How much will BitLocker eat my battery? [more inside]
posted by @homer on Aug 31, 2009 - 3 answers

What has caused a sudden failure of my wife's laptop? [more inside]
posted by gene_machine on Mar 23, 2009 - 5 answers

My old laptop blew the motherboard after 3 years of great use (Acer Aspire 5670). I just bought a new laptop (Acer Extensa 5630Z). Can I use the power charger/AC Adapter from my old on my new without doing damage? The new one is rated 19V 3.43A. The old one is 19V 4.4A. (plugs are the same). Long live the hive mind!
posted by bytemover on Dec 20, 2008 - 10 answers

Can I damage my laptop by using a power adapter that has a slightly higher wattage than the original adapter? The original adapter was 65W, and the aftermarket one is 70W. The voltage is switchable. My original adapter had a voltage of 18.5V, this one says that if I need 18.5V, I should choose 18V. Any chance of damaging the computer by using this one? [more inside]
posted by leticia on Nov 13, 2008 - 8 answers

VERY CHEAP laptops with less easily busticated power ports? [more inside]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe on Oct 23, 2008 - 9 answers

What king of laptop adapter/transformer do I need for Buenos Aires? I have a U.S. Apple MacBook Pro with a THREE-pronged grounded cable. [more inside]
posted by cookie googleman on Sep 29, 2008 - 5 answers

Random shot-in-the-dark-question: A laptop brick for a 4-year old Thinkpad on short notice outside of Boston? I just checked into my hotel, realized I forgot my power brick, I have an hour of battery life - help! Thinkpad t41, a fast solution appreciated. Thank you!
posted by swngnmonk on Sep 22, 2008 - 12 answers

Did I fry my laptop? (I was really stupid) [more inside]
posted by yoyo_nyc on Aug 28, 2008 - 4 answers

What is, and what is the purpose of this part of a laptop power adapter? [more inside]
posted by jjbb on Mar 16, 2008 - 6 answers

I would like to power my laptop with the sun. [more inside]
posted by sonicbloom on Feb 10, 2008 - 19 answers

I have a Dell 8600 laptop on which it seems that the power switch has slowly died. Is there any way to save him? [more inside]
posted by merocet on Jan 10, 2008 - 3 answers

I have a laptop with a completely discharged battery, but no power lead. I do have a power lead from my other laptop, but the outputs differ slightly... [more inside]
posted by edbyford on Dec 23, 2007 - 6 answers

How interchangeable are laptop power supplies? [more inside]
posted by JeffL on Dec 20, 2007 - 9 answers

Will an iGo WallPower 120 AC adapter work with a Compaq Presario R3000? [more inside]
posted by thinman on Nov 6, 2007 - 4 answers

Where can I get a replacement Macbook Pro power cord fast? [more inside]
posted by bradbane on Oct 20, 2007 - 9 answers

USB 2.0 PCMCIA cards on a Mac G4 Aluminum Laptop: Does the card brand matter? [more inside]
posted by sdis on Sep 30, 2007 - 0 answers

Friend is going to Brazil for a month with a normal US laptop. Are there any power/ethernet issues we should be aware of? Special adapters we need to purchase so the laptop can charge and connect to the Internet?
posted by jmd82 on Sep 14, 2007 - 3 answers

Is my laptop experiencing organ transplant rejection? [more inside]
posted by casarkos on Jun 1, 2007 - 6 answers

How dangerous is the business end of a Macbook MagSafe laptop power cable to a small child? [more inside]
posted by Caviar on Apr 11, 2007 - 25 answers

My laptop's backlight is acting up. And so is the power button. [more inside]
posted by punishinglemur on Jan 15, 2007 - 6 answers

How can I discover how to keep my laptop's hard drive powered down? Hibernating or standby states are unreliable or very slow to wake up from. [more inside]
posted by SamFrancisco on Dec 3, 2006 - 11 answers

Laptop hardware question: My laptop takes a couple minutes to "warm up" before it will boot... details inside. [more inside]
posted by knave on Nov 4, 2006 - 5 answers

Help me understand/explain anomalous laptop power adapter and/or battery behaviour. Why would it be dead, then fine? Why would the system crash when it should hibernate? [more inside]
posted by tiamat on Oct 27, 2006 - 6 answers

My laptop isn't getting along with it's power supply. I thought it was the power supply, but apparently not. Help please! [more inside]
posted by JonahBlack on Oct 17, 2006 - 11 answers

My laptop has suddenly run into problems... That is, it seems to like turning itself off with no warning whatsoever. [more inside]
posted by vernondalhart on Jul 19, 2006 - 14 answers

Help! It's my father-in-law's birthday and he wants a "power adapter so he can use his laptop on an airplane"... (details inside) [more inside]
posted by gregvr on Jul 17, 2006 - 10 answers

My laptop is mysteriously not turning on. I hit the power button, the fans and lights go on, but then it shuts off within about three seconds. [more inside]
posted by borkingchikapa on May 9, 2006 - 11 answers

used old IBM power adapter on new IBM laptop. The voltage was the same, amperage was lower, but now the machine won't boot with a major Windows 2000 registry error. Am I frying my machine? [more inside]
posted by Parannoyed on Mar 1, 2006 - 8 answers

The power connector to my G4 Powerbook is almost dead. It only charges in one very specific position, and I have to twist it around for a few seconds to find the sweetspot (rotating it in situ). Nothing is loose and nothing is visibly wrong. I tried squeezing the metal sleeve slightly to make it more elliptical in the hope this would create a tighter connection, but it made no difference. [more inside]
posted by unSane on Feb 16, 2006 - 18 answers

WindowsXPFilter: How can I make the power meter icon on my new laptop display the time remaining in addition to the percent of battery power left? [more inside]
posted by richardhay on Jan 28, 2006 - 8 answers

My laptop (due to me always having it in my lap) has quit taking power from my power cord. [more inside]
posted by bamassippi on Jan 24, 2006 - 20 answers

What DC to AC power inverter can I buy for use in a car that won't contribute hum to an audio signal from devices it powers? [more inside]
posted by odinsdream on Nov 15, 2005 - 11 answers

The power cord keeps falling out of my laptop. How can I fix this? [more inside]
posted by painquale on Nov 6, 2005 - 12 answers

Laptop power management. [more inside]
posted by jimmy on Aug 30, 2005 - 6 answers

BatteryFilter: I've got a Dell Latitude C800 that I've been nothing but happy with, until recently. Of late, the power seems to be iffy at best, switching at random between AC power and battery power... [more inside]
posted by yellowcandy on Apr 29, 2005 - 4 answers

Uses for an unstable PC? A department manager purchased a laptop, I won't say what brand, about a year and a half ago. It's had new RAM and two new hard drives. The power socket is coming off the motherboard. It wasn't cheap and is more powerful than some of the other laptops currently in use. However, you can't be sure it's going to start up on any given morning. We would normally add old laptops to a pool of portable equipment used by our 70+ lecturing staff, but they have enough problems with working equipment. There are several interesting hobbyist projects I could pursue (a digital picture frame springs to mind), but I'd like to at least attempt some sort of work-related deployment when he breaks down and buys a new laptop. Any ideas?
posted by krisjohn on Oct 27, 2004 - 7 answers