Odd question

[devianttouch]

Does anyone have a laptop with a power cord that would be compatible with my Dell Inspiron laptop? It's a few years old, and I'm having power issues. I would like to borrow someone's cord for a few minutes to see if the problem IS the cord (in which case I will buy a new one) or if your cord doesn't work for me then the issue is obviously in the

Comments

[nyxx_j]

Laptop cords are not all the same and even all dell cords or all inspiron cords are the same because different models have difference power requirements. I don't happen to have any dell power cords around, but what is the model of your inspiron?

[quincidence]

agreed, the power need. The power supply required should be on the laptop base(bottom) that should help you find someone with the right sized brick.

Sorry, if I weren't so far away, I would loan you mine.

[lazarus31415]

More information is needed.

What exact model is the computer?

What is the Wattage of the power block?

What is the output voltage?

What is the output amps?

A picture of the input jack of the adapter would be helpful.

The power block data is found on the power block.

[alias_treefrog]

Most dell power supplies fall into "families"
Pa-6 family etc. and as everyone else has said, the voltage/current requirements are on the bottom of the laptop.
I have found e-bay to be both a blessing and a curse for laptop power supplies.
if they offer 15 compatible ones and 10 are virtually the same price and have a lifetime guarantee then get one of those vs the really cheap one. I've seen them eat laptops by having cruddy components.

also if you have a voltmeter you can test to see if the voltage output of the power supply matches the rated output (+ 1-3 volts deviation for open circuit is normal)

good luck

[severin]

If your Dell Inspiron is even somewhat new, I'd be willing to bet it takes a PA-10/PA-12 (those two are interchangeable). Another thing you could try is taking out the battery and plugging it in, sometimes a bad battery can fuck with your power stuff. Both power adapters and batteries are considered "consumable parts" which means they're expected to go bad quickly, so it is most likely one of those two things.

Otherwise it's probably your motherboard, in which case it would be cheaper to get a new computer than to get it fixed.

Oh and also! If you can't find anyone who has the right Dell cord, you can try taking it in to a repair place and asking if you can test it with one of their cords-- we let people do that, I'm not sure how many other places do.

[nanimo]

Back in college Best Buy let me do that with my old Inspiron--they even let me fill up a flash drive with the files I needed while it was hooked up to their power cord.

[jasexavier]

I have used my Dell power supply for a friends Inspiron before. Check the label on your power supply. If it says Output: DC 19.5V (exactly) and 4.62A (or less) then it will probably work. There will also be a little symbol with three circles connected in a row by lines. One of the outer circles will have a plus, the other a minus. The center circle will have a dot surrounded by two rings. If the minus is pointing to the outer ring and the plus to the middle ring with nothing pointing to the dot in the center and the voltage and amperage requirements meet you can use my supply.