Hello,

is there a (solid, well-made) car adapter available, which transforms the 12V from the car battery into something the TR5 accepts?

please none of the very cheap things which do unsecured transformation (those often also say “only use when car is turned off”), the power levels in a car can get some really serious spikes that may toast our beloved Sony TR..

Thanks,
Julien

You can pick up a D/C to A/C converter at Radioshack or similar stores. Basically you get an A/C outlet that you can plug almost anything in. If your looking for a direct solution, just plug Vaio into Cig. lighter, I have no idea, sorry.

Erik

Thanks, I already thought about the outlet solution but would be more happier with a direct solution.

I’ll just go ask at my VAIO Competence Center. If they have something, I’ll tell you, maybe someone else here is interested as well.

You could use the iGo universal adapter which can be used on planes, in cars and with regular AC outlets.

There is also a one from Kensington which had retractable cords so that would be a better solution than the iGo one.

However, I dont know if either of these would be available in Germany.

D/C->A/C uses an “inverter”.

D/C->A/C uses an “inverter”.

Yeah, your right, sorry.

Erik

Small, light, works well.

Kensington 33051 Universal Air/Car notebook adapter

that’s what i use. igo juice70

I’d go with the juice too. Great investment :D

Thanks for all the suggestions, but the A/C outlet converters you all recommend won’t fit for me anyway, since in Germany we have 220V/50Hz Outlets…

Finally, I just don’t like the fact that the 12V DC from the car get converted to 220V AC just to get converted back to a few Volt DV. It’s a huge loss and a lot of additional cabling.

Note that even if the TR5 would accept 12V DC (does it?) you always need a good gadget between your notebook and your car, because the 12V power source from a car is by no means at all a clear power source and can literally toast your TR!

There are a lot of converters out there which are nothing more but crap. Most of them (hopefully) have written “only use while car not running” or something similar on them, which basically says it all. So please be careful…

I agree; I don’t use car adapters any more.  There is a reason that most laptop manufacturers don’t produce these and leave them for the aftermarket.

I had nothing but problems with my hp after using my 12v adapter a lot… I dont use ‘em any more.  I would if I needed to but i would not start the vehicle with it plugged in… running ok, off ok, but not while it is starting or turning it off for that matter.  It is the spike or lack of voltage which creates the risk.  obviously a charged batter at rest is more secure than a running car.  If the car is running it is better to only be charging the laptop and not actually have it running/standby/hibernate…. just my two bits…

Consider the number of electronic devices happily charging or operating in contemporary automobiles (not to mention the in-car electronics); cell phones, PDAs, DVD players… and notebooks. If there were problems, they’d be more than anecdotal.

Contemporary power management is pretty sophisticated and is integrated on a chip or two. A properly rated device from a quality maker will work just fine. If you insist on a $15 eBay special, you’ll get what you pay for.

iGo, Kensington and a few other makers have reputations to uphold. They can’t afford to kill mobile devices.

BTW, I picked the Kensington over the iGo because it’s smaller and lighter. It has short cables and takes up a fraction of the space. The kensington travels with my TR, the AC adapter stays home or gets packed in a suitcase.