Last winter I forgot my solar panel when we went on our usual snowbird
extended trip to the desert SW...I was running my Dell Inspiron solely off
it's 12volt adapter plug and my auxiliary battery, a vanagon standard
starting battery in size and amp hours.  I get a Wi-Fi signal at the nearby
town library parking area, about a 10 mile drive from our campsite.  So,
about 30minutes of driving time....that was often not quite enough to keep
my single laptop going, in conjunction with my Sirrius radio news gathering
in the early morning hours...It seems much more efficient to use a 12v
adapter plug than the inverter I have used in other years, however.

  I think the little 12" x 24" solar panel that I forgot, that was the
difference between just enough power and not quite enough.  If I didn't take
a longer drive for a few days and kept my radio and laptop use
consistent..the Aux batt was not quite up to the task,  always..
  Don Hanson

On Mon, Aug 1, 2011 at 8:05 AM, Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@gmail.com
> wrote:

> Mrs Squirrel and I have three laptops between us. One little Acer
> "netbook," a no-name laptop, and an older Dell. None draw more than 2.5
> amperes from the battery, whether using a fleabay 12V DC power supply or
> when using their AC adapters plugged into the inverter, regardless of
> whether their batteries are depleted or fully-charged.
>
> The little netbook is the least power-hungry of them, which is reflected
> in its six-hour battery life and lack of impressive specs.
>
> --
> RJS
>
> On 08/01/2011 06:40 AM, David Beierl wrote:
>
>> At 03:25 AM 8/1/2011, Daniel Rotblatt wrote:
>>
>>> You're right, computers can take 60-100 watts charging
>>> power. That's about .6-1 amp/computer - not a heck of a lot. Even
>>> so, I never expected to have to run the
>>>
>>
>> Which is about six to ten amps per computer coming from the battery...
>>
>> Yours,
>> David
>>
>