Power Cord Compatibility

I have an XPS 1330 and my wife has an older Inspiron 6000. The power cord on her Inspiron 6000 went bad. My adapter has an octagonal shape on it so it won't work with her notebook. However, my slim 3 in one travel charger does fit her notebook so we've been using that.

It has been working so I was going to order another 3 in one travel charger so that I'd have one to use again. However, I double checked the Dell site for products that are available for the Inspiron 6000 and it doesn't list the travel charger as an adapter that you can buy for that notebook. Am I being hard on her notebook or my travel charger by using the travel charger with her notebook? Thanks.

 

Another thing to mention. The only power adapter available from the Dell site for her notebook is a 90 watt adapter. My three in one adapter is a 65 watt adapter. However, her notebook is charging....while she is using it. So it appears to be ok...I think...I hope...anyone see any problem with this?

 

No, and no. The Inspiron 6000 isn't going to draw more than 65W even at full load with a discrete GPU. The Pentium M just doesn't pull that much juice. If you're running the laptop at full CPU and GPU load 24/7 while charging a battery it nonetheless might not be so good for the adapter, but it should still be a while before you damage the adapter or notebook.

 

Thanks, that's very helpful. I guess I'll go ahead with getting another 3 in one travel charger.

 

Generally speaking, it's not a good idea to use an under-spec'd power source.
It can (not will mind you, but can) destroy the adapter and/or whatever is plugged into it. It won't always, but it's not a good idea, really.

Like Cmd. Wolf said though, if you aren't using it at full burn you can probably get away with using the lower spec adapter. *I* wouldn't, though.
I'd look on ebay for an old 90w charger for that fits her laptop.
Also a good idea is to check what her power adapter actually says on it, i've found that what dell lists one their website isn't always accurate (specifically 90w/65w in fact!). Check the voltage/amp output, multiple 'em together and you have watts.

 

It's very simple. Dell tends to standardize on power adaptors. For instance, my Latitude E6400 came with a 90W as well and it rarely draws more than 15W. The only exceptions are when I'm using the computer for gaming, etc.

The Inspiron 6000 should behave similarly - 65W is more than enough for most (not 17" dual graphics crazy desktop replacements, though).

Also, in most cases, Dell does not always have the most accurate information on their site, including compatibility info. Like some of their cases say 14.1" in the title, yet 13.3" in the specs. Hmmm...

 

Interestingly normal dell power adapters aren't compatible with the mini9, the mini9 uses a bigger plug. Probably so you can't try to fire a big laptop up on the 30w power supply


My m7700 uses a 180watt, though it should have a 220w. That's sort of a special case though