I just got home, and I think (I hope) I left the power cord to my laptop in the office. I could make a special trip in tomorrow to see if that’s what I did, but if it’s not there (the only other place it would be is on the subway, which is barely possible) could I use the cord from my old laptop to fire up this one, do you think?
The old one’s a Gateway, and the newer one’s a Dell, and I think the attachment will fit, but of course they all come with instructions not to use any accessory not manufactured by______ or else.
Is that just propriety BS? Or is it okay, as long as the cord powers up the laptop?
As long as they are the same voltage you shouldn’t have a problem but I’d be really surprised if the connector for the computer was the same. You can buy universal power supplies these days but they usually come with a bouqut of adapters to fit different laptops.
Maybe I can save myself a trip and just see what Radio Shack has to offer?
It’s just a subway ride, but today was the last day of work for a few months and I was hoping not to go in for at least a week or so. Do you suppose if I brought the laptop with me, they’d be able to safely figure the correcct adaptor connection? As I said, it’s just a subway ride, but I’d rather kill my afternoon riding into Manhattan than to fry my laptop.
If you’re talking about the entire power supply, odds are that your old supply will not work properly. There is some chance that the plug, voltage, and polarity are correct but the older one is probably not rated for the kind of current the newer laptop demands.
If you mean the cord between the power supply and the wall, go for it. Radio Shack, Fry’s, CompUSA, all should be able to help. Expect to spend $5-15.
Radio Shack does have very nice replacement power supplies available. A basic one will run about $80. One that runs on 120VAC(home) and 12VDC(auto/air) will be about $130. You may need a plug tip for your laptop. They run $10. Good luck.
You want one with a close voltage match, rated for as many or more amps than your current laptop uses, with the same pin polarity, and same current type (AC/DC).
I use an old laptop power supply for a scanner, 'cause the voltage is close and it has more amps. Once when I was being careless, I used a 500mA rated power supply when trying to repair a printer that used 1.1A. That power supply is no more.
For maximum battery life, you want an exact voltage match on laptop power supplies. A 15V supply might properly drive a laptop requiring 19V but the battery charging circuit probably won’t operating at ideal efficiency and temperature.
I once tried to power my brothers Dell laptop with the power supply from my own, slightly older Dell. His machine spat out a message on startup to the effect of “Get that crummy little power supply of of me!! I only work with big manly power supplies!!” and continued to run of the battery. Both power supplies had the same output voltage but his had a higher current rating.
Targus and Kensington (and probably others) make “universal” laptop power supplies. You should be able to find one at any computer store. They’re not cheap though - $80 and up, IIRC. Check the box or web page and make sure your laptop is supported. (And don’t just look at the name, check the exact model number. I found the hard way that the Kensington supply doesn’t work with my Dell Inspiron 9300, even though it says on the box that “Dell Inspiron” is supported. Apparently the 9300 uses a different connector than other Inspiron models.)
I wouldn’t use cheaper universal AC adapters (those not designed for laptops). They usually don’t provide good voltage regulation, and you do risk frying your laptop.