Chosen Solution
I picked up a no webcam Latitude E6220 (gov’t surplus) for a really agreeable price, but I do not get a hard drive, caddy or interposer since it was government surplus. As such, I also do not get a power adapter, but it was tested to boot so I know the laptop is ready to go once I get a drive and caddy/interposer. It came with the backlit keyboard from the factory so no need to upgrade that :-) The catch is I do not own a Dell 90W adapter, which is the officially supported maximum adapter Dell sells for it. The adapter I have available that’s the least wasteful is a 130W 0VJCH5 (reliable revision) from my old E6540 with GPU issues - I have a 180W 0WW4XY I got as a depot error (and was allowed to keep it, which I have in my eMails in writing) but I am saving that one for a more appropriate system. It isn’t very portable and nearly dwarfs the 6220 itself since the adapter is 7” long and the laptop is 12”… Not a good travel adapter. Can I use the 130W adapter temporarily until I get a 90W adapter or will it fry the system board? You can get away with 65->90 (+25W) comfortably, but 90->130 (+40) is quite a jump.
Hi Nick! Yes it should work. Sometimes I use a docking station power adapter on the laptop it’s self. The original adapter is 90 Watt, the docking station adapter is also 130 Watt. The most important thing is, the voltage. If the voltage is higher then it should get you could fry something. Not if it’s a very tiny difference 19V - 19,5V, but still I don’t recommend to use it. If it’s a huge difference in voltage, you’ll fry something for sure… At my case, the voltage is equal of the original adapter, so it should be good (also a Dell laptop).
Hi @nick , FYI with power output figures they never change the supply voltage as all the components are designed to work at the specified voltage. What does change is the current being supplied. Power equals voltage times current (P=E x I). The higher output power adapter regulates its’ current output , whilst maintaining the correct voltage output, to match the demands of the laptop at any given point in time e.g high cpu usage fan rpm increases more current required which will be supplied by the charger, when cpu usage decreases and fan throttles back current supply is reduced The adapter will only supply what the laptop wants at the time, not any more. This includes keeping the battery charged. For example a higher output power charger can supply a high demand load and keep the battery charged where a lower output power charger may only be able to supply the high demand load and the battery may be only being maintained at its present state of charge or it may even be discharging helping to supply the load. It may depend on how power distribution is configured in the power management of the laptop.
