Flying (charging) XPS 15 on plane?

I have an upcoming 12h+ flight and would love to be able to use my XPS 15. I've recently learned that the 130W charger is far too much and would just trip the circuits when being plugged in, even without laptop.

Found some older discussions, many with no clear resolution, and a few suggesting the dell power companion. I don't really think I want to purchase the power companion... seems quite overpriced for what it ultimately is (many other consumer power banks i.e. from Anker are 1/3 the price or less!)

Is there a solution that would charge the XPS 15 (even if under lower load?) and not trip the plane's outlets, which all seem to be about 75W?

And also why is the Macbook Pro only using a 84w USB-C charger when the XPS 15 needs 130w, when they are fairly similarly spec'ed?

 

Buy the external battery bank option. If you can buy it cheaper from another brand, go for it. Battery banks are pretty reliable these days, because the underlying battery cells are usually made from a name-brand manufacturer like Panasonic, Sony, sanyo, etc.

When you need to charge your laptop, plug it into the battery bank charger. When the battery bank is drained, charge it up. That charge cycle will is far less than 90W.

If you need even more juice than that (internal battery + external battery + external battery recharge), then you probably shouldn't be using a laptop . If you want to watch movies and play games on the flight, get a tablet or a Nintendo Switch. I can guarantee you that a 21-hour flight will drift by once you start playing Legend of Zelda: BotW

 

Obviously it depends on usage, but how much would that 18,000mah dell companion charge the XPS 15? Is it enough for a complete recharge? More/less?

I don't think I even have that option (in the flight..) because the dell power adapter would still trip the fuse just by being plugged in (charging it's capacitor?)

 

You can buy battery banks intended for laptops that go past 18Ah. I've seen some as high as 50Ah - 60Ah, and I'm sure they go even higher capacity past that.

The point is, you don't use the 130W Dell power adapter at all. You use your laptop on battery. When the laptop internal battery starts to run low, you plug your laptop into the portable laptop battery bank.

When you are done using the portable laptop battery bank, you plug that drained laptop battery bank into the 90W AC outlet.

That's pretty much as good as it gets. If your laptop uses 130W, but you only have 90W AC outlets around you, then you're S.O.L. There isn't much you can do to simply have your laptop draw less power, or the airplane to provide more. So if you need usage beyond that, then consider using a different device with longer battery life, like a tablet (for media, games) with an optional keyboard attachment (for work); or a Nintendo Switch (games). That way, you would take the money you would've spent on a laptop battery bank, and put it towards the purchase of a tablet.

I'm not saying that is what you *should* do... just laying out an option for you.

 

Some additional tips:
In the bios turn off the touch screen and disable a few cpu cores.
Keep the screen as dim as possible
Turn off any background VM machines you may have running (Hyper-V)
If you have a lower wattage dell power supply, you can still use it, at worst it will help prolong the battery, at best it will charge it slowly.

 

Buy the smaller charger, it will keep it topped up long enough for the flight.

 

@GoNz0 - I have often considered purchasing the 45Watt adapter ( http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn...&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1&sku=450-18920&mfgpid=6109422) for just this reason (and to just have in my bag).

Question: Would it also be suitable for a long trip, where the laptop would be mostly plugged (day and night) except for the flight - think a week trip to the US from the UK.

IOW if it can hold the charge while plugged in and charging just takes 3x longer then thats fine.

Or: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Genuine-Dell...714231?hash=item3f7cadf277:g:o7wAAOSwyNNZjpKJ

 

People have said it charges very slowly when in use or discharges very slowly, it's one of those impossible to answer questions like people who keep asking how long a battery lasts, well that's under an hour to 12 hours depending on what you are doing.

It does the job for travel purposes.

*edit, just saw the 65w, obviously it trumps the 45w so a better option that shouldn't trip the plane breaker but I don't know what the limit is on the plane?

 

Plus its usb-c which is interesting (I know its only a production sample, but I took a punt anyway - will report back in a month or two if/when it arrives)

 

I've been using a 65w google chrome usb c adapter on my 9550/9560 for years without issue. Bear in mind I'm only doing office related tasks at school and not gaming, but it always stays charged. I would think it would work on an airplane, not sure what they trip at though.

 

It's too bad the XPS 15 only has one USB-C port - charge it and you can't plug another USB-C device in

I guess getting something like the Pixel 65W is at least more versatile than a proprietary smaller wattage dell charger. Given I expect to spend time photo+video editing, I'd hate to ONLY bring a smaller dell charger which couldn't quite keep up...

 

The PSU power demand depends on usage. Light usage (eg watch your own video) only needs around 20W while 3D gaming needs a lot more. You can use a standard Dell 65W or 90W PSU with a DC plug adapter. The BIOS will read the PSU power rating and avoid overloading it. A 90W PSU can probably supply two of (i) full CPU load, (ii) full dGPU load and (iii) battery charging. That's definitely the case with my Precision 5510 (very similar to the XPS15 9550) as I have travelled with 90W and 65W PSUs in order to reduce weight while having one as a spare. The 65W PSU can get somewhat warm if powering the computer and recharging the battery but is operating within its design limits.

You can also use a USB-C PSU but I would note that my Precision 5510 refuses to recognise the Dell 45W USB-C PSU but is happy to run off this 60W PSU.

John

 

I've been using the USB c charger below. It charges the 9560 at 60w and is cheaper than the pixel charger. The included USB C cable is no good but I'm using it with a 6 foot cable and have 0 issues. It charges the laptop fairly quickly all things considered too, think I can go 0-100 in about an hr and 20.

Belker 87W Macbook Charger for Apple Macbook Pro 15'' inch 2016 Replacement of Apple 87W Power Adapter with charge cable for free/Maximum wattage 87W/ More lighter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZW8BY6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_pk9Lzb1XPASD7

Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Tapatalk

 

Sweet, it's more lighter!

 

Btw, if you get this charger remove the plastic that's on it. It gets hot and will melt the plastic over time if it's left on it.

Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Tapatalk

 

Do you know your plane will have power available at your seat? My last couple of 6-hour cross-country flights did not. I have the Dell power bank for my XPS 13.

 

My 9550 runs using the Dell 45W normal AC charger. In a restricted mode, no good for gaming, but is useful for office stuff.

I recall some claimed their XPS 15 worked with a Dell 45W USB-C charger. Better to have the USB-C port free though.

I'm not sure if the 18000 mAh power companion is allowed on plane. And not aware of any 3rd party powerbank that works.

The 130W charger might work on a plane if the laptop is in a suitably turned down power profile. Mind plugging in just the charger first, and the initial transient might trip the fuse, so try just briefly touching the socket a few times before really plugging in.

 

Battery limitation on planes:

https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/hazmat_safety/more_info/?hazmat=7

 

I had this problem (on two airplanes), spoke with Dell (twice, once sales and once tech support - not helpful in either case), and finally decided to try the Dell 65 watt USB-C charger (I bought mine at Amazon for quick shipping). It "works" - ie the laptop accepts it as a charger, and charges the battery / provides power to the laptop from it. Obviously, a 65 watt supply is not going to deliver as much power as a 130 watt supply, so I don't expect it to power the entire laptop system and charge the battery at the same time - but it will be far better than no power at all on airplanes...

 

I know from my frequent travels many Airports over seas will not allow a battery bank larger than 10 Amp/hours on a plane or in your checked in luggage. and some will not even allow any kind of lithium battery pack period.

So the 60 watt charger option is likely your best one. they never question a laptop charger in your carry on.