Car power adapters?

[DeltaDon]

I have a stack of NOS brick type power adapters that have a cigarette adapter input (12-24VDC) and output 19VDC @2.34 amps through a 2.5mm jack. Not AC to DC, but DC to DC! I've been storing them for a decade or more. Is there any use for one of these still? Should I dig them out and put a few in the for sale section?

 

[NeXT]

19v sounds like ThinkPad voltages. HP liked to also use 19v but 3.42A.

 

[Chuck(G)]

I think the HP ePC used those also. I'd have to check the ratings on my brick for that. Very popular among the RV crowd as it didn't suck a lot of juice, but gave you a small PIII 800 Mhz cpu with built-in CD-ROM drive--but no floppy.

 

[wrljet]

Dell also used 19V.

 

[alank2]

They are probably a lot more efficient than using a 12 VDC to 120 VAC and then 120 VAC to 19 VDC...

 

[GiGaBiTe]

Laptops for the past 15-18 years have used in the range of 18.5-21v. Quite a few adapters are common between vendors because they use the same PSU OEM, it's just a matter of having the right barrel connector. Dell, HP, Toshiba, Acer, Gateway and sometimes Lenovo all tended to use just a couple of different barrel sizes. Sony was the odd man out, they use a weird non-standard barrel size with a center pin and are a pain to get an adapter for. Lenovo and IBM used that weird square connector for awhile.

The power supplies the OP has aren't terribly useful on modern laptops, maxing out at just under 45W. They could probably be used to charge laptops while they're off, but not while they're running. They probably don't have a 1 wire sense circuit, so it could be hazardous if a laptop tries to draw more than the adapter can supply.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Checked my HP ePC--19V 3160 ma. Recall that a laptop also has to power a display, so naturally, it's going to draw more power.