Animagix

Ok, I'm on a camping trip and the only power source I have is my RDX with a wattage converter. I know I could charge/use my macbook while the car is on and wouldn't have a problem (except of course, till gas runs out) but my question is this, How long could the car battery run a laptop for without turning the car on?

thanks,

sasair

No way to tell for sure, plus I'm sure it would be different for each battery and also depends on the power of your inverter. With the problems of weak or dead batteries in the RDX, I wouldn't do it for very long for fear that I might not be able to start my vehicle afterwards, especially on a camping trip.....

chyllintsx

if ur car isnt on, the laptop wont charge... and if u have ur car on accessory, the car will die FAST

mihooper

Can you find a DC outlet that is powered when the key is off? If so, you could be OK. I haven't measured the MacBook, but the Mac mini only consumes about 15 watts while idle and about 30 watts when playing a CD/DVD (I would assume your MacBook would be about the same). If your MacBook battery is fully charged and you are using an efficient DC-DC converter (ie laptop adapter) while playing your laptop, you should be able to run your laptop for a couple of hours on its battery before the adapter needs juice from your RDX battery for recharging. My guess would be that you could easily get 4+ hours from your combo laptop+RDX battery before being worried about the RDX battery not being able to start your car.

rdxsteverino

With the huge current handling capacity of a car battery, I'd be surprised if you exhausted its charge with the 15-30W required for a Macbook. Think about leaving the dome light on in your car - roughly equivalent in power. That normally doesn't drain your battery even when left on overnight. I'm guessing you could run the Macbook for a full day.