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    XPS 17 - AC Plug, fall off pretty easy?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by 80sGuy, Nov 28, 2011.

  1. 80sGuy

    80sGuy Notebook Consultant

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    Been reading up about it while I'm waiting for mine to arrive. I've read from the Dell community site that some folks are having issues with their AC plugs falling off easily, is this true? If so, would an 'angle' plug solve this issue or perhaps an aftermarket ac adapter/plug? Are Dell AC plugs proprietary?
     
    80sGuy, Nov 28, 2011
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  2. mpalandr

    mpalandr Notebook Consultant

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    My experience is that while there's no detent to hold the plug in the laptop, there's enough friction to hold it in place in normal use. If you move the laptop around when it's on AC, you need to be a little careful that the plug doesn't start to come out.

    Probably the biggest negative of there being no detent is that you don't get tactile feedback that you've insterted the plug correctly. You just need to make sure it's in all the way. If it's not, the laptop may start, but you could get errors from BIOS and/or Windows saying that the adapter wattage could not be determined. If that happens, make sure the plug is in all the way, and restart. Every time I've had that error, that's cured it.
     
    mpalandr, Nov 28, 2011
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  3. VPR5703

    VPR5703 Notebook Consultant

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    My XPS 17s plug does come out occasionally when moving. Basicaly, if you are moving, check the cord. It's an easy task that can save your laptop, because if it makes enough contact to charge, but not full contact, it could basically spark a lot inside the housing, and melt the charging port and plug.
     
    VPR5703, Nov 28, 2011
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  4. krizar

    krizar Newbie

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    It's very annoying, a slight bump or shift with the laptop is all it takes for the charger to come out.
    My HD crashed a few months back, I sent it in for repair with a note that the connection was bad with the charger. I received my unit back with the HD fixed and a note scribbled on the inspection report that the connection was fine.

    If you're using your XPS 17 as a desktop replacement and have it sitting on a table, you're fine. If you plan on moving it around, and actually putting it on your lap, it's annoying. What makes the problem even more troublesome, is that the connection LED is BEHIND the screen, so you can't tell by a glance if ti's plugged in or not.

    I'm sure you can tell, I'm not impressed with it at all
     
    krizar, Dec 1, 2011
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