Power Adaptor Question:

I am moving to the UK and I need a new adaptor for my M17x R4, but I really don't want to spend £100 on one from Dell. Does anybody know where I can pick one up for cheaper.

I saw some on Amazon, like this, but I don't know if it's any good.

Thanks,

 

Hello, Mercury, good news is that you can use your current adapter all over the world including the UK.
You just need to get a UK power cord. It costs peanuts and looks like this:

 

here you go:

And if you buy 10 you get 3 absolutely free haha!!

NEW HIGH QUALITY 1.7M UK IEC MAINS KETTLE LEAD BUY 10 GET 3 FREE | eBay

 

Is that thing any good? The buy 10 get three free makes me doubt its quality.

 

It's just a cable. Can't go wrong with any of them.

 

I've got a million of these knocking about the house (I'm in the UK). I'm more then happy to post one to you free of charge (to UK address).


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I'm not in the UK yet and won't be till Sept 5. How long will it take to post it to Leeds?

I leave Sunday and was hoping to get one before then but shipping from the UK might take longer than that. Anyone know any retailers in the US that might stock these?

 

1-2 days tops.


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http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001BIVRFW/ref=mp_s_a_2?pi=75x51&qid=1345514854&sr=8-2

Edit: scratch that, seller is UK based.

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http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=120724811631&index=0&nav=SEARCH&nid=87374187730


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They also make simple plastic adapters that you plug your existing power cord into that will allow you to use the UK outlets. We used a million of them in Iraq (they have the same style of outlet). Nothing wrong with using one, they worked fine in the desert so I seriously doubt you'd have any issues there. Cost about $3 out there so probably less than $1 there. Can be sure the Base Exchange will sell them assuming you're military.

 

Yup. An adapter is the other alternative. Like:

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/view...p;index=17&nav=SEARCH&nid=49620423471


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If I where you I would get a genuine Dell UK power cable just in case you void your warranty with a dodgy 3rd party one.

I searched and found exactly what you where looking for on Dell's UK website here. £18 in VAT & Shipping.

 

I think that's being a little over cautious. It's just a lead, housing some twin and earth cable...

As long as it's fitted with a 5A fuse as per the genuine Dell supplied ones, there is really very little that can go wrong. The adaptor block is the same no matter where you are in the world as it will take an input supply of 100~240Vac.

£18 for something you can pick up for a couple of quid (even locally on the high street) is obscene.

Aside from that, a limited warranty probably does not extend outside it's country of origin anyway.

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Yeah this isn't really that big a deal. I have used my adapter in another country as well and I just switched out the cable for one that was lying around the house where I was. Just make sure it is a three pin with the earth connected and you should be good. The best thing for you will be to buy a universal adapter because you can use it with your other devices as well. I mean you're going to be carrying your phone and some other things with you right?

 

So using a simple adapter will work? I didn't want to fry anything in the computer because they didn't convert voltages.

 

Impossible. The conversion takes place in the power block. It doesn't matter where in the world you plug it in (general mains power sockets, nowhere in the world exceeds 240Vac AFAIK) the power block will take the input voltage and convert it to the required output voltage. The power block will accept 100Vac to 250Vac. USA is 120Vac. UK is 240Vac.

So in this case, because the adapter block accepts a min and max voltage, you'll be fine. However, double check the sticker on the underside of your M17XR4 and look at the input voltage range.

What you're concerned about is some appliances will only accept a fixed voltage or a fixed voltage with a +/- x% tolerance. This is not the case for your laptop.

You'll be fine with just a travel adapter.

 

The adapter or the cable doesn't need to convert anything. The charger takes care of that. As stated above, it can be used all over the world with outlets that provide between 100V and 240V.

With that said, an adapter or a cable like the one i posted above is all you need.

 

Hello guys i just bought a m17x from the US and someone is bringing it to the UK for me.

Will i have to buy a new UK power supply for it? the prices are quite steep at £50-60 from what ive seen, does anyone know where i can get one from cheap?

Also someone told me a power adapter/travel adapter will suffice? but last time someone told me that my xbox blew up.

 

All notebook power supply's will work with UK and US voltages automatically all you will need is a physical plug adapter or entire power cord, 5-10$

John.

 

That is because X-Box power supplies are not auto-voltage switching whereas notebook computer power bricks are, at least 99% of them are and your M17 DEFINITELY is. A travel adapter will work absolutely fine, but as the guy above me said, you can get just the power cord, not the entire brick, with the 3 prong plug used in the UK and it will work as well. I can't imagine that would cost you more than $5 - $10 or somewhere thereabouts, the travel adapter will probably run you in the neighborhood of $2 - $3 at the most.

 

Just pickup a travel mains adapter while you are in the US, make sure it`s UK compatible, it just converts a US plug into a UK plug

John.

 

Personally, in your case, as the laptop is going to spend most of it's time in the UK I assume, once it's been brought over to you, I would just go and buy a UK kettle lead and swap it for the US one that will come with your laptop. You can pick these up for a couple of quid off eBay, if you have desktop PC's in your house or workplace, you'll probably even find one knocking about. When the laptop arrives, you'll know what I mean. It's the same lead that plugs into a desktop PC's PSU (the tower/desktop).

Travel adapters are great for intermittent usage, but in my experience plugging a 2 pin US plug into and adapter and then into the 3 pin UK main's socket is not ideal. The 2 pin plug has a tendency to come out of the adapter if disturbed.

 

If anyone wants a genuine Dell power lead, you can request one from Alienware Technical Support. I did this recently and they were kind enough to send me one free of charge. The part number you need to ask for is DP/N 016583. Be sure to state that is ALL you need and that you don't need a new PSU - just the power lead. I simply mentioned that my original cable had got damadged and I needed a replacement but didn't want to buy a whole new PSU - something they may tell you is required but it is not.

As others have stated, these leads are commonplace anyway. It isn't really a prerequisite that it has to be a Dell lead.......just make sure you have the correct size fuse in the plug.

 

Wow, I always thought that because of power differences and what not, a simple adaptor would cause problems. I guess not. So something like this would work just fine?

I assume the same goes for iPhones and my wife's Macbook Pro?

 

Yes, that adapter is fine for your M17x.

As for your iPhone & Mac, you need to check if their chargers can take 220V, 230V or 250V. It should be written on them, look for INPUT.
If they can only take 110V then no.

 

As mentioned, that adapter will be fine for your M17X.

It will also be fine for the iPhone too as the iPhone charger accepts an input of 110-250Vac. Similar to your M17X charger block, it doesn't care what voltage is going in to it, the clever stuff is done in the block/charger itself (which is effectively a transformer, converting and stepping down voltage to the necessary output voltage).

Don't know about the Mac but I would assume it would be the same.


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