Dell D-series AC Adapter and E6400?

I looking to buy a new Latitude E-series but I have one worry. During the years with D-series I have built up a "infrastructure" of AC adapters in my home, car and my offices so I dont have to carry around these bricks. My wife and kids use them too since we all have compatible Dells. Very convenient indeed.

Looking at the specs for the E-series adapter it uses the same voltage as the D-series (19.5V) and the power tip looks the same(?). So, can it be so wonderful that the E-series can use the D-series adapter? I don't want to shell out money on 4-5 new adapters...

Sincerely
/Andreas

 

See my E6400 review (link below). It came with a big power brick PA-10 family 19.5V 4.62A.

I think they may still be shipping these older PSUs with the European E series. The website used to say "with cord wrapping" in the description. The E series PSUs are thinner and lighter.

John

 

So.. the answer is yes?!
I can use my old AC adapters on my yet-to-come E6400?

Thank you for the fast reply.

 

I'm 99.9% sure, but haven't tried using a D series PSU in order to reach the 100% mark.

It would be sensible for Dell to maintain backwards compatibility since there are innumerable customers who have a spare PSU which they would like to continue to use. Otherwise people may shift to another brand if they can't re-use old peripherals.

John

 

Yes, it makes sense. However, when Dell went from C-series to D-series they change the PSU (voltage and tip), so I feared that they would do the same again.

 

I remember the old C series PSU tip.

The current power tip is about 8mm diameter on the outside (with a white plastic rim) with a very thin pin inside. There's clearly some intelligence built into the system since my E6400 knows (and complains unnecessarily) when it is connected to the 65W PSU.

John

 

Hello.

I have both the old 90 watt wrap around and the new thin and light model. They both fit my e5500. I am sure the same goes for the e6500 and e6400.

 

I can use the 65watt that came with my I8600 and the huge 90watt that came with my D-Dock just fine with my M2400 (same as a E6400). The 65watt makes the laptop complain, and forces the laptop down to the lowest speed possible. If I turn the laptop off, it charges just fine with the 65watt.

 

I use RMClock to over-ride the throttling with the 65W PSU and get my performance back. However, the charge rate is only about 2.4W when the computer is on, but fine when it is turned off. I hope Dell fix this bug since the new slim 65W PSU is the ideal travelling companion and won't get overloaded by the Intel GPU.

John

 

I've used one of the older 65w Dell PSU's with my E6400, and it worked fine. It didn't charge (or if it did, it was so slow it wasn't noticable). It supposedly throttled the CPU, but I was only surfing at the time and didn't notice it.

Any 90w Dell adapter with the same tip will work fine.

Greg