Heads up on those 'universal' laptop power adapters

Bought a cheap one for a client's older Dell, cost me $25 and two hours of my time before it fried the charging circuit. The voltage was off just enough to cause a slow, expensive failure. Anyone have a reliable supplier for genuine, older power bricks?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_foster531mo ago

Seen this happen a few times but it's pretty rare. Most of those universal adapters are fine if you set the voltage right. You probably just got a bad unit or the laptop already had a weak spot. I'd still check eBay for old Dell bricks before paying for a new official one.

mary8361mo ago

Honestly used to grab those cheap universal adapters all the time thinking they were a smart deal. After my buddy's laptop got fried by one that was supposedly set right, I totally changed my tune. It just isn't worth the risk when a used official charger is so easy to find. That little extra cost saves a huge headache later!