Hi Brenda, The answers are  yes  and  yes
You can power a laptop from your car's 12 volt system. I've done it two ways.
The first method uses a DC adapter. Mine looks like this:
http://www.laptopsforless.com/dcdcdetails.htm
You could print that page for voltage and polarity instructions.
Mine has adjustable voltage output. Set the voltage the same as your AC adapter output voltage. You'll need a plug to physically match the laptop's power input. Radio Shack sells a big variety of those.
A second method uses an inverter to change the car's DC to AC power. 
They look like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Jensen-JP30-Watt-Power-Inverter/dp/B00005LACE
You can plug the inverter in the cigarette lighter, but I wired mine directly to the car's battery. Then use your existing AC power adapter, like you do at home. The laptop I'm using now uses 20 volt input and it's power supply is rated at 4.5 amps. If you multiply 20V times 4.5A, it can use up to 90 watts of power. Your inverter should supply more than that. Mine is 300 watts. I think the DC adapter may be less drain on the battery than the inverter if the engine were not running. Some people may say you can get damaging voltage spikes, but I haven't had a problem. If you were concerned about that, you could connect it after the engine was started and the voltage stabilized.
You'll be able to run the laptop with no problem. You can also connect a small USB or Bluetooth GPS (mine is a Rikaline) and navigate with a mapping program such as MS Streets & Trips. You can also use it from a 12 volt system in a boat with a nautical mapping program such as Fugawi. It's sometimes a hassle getting XP to recognize the USB GPS. I haven't tried it with Vista yet.

Second question: Maybe you're referring to special cables made with a USB plug at each end made to transfer files between computers. They work very well, are inexpensive, and are much simpler than a network. Here's an example:
http://www.usb-port.com/bf7311.html 

Merry Christmas !


>From: Brenda Dencer <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [PCBUILD] USB to USB?
>
>I am looking for something that will hook my laptop to my cigarette
>lighter/phone car charger thingee.  Is there such a thing?  Would a hookup
>like that work?  Could I recharge my HP battery that way?  Could I use my
>laptop while on the road-not driving-but parked with the engine running?
>
>Is there such a thing as a cable with USB on each end?
>
>Is there meaning to life?  Oops.wrong list.
>
>Thanks, Brenda

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