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Yes I like an E-car for X-mas with the appropriate accessory: http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/generators/

Maybe a few do for short-term outages, but do you understand what is required to keep a generator running for more than a couple of hours?

BS! It was years ago but I used to work in construction and we frequently had generators running all day, and pumps running 24x7. Here's a Honda that "Operates 10 hours @ 50 load (6.6 gal.)". Of course that's a more expensive model so here's a cheap one, EB3000cKAG. It "Operates 9.3 hours @ 50% load (2.7 gal.)"

Falcon

Maybe a few do for short-term outages, but do you understand what is required to keep a generator running for more than a couple of hours?

BS! It was years ago but I used to work in construction and we frequently had generators running all day, and pumps running 24x7. Here's a Honda that "Operates 10 hours @ 50 load (6.6 gal.)". Of course that's a more expensive model so here's a cheap one, EB3000cKAG. It "Operates 9.3 hours @ 50% load (2.7 gal.)"

Falcon

I think I found what you're looking for.

He's not talking about a car inverter... he's talking about a generator which has an . Pure sine waves. the downside is that they don't come in terribly large sizes, but they are VERY efficient and reliable - and have excellent regulation. I use a 6500is a few times a year, and it rocks.

I live ~30 miles north of Houston, Texas, and we got pounded by Hurricane Ike. The worst part of the storm was the wind, with sustained speeds around 90-100 MPH and gusts around 110-120 MPH. The power was out in our neighborhood for at least 4 days. (I can't remember exactly how long, just that it felt like a long time) Fortunately, the outage didn't really affect us that much as we had a 2000 watt Honda EU2000iA generator. You might think that 2000 watts isn't enough power to be useful, but not so. It was enough to continuously run the refrigerator/freezer, enough to run the microwave, enough to continuously run several fans, and enough to continuously run all our computers. We didn't have to stock up on much gas as this line of generators has a great and indispensable feature which Honda calls "Eco-Throttle". Basically, the generator monitors the load put on it and and sets the engine speed accordingly. This means that most of the time the generator is running in a very low gas consumption state and is very quite -- we had it on our backyard patio and all you could hear was a low murmur. What's even better is that you can daisy-chain these generators for more power. They come in 1000-6500 watt versions, all with the Eco-Throttle feature. Other than having to string heavy-duty power cords throughout our house, we had no problems. I'd highly recommend one of these -- best bang for your buck.

jdb2

1. Walk on down to my local Tesla dealership and buy myself a nice new electric roadster
2. Drive my new electric roadster down to Home Depot, and buy myself a beefy new portable Honda generator and a couple of rolls of duct tape
3. Now I have the best of both worlds.... if I'm going on a trip of less than 200 miles, I leave the generator at home and just drive the car. If I need to go more than 200 miles, I duct tape the generator to the back of the car (or put the generator on a trailer and tow it, if you don't like duct tape), and plug the generator into the car's recharge port. Presto! A home-brewed hybrid that doesn't even (usually) have to pay the weight penalty of carrying two energy sources around.

And the real question is.... why doesn't some car company do essentially the above, except properly?

I agree with JoshJ, I usually equate natural disaster with terrible weather conditions. As you said "...rather than running a 8-10kw generator..." why not something MUCH smaller? http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/ModelDetail.asp ?ModelName=eu1000i Or Perhaps? http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/catalog/pr oduct_info.php?cPath=36_139_44_173&products_id=438 (I really hope these links work, I am new to this)

Location: A beach in Northern California, slightly south of San Fran.
Power Generation: This Honda Generator for reliability and gas efficiency, 20hrs of code at a time. (note: after viewing the power consumption of this solution, you may require a second generation unit or higher model number)
Computers: 2 Mac Mini's - one for compile runing Gentoo, the other dual boot Red Hat / Os X... Cluttering up your beach space is simply unacceptable.
Second Computer set: some low power-drain and Form Factored PIV for testing that 'old and busted' windows crud people occasionally run
Display: 2x The DLA-QX1g - Why do monitors (old and busted) when you can have the new hotness of a projection screen with 1365x1024 resolution. It's a no brainer. Remember to get a widescreen lens for the projector, and an active screen to go with as well - these things are going to need to produce a LOT of lumens to compete with the sun.
A 4 port KVM switch
Input: Microsoft Natural keyboard w/ mouse, wireless versions. Gonna have to be both, although you might want a trackball that works in midair.... MS is still pretty much the best at putting together an awesome and non-stress creating keyboard / mouse combo. Alternatively, you could combine keyboard and chair I guess. That would mean, with the screen and the KVS switching hotkeys, etc, you wouldn't NEED a desk, although you might want a second screen and projector for a computer to be used as a notepad hooked up to one of the keyboard inputs on the KVM but not the video. Note: Sand might get into your chair, I'd be down with a yoga mat or chaise lounge, and the wireless keyboard.

