Replacing an old laptop cord

I had thought maybe I could keep my 2007 Dell Latitude for quite a while, because I might need it to run programs in Windows XP. Then my laptop cord died. The light stopped turning on and it no longer charged my laptop. The cord was no longer available on DELL's website and other cords online in the same model seemed to be chinese knock offs that died in a short while or didn't work at all.

The cord I bought from DELL cost me a pretty penny, but I thought I was doing the right thing. They're both 65 watts. I checked all of the other stuff on the cords too, like the numbers in the input and output being the same, despite not understanding them all. But using the cord, the area where my battery got really hot. I noticed the cord started charging the laptop to 100% very quickly. Then I started getting two "battery dying" flashing lights followed by two "battery charging" flashing lights so I unplugged the laptop. It hasn't left 100% since, but it's giving me "your battery needs to be replaced" warnings (as opposed to the perpetual "it's dying" warnings it used to).

It seems like the new cord is sure to kill my laptop, but I need it to last at least a month before I can afford to purchase a new one.

What do you think? How can two cords be supposedly the same thing, but then not at the same time?

Well if the PSU output voltage and amps are the same as the original it should work just fine.

Btw if you need batteries and/or adaptors for laptops I recommend this website: http://www.drbattery.com/default.aspx

Get an iGo or something similar. The nice thing about that is that you can use it for any laptop as needed.

Any laptop charger with the same tip should work, they are all 18.5V.

Well if the PSU output voltage and amps are the same as the original it should work just fine.

Btw if you need batteries and/or adaptors for laptops I recommend this website: http://www.drbattery.com/default.aspx

Tezcatlipoca666

It seems like they should be the same, but it doesn't appear to be working correctly.

I looked up my laptop on the website you gave me. The cords list as 65W/90W. Isn't that weird? My cord doesn't say 90W anywhere on it. But it does look like my cord.

Anyways, it's cheaper than the one DELL gave me so I can probably make up for the cost of the 1 day shipping I paid for (that took like 5 days), if I buy it from this website.

Get an iGo or something similar. The nice thing about that is that you can use it for any laptop as needed.

Any laptop charger with the same tip should work, they are all 18.5V.

Jacobistheman

My cord is 19.5V. :?

[QUOTE="Jacobistheman"]

Get an iGo or something similar. The nice thing about that is that you can use it for any laptop as needed.

Any laptop charger with the same tip should work, they are all 18.5V.

hakanakumono

My cord is 19.5V. :?

As someone that has been servicing Latitudes for the past 5 years, I can tell you that what you're seeing is normal. Its not the power cord, it is in fact the battery at the end of its useful life. Laptop batteries have a limited number of charges in their life cycle. Some last longer than others, and you won't see me arguing that Dell's aren't sometimes criminally short.

Pop the battery out - I imagine you'll find that the power adapter you bought still powers the laptop fine, you are just going to need it always until you buy a replacement battery.