# Laptop Top Charger - Why is it Brand Sensitive?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-top-charger-why-is-it-brand-sensitive/541920
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 4, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-top-charger-why-is-it-brand-sensitive/541920 "2010-06-04T14:17:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-top-charger-why-is-it-brand-sensitive/541920/1 "2010-06-04T14:17:09Z")
I’m puzzled why a laptop requires a specific brand of charger. Usually chargers are pretty generic. You match the voltage and amps to the device. Radio Shack is your friend.
My Dell Laptop charger has a bad connector. I started getting a Nag screen complaining that the charger wasn’t recognized and that I needed a Dell Charger. Then, it started threatening that the battery wouldn’t charge.
Sure enough, after a couple weeks the battery stopped charging. But, the power adapter is running the laptop. It just won’t charge the battery. 😕 That’s pretty weird.
I went ahead and bought a replacement **Dell Charger** using my service tag. But, why are these things so darn brand specific? Do they sell generic laptop chargers?
---
### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-top-charger-why-is-it-brand-sensitive/541920/2 "2010-06-04T14:23:53Z")
Why? Because there’s no international standards. It’s the same thing with cellphones, but at least there is a movement to standardize cellphone chargers. Also, laptops have enormous differences in power requirements. It would be wasteful to use a charger that could power a 17" quad-core machine with a netbook. One also needs to take into account differences in jacks. Even if there was a desire to standardize, companies like Apple would never use a standard power jack design - their patented MagSafe connector is so much better than anything else out there.
---
### Author:  [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-top-charger-why-is-it-brand-sensitive/541920/3 "2010-06-04T16:01:20Z")
Why? So that you buy a Dell charger and not a no name charger from Target.
It’s the same reason that ink cartridges for printers are so specific.
---
### Author:  [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-top-charger-why-is-it-brand-sensitive/541920/4 "2010-06-04T16:30:12Z")
Using the wrong voltage charger could do some serious damage to an expensive laptop. The makers want to make sure they don’t end up eating that damage as a warranty claim.
There are some regulatory issues as well. The UL and FCC certs. are based on using a specific charger.
---
### Author:  [@Baron\_Skinley\_Von\_Clipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Skinley_Von_Clipper)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-top-charger-why-is-it-brand-sensitive/541920/5 "2010-06-04T16:32:07Z")
Check Ebay, I paid £7.99 for a non-branded charger for my sons Advent laptop.
Advent wanted £34.99 for the genuine charger.
He’s been useing it for about 8 months now with no problems.
---
### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-top-charger-why-is-it-brand-sensitive/541920/6 "2010-06-04T17:03:37Z")
> [@Baron\_Skinley\_Von\_Clipper](#):
>
> Check Ebay, I paid £7.99 for a non-branded charger for my sons Advent laptop.
> Advent wanted £34.99 for the genuine charger.
> He’s been useing it for about 8 months now with no problems.
That’s an “aftermarket” charger, which is really a different animal. Aftermarket parts are designed to function as replacements for brand-name parts. This is different from a universal charger.
---
### Author:  [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-top-charger-why-is-it-brand-sensitive/541920/7 "2010-06-05T02:45:40Z")
I don’t think that there are any particular smarts to the charger. I think that the notebook can somehow detect the amount of current or perhaps voltage. I’ve bought a couple of non-Dell chargers and none of them have had sufficient power to adequately charge the battery. The last one I bought weighed about a quarter of the real Dell one. And some dick on eBay who sold me one insisted that it worked. I went ahead and checked the unloaded voltage on the charger and it was different than the real one. I’ve got a fucking masters degree in electrical engineering and I know that the fucking piece of shit was not working. I’ve finally just sucked down the ridiculous Dell price. And yeah, the connector sucks. I have seen replacement cables on ebay though.