What can I use seem a inverter 600 watt but ad says not suitable for laptops any users enlighten me
I run my laptop in the cab through a 150 watt inverter, so a 600 watt has to do it.
Sapper
I’ve used one of these for the last 4 or 5 years on several different laptops and it has worked faultlessly.
cgi.ebay.co.uk/150w-Soft-Start-1 … 19befc96fe
I can use it for several hours at a time and often leave it plugged in and the laptop connected all night if I have found an unsecured Wi-Fi connection and I am downloading stuff. 150 watts is more than enough for a laptop.
The inverter you are looking at is probably a modified-sine wave one and/or doesn’t have a very stable output voltage and some laptops can be fussy about running on that type of inverter.
i use a 350 watt continious power, 500 watt max power inverter, runs laptop perfectly on the 12v socket
just bought a 300watt 12v from maplin plugged it intoo daf cig lighter then applied laptop no power went through too laptop and alarm on inverter straight on, so tried the usb socket on it too charge my iphone again no power but alarm straight on 
Had same fault, good chance your cig lighter is 24v which inverter won’t like, i bought a 24v - 12v dropper for £17 at Wetherby Services, all worked fine after that
Alternatively, if you goto most truck shops or services they’d probably have an 24v inverter for sale there, all in one package.
Truck King on Ebay and some other truck shops on ebay could probably help you too 
I used one of these for quiet a while untill I got my ipad.
cheap too.
You can buy 12v universal power supplies for 99% of laptops at loads of places I spent £28 for a medium quality one in Maplins 18 months ago. If you dont have a 12v supply in your truck a cheap dropper will do it.
Its possible that your inverter does not supply a smooth 240 volt supply without spikes, so when you compare the value of your laptop to the cost of a specially made power supply, the few extra quid should win out every time.
topmixer11:
just bought a 300watt 12v from maplin plugged it intoo daf cig lighter then applied laptop no power went through too laptop and alarm on inverter straight on, so tried the usb socket on it too charge my iphone again no power but alarm straight on
The 12v cigarette lighter socket in the Daf is rated at 5 amps. Amps = Wattage/Volts so 300 watts/12 volts = 25 amps and this could be the problem as the inverter may draw more power on start up and exceed the 5 amp rating of the socket. Is it a soft start inverter as they are usually a better option?
If you just got it for a laptop then 150 watts would have been more than adequate, it will tell you on the power brick for your laptop the watts it needs, usually a maximum of around 90. Even a 150 watt 12 volt inverter may draw more than the cigarette socket can handle, 12.5 amps. I use a 150 watt, 24 volt inverter in a Daf 105XF at the moment and that works no problem as the 24 volt socket is rated at 15 amps and the inverter will draw at most 6.25 amps (150 watts/24 volts). It’s also soft start model which helps. I’ve used that inverter in Daf’s Scania’s and Volvo’s with no problem.
Soft start invertors are no good for dual voltage stuff like laptop chargers - they start at 0 volts and work up to 240 - once they reach 110v the laptop charger thinks its on 110v and switches internally - then the voltage goes up to 240 - so the charger cuts out - lol unless you plug in a light bulb first to get it to 240 it won’t work
As for the maplins charger going to warning - it sounds knackered - take it back matey
cheers
Steve
gm:
Soft start invertors are no good for dual voltage stuff like laptop chargers - they start at 0 volts and work up to 240 - once they reach 110v the laptop charger thinks its on 110v and switches internally - then the voltage goes up to 240 - so the charger cuts out - lol unless you plug in a light bulb first to get it to 240 it won’t work
I’ve used my soft start inverter with 5 or 6 different laptops over the last few years and never had that problem, they all charge fully. You just have to use the inverter properly by switching it on first and leaving it a second or two before switching on the appliance connected to it.
The soft start circuit in an inverter limits the peak current on start up, applying it slowly and smoothly, and current is amps not volts. A 240v inverter is going to put out 240v regardless of whether it is soft start or not. If you had trouble with a laptop charging via an inverter it was probably due to the type of sine wave as some laptops, especially some Toshiba and Sony ones, are fussy about running on modified sine wave inverters and work better on pure sine wave ones, which output the power in a smoother form more closely resembling domestic power.
gm:
As for the maplins charger going to warning - it sounds knackered - take it back matey
I don’t think it’s knackered, I think it’s more to do with the fact it is drawing up to 5 times the current the socket can handle, hence the alarm going off.