...OK, I have a four year old Toshiba Satellite M115-S3094.
The other day my AC power adapter apparently failed. It worked fine the previous night but when I came home from work the next day it failed to power up after I tuned the power strip it was connected to on. There was no smoke, sparks, or smell, it just wasn't sending any power to the notebook. Not sure how the unit could have failed without being on all day but that is water under the bridge now.
So looking for a replacement unit seems to be a fairly exhaustive hunt. Most of the universal adapters I've seen do not match the recommended output specs of 15V x 5A @ 75W. I also verified the ratings on the Toshiba Support Site, the document published about the same time I bought the notebook [2005-2006]. Several of the universal units are also frightfully expensive (Radio Shack's is about 100$ and the sales person wouldn't let me look over the package to verify the power output and system compatibility).
Hence, it has been off to the web to look for a compatible unit.
Most of the ones I saw in the major store sites had the right voltage but wrong current and wattage (15V, but 6A at 90W). The odd thing was many of these listed the M115-S3094 even though the unit that came with mine was rated at 15V 5A. Meanwhile, most of he 15V 5A models I reviewed did not specify the M115-S3094 as being compatible.
The Adapter that came with my system is part # PA 3469U-1ACA.
Suffice to say, I find this awfully confusing as I don't want to get the wrong unit and end up frying my system.
So, Is it critical that the output current and wattage match exactly? Also is an OEM unit better than a third party one? Any recommendations?
The other day my AC power adapter apparently failed. It worked fine the previous night but when I came home from work the next day it failed to power up after I tuned the power strip it was connected to on. There was no smoke, sparks, or smell, it just wasn't sending any power to the notebook. Not sure how the unit could have failed without being on all day but that is water under the bridge now.
So looking for a replacement unit seems to be a fairly exhaustive hunt. Most of the universal adapters I've seen do not match the recommended output specs of 15V x 5A @ 75W. I also verified the ratings on the Toshiba Support Site, the document published about the same time I bought the notebook [2005-2006]. Several of the universal units are also frightfully expensive (Radio Shack's is about 100$ and the sales person wouldn't let me look over the package to verify the power output and system compatibility).
Hence, it has been off to the web to look for a compatible unit.
Most of the ones I saw in the major store sites had the right voltage but wrong current and wattage (15V, but 6A at 90W). The odd thing was many of these listed the M115-S3094 even though the unit that came with mine was rated at 15V 5A. Meanwhile, most of he 15V 5A models I reviewed did not specify the M115-S3094 as being compatible.
The Adapter that came with my system is part # PA 3469U-1ACA.
Suffice to say, I find this awfully confusing as I don't want to get the wrong unit and end up frying my system.
So, Is it critical that the output current and wattage match exactly? Also is an OEM unit better than a third party one? Any recommendations?