Substituting the power adapter

I'd like to know wich model of universal power adapter to buy for my lappy.
The original one seems to be (Not entirely... the problem could be the cable) damaged.

Cooler Master, Antec, Eminent, Mediacom are all affordable products, in this sense, or there are evident differences ?

 

Firs of all, the connector must be the same. Second, output voltage has to be identical with Your original PSU. Third, the amperage has to be the same or higher. I would recommend higher though, just in case...

 

If its for your HP I recommend anything FSP Group. Ive had good experiences with their adapters and they do have a HP Compaq (business) adapter so it should work.

 

What about Nilox and Mediacom power adapters.

For the momento they are the alone I have found.

 

I just buy cheapo ones on ebay. I got a few ones for Toshiba laptops that were only $2 shipped a piece if you can believe that. Also the ebay ones have a better track record with me than the OEM ones.

 

Have you ever had problems using those verey cheap power adapters (Obviously made in china...) ???

I've some troubles about to buy one of them...

 

No. On one the internal component wasn't secured to the outer casing so it would rattle if you shook it, but it never had any problems. A few get hotter than others, but that same phenomenon happens with the OEM ones I have and the hottest one I've used was an OEM one. I've never had a failure or partial failure though, which is more than I can say about the OEM power adapters. Also I figured I could keep buying cheapo ebay ones if any time they had any problems and still be in the black versus an OEM power adapter. So yeah, variable quality on these ebay units, going from same as OEM to cheapo, but never any real issue.

 

Trottel,

You may be willing to fry yourself or your equipment - but that doesn't speak on the quality of the power adaptors you've bought (and are recommending).

For someone that is dependant on their computer system - be it for personal or business reasons, I would never consider a 'knock-off' to save a few dollars.

You may have been lucky with your purchases so far, but the poor design, inferior components and shoddy assembly of these $2 adaptors (not to mention the slave labour used in their production) is just a recipe that is inviting disaster for your notebook sooner or later.

 

I've used cheap third-party chargers and batteries in the past, with some success - chargers put out enough power, but got ridiculously warm, batteries charged, but lost capacity very quickly. Ultimately I would always replace them with genuine parts because risking a $1500 computer is never worth saving $40. I could easily burn more than that on dinner out or a night of drinking - why cheap out?

 

I bought the rayovac from batteries plus the staff looked up the product then let me try it on my laptop. Laptop AC Adapter Power Supply 120W RAYLTAC11 - Batteries Plus

 

I've tried the generic power adapters from ebay with mixed results. just make sure to match the voltage and current ratings of the originals.

In my experience, on a hp dv5, the generic substitute worked flawlessly. However on my dell e1505, the adapter led to erratic touchpad and also killed the battery for some reason. Who knows what other side effects the adapter was doing to the system. I got a free replacement generic one from the ebay vendor, but ran into the same issue and finally had to replace it with a geniune. All the generic adapters I've used got noticeably hotter than what they replaced.

Bottom line, from now on i'll be sticking with genuine adapters. Back in college, I tried to save a buck here and there, but now I depend on my laptop for work way too much and the price difference just isn't enough to be worth the potential risk/hassle.

 

Funny; sounds like you are describing OEM power adapters.

 

Trottel, no doubt that OEM adaptors are prone to failure too - the difference is that when they fail, they don't normally take the notebook and their surroundings down with them.

 

have either of you actually opened a few of them up? lol there is no way you can actually know the quality until you check it out.

Im currently using a 130w 19.5v Dell adapter with my sager that is supposed to have 20v. I soldered a new plug onto the end.

I also have 2 120w universal chargers. They come with adapter tips for plenty of laptop brands. 1 of them has adjustable voltage from 15-24 and has .5v increments from 18-20v. The other just has 15-25 or something, the say that 19v is the same as 19.5v (which I believe frankly) it has a USB power port and a fan to cool it on the inside.
The quality seems pretty decent to me. The one with the fan definitely wont get hot.

The chance of an adapter frying your laptop? Probably about the same as a static shock frying your laptop.

Now if anyone still needs something like that to worry about - never use wired ethernet. houses? HAVE fuse boxes. telephone and cable lines.....? not so much.

 

Yes, I have cracked em open. I saw one essentially packed with glue to prevent coil whine, preventing it from cooling off properly, and another that corroded on the inside even though it was supposedly sealed - easy enough to fix. Only reason I did was because the glued up one was swelling and the corroded one couldn't output constant voltage.

Generally speaking, power supplies are most efficient and stable outputting 30-70% of their max capacity. Too low and you're inefficient, a ton of power gets wasted as heat. Too high and you get unstable, generating massive heat and current fluctuations. Universal chargers, esp those with variable voltages, tips, and and current, have somewhat beefier max capacity and are stable enough for general. Cheap chargers designed for a single load tend to be made with components that are running at 80-90% of capacity when at that load, heating as time goes on and ultimately becoming unstable and failing. Note - OEM chargers can easily fall into this latter category, but quality is generally on the upswing for the big players.

As far as ethernet, cable, and phone lines go, to get covered by a surge protector mfg's warranty/insurance every connection point has to pass through the surge protector/UPS. I've had claims denied/granted solely on the basis of whether the data jacks on the ups were used or not.

