Dell Vostro 1510 AC adapter question, 60W or 90W?

Hi all

I'm looking to buy another AC adapter for my vostro 1510, one that can just stay at home plugged into the wall for when im at my desk

The AC adapter that came with the laptop was a 90W PA-10 model adapter

would it make any difference if i bought the 60W version?- again, this charger will only be to have the laptop plugged into a wall outlet at home at my desk



thanks

 

The dell website states that if you are using the 8400m GS graphics card you require a 90w adaptor. I donno why they are stating this as my laptop works fine on a 65 watt adaptor as well (are you referring to 60w or 65w ??). however my recommendation is to go for the 90 watt adaptor as shortage of power will contribute to decreased system performance. (especially if you see the power adapter not recognised startup message)

 

thats what i thought aswell

but on the dell website, they've got the 65w adapter listed as supported for my laptop?

i think i'll shoot dell an email or something to clarify the situation

many thanks for the reply dude

 

Any chance you can upload a picture of your 1510 keyboard? I just want to see it in case they offer it as a replacement for my current 1500. Also what do you think of the 1510?

 

Hi there

I will upload a picture as soon as i get my camera back from my brother

the 1510 i am VERY happy with

i havent had any of the 'build' issues that some people have reported, but nonetheless it is a pretty solid notebook and for the 500quid i spent on it, i got my moneys worth!

if your looking to buy, go through the dell outlet,you can usually get some good deals through there

 

Cheers for your reply. My Vostro 1500 has got the wobbly screen which has taken a while to fix. I also have the headphone noise that seems to be a design flaw but I have not asked Dell to resolve that just yet. Just keep an eye out for any signs of this on your notebook.

The Vostro 1500 like in the review is 100% solid, there is only a little flex in the case around the DVD drive, but I guess that is to be expected.

Overall, besides the wobbly screen which should be fixed, I'm quite happy for the £297 I paid and would prefer to get another Vostro 1500 if I needed a replacement. Just looked at your specs, looks like you have got a top of the range Vostro, I had limited money so went for

1.4GHz C2D, Fujitsu 120GB 5400 HDD, 2GB Memory, Intel intergrated graphics, 15.4 standard screen with Trulife, LG DVDRW, XP Home, 9 cell battery.

Think I got a bit of a bargain, haven't seen offers like this since

 

hey there

well, i actually only paid 502.24 all in all, as i said, this was from the outlet, and speccing that laptop up now comes to well over £700 once you factor in the screen, ram, delivery and vat and all

the main clincher for me was the screen though, i could not find anywhere else a laptop with such a high resolution screen in a 15.4" form factor and not be paying upwards of 700 pounds! this is my main uni laptop too so it helps to be able to have multiple windows open at the same time!

i would reccomend the outlet to anyone, simply because if theres any bargains to be had, thats where they'll be!

how do i upload photos onto this site? never really done it before!

the keyboard itself however in my personal opinion is absolutely rubbish. but saying that, i'm coming from an IBM Thinkpad X22 so thats to be expected!

its a decent keyboard, but i dont really approve of some of the shortcuts, like the volume increase/decrease is just the wrong way around! the right hand side key is for decrease! i've always associated right with more as you'll see if you look at any other controls which have an increase/decrease function but otherwise a decent machine!

 

To answer your original question:

1) Download and install RMClock.
2) Running on battery, load your CPU and GPU (ie with Prime95 and ATITool, respectively).
3) RMClock will estimate your full-load power consumption in the "Battery Info" section.

If this figure is significantly below 65W, you will probably be safe buying a 65W adapter.

 

Not completely correct. There should be headroom for battery recharging, albeit at a reduce rate. If you have the Intel GPU then 65W is enough. If you have the nvidia GPU then 65W is marginal, but would be OK provided you do not try to fully load the CPU / GPU and charge the battery at the same time.

John

 

Ah, you see, that's why I said significantly below 65W. I'm not really sure myself how much headroom you want to leave for battery charging though; in my HP TC4200, there's a puny 45W adapter and the battery simply doesn't charge at all if the power draw goes over like 25-30W.