Yesterday my laptop's power supply blewI sent it in for repairs and was told that it would take 10-30 working days!! Yikes! Big question: can I use my wife's power supply in the meantime? My one had an output of 19V 4,72A 90W while hers has an output of 18,5V 3,5A 65W.
Is this do-able?
90 watts is standard so if the plug fits it should work.the amount of volts may be different look at ur power input on ur laptop it should say the voltage. u can also buy universal power supplys for laptops so u dont have to wait.
Are you talking about the external transformer/power supply? Usually if the plugs match and it the same brand it should work.
Yes I am talking about the external power supply/transformer. The plugs match all right but what concerns me is the different outputs of the units - see my first post.
My power supply (the one that blew) was only purchased 1 1/2 months ago so I don't want to go forking out money for a new one just yet.
As the rating of your wife's PSU is lower than your original one - you should be safe at least.
The issue is the current draw on the PSU from the actual laptop when it's in use - I would say that for charging purposes only you should be fine.
As for running the laptop on mains I would be more worried. If the laptop drew more current than the PSU is capable of providing then I could cause damage to the PSU. Over heating would be a potential issue too.
Whilst saying this the ratings are similar and there is normally an allowance in rated capacity so you should be OK
Buy a universal one that is compatible with both laptops and use that till you get yours back and then save the universal so if yours or hers fail you have one.
The main risk you have of using hers is that her power supply can possibly overheat and die when powering your laptop.
There is some slack in the power supply ratings, but like others have said, I wouldn't use your wife's PSU to power the your laptop in normal use. Charging would be fine, but your old one provides over an Amp more current than hers does. Unless your laptop maker uses a common supply for all of its models, including the high end ones that draw lots of power, it probably means that your laptop itself draws significantly more power than hers does.
That will tax her supply heavily, since hers supplies 25 rated Watts less than yours, and it could damage it. 25 Watts is not a small difference in power. It's a substantial difference. As mentioned, I would pick up a universal supply with the same specs as yours and keep it as a spare afterward. You can always use a big supply for a small laptop, but going the other way isn't really a good idea.
Thanks everyone for your replies.
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