Looking for aftermarket AC adapter

Are there actually third-party power adapters which get recognized by the BIOS and allow battery charging? Or do you have to go Dell all the way?

On my ASUS laptop I bought a few extra AC adapters and left them in places where I would frequently use it. But when I got this new laptop, I figured I would just use this Antec AC adapter I got that came with multiple heads (Acer, Dell, ASUS, etc) since I still carry the ASUS with me sometimes. But then I heard these things had chipped power adapters with ID due to the whole battery fiasco long ago?? o.o. I have not yet tested this on my Dell.

 

Yeah, good question. The chargers I've seen claim to work with the Dells fine but I'd like some firsthand experience before I buy something. Hopefully somebody will write in here with exactly that experience to let us all know.

 

I've got a Kensington universal PSU that works fine with my Dell Latitude. I think the big name 3rd party PSUs do ensure that their PSUs are compatible.

As I understand it, the chip in the PSU gives the power rating. If the power is not as much as the BIOS would like (eg 65W when the BIOS wants 90W) then it will (i) throttle the CPU (and GPU?) and (ii) disable battery charging while the computer is running.

John

 

Thanks John. So there's one vote for Kensington working with an E-series. Any other aftermarket AC adapters in use? Any that people like?

 

Okay, so I guess there aren't many of you using aftermarket AC adapters! Thanks John for your info and thanks of course to Tsunade Hime for setting me on the right course to begin with the explanation about the reason for 90W. I had been trying to find a way to fit the laptop in my bag with the AC adapter next to it. But I ended up replacing the laptop bag yesterday. Now, the AC adapter is in a different slot and it fits there fine. So I guess I'm sticking with the stock Dell for at least a while longer.

 

Well that's always another solution, buying another laptop bag.

For power related accessories, I always buy OEM, batteries/AC adapters. Then Dell cannot say well your use of a 3rd party XX fried this so not covered.