Use 130w Charger on 90w Laptop?

Hi guys, first post here I have lurked a while but now I got a question for you folks. I have a Dell Latitude E6400 which uses Dell's 90w Charger PA-10 which is a 90w 4.62A and 19.5V.

I have been looking for a second power supply, but before I drop the money on a new one. I also have an old Inspiron which uses a the 130w Dell Charger, it is a 6.7A power supply, and the same 19.5V as my Latitude Charger.

Could I use this charger with my Latitude without causing damage? I am just a little concerned about the Amperage being higher than my current charger.

 

If the input plug is the same, no problem
The laptop will only draw as many amps as it needs to run and charge the battery
You will be fine with the larger capacity charger

 

Yes, a higher current rating is no problem provided the voltage is the same and the power tip fits (and the E series is compatible with the previous generation of Latitudes - I don't know about the Inspirons). For example, E6400 came with a 90W PSU but, in reality, it also works fine with the 65W auto/air/AC adaptor.

John

 

In general you should be fine using higher rated chargers with less power using notebooks. If you use a lower rated one, you may or not have enough power to run the notebook, and it may not turn on at all or shut down when put under load.

And John, I wish my E6400 could work with that 65W PSU. But with my processor now taking 44W, 65% of that, things would get pretty ugly...

 

Ah! The joys of having the Intel GPU (and several months of waiting). In your case the BIOS will see the nVidia GPU and throttle the CPU when it detects the 65W PSU.

John