Can I use an XPS 13 power adapter with an XPS 15 9530?

I have an XPS 15 9530 with its 130W PSU. The problem is that planes typically don't permit PSUs > 90W so the PSU doesn't work, so I'm looking to buy an alternative that is 90W or below.

The XPS 13 comes with a 45W PSU with a tip the same size. Both PSUs provide an output voltage of the same 19.5V. But obviously the 45W PSU provides less than a third of the current.

Has anyone tried using the XPS 13 PSU with the XPS 15? I appreciate that there would be some severe throttling with intensive use. However, I don't push this machine hard, and when on battery, it rarely drains more than 20W. Even if the 45W PSU doesn't charge the machine but just stops the battery from draining, that's all I need to get through the flight.

The other option is I buy an 90W PSU for the old XPS 15 (which has the larger tip) and a tip adapter, but I would prefer the lighter 45W PSU, as it would be ideal in hand-luggage for long flights.

Grateful to hear from anyone who has both the XPS 15 and 13.

Thanks!

 

You should be able to use the smaller PSU, but buy from a seller you can return to, just in case.

Expect severe throttling when plugged in - I would recommend using it on battery, and then charging while shut down.

 

If you can check whether the CPU defaults to lowest clocks when the adapter is in use, let us know how it turns out. I'd expect it to work with some things disabled since it shares most of the hardware with the Precision M3800 and Precisions usually turn off certain things like battery charging and/or throttle the CPU and GPU depending on which power adapter is plugged in.

 

Many thanks. It sounds like that I will need to experiment. I was hoping someone had already tried !

 

It probably won't work. The XPS 15 will probably throw out a message saying that the power adapter isn't designed for that laptop, and won't work.

For 45W, I don't even think that it will work as a trickle charge. That's just way too far off from the rated power adapter that the XPS 15 expects to use.

 

tl;dr: The original XPS 13 Infinity adapter will power your XPS 15 9530. It will not charge your XPS 15 9530 at all. Depending on power settings you may lose 1-2% of battery capacity a day. But it does work.

Hi there. I unfortunately had to test this possibility out in the last 48 hours, because I grabbed a big adapter as well as my XPS13 adapter (0CDF57) for a weeklong trip... and when I took the big adapter out of the bag, I found it was the 90W charger (06C3W2) with the larger connector, and I hadn't brought my converter cable.

So I plugged in my XPS 13 Infinity adapter, the little 45W with the swing-out power plug. I got the Windows warning that "battery may not charge" and performance may be scaled back, and both were true. However, having spent about 10 hours on the laptop in power saving profile (running Powerpoint, Chrome, some Flash games on Facebook, etc), I'm still really close to where I was when I realized I should plug in.

The 45W adapter will not charge the XPS 15 9530, even when the laptop is shut down.

As an aside, I also have the Dell Power Companion (PW7015M) 12000mAh battery. It registers to the XPS 15 9530 as a 45W adapter too, either solo or with either adapter (45W XPS13 or 90W) plugged in behind it. So it will probably extend your runtime but will not charge up the laptop.

I was trying to find a way to coerce the battery to charge, even while off, but not finding much luck there. Not entirely surprised.

I'm going to try the 90W with the connector converter later this week, will try to check back in with an update.

I'll also throw out there that the M6500 (210W?) adapter with the cable converter works great with the XPS 15 9530. I have a couple of M6500 and M4600 laptops with the power adapters that weigh more than the XPS 13, and sometimes their power adapters are convenient.

Hope this helps.

 

^ Many thanks, that's just the info I needed! Shame it doesn't charge, but that's all I need to get me through a flight.

Interested to hear whether, as you suspect, the power companion also cannot charge the machine, even when off.

I've heard reports of people being able to charge their machines with an old 90W adapter and converter with the M3800/XPS 15, so I would expect that will work.

 

So I have good news... the 90W I mentioned above *does* charge with this adapter/connector converter. Windows 8.1 pops up a similar "performance may suffer and your battery will not charge" but the power meter on the system tray says "plugged in, charging." I ran the battery down to about 85% and plugged in the 90W with adapter, and it seems to be gaining 1% every 3-5 minutes or so while using the "power saver" profile. This seems slower than I recall the larger adapters doing (I know, duh. ) but it's much better than not charging at all.

To follow up on another item I mentioned, the power companion does not seem to charge the XPS15 at all; it's a subsistence function at best. And I noticed since my previous note here that I was losing 1-2% a day if I didn't have a valid-wattage charger available. This will likely vary depending on screen brightness, power profile, java/flash fun, etc... the usual culprits.

