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ibook for transcontinental flight

I

Invizzible

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 9, 2003
223
1
I'm flying from Los Angeles to Norway in June, and am considering buying an ibook for the trip, to maintain my sanity on the long flight. I'm wondering about powering the ibook for that long (probably about 15 hours total flying time). Obviously, one battery won't do it, and extra batteries are expensive. The sales guy at Best Buy told me most planes now supply power to each seat via a small socket that you can plug a special adapter into (available at Best Buy, of course, for $130). I've flown before but never looked for such an outlet and never used one. My question is, do all major airlines have this feature [I'm flying Continental]? I'd hate to count on it, get on the plane with no spare batteries, and then find out when it's too late that there's no power supplied to my seat.
 
I would call the airline and ask if your plane will or not, when the time gets closer. Many of the newer planes do have these plugs, but many planes still in service do not. So it might pay to ask. Some airlines may not be able to tell you this info until you get there, but my brother flies Continental all the time and they are very helpful when he asks quesitons like this, so I would give them a call.
 
yeah, most flights ive been on have them on the planes, but not EVERY seat. the link Borg3of5 provided describes the avalibility of continental, wich seems about right, some random set up. the seats are usually marked with a little electric lightning bolt looking symbol by the seat number. im sure you can switch with someone if your seat does not have that.

the best thing for long flights though. . . id invest in a pair of bose noise canceling headphones. http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...6mL0BohHdQ25LwSAQB3VZIQSs/1.3.0.5.10.3.3.13.0 i used these on a flight to london once and i did not hear the flight attendent standing right next to me.
 
wPod said:
the best thing for long flights though. . . id invest in a pair of bose noise canceling headphones. http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...6mL0BohHdQ25LwSAQB3VZIQSs/1.3.0.5.10.3.3.13.0 i used these on a flight to london once and i did not hear the flight attendent standing right next to me.
Click to expand...


No highs, no lows, must be bose!!

I HIGHLY recommend that you DON'T get those bose headphones, or any bose product for that matter..

Read any one of these and you will see why.

http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html
http://liquidtheater.com/editorials/56
http://www.fiendation.com/300zx/bosefaq.htm

Popularity does not equal quality.. we all know this with winblows.


To get back on topic

http://www.kensington.com/html/3722.html

That thing is pretty kick ass, you can also get cell phone adaptors i think, so you can use it as pretty much a universal adaptor for everything.
 
CmdrLaForge said:
Is it possible to charge to iPod with this adaptor as well ? I am looking for a car adaptor to charge both iBook and iPod. Any idea ?

Thanks and Cheers
Click to expand...


just plug the ipod into the ibook, which would be plugged into the car.
 
From the Continental website:


[/QUOTE]Passengers may not charge batteries while aboard Continental aircraft. Please remove all rechargeable batteries when using the power port.
Is this true? do they really expect you to remove your battery while using the in-flight power system? Will most laptops even operate these days without a battery installed?

And regarding Bose, IMHO their speaker systems and nosie-cancelling headphones are in a different class. I don't care for Bose speaker systems myself but it's no reason to HIGHLY recommend that you don't buy or even consider some of their other products. Listen for yourself and decide, don't be swayed by Bose marketing or vehement anti-Bose rhetoric . I know a number of people who are very happy with the noise-cancelling phones.

frank
Click to expand...
 
wPod said:
the best thing for long flights though. . . id invest in a pair of bose noise canceling headphones. i used these on a flight to london once and i did not hear the flight attendent standing right next to me.
Click to expand...

Dude, we were laughing at you the whole flight. She was trying to tell you your fly was open. :D
 
Invizzible said:
I'm flying from Los Angeles to Norway in June, and am considering buying an ibook for the trip, to maintain my sanity on the long flight. I'm wondering about powering the ibook for that long (probably about 15 hours total flying time). Obviously, one battery won't do it, and extra batteries are expensive. The sales guy at Best Buy told me most planes now supply power to each seat via a small socket that you can plug a special adapter into (available at Best Buy, of course, for $130). I've flown before but never looked for such an outlet and never used one. My question is, do all major airlines have this feature [I'm flying Continental]? I'd hate to count on it, get on the plane with no spare batteries, and then find out when it's too late that there's no power supplied to my seat.
Click to expand...
you are buying an ibook just for the flight!!! heck...buy a plane that lets you charge ur ibook...simple :D
 
Invizzible said:
I'm flying from Los Angeles to Norway in June, and am considering buying an ibook for the trip, to maintain my sanity on the long flight. My question is, do all major airlines have this feature [I'm flying Continental]? .
Click to expand...

Flying Continental you'll need it. Worst inflight entertainment I've ever had to suffer through. Assume you're connecting in London? Then keep your fingers crossed that it's a codeshare flight with Virgin Atlantic, and even more crossed that it's their plane with the new entertainment system. I flew from SFO to London with it last year and didn't want the flight to end. 50 movies, lots of TV shows, interactive quizzes with the rest of the plane and you can send messages to the guy beating you. And all, totally on demand - start, pause, fast forward movies...
 
CmdrLaForge said:
Is it possible to charge to iPod with this adaptor as well ? I am looking for a car adaptor to charge both iBook and iPod. Any idea ?

Thanks and Cheers
Click to expand...

for cars, just get a $20 inverter. that can convert battery power (DC) into regular AC. much cheaper and versatile and guarranteed to work because you'll be just using the AC adapters you ordinarily use.

as for the flight, i once went from detroit to tokyo and that was more than 12 hours. i found that without internet, i kind of ran out of stuff to do on my PB. so between listening to music with my iPod and doing some stuff on PB, there was enough battery life in the PB to last me as is. plus you'd want to eat and sleep too, no?

edit: ok, sorry, $30. here's an example.
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.htm...674623-0232150?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B00006RK5I
 
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