Dell power adapter

[ASB]

Ah, I managed to scour AA.com and found they use cigarette style power outputs. And they even tell me which seats have power... so I changed my seat accordingly!

I see there are a lot of "universal laptop adapters" out there which let you plug into a cigarette lighter... you can select your output voltage and they come with a load of different plugs. But they vary from £14 - £140 and no doubt the size and weight are widely varying. So, has anyone got any recommendation for a decent one?

I bought European and US power leads from dell for my inspiron. Cost about 6 quid each.

Outlet configuration can cause difficulties. I have yet to find any US or EU adapter which is satisfactory when plugged into an extension lead with only one spare outlet - mainly due to the width of a UK plug.

[d000hg]

Ah, I managed to scour AA.com and found they use cigarette style power outputs. And they even tell me which seats have power... so I changed my seat accordingly!

I see there are a lot of "universal laptop adapters" out there which let you plug into a cigarette lighter... you can select your output voltage and they come with a load of different plugs. But they vary from £14 - £140 and no doubt the size and weight are widely varying. So, has anyone got any recommendation for a decent one?

[d000hg]

I'm actually flying American Airlines. So I guess the options are:

1)US mains power at 110V
2)Cigarette lighter socket.
3)The fancy version of 2), the name I forget. ECemp or something...

Obviously it's a big difference between 1 & 2, what I need to get to support it.

[Moscow Mule]

Does anyone know what kind of power sockets they have in planes? Is it 110V US-style, or 240V Europe style or what?

Which carrier? Which plane.

It'll more than likely be "European" as they are the most common.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a proper power socket in an airline seat - they normally have one of those poxy little adaptors.

BUT checking BA.com it seems they have started introducing 110V AC

[Sockpuppet]

Does anyone know what kind of power sockets they have in planes? Is it 110V US-style, or 240V Europe style or what?

Which carrier? Which plane.

It'll more than likely be "European" as they are the most common.

[d000hg]

Does anyone know what kind of power sockets they have in planes? Is it 110V US-style, or 240V Europe style or what?

[r0bly0ns]

Damn, didn't think of Ebay......

[noob]

Seriously, just us a US/UK adapter socket. They cost 2 or 3 quid and are all you'll need. They don't add much bulk as you can leave the 3-pin plug connected to it while travelling. I used to work for Dell & that's all I used when travelling to the US.

You could get Dell's travel PSU which has interchangeable power plugs & includes a car/airline adapter but it's rather expensive.

Noob.

PS, how many more blimmin messages do I have to make before I stop being moderated? <mod note>Another 20 for complaining ;o)</mod note>

[Clippy]

Ah, that makes sense. I guess I'd ideally like a separate lead with a US plug which plugs into my existing adapter, to save on bulk - but I don't know if such a thing can be bought easily in the UK.

Looks like this is what you are after.

You need to check whether this is the right connector for a Vostro though as Dell may have changed the style when they launched the range.

[r0bly0ns]

Ah, that makes sense. I guess I'd ideally like a separate lead with a US plug which plugs into my existing adapter, to save on bulk - but I don't know if such a thing can be bought easily in the UK.

We did look into these for the Acer's as the travel adapters didn't have a ground and the acer power adapter takes one.

However acer UK didn't sell them and to order one from the states was going to cost upwards of 50 quid and take a month to ship over...

When we got to the states we went into a computer shop and spoke to a techie, he recomended not bothering as even though the Acer power adapter had a ground, it probabally didn't use it..........

So we stuck with the tesco travel adapters for 2 weeks with no problems.

[d000hg]

Ah, that makes sense. I guess I'd ideally like a separate lead with a US plug which plugs into my existing adapter, to save on bulk - but I don't know if such a thing can be bought easily in the UK.

[miffy]

Laptop power supplies will typically run off any mains voltage between 110-240v @ 50 or 60hz.

All you'll need is an travel adapter/convertor for the 3 pin uk plug on the end of the supply input lead. You can get these on the high street. I bought one from an argos outlet linky

Never used my lappie on a plane, so can't comment on that.

For running off 12v in a car you'll need to buy a seperate power supply. If you can't find one you can use an "inverter" to convert the cars 12v into a mains voltage which the regular PSU can run with.

[r0bly0ns]

The power adapter should have a something on it detailing what currency range it can handle, especially if it was bought in the UK.


One of our clients has offices in the states and the UK, and they exclusively use Dell laptops, none of the consultants who flit between countries have any 'special' adaptors, just the bog standard travel adapters you can pick up in Tescos.

When we went over to the states we just used the same travel adapters with no problems, however our laptops are Acer and not Dell.....

[d000hg]

I bought a Vostro 1000 recently and since I'm in the UK, it came with a UK-style 240V adapter.
I'm taking a trip to the US so I need a way to run it off 110V... but I'm confused by Dell's website. I can't tell from the descriptions which products are suitable for what. Ideally I'd like to be able to use my laptop in the UK, US and in a car/plane but I don't want to carry a big bag of cables around! How do the adapters work - mine at the moment is in 2 parts, the lead which plugs into the mains and a big lump with the adapter. I've no idea if the adapter is compatible with other voltages if I had a lead... or what parts each Dell product actually comes with.

Anyone got any tips?