AC Adapter: Same Voltage, Less Wattage than OEM

Simple question.

Will a power brick with the same Voltage but less Wattage damage or affect performance of my laptop.

It's the lenovo in my sig. OEM brick, 19.5 V 120W 6.15A

Looking for a second, seen several with 19.V & 90W, but I don't want any funny business.

Yay/nay and why?

Thanks!

 

Less wattage won't hurt your laptop.

A 90 watt adapter should suffice for a low work load, but for a heavy work load you need the 120 watt. With my MBP 17, when it wasn't getting enough power, it would start drawing from the battery and adapter.

 

Ahhh, OK, that makes sense. This IS a quad, and it downs power like I eat popcorn.

I'll have to stick with OEM then.

Thanks!

 

That's not necessarily true. If you "overdrive" a power adapter, you run the risk of major voltage fluctuations. That can damage a power adapter.

You can always run with an adapter that provides more wattage (at the same voltage) than the OEM power supply, but you should never run less. That's a recipe for damaged hardware. Some laptops may deal with it "correctly", but I wouldn't count on that.

 

Thanks Pita, I'll be avoiding any under-wattaged bricks.

 

That's right. There *is* a reason why the manufacturer gave you a 120W adapter instead of a 90W in the first place. The wattage of the adapter is not randomly picked.


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The power adapter will do fine on 90W however if let's say your battery is drained completely and you power up your laptop and you want to do something that's CPU and/or GPU intensive while the battery is charging, the power adapter might give up on you and there's a risk of fire. This is not something to ignore.

Use it wisely, if the laptop's battery is charging turn off the laptop and try not to use it till the battery charge indicator from your laptop is off.

You can also ask one of those devices you can find at Home Depot for an opinion just to see how much wattage your laptop draws. I think it's called Kill-a-Watt they're around $12 to $20. These devices will tell you how much current is actually consumed.

 

It's a shame there are no thin/light 120W 3rd party adaptors around.

EDIT: (OT) ohhh 3000 posts.

 

Well, the higher the wattage, the bigger the adapter has to be. Still, there is a lot of 90W adapters out there but fewer higher wattage ones. The highest one i've been able to get my hands on in Canada is a targus 180W. Saying the thing is huge would be an understatement.

 

Yeah but I think there could be a market for quality adaptors that are light and reasonably priced.

 

Here's the adapter I ordered:
Amazon.com: Pwr+ Ac Adapter for Lenovo Ideapad Y560 Y560-0646-2eu Y560-0646-2yu Y560-0646-52u Y560-0646-52yu Y560-0646-53u Y560-0646-53yu Y560-0646-54yu Y560-0646-55u Y560-0646-5hu ; 120 Watt Laptop Power Supply Cord Notebook Battery Charger Netbook

 

I always worry when I buy non OEM power supplies. I'm afraid they will burn up or something.

 

Well, I will only be using this adapter at the office, and only 2-3 days a week. And even then, I won't be doing anything intense. So I think I'll be fine.

Only time will tell though I guess =]

 

I've bought eBay chargers for every laptop I've ever owned (having two is pretty much a must for me) and only one has ever failed, and that was due to a short in the cord. None have ever damaged anything.

 

I have had a power brick damage components slowly over time.

 

As long as the supplied voltage is stable, there shouldn't be a problem. Of course, a cheaply made adapter will be anything but stable.