Lost your laptop’s charger? 4 Different Ways power it up without a charger!

Imagine you’re headed out of town for a weekend getaway. Maybe you’re going to a friend’s destination wedding or a family trip to the beach, or perhaps it’s camping with your friends.

You decide to bring your laptop with you because it’ll be nice to stream movies, get some work done, or play a PC game in your downtime. A laptop can help you feel at home when you’re away from home.

Oops! When you’re unpacking in your hotel room, you realize that you’ve forgotten to pack your laptop charger (or worse yet, you accidentally leave it in the airport power outlet). Your laptop only has a 10% charge left, so it looks like you’re going to have to do without it on this trip. That essential email to the boss will have to wait.

A universal adapter is perhaps the most common solution to your battery woes. These universal chargers come with multiple tips so it’s likely you’ll find one that will fit in your laptop’s charging port.

You can even buy individual tips separately. Some universal adapters even have the ability to charge your laptop from a car or from other 12V DC power points.

When plugged in, the adapter will not only power the laptop but charge it as well.

But wait! It doesn’t have to be that way. Believe it or not, you can actually charge your laptop without a standard laptop charger. It’s really quite easy to do, and you should learn how to do it if you’re a fellow 21st-century dweller who feels compelled to take your laptop with you anytime you hit the road.

Here are not 1, not 2, but 4 different ways to charge your laptop when your laptop charger is MIA.

If you are the kind of traveler who spend most of the time on the road than in the office, then you can use the car battery to charge your laptop.

Wiring the laptop directly to the battery can be tricky since most modern laptops have battery voltages ranging from 8V and above, while most car batteries are rated at 12V.

Even so, there are ways that you can ‘hotwire’ a laptop to a car battery even if the voltage is less than 12V. However, it’s important to be cautious as you could wind up with a dead car battery or damage the laptop in the process.

The most efficient way to adapt the power from a car battery to power or charge a laptop is by use of an inverter. Various inverters exist and are capable of generating AC current from a DC source with output power ranging from 12-24V.

When you have the inverter, you can certainly use your car’s cigarette lighter to charge your laptop. To do so, follow these 3 simple steps:

• Step 1: Plug the inverter right into your car’s cigarette lighter socket.

• Step 2: Now plug the laptop’s AC adapter into the inverter.

• Step 3: Connect the AC adapter to the laptop.

Most external laptop chargers have indicator lights that flash when the battery is charging, then remain steady when the battery is fully charged.

Note that external laptop chargers are usually brand-specific, so choose one that matches your laptop’s specs.

Wiring the laptop directly to the battery can be tricky since most modern laptops have battery voltages ranging from 8V and above, while most car batteries are rated at 12V.

Even so, there are ways that you can ‘hotwire’ a laptop to a car battery even if the voltage is less than 12V. However, it’s important to be cautious as you could wind up with a dead car battery or damage the laptop in the process.

The most efficient way to adapt the power from a car battery to power or charge a laptop is by use of an inverter. Various inverters exist and are capable of generating AC current from a DC source with output power ranging from 12-24V.

A car has electricity, right? And whether you are on a road trip in your own vehicle, or renting a car when your airplane lands, you can take advantage of the power it produces. It’s fairly straightforward to use it to charge your laptop. You’re going to need two things, though:

· AC Adapter (USB Type A connector on one end USB-C connector on the other end). This USB Type A to USB-C adapter is perfect for use in a vehicle

· USB car charger

It’s easy as one, two, three. To charge your laptop in a car:

· Turn on your engine

· Plug the car charger into your vehicle’s charging port (you might not even need a car charger since many newer vehicles have USB ports you can plug into)

· Plug the USB-C connector into your laptop

Please Note: Never leave your laptop unsupervised in a vehicle and in clear view. That could make it more vulnerable to theft or damage from overheating.

Use an external laptop battery charger:

An external laptop battery charger is a standalone device that doesn’t plug into your laptop. Instead, you remove the battery of your laptop, mount it on the charger, and then plug the charger into an electrical outlet.

Most external laptop chargers have indicator lights that flash when the battery is charging, then remain steady when the battery is fully charged.

Note that external laptop chargers are usually brand-specific, so choose one that matches your laptop’s specs.