"Bennett Price" wrote in message
. net...
Am I wrong in thinking that as far as the laptop is concerned, it would
just see an underpowered charger as a dead battery - no harm there.
And don't these chargers have short circuit/overload protection that will
shut them down if the load is too great?


Well speaking from experience- an overloaded switchmode laptop psu can pulse
on-off-on-off or hunt as it fails to maintain a steady regulated output, and
this can cause serious damage to the laptop. Yes, some power supplies may
just shut down safely, but I wouldn't chance it with such an expensive load!

Regardless of all this, it simply isn't good practice to replace the correct
power supply with a lower rated one. Manufacturers are rarely hugely
generous with ratings of PSUs, certainly not by a factor of 100%, and if
they supply a 6A one, it's a good bet there's a compelling reason not to use
a much lower rated one.

Dave