 

I have an XPS 15 9530 with its 130W PSU. The problem is that planes typically don't permit PSUs > 90W so the PSU doesn't work, so I'm looking to buy an alternative that is 90W or below.

The XPS 13 comes with a 45W PSU with a tip the same size. Both PSUs provide an output voltage of the same 19.5V. But obviously the 45W PSU provides less than a third of the current.

Has anyone tried using the XPS 13 PSU with the XPS 15? I appreciate that there would be some severe throttling with intensive use. However, I don't push this machine hard, and when on battery, it rarely drains more than 20W. Even if the 45W PSU doesn't charge the machine but just stops the battery from draining, that's all I need to get through the flight.

The other option is I buy an 90W PSU for the old XPS 15 (which has the larger tip) and a tip adapter, but I would prefer the lighter 45W PSU, as it would be ideal in hand-luggage for long flights.

Grateful to hear from anyone who has both the XPS 15 and 13.

Thanks!


So glad someone finally brought this up! Why in the world would Dell sell us the 130W adapter without mentioning that it won't work on airplanes? So frustrating. This would never happen at Apple. I've tried to order a 90W adapter now FOUR times from Dell and they keep sending me either a 130W one or a 90W versions with a computer plug that's too large for my XPS 15.

 

To be honest, I don't think Dell currently make a 90W PSU with the reduced tip size. I think their 90W adapters are for their machines that still use the older larger size. You can buy an adapter from Dell (which was included with the M3800):
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn...e_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=0&~ck=baynoteSearch
But it's a bit expensive.

I see you can get the 65W PSU for the XPS 18 which I think has the same tip size but, like the 45W, it may not charge the XPS15. The safest bet is, like gallifreyan describes, getting a 90W PSU and an adapter.

 

I had the same issue. Dell was useless, but after having them send me SIX different adapters, I found the one that worked. Buy a Dell power adapter that's 65W (planes don't permit you to pull more than 75W) and then get a dongle to convert the plug from the old style to the new style. That'll work. Why Dell wouldn't have thought of the fact that people like to work on planes when they shipped us all a 130W adapter is beyond me. This would never be an issue with Apple.

 

Rrrrrright - Apple would just ship the laptop with an adapter unable to supply enough juice for the CPU and GPU to both be loaded at once - resulting in battery draw while plugged in. Way better.

 

Actually, I found a lot of information on the thread for the M3800:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...00-owners-review.735359/page-316#post-9782601

I'm surprised you got it working with a 65W PSU. I bought the XPS18 65W PSU, and while it stops it from discharging, it doesn't charge even if the notebook is off.

The summary seems to be:
90W Dell PSU: throttles at 800MHz. Doesn't charge when PC on, but stops it discharging. Charges when off.
65W Dell PSU: throttles at 800MHz. Doesn't charge when PC on nor off, but stops it discharging.

However, the throttling at 800MHz can be stopped using the aptly named: Throttlestop. You just need to run throttlestop, turn off "BD PROCHOT" and then quit the application. That will work until you turn it off/reboot. More info in the above thread. As they say, you can do some dangerous things with Throttlestop, so use at your own risk!

 

On the german DELL Website it says, that the 45W charger is also compatible with the XPS 9550. I hope they wouldn't put that up there if the adapter couldn't charge the powered off Laptop.
I have one coming in today or tomorrow so I'll test it and report back.

 

Interested to hear the outcome.

Dell's website says that the power companion is meant to be compatible with the XPS 15:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dfo&sku=451-bblz

I've seen reports that it's the same effect: XPS does not lose charge but does not charge when the companion is plugged in:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dell-power-companion.769889/

However, a review website indicates it does charge the 9550 XPS:
http://www.winbeta.org/news/review-dell-xps-15-the-premium-windows-10-laptop

So, perhaps the XPS 9550 is more flexible in terms of permitting lower-powered chargers than the earlier XPS 9530 .

 

Maybe they changed something with the Bios updates?

 

I just received the 45 Watt charger. When I plug it in a window pops up saying that the adapter doesn't have enough power and will charge the battery only if the power output is higher than the consumption of the laptop. So I guess it should be able to charge it while I'm using it. I'll run down the battery a bit and plug it in again and see what happens.

Edit: It does charge the laptop while I am using it in energy saving mode, which is all I really need it to do.

 

That's great news. i could try that on my XPS 15 9530, but I'm pretty sure it won't work.

 

You'll probably need to check the input/output. It may be compatible but it could charge really slow because it's a different charger.