busted charger: m14xR1

I was playing last night when i heard a pop followed by the scent of burnt stuff then fps drops in SC2(lost the game :|). I checked the charger and noticed that the led near the charging pin didn't light up anymore and the laptop is no longer charging. My laptop seems to work fine aside from the fact that i can't play properly without the charger.

I asked a friend to take it to an alienware service center here. Now i don't know if they'll replace it outright but more importantly i need a charger so I can play games on my gaming computer... My m14 is fairly new, I only started using it this january. I am extremely disappointed by this.

I listed the charger specs that i thought were important.
input:100-240V ~ 2.5A(2.5A) 50-60Hz
output: 19.5v(19.5v) --- 7.7A(7.7A)

I want to know if:
1. I can replace my charger with a charger with simillar specs but a different model?
2. What things/specs should I be looking for If I werre to buy a spare charger
3. What could have caused it to pop? I'm fairly sure that I use it normally and I unplug it whenever I'm not using my laptop.
4. Anyone else experience the same problem with their chargers?

 

Since it's so new, did you consider calling or can you call tech support? They might be/may have been able to either send someone to your house to replace the adapter or overnight you another one. I had a battery die within warranty on a m11x and Dell overnighted me a new one and included packaging/labels to return the dead one back.

If you want another charger as a spare or just cannot wait, I'd suggest looking at another recent thread discussing charger options for the M14x and starting there.

 

I'm from the philippines and it would take a week or two to send in a replacement. :| I also posted in the adapter thread, thanks for notifying me. I want to know if this has happened to anyone else and why.