Since the dawn of the Automobile Revolution, automobile marques have been proactive in their approach to appeal to certain segments of society. By targeting these groups, automakers would find a much higher loyalty rate in an increasingly unloyal industry. Even today this tradition continues, with companies such as Toyota appealing to the youth market with its Scion brand, BMW and Mercedes appealing to the affluent market, Buick appealing to the understated senior market, and Subaru and Volvo appealing to the aging hippy market. One demographic spoken for by a large multinational automaker that often raises a bit of controversy, however, is the gay and lesbian market. It is within these confines that Honda finds its must staunch loyalists.

The connection stems much further than their not-so-subtle "H" logo. Since the inception of Honda by founder Kilimanjaro Honda in Tokyo, Japan in 1948, Honda has had a long line of successful industry firsts. Honda's first products imported to the United States were motorcycles capable of producing almost twice as much horsepower as their American brethren. Sold out of a small shop in San Francisco, their demographic was clear. From day one, Honda coined the term "Crotch Rocket" to target the gay and lesbian community. It wasn't long before Honda had made its first inroads in gaining market share in the vital west coast community.

While commercially successful, Honda didn't wish to fight a one-front war against Christians. In 1962, Honda started producing the HX100, their first entry into the area of gas powered lawn mowers. This allowed residents to show off their sexual preference to neighbors when not commuting. The new market, however, was something Honda was not experienced in, and proved to be initially unsuccessful. Honda faced several lawsuits alleging their lawnmowers oxidized almost instantly when mowing over damp grass.

It wasn't before long that founder Honda realized that the next battle would have to be fought in the ever-expanding industry of automobiles. In 1972, Honda began offering the United States its first car, the Honda Civic. While industry brass wanted to call it the "Civic Lesson," for the lesson it was trying to teach regarding the homosexual agenda, "Lesson" was eventually dropped from the title before release. Honda's experience in the lawn equipment market proved beneficial in their foray into automobiles, as the first generation of Civic Lessons were powered by their 49cc lawnmower engines producing a then-respectable 20 horsepower.

The response from the homosexual community was very positive, and sales of Civic Lessons matched other popular rivals in the west coast market from Toyota and AMC. Initial figures had pinned sales at achieving a 53% homosexual rate of buyers of Civic Lessons, a figure that has yet to be beat. The Civic Lesson proved to be a remarkable car for the homosexual market, as these families did not have any children and thus did not need room for a back seat. Honda foresaw new potential, however, with gay and lesbian

2 cycle? What are you talking about? Those little Honda jobs? Even these are 4 cycle. This is what I have.

My first suggestion would be to decide whether you prefer a laptop or desktop. It is your choice. If I were working for extended periods of time, I'd prefer a real desktop.

Power: An inverter off a battery is a good choice for periodic usage, but regular usage will require a generator. Since you won't want to use the generator all the time, keep a battery, and inverter around for when its not convenient to run the generator.. The EU3000 will keep your desktop running all the time on less than 4 gallons of gas.

Solar power doesn't make sense. You'll be waiting days for it to charge your batteries. Or if you have enough panels, it will just burn a hole in your pocket.

The Generator: They've improved dramatically. The newwest inverter based models are very quiet. See Honda's EU3000

If you've sworn off a generator, and they work great for running small coffee makers and Direct TV receivers, then consider a laptop, extra battery, and if necessary inverter + battery combination and just live with the results.

It's very simple but you'll need to have a little muscle.

Carry a G5 in one hand (by the handle) and this Honda Genny in the other. All while running iTunes and wearing a pair of MDR-DS5100's.

Pure audio bliss.