Jeff Snyder
EF5
I upgraded laptops a couple of chase seasons ago, and the problem has been around since then. I found a way around it, but I figured I'd ask about it here in light of the ongoing CB/USB port thread. I originally typed this up as a reply in that thread, but figured it was too much of a threadjack.
When I have my computer plugged into the vehicle's inverter, the touchpad is basically unusuable, as the mouse jumps around erratically; even not moving my finger, the mouse will jump around the screen many times per second. Before I got my DC-DC laptop power cable, I would need to unplug the laptop from the inverter/power cord in order to use the mouse/touchpad. Since only the trackpad is unusable when the comp is on AC power (via the inverter), I assume it's something to do with quality of the AC power (or the fact that the Dell power cable doesn't have a 3rd / ground prong). My old Dell laptop had a 3-prong AC power cable, and it had no problems in my vehicle, unlike the 2-prong AC power cable that came with my current laptop. The Duracell DC-to-DC adapter/power cable worked fine last year, but it stopped working a couple of months ago. FWIW, the Dell 2-prong AC cable also leads to occassional shocks when I touch the screws on the underside of the laptop. This secondary problem (shocks) has been reported on other sites, and it seems that a possible culprit (last I looked) was the 2-prong AC adapter.
Ideas to remedy the touchpad problem? I've thought about trying to ground the laptop to the vehicle, but it'd be a pain given that I take the laptop in and out of the vehicle so often (during chase season). This seems to be independent of any radio operation, and it only affects the touchpad. Of course, could be some RFI from on-board electronics (under the hood, in the dash, etc), but my strong suspicion lies with the inverter (since there are no problems when using the cig lighter / DC-DC adapter).
When I have my computer plugged into the vehicle's inverter, the touchpad is basically unusuable, as the mouse jumps around erratically; even not moving my finger, the mouse will jump around the screen many times per second. Before I got my DC-DC laptop power cable, I would need to unplug the laptop from the inverter/power cord in order to use the mouse/touchpad. Since only the trackpad is unusable when the comp is on AC power (via the inverter), I assume it's something to do with quality of the AC power (or the fact that the Dell power cable doesn't have a 3rd / ground prong). My old Dell laptop had a 3-prong AC power cable, and it had no problems in my vehicle, unlike the 2-prong AC power cable that came with my current laptop. The Duracell DC-to-DC adapter/power cable worked fine last year, but it stopped working a couple of months ago. FWIW, the Dell 2-prong AC cable also leads to occassional shocks when I touch the screws on the underside of the laptop. This secondary problem (shocks) has been reported on other sites, and it seems that a possible culprit (last I looked) was the 2-prong AC adapter.
Ideas to remedy the touchpad problem? I've thought about trying to ground the laptop to the vehicle, but it'd be a pain given that I take the laptop in and out of the vehicle so often (during chase season). This seems to be independent of any radio operation, and it only affects the touchpad. Of course, could be some RFI from on-board electronics (under the hood, in the dash, etc), but my strong suspicion lies with the inverter (since there are no problems when using the cig lighter / DC-DC adapter).
Last edited by a moderator: