Interchangability of Laptop AC Adapters

[Foolie]

The battery on my laptop went out a few months ago, so I've been running it strictly off the AC adapter. Tonight, my cat decided that it would be fun to chew through that. I have a replacement part on the way, but I have some stuff I need to get off there before the replacement arrives. Can I swap in the adapter from my brother's laptop? Do I absolutely need to make sure that I'm using the part from exactly my computer, or do I just need to make sure that my voltage/current/frequency are the same?

Thanks in advance

 

[dasickninja]

I wouldn't recommend doing that. I found out the hard way that its better to wait. The AC voltage to the DC voltage may be different it way work on different amps, there are a lot of factors that could end up with a messy situation.
But thats just my opinion.

 

[milnyckyj]

Is it a dell? I have a bunch of dell laptops and they all use the same power adapter. I'm using an inspiron 8200 latitude c400 and some older latitude.

 

[dasickninja]

HP.

 

[Foolie]

Yeah, it's a dell. I have a couple of friends with dell laptops so I'll try those first.

(A followup question: Can I get by with a universal adapter, or does that fall into the same category of trying to match different types. I can drive and pick up a universal AC adapter today, but I'll need to wait until tuesday to get the Dell one delivered

Something like this:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=SEARCH&Ntt=laptop+universal+ac+adapter&N=0&Dx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&D=laptop+universal+ac+adapter&Ntk=All&product_code=312738&Pn=Universal_Notebook_AC_Power_Adapter
)

 

[milnyckyj]

A lot of those universal ones don't work with dells, so make sure its compatible. Also, they're very very expensive compared to oem adapters. Unless you have other laptops that you could use it with, I'd try to hold out until it comes on tuesday.

I've had a couple of those dell adapters fail over the years (which is about normal considering how many I use). I'd try to pick up a spare one on ebay if you want to be safe.

 

[JMecc]

I think transformers are only different in Voltage, Current & adapter end (& even the ends are generally the same for same volt & current, BUT having said that I wound't try on something expensive like a laptop.

To get your info off to another comp to work on it, get an external enclosure to put the 2.5" drive into. An external drive is always handy, both for carrying data & for getting data from a broken computer (or even modifying files on a HD that cannot be modified when that HD is the boot disk.

Jo

 

[Fulmar]

If you let me know the model of the Dell laptop it is, I can find out which adapters for it. The universal adapters work pretty well. I work part-time at Batteries Plus (still in college) and I've sold several of ours and never had a complaint. Like $60-70 (varies by store).

If you find a different adapter than fits the your hole, make sure the batteries are identical. Dell uses 2-3 main battery styles across all their models(unlike HP/Compaq where its nearly different for each model of Laptop). You need to watch the Voltage and Ah/mAh of the battery, since the original adapter will charge the battery at the correct voltage and amperage.

Most Dell batteries are around 14.4V or 14.8 Voltages, but their amperage differs (but I wouldn't be concerned if the capcity is within 500mah difference).