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Standardize Power Cables for Laptops By badblood,  Aug 27, 2007

Nothing is more annoying than laptop power cables that are not interchangeable from one computer model to another or from one brand of computer to another. Power cables have been standardized on most electrical applicances, including desktop computers for decades.

Make an effort to promote and implement standard power cables for laptops.

DELL/ Status Update

Please see dawn_l's comments below.
badblood40630.0
  Mon Aug 27 18:15:59 GMT 2007
Comments: 140
Categories: Accessories (Keyboards, etc.)  Laptops  
Status:Under Review


MERGED IDEAS

Laptop power
By kaquzas, 7 Oct 2008 7:28 AM Tue Oct 07 14:28:49 GMT 2008
Comments: 5
standardise notebook power cables
By pherborn, 8 Jun 2009 5:54 PM Tue Jun 09 00:54:50 GMT 2009
Comments: 0
Power supply for systems
By miheer, 4 Aug 2009 1:16 AM Tue Aug 04 08:16:11 GMT 2009
Comments: 1

Comments

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By amri64  Aug 27, 2007
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Agree. The computer, albeit multifunctional, is just another electrical appliance. I'm all for standardizing.
By sophins  Aug 28, 2007
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Most laptops and batteries use different power rating. You can't just plug a 24v cord to a 19v power laptop.
By amri64  Aug 28, 2007
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This idea can go hand-in-hand with another (elsewhere in the labyrinth of Dell IdeaStorm) i.e. standard batteries (perhaps off-the-shelf, even)
By grinser  Aug 29, 2007
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at least use magnetic power connectors like apple does!
By limulus  Aug 29, 2007
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sophins: Dell could standardize on a particular voltage for future computers or create standard plugs for specific voltages (e.g. a standardized rounded plug for 19V and a standardized square plug for 24V). No one is asking for reverse-compatibility. The engineers are the ones best suited to figure out the technical aspect of this sort of thing; getting the other major OEMs onboard would be good too. Everyone remember the bad-old-days before USB? I vote to promote this idea! :)
By badblood  Aug 29, 2007
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thank you limulus outstanding response!
By james_g  Aug 29, 2007
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As far as standardized ac ports, we design them to be unique to Dell for a couple reasons: 1. We want to sell them so we make the money, not a 3rd party 2. Safety (see reason below in the batteries) 3. Because we want only the exact amount of power going to the system as what should be regulated between our motherbooard and our AC adapter, some systems are very sensitive to irregularities in voltage and if a customer calls us with a fried board because they used a 3rd party AC adapter we have to tell them they're out of luck as the problem was caused by non dell standardized parts As far as standardized batteries goes, check out the incidents where people's laptops caught on fire. With the exception of one, the customer had bought a 3rd party battery instead of one from Dell directly and it caused an overheat/spark which set the system ablaze. The one that was a Dell battery had something else wrong with it and it should have been serviced long before the event occured to prevent the fire. James Gray Dell Resolution Expert Center
By badblood  Aug 30, 2007
Comment Link   
Hi James, To your points 1) Dell would still sell/manufacture/distribute standardized cables. So you would still make money. 2) Safety is not Dell's middle name - case of exploding computers. Anyway safety of such products are governed by the State not Dell 3) The problem with most of the cables is not the voltage which on almost all is the same, it is that the plugs simply are not interchangeable. So you could have two adapters with the exact same specs and you can't use them. There is nothing especially unique about Dell cables except that you can't use them on other computers. Ditto for all the other manufacturers. Anyway it's all pretty moot. There is nothing more than greed that prevents Dell from making this so..... Badblood Dell Ideastorm Expert Volunteer
By grinser  Aug 30, 2007
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@badblood: to be fair, not only dell has this policy...
By badblood  Aug 30, 2007
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You are absolutely correct grinser, but only Dell has Ideastorm in which to give them ideas.
By james_g  Aug 30, 2007
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LOL, I actually work for Dell so I have to add that. The admins might have something to say about you adding that to your name. James Gray Dell Resolution Expert Center
By badblood  Aug 31, 2007
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I want a union card. Do you have unions in Dell?
By grinser  Aug 31, 2007
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@james: we are in the internet - anyone can write anything under their names... but its great to see dell people here talking to us - now they only have to put the ideas into reality :P
By peyre  Sep 6, 2007
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Merged Idea

It would be helpful if Dell would, as much as possible, standardize the power supplies for its laptops--so you could use one supply with many different models. If my wife and I had Dell laptops of different versions, and one of us left a power supply at home, we could swap back and forth while on the road, and use both computers simultaneously. Similarly, if my old laptop dies and I ordered a new one, I'd now have a backup power supply.
By dell_admin1  Sep 6, 2007
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Changed status to **UNDER REVIEW**.
By jdelidc  Sep 6, 2007
By sophins  Sep 8, 2007
Comment Link   
I think dell can design a power supply that is standard to dell but would also work with all dell laptop using a type of id system for the power supply. ex. if the power supply detect like a 100 ohm on the signal line it would give out 19v if it detect 1k resistor it would give out 24v. So, I think dell can make this work. I don't know how to change my choice to promote. I would like to promote this.
By sophins  Sep 8, 2007
Comment Link   
Also, it would be nice to have a quick connect like mac power mag. Especially, small laptop(ex. XPS M1330) make wife always trip over my laptop power cord and my laptop would fly off the table.
By madie  Sep 12, 2007
Comment Link   
IMHO standards are always good, and having a laptop power supply standards body similar to USB-IF would be great. As far as making money is concerned, I would think that by promoting a standards body Dell would gain some invaluable publicity. BTW I also like the magnetic power connectors used by apple.
By slateslate  Sep 18, 2007
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So I received a new Vostro 1400....accepts both the PA-10 and PA-12. Thanks Dell. Happy that Dell didn't decide to use a PA-14 for the Vostro. Cheers.

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