Looking for aftermarket AC adapter

I'm looking for a new power adapter for my E6410. I want one that is smaller than the one that came with the laptop. The stock one is thin but it is wide and doesn't fit in my bag. Does anyone have suggestions for a good replacement power adapter that is light, small, and good for travel? Preferably one that only has a two-prong plug (to minimize size) and is meant for the US market?

Also, as I've been Googling, I found that Dell makes a travel adapter that isn't very different in size from the stock one. But strangely, that adapter is not listed as working with the E6410 even though it does work with the E6400. And I've found other products that list just the E6400 and not the E6410. Is that just an oversight in the product listing or is there something actually different between the models that would prevent these power supplies from working on my E6410? Thanks!

 

What specs is your E6410? If have the i5/i7 + Nvidia Quadro GPU, you'll need a 90 watt adapter or you'll have throttling issues or you'll fry your adapter.

 

A-ha! Thank you. Okay, so I now know I need 90 Watts since I do have the i5 and the Nvidia card. That's very helpful and definitely explains why some of the adapters are not listed as compatible even though the connector clearly is the same.

So now, I need to look for a light, small, good for travel adapter that is 90W.

 

Are you saying this adapter is too thick? I find it much slimmer than the old school 90 watt adapters Dell used to ship out with practically every Dell.

I mean if you aren't using your laptop full blast, then a 65 watt adapter would suffice, but Dell always gives out a 90 watt with discreet GPU and a powerful CPU to ensure nothing gets throttled and you can properly charge your battery. And trust me, the GPU throttling is very real. My Vostro 1500 90 watt died and I didn't have any spare ones, so I used a 65 watt adapter. I went to go play Modern Warfare 2, and got horrid results. My GPU was throttled down to the lowest level and was not properly charging my battery. Changing to a 90 watt adapter everything was back to normal.

 

No, like I wrote originally, the stock adapter is indeed very thin, but it is also really wide. And with the 3 conductor power connector and long wires, there's a lot of bulk.

The stock adapter is 5.75" x 2.7" x 0.6" without any cords and it weighs a little over 11 oz with the DC output cord (since it's attached, I can't weight it without it). I found a Kensington that claims to be 4.5" x 2.2" x 0.8" and weighs 7.1 oz with what appears to be an attached cord. I wouldn't mind a little thicker with a little less width (4.5x1.75x1 = ideal) but this Kensington seems better than the Dell and it has the advantage of charging other stuff and a USB connector and an empower connector which are all nice.

But I'm still wondering if anybody who does a lot of traveling with their Dell has a suggestion on a power adapter that they use and like. Thanks!

 

Here's another candidate from AtBatt. Dimensions are 4.95"x1.97"x1.15" and weight is pretty heavy at 1.5 lbs. (Though maybe that's the package weight and not the device weight.) I've never heard of them and don't know if I should trust the product or the specs. Much cheaper than the Kensington but none of the extras.

 

IMHO, if you don't like the dimensions of the PA-10, or the PA-2E series adapters -- you're probably stuck between a rock and a hard place. After all, the adapters themselves have to do quite a bit of work, and give off a good deal of heat. Any smaller and you're going to be sacrificing longevity of the adapter.

 

The one I'm trying to replace is the PA-3E. The two that I've linked to (Kensington and AtBatt) are both better for me than the stock size and weight (and don't go back to the chunk of the older ones you mentioned) and they are both 2-conductor ones. So I know that there are decent power supply sizes out there and my purpose in posting was hoping to find people who like their aftermarket power supplies. Anyone?

(When I originally wrote in, I was also thinking I'd be able to get away with 65W which of course could be much smaller. Now that I know that option is out, it does reduce the available options but I think there are probably some decent options still.)

 

[I had originally posted about my E6410 specifically, but now I know that the question may be more broad, I thought I'd repost with a more general question.]

Does anyone have an aftermarket AC adapter they use with their E-series and would recommend? The stock one doesn't fit well in my travel case and I'm looking for a more compact (less flat) adapter. I'm looking for a 90W one for use in the US. Thanks!

 

I don't recommend any 3rd party adapters as that and batteries I always buy OEM. Have you tried separating the power cord from the AC adapter?

I also merged your threads as replies in 2 threads would be counter-productive.