A 12 Volt Inverter will allow you have mains power from your car or any 12 volt DC source from which you can simply plug in normal devices.

Charge your Ipod or mobile phone without the special car adapter.

The use of inverters is nothing new, all the device does is take DC current and turn it into AC current, the type that powers most electrical devices in your home.

Inverters are used widely in marine situations and untill recent years have been an expensive device.

Now inverers have become so inexpensive (starting from US$25), that it’s become an attractive gadget to have in ones arsenal because, as all gadget collectors will tell you….

You just never know when you might need to use it…

The average inverter will allow you to run a laptop computer for days from a 12 volt car battery.

In my business the service vehicle that calls upon the customer is equipped with a laptop, and a regular printer all run off an 800 Watt inverter. When the customers job has been done, we print out the invoice on the site for the customer.

(For the critics: 2.5 amps from a 35-40 ampere hours battery will give you 8 - 10 hours use. A lap top will use about 30 Watts, so you can run from a small 150W - 300W inverter…you do the rest of the math…) Learn more here

If you have a 12V 300 W inverter, you can confidently run a laptop, and charge a mobile phone (through a regular multi-point). Inverters this small will sometime come with a cigarrette charger adapter, allowing you to simply plug it in as opposed to connecting clips to your car battery.

If out camping for example and using this idea it is a good idea to also have a battery starter pack. This allows you to jump the car if battery runs flat, or if it has a cigarette charger adapter as mine does,you can simply plug the inverter straight into the jumper pack

If you want to take this idea to the geek extreme, you could decide to do away with mains power in your home completely for your computer needs.

An array of a few old car batteries (easily hidden under the house - don’t tell the wife..), a few solar panels for the roof, and a 1000W - 3000W inverter.

You would confidently have enough power for computers, printers ADSL modems for days or indefinately.

This is essentially the system used for businesses without generators to allow the business to continue running in the event of mains power failure.