Just finished up a one way road trip from Seattle to LA, 1150 miles. Average MPG 28, Average MPH 65. Loaded up the laptop with DVD's for the kids sitting in back and they were good to go for another 2000 miles. I still can't get over this big V6, heavy car getting such good mileage. Plus, as a bonus, my ass never got sore, even after 13 hours straight with only stops for gas every 400 miles.

What a nice ride! now I don't get to see my TL for three weeks while my wife and kids roll around southern cali without me....

Everyone down in the West Covina and Laguna Beach area keep your eyes peeled for a Redondo Red with Washington plates rollin' on OEM 18's!!!! Probably the only one down there!

 

Did you run your laptop the whole way? If so, how did you get power supply to the laptop. I have been trying to do that. Since my car is on lease, I cannot put one of those AV Electronics DVD/Tv Tuner on my car. If not, thanks for getting my hopes up. :P

Glad the TL was nice to you. Have fun. I am planning a road trip with my friends soon.

 

my friend had a 2001 or so gateway laptop that he always took on road trips to play music(he had the play/next/stop buttons on the outside of his laptop for easy access) and watch movies. it was pretty convienet on long trips.

he bought the power adaptor direct from gateway when he bought his laptop and it plugged into the 9v outlet on his jeep grand cherokee, which is the same size as a cigarette lighter plug if i remember correctly.

so check your laptop manufacturer if they make such an adapter, i dunno if an universal power adapter would work on all laptops?

anyone know the answer? i would like to know as well as i am buying a laptop and a TL in august. does the TL have a power outlet? and if not can the cigarette lighter(assuming tl has one) work for a laptop?

thanks in advance

 

You can buy a voltage inverter that steps up and converts the 12V DV to 120V AC. They're rated by wattage, so you can get ones that handle lower wattages (suitable for radios, laptops, etc), or higher wattages for refrigerators, power tools, etc. The lower power ones start at around $50. You plug the inverter into your cig lighter or power plug, and plug your standard laptop power supply into the 120V outlet in the inverter. The TL has two power outlets; one behind a cover under the audio system, the other in the console.

I keep one in my Dart to allow me to power a boom-box that I keep on the front seat. The car doesn't have a stereo (just the AM "Music Master" radio). I think mine is rated for 500 watts.

Check the current draw of your equipment before buying an inverter. They're available at Radio Shack among many other places. Also make sure that the combined draw of your inverter and any other stuff on the circuit with the car's power source does not exceed the fuse rating for that circuit.

Good luck!

 

I have a Dell. I tried to order it from Dell last minute, but they weren't able to ship it out for like four days, but on the site it gave me the part number (it is made by Targus). I went to my favorite electronics website (ebuyer.com) and bought it there for less., and they were able to get it to me on time. It is just a standard 12volt power supply, the trick is finding the one that has the right fitting for your model of dell

 

get one of the power inverters, they are infinately useful. Get around 100 or 200 watts. Then you can run your laptop, someone's cell phone charger if they just happened to only bring their a/c powered one on a trip. I did christmas lights in the back dash one time.

Just very handy to have in the car. Think how many times you could have used an A/C socket.

Then you don't have to buy anything extra for the laptop, just use it's regular brick.