*edit*
oh, and avoid power cables that lack ferrite beads like the plague. Hell, any data cables as well. RF interference is annoying as hell to deal with without one.

 

Are there anyone that have some experiences with Nilox products other than Cooler Master (That seems to have an efficiency of 90%) ?

 

I've purchased at least... dozens ebay adapters typically costing about $8~... No returned customers after 2 years complaining about the adapters.. I am thinking anywhere from 60-80 adapters..
I have noticed these few things about the adapters:
1. The fit to the laptop's DC power input jack is typically good/solid.
2. The cables feel very cheap, but are not so cheap feeling that they may just begin to wither away from months of use.
3. The adapters are typically lighter in weight compared to OEM. Other times they're identical weight.
4. We have not had one of those replacement AC adapters fail on one of our customers... Yet. -knocks on wood-
5. As far as warm to the touch, we've had some run incredibly cool, where it's like room temperature with no heating. While others run very warm. We have not had "hot" adapters yet from ebay. However we have had plenty of OEM adapters that were ridiculously hot.

Meanwhile we've had equal dozens of oem power adapters fail on our customers. Thus obviously requiring replacements.

I will open up this gateway m-6862 adapter that just failed on me (wire bent caused some wires on the inside to touch/short circuit). Then I will order 1x-2x from ebay and check them out way later this month..
*Currently using a universal laptop adapter rated for 100w.

See Thread here.

 

Can You suggest me some adapters that can be used by my notebook without problems ?
I need it's not too weight and possibly average cool.

thks

 

If you want an OEM:
HP Smart 90-watt AC adapter: $79.99
HP - Smart 90-Watt AC Adapter for Select HP and Compaq Laptops - KG298AA#ABA
HP Genuinne Compaq 65w Power Adapter: $18.09
Original HP COMPAQ 6510b 6515b 6710b AC Power Adapter - eBay (item 220665365145 end time Sep-12-10 22:38:41 PDT)


If you want universal: Targus is pretty decent, although some models are horribly defective and all models are horribly expensive.
I use a brand called Aasiya for my universal power supply.

If you want cheap, go to ebay. Looking for a good seller with good ratings. Typically 99.9%=good. Anything lower deserves more research. However in here you need to check:
Tip size (Inner/outer/depth sizes):
Outer: 7.4mm
Inner: 5.0mm
Depth: 12mm
Input Voltage for your laptop
18.5v
Amperes
3.5a <- check your laptop to confirm.


Like this guy:
NEW! AC Power Adapter for HP/Compaq 6510B 6910P NW8440 - eBay (item 170444438667 end time Oct-08-10 04:13:34 PDT)

 

That one is not ok for my lappy.
I need 90W (19V and 4.74A)

I'm about to buy a Nilox universal power adapter.
In particular the model is this one (THe efficiency is around 85%):

Nilox - Lettori MP3, Decoder, Mouse e Tastiere, Fotocamere digitali, Navigatori satellitari, Hi-Fi, E-book reader e tanto altro

 

Looks fairly good. Haven't heard of the brand however.
Yeah good thing you checked the back of the laptop for the voltage/amps.
Where did you read it's efficiency?

Also try to find the tip sizes to make sure it will fit on your laptop.

 

I've asked directly these informations to the producer.

 

I've ordered and I'll receive it on monday...

 

I use a Targus 180w and have had great luck with it. I would love to find a addapter that was high power, superior quality, cooling fan, adjustable, compact and lots of power tips for say $200-250. I think there would be a definate market for a HQ addapter of this type.

To me it's a shame to keep placing these high investment systems to the trust of an addapter you would barely be comfortable using as a charger for your car battery. OEM bricks can be just about as bad as the cheap addapters too, so just because it is OEM doesn't mean all that much to me......

 

Targus 180W rocks! I've been using it for nearly a year, it has never failed me. It remains relatively cool even at 100% load of all 8 threads + the GPU (OCed). A truly great purchase, I got it from ebay for $50.

 

And what about Amacrox products ?
This power adapter seems to have an efficiency of 87%

It sounds well.

 

Looks good except it is only 90w. Most higher end gaming laptops will just not be able to use that low an output.............

 

My laptop is a business notebook.
90 w are sufficient.

I'm wondering about wheter exchange the Nilox just bought with this one or not.

 

I have bought several new power adapters for my various laptops over the years. Some have been good, some have been bad. They all work, as long as you verify that your laptop is a supported model with that charger... you can easily check on their website.

Whenever I buy a 3rd party power adapter, I want one that is :

• Lightweight
• Compatible with AC (110V and 220V), Car, and Airplanes.
• Having "other" features like a USB charging port is a big plus.

My most recent power adapter is the Kensington Ultra Compact Wall / Air adapter:





This thing is SMALL and LIGHT. By far, the smallest and lightest power adapter I've used so far. Easily powers my Dell XPS M1330 (65W) and my Alienware M11x (90W), and has a side USB port to charge any USB devices that I have (smartphone, wireless mouse, iPod). So far, so good. I'm a happy customer.