I was stunned to learn a few things about my work issued Dell laptop recently…
First, it’s quite sensitive to the type of power adapter you connect. The initial one I received was not quite strong enough and was actually incapable of charging the battery to the point where the battery would die. I am on my 3rd and 4th batteries now.
Second, I purchased an iGo since I am doing quite a bit of travel and thought it would be nice to consolidate things to a single charging system for land, plane and even car if I want to. The Dell (Latitude D600) laptop was not part of the standard kit of tips since it uses a unique connector. At purchase they did offer a tip for the system, but it clearly came after the thing was developed and the best part is that you CANNOT charge the battery at all. It ONLY offers DC to the system. What the hell is that??? What’s the point of such a thing? If I only wanted to use a system that ran off a power cord, I would have requested a desktop.
I still like the iGo and am hopeful that an eventual upgrade to my system will change this, but until then aigh… Dell what’s up?
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Ah, Just walked into the same crap with my Dell D610 and iGo.
I called iGo customer service to get them to explain what “power only” meant.
When I was told that Dell doesn’t allow iGo to make an adapter that can charge and power I couldn’t believe my ears. What is up with Dell? That is the worst customer service. Why do they want to force us to travel with multiple adapters? Do they really think that the incredible small percentage or users who will not buy a Dell powersupply because they’ll be using iGo will actually make any difference on their bottomline?
I just purchased an IGo adapter at the airport on my way overseas. Well, I wasted my money because the adapter would not charge the battery … inspite of the assurances by the person selling it at the airport. Now I’ve got to go to the trouble of returning it.
Dell forces laptop users to purchase Dell power supplies instead of generic power supplies (i.e. iGo, etc.). They do this by putting electronics into the batteries and power supplies that communicates with the motherboard. If the Dell laptop does not “see” a Dell power supply, it prohibits the charging of the battery.
I love my iGo and would not trade it for the world. The problem, in this instance, is with Dell Computer Corporation.
As someone who is on his 3rd Dell power supply for a D600 Latitude, aand has been saved by my iGo on many occasions, my desire to purchase another Dell laptop has been greatly diminished because of this issue.
Yes of course, I face the same problem, my friend has a dell d600 and nedds a powersupply cause the old ojne is broken. The new one isn’t available within one week and he needs it for work, damn right I do, what made that guy buying a dell notebook? the Adapter has three connections, what does it tell us? a jumper inside? I’ll find it out don´t worry, but I’ll never buy something from Dell, ever!!!!!!!
Just be glad you don’t have a desktop computer. On a number of dell desktops, they switched the wires around and/or changed voltages. So, if you purchased a non-dell power supply, the connector would fit, but if you turned the computer on, it would fry the power supply and maybe even the motherboard.
FYI, the little pin inside the connector from the laptop power supply is what controls the detection feature. Make sure not to break it.
There are adapters available for both desktop ATX connectors and the triangular-20V DC power cord for laptops. Contact me if you want the links (prices: ATX $14.95, 2.1mm female to 3 home triangular shaped Dell computer power, $12.50).
BTW: The lower-right pin on the laptop connector tells the computers (that need it) whether the power supply is 70w or 90w. The pin is missing on the 70w version.