported]

A friend of mine uses an invertor to power his laptop, and it works a treat. The bumpf with his computer said the DC input would supposedly accept anything from 11.5v to 18v DC, but he had difficulties using a DC supply direct from the car battery even when it was suppressed and smoothed.

Today's modern cars have pretty smooth suspension, so I'd have thought that provided you weren't running a tank or using solid tyres a conventional PC ought to be ok


ROGER - GØAOZ.

 

[edfair]

Use an inverter that plugs into the lighter. Works a charm. There are inefficiences in the conversion but no big deal.
Using one , I did an ultimate yuppie trick, networked 2 laptops in the car during a long trip. Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
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