On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:11:57 +0000 (UTC), Meat Plow
wrote:



The 3rd pin on a traditional Dell 19vdc 4500mah is a dummy.

The plot thickens!

I'm using one
on an Asus laptop that had the same requirements.

I'd have to say once I've checked the plug / socket fit, polarity and
current rating I have also done a bit of mix-n-match with no ill
effects (that I know of course).

Only thing you need to
watch is using an underrated PSU as you probably will overtax it.

Daughters old Dell Latitude D520 came to me with a genuine Dell PSU
but possibly the lower rated one of the two (65W V 90W etc?). Wouldn't
these power supplies be current limited to their maximum continuous
rated output so apart from it running hot, shouldn't put them outside
their design parameters?

Wouldn't less current being available at the charger just mean the
laptop takes longer to charge, or not power the laptop and a dock and
an aux battery etc?

Having
more power capacity isn't an issue for obvious reasons.

Indeed and would be my preferred scenario.

I'm also using an
HP 19vdc supply on a Toshiby. All these have similar CPU configurations
and requirements within +- 10%.

Daughters D520 stopped charging the main battery but seems to still
charge the aux battery (in the CD bay) ok.

So, I picked up another battery that seems to power the thing ok but
still isn't charging, presumably pointing to the charger or charging
circuitry in the laptop itself (that charger was supporting both
batteries for a year or so).

I have ordered a Targus universal (90W) charger in any case (for
general use) so can use that to see if it's the charger at least (data
pins permitting etc). ;-(

Cheers, T i m