Universal Laptop Power Adapters For The Air, Road, And Wall

Features
By Andrew Ku
published

Are you tired of your notebook running out of power away from a wall wart? We're looking at three universal adapters able to get your battery charged again, whether you're on the road, in the air, or sitting down next to an AC plug.

Duracell 90 W Universal AC/Auto/Air Adapter

Duracell is now a registered trademark of Procter & Gamble. While Duracell is branded on this adapter, this is not a Duracell product per se. It is actually manufactured under license by Battery-Biz. The company supplies the majority of Duracell's product-specific batteries and power products, such as car inverters. If your product has "Duracell" plastered on it, but it isn't a watch, AAA, AA, C, D, or 9 V battery, there's a good chance Battery-Biz makes it.

This charging kit covers the three basic modes of travel: the air, in a car, and when you have an AC outlet handy. It also happens to be one of two universal adapters sold under the Duracell brand. Covering that trio of bases costs about $90, which is about $20 more than the 90 W model with the cigarette lighter receptacle plug on its own. There's also a 40 W adapter, but that's specifically for netbooks.

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The adapter includes Velcro strips for cable management, but you're going to end up with a corded mess one way or the other. The cables that connect to the power adapters aren't angled, making them difficult to pack away. And although this is one of the few adapters that actually includes  an EmPower plug, there is a very faint high-frequency squeal that emanates from the adapter when it's used with certain 16 V notebooks.

While Duracell backs this up with a three-year warranty, nobody likes dealing with the RMA process for silly manufacturing deficiencies. The problem seems to disappear when we use the adapter with 19 V notebooks, so the problem could be related to the sense resistors responsible for lowering the voltage.

Andrew Ku
17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • shreeharsha
    I actually thought they are going to release a standard for all the Laptop Power Adapters, one power adapter for all the notebooks. (only might be different wattages)
    Reply
  • randomstar
    I can not honestly tell you the number of friends, customers, and others that bought a non-dell power adapter for a dell unit, and found out that it will run the unit, with reduced performance, but will not charge. and paid lots of money. I keep a collection of actual dell power supplies 65w, 90w, 120w ,just to help out when that happens. funny thing , if you shop around you can get the real ones for less than the kingston, etc "universal"!
    Reply
  • JohnnyLucky
    It's a shame that there is no single International standard to go by. It would make things a lot simpler.
    Reply
  • cadder
    And even worse than that- between my daughter and I we've owned 3 Dell laptops, and each one uses a different power adapter and plug.
    Reply
  • soccerdocks
    cadderAnd even worse than that- between my daughter and I we've owned 3 Dell laptops, and each one uses a different power adapter and plug.
    That seems unusual. In my house we have 3 different laptops spanning 6 year purchase dates and they all have the exact same plug. Two of the laptops are Latitudes and the other is a Studio XPS. The only difference is that the Studio XPS came with a 130 watt adapter as opposed to 65 watt adapters for the Latitudes. So no gaming with that machine while plugged into the 65 watt adapters.
    Reply
  • legacy7955
    shreeharshaI actually thought they are going to release a standard for all the Laptop Power Adapters, one power adapter for all the notebooks. (only might be different wattages)
    Actually this sort of standard DOES exist in Europe for smart phones and cell phones, I'm not sure if it includes laptop or netbooks but it might. I'll have to search around.

    It seems the bottom line today is buy the OEM adapters if you want to play it safe.
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    thats another lame article consecutively.
    come on Toms, get the BD benchies out already.
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    This is exactly why I don't understand dropping serious money into a laptop. Have a good desktop, and a cheap laptop/netbook/smartphone/tablet for your portable needs. Batteries only last 2-4 years with consistent use, so after 2-3 years you need a $150 battery, plus if your power brick is worn out then it is another $120 for that...
    So that $800 laptop then requires another $270 to run after 3 years? And this is assuming you don't drop the thing, or break it through normal wear and tear. And laptops do not age as gracefully as desktops because they are generally crap hardware to begin with. Much better to stick with a $300 laptop, and a decent desktop. The desktop will keep up with the times longer and will have less maintenance, while the laptop can be swapped out when need be.
    Reply
  • only quake 2.
    Reply
  • simontay1984
    My Toshiba Satellit Pro M30 is over 5 years old now and it still works fine. HDD and RAM has been upgraded. The battery went flat a long time ago and won't recharge.
    Instead of buying a new Lithium-Ion batt (that would only last about another 2 years anyway), I just use a 12V 7.2Ah Lead Acid connected to the PSU input when I don't have access to a mains supply for an extended period (e.g. on long train journey).

    It works cos the PSU output voltage is 15V so 12V is close enough.
    Reply