I just got a used THINKPAD 600X laptop with a 10.8V battery and its
IBM AC adapter rated at 16V.  Can I safely connect it to my car's
electrical system (with the correct plug and polarity) as the battery
and charging voltages always stay within this range?

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Clarification of Question by alb-ga on 10 Sep 2004 12:42 PDT

Thanks for the comment! I have the converter already but would prefer
not to have to carry a DC-to-AC converter and an AC-to-DC converter in
the car unless there is a good reason.  Then I could leave the 120V AC
converter at home where I use it most of the time.  Any other
answer/comment/ideas?

No, go to Radio Shack and get a 12V to 120AC converter.

alb-ga:

Just a comment for what it is worth:

Car outlet voltages can jump quite a bit during load dumping
(headlights on/off etc).  When I wanted to use a laptop in the car, I
consulted with several power supply engineers and they suggested the
solution you already have (and also suggested by  just4fun2-ga )
because of that reason.  [One of the engineers did say the voltage on
the battery terminals is steady at 12V, but not the other "outlets"
for voltage and still recommended the same solution as the others.] 
So that's what I used and never had problems.  There are several
thoughts expressed in the groups.google.com thread on this subject -
powering laptop PC from car - or similar phrase.  The following one
(among others) may be of interest though it goes off on tangents
occasionally:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=1c3f9d3d.0203201332.31b232cb%40posting.google.com&rnum=5&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dpowering%2520a%2520laptop%2520PC%2520from%2520car%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DN%26tab%3Dwg


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I am not an official GA researcher.