Stupid ? about laptop voltage

Discussion in 'Horn Depot' started by Knoxville-Horn, Nov 4, 2011.

  1. Knoxville-Horn

    Knoxville-Horn 1,000+ Posts

    I got to school this morning and realized that I forgot my laptop power cord. Thing is, there is another laptop in the room that has a similar input.

    My laptop input for power is 19.5 volts. The cord for the other laptop is 20 volts. Will this .5 make a difference if I use it? Obviously, I'm completely ignorant when it comes to stuff like this and don't want to fry my computer under the assumption that .5 can't possibly make that much of a difference.

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. Perham1

    Perham1 2,500+ Posts

    How did it turn out?

    I googled this topic and most said such a slight difference wouldn't make much difference.

    I would have gone for it, but I'm a risk taker....
     
  3. Knoxville-Horn

    Knoxville-Horn 1,000+ Posts

    Haven't tried it. After spending one of the worst nights of my life camping out to get my laptop on Black Friday last year, I hesitate to do anything that could harm it. One of my engineer friends seems to think it could damage it.
     
  4. wherzwaldo

    wherzwaldo 1,000+ Posts

    You can mismatch amperage ratings without too much trouble, but it's risky to mismatch voltages, even when it's only 0.5V. You could feasibly damage the laptop, battery, power supply, or any combination of the three. Plus, even though the connector might look like it will fit, the polarity on the connector may be reversed.

    I wouldn't risk it.
     
  5. texascoder

    texascoder 1,000+ Posts

    I bet Knoxville-Horn will think about buying an extra power cord to keep at school [​IMG]
     

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