I can measure the true RMS, but not the effective phase of the 120 volt AC line current with my Fluke 8060A DVM.
For calibration and comparison, a compact fluorescent rated 120V 14W .200A was measured after it had completely warmed up and it draws 200 mA, amazingly. The power can be considerably less than the product of volts times amps might indicate, 120x.2=24W maximum which would occur only if all the current was in phase with the voltage sine wave. Line voltage times RMS current is an upper limit on power drawn by the combination of power adapter and powerbook.
Incidentally this particular CFL is supposed to produce the equivalent light of a conventional 60W bulb, which I also measured and which draws 492mA (volts times amps 120x.492=59 and this is likely also the approximate watts, since the filament is almost but not exactly resistive, because it is heating and cooling each cycle).
True RMS 120V AC line current consumed by my PB1400 with M4896 adaptor, Proxim WiFi PC card and Sonnet G3/333 Mhz, 64MB mem, empty internal floppy drive: charging: 500mA, accessing Internet: 225mA, idle, fully charged battery, WiFi card inserted: 180mA
We can deduce the following upper limits on my Powerbook plus 45 watt M4896 adaptor total power watts: charging: 60W, accessing: 27W, idle: 22W.
Note that the charging measured above was not necessarily at the highest possible rate since the battery was nearly charged and I do not know the rate of charge for a really discharged battery, and it's too late tonight for me to go get one to try.
So: usable Internet performance at 27W or less.
_________________
SE30, PB1400, PMG3DT, PMG4
For calibration and comparison, a compact fluorescent rated 120V 14W .200A was measured after it had completely warmed up and it draws 200 mA, amazingly. The power can be considerably less than the product of volts times amps might indicate, 120x.2=24W maximum which would occur only if all the current was in phase with the voltage sine wave. Line voltage times RMS current is an upper limit on power drawn by the combination of power adapter and powerbook.
Incidentally this particular CFL is supposed to produce the equivalent light of a conventional 60W bulb, which I also measured and which draws 492mA (volts times amps 120x.492=59 and this is likely also the approximate watts, since the filament is almost but not exactly resistive, because it is heating and cooling each cycle).
True RMS 120V AC line current consumed by my PB1400 with M4896 adaptor, Proxim WiFi PC card and Sonnet G3/333 Mhz, 64MB mem, empty internal floppy drive: charging: 500mA, accessing Internet: 225mA, idle, fully charged battery, WiFi card inserted: 180mA
We can deduce the following upper limits on my Powerbook plus 45 watt M4896 adaptor total power watts: charging: 60W, accessing: 27W, idle: 22W.
Note that the charging measured above was not necessarily at the highest possible rate since the battery was nearly charged and I do not know the rate of charge for a really discharged battery, and it's too late tonight for me to go get one to try.
So: usable Internet performance at 27W or less.
_________________
SE30, PB1400, PMG3DT, PMG4