Well glad to hear it. I was only reporting what I found on Google. I only know about it as a result of a new article I read the day before about the Dell power supply.
Since it's all propagandist BS, I'm sure the other related problem(s) are too. But you can google it yourself if interested (dell laptop power cord failure). I only reported what I've read and didn't take a stand one way or the other. I have nothing against Dell.
I just made a statement to "be careful" to a fellow luggite searching for a new machine. Since new machines are a considerable investment it pays to do one's homework and get the best one can for the expense.
Jack
--- On Wed, 4/20/11, Billy Crook billycrook@gmail.com wrote:
From: Billy Crook billycrook@gmail.com Subject: Re: Buying a New Laptop To: "Kclug" kclug@kclug.org Cc: "Jack" quiet_celt@yahoo.com Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 4:15 AM The pin does not "identify the cord as genuine Dell". That is propagandist bullshit, but who is surprised? The pin allows the power adapter to communicate with the laptop and convey its maximum supported load. Many Dell laptops, mine included, are capable of demanding an extraordinary amount of electricity under heavy use while recharging a battery. They also have a 'speed charging' thing that draws significantly more power to allow you to recharge batteries faster.
My power brick's max output is 250 watts, and I can recharge a 2.5 hr runtime battery in 15 minutes. While loading down four cores, and saturating 16GB of ram and two sata drives worth of disk IO.
Wow! Does it cook breakfast at the same time too?