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570

Warn Buyers Dell Laptops Must Use Dell Charger

570 points posted to Service and Support, Laptop Power by gear Jun 9

Dell laptops use a charger that has a built in "chip".

If you try to use a non-Dell Charger, it will only power the machine, but will not charge the battery.

So if you are traveling and lose your adapter or it failed, you have to get one from DELL.

The only problem is, DELL typically take days to weeks to ship a new adapter to you if you are in the USA, and if you are outside, much longer if it is available at all.

So a bad / lost Adapter means your DELL Laptop just became a paperweight. One too expensive to be thrown out.

The only non-Dell adapter that works is the Kensington brand adapter, but that is only distributed at Circuit City in the US, and even these ones may not come with the "tip" needed to work with a DELL.

DELL is the only major manufacturer to actively prevent people from using non-Dell adapters in their notebooks.

Apparently DELL hasn't figured out that people travel and may not be able to wait in one place for a while for a spare adapter to be sent to them from DELL.

Want some real fun? Try to get a spare Dell adapter in a mid sized city in China....

m931a2
Jun 25		 My Dell D620 ATG works just fine with my Duracell Power Adapter. It it 130W aprox so it will work with any Dell laptop and has a travel option built into it for cars and planes. (Not that I've ever seen a plane adapter.)
gear
Jun 27		 Duracell is an OEM brand only sold at DELL and Toshiba that is similar to the Kensington Chargers that work with DELL sold at Circuit City.

They are both imported / OEMed by Comarco, Inc. http://www.comarco.com/chargesource/index.jsp

However, these products are poorly distributed --- no distributors at all in Asia, Africa, and spotty distribution in Europe.

You are forced to go back to Dell.
 
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