Date:         Sat, 3 Mar 2007 09:09:58 -0800
Reply-To:     Mark Drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: 12-volt LCD monitors for DVD?
Comments: To: Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <45E9A623.1010402@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed

I have a 12 volt 17" LCD monitor I bought to use on the road. The
sticker on the back says 12 volts, 4.16 amps so it would run much longer
than yours on the same battery. It is not a wide screen. It cost about
$140 new, purchased locally.

I have not used it on the road yet. It came with an ac/dc adapter that I
use with it in the house. The same outlet has wide screen models at
similar prices but none I saw that used 12 volts.

Mark

Michael Elliott wrote:

> Thanks, Dennis. I use my laptop for photography and treat it gingerly
> after having had it break twice while in the field. It stays stowed
> unless I need it. Our Philips standalone portable DVD player is less
> dear, so if it breaks it won't break my heart at the same time. Plus,
> we're looking for a standalone monitor we can place above the poptop
> latch when the top is up.
>
> I also noticed that my laptop draws about 50% more current from the
> battery than the DVD player. I have no idea what 12-v LCDs wants,
> powerwise . . . hmm, let's look at the sticker on my home ViewSonic
> VP720b monitor: 1.2A @ 120VAC. That's 1.2 X 120V = 144 watts.
>
> Using the handy-dandy online Battery Demand Calculator at
> http://www.altavistaaudio.com/Westy/Vanagon/battcalc.html we find that
> with an 80% efficient inverter, a 2-hour movie will require 32
> Ampere-hours from a battery. If inverter inefficiency is removed from
> the setup by finding a 12V monitor with similar power requirements, the
> 24Ah would be needed for the same film.
>
> I reckon we'd pull out the big monitor only if we could be assured of
> adequate charging the next day.
>
> --
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>