RS> I believe that you can use an inverter for short periods.  It 
RS> would be better to use 12 volt devices, though. I can think of 
RS> very few items that are not available in a 12 volt version.
RJT>Computer hardware...    
RS>  My computer power supply puts out 5 volts and 12 volts. 
Yeah,  but to get a power supply that's designed to take a nominal (!) 12 
volt input and supply proper regulated power to the computer is the tricky 
part...
I've seen them,  along with UPS type power supplies,  but they're not cheap. 
At least they weren't the last time I looked.   And then there's the 
monitor...
RS> Inverters waste some energy.
RJT>Efficiencies for them is typically 90% and up,  unless you _need_ a
RJT>sinewave for some reason,  so it doesn't amount to all that much.
RS> I believe that the larger ones waste more than the smaller ones 
RS> do.
RJT>What are you basing this on?  I don't recall having heard anything
RJT>to this effect before.
RS> My experiences with switching power supplies have been, that 
RS> the larger the supply, the higher the idle current. I assume 
RS> that inverters are similar. I could be wrong, though.
Possibly,  I'm not too sure about this one either.  Anyone else out there 
know? 
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