Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
  • Can I get a 90 degree plug for a Dell laptop ?
  • The existing one looks a bit vulnerable, always getting pulled to one side like this;

    I was thinking a flatter, 90 degree plug with the cable taped to the laptop would take the strain off it. I can’t find anything on ebay or Maplin.
    Something like this would do the trick;

    Is the plug unique to Dell ? The centre pin looks a lot thinner than anything else I’ve seen, not that I’ve looked at the plugs on other laptops.

    allthegear
    Free Member

    We have a few hundred dell laptops at work and, whilst they break in many other stupid ways, I’ve never known a power socket break.

    Rachel

    Maybe that’s because you don’t have teenagers at work who sit on the floor in the middle of the room with the cable at full stretch, six inches off the ground, with dogs and other people walking through. 😉

    Maybe I’m worrying over nothing, but the stepdaughter of a guy at work managed to break both her own and his laptops this way (don’t know what make) and I did something similar to my phone, so I thought spending £5 on a plug or cable now would be better than risk spending £100 on a repair later.

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    Cougar
    Full Member

    That adapter is for an coax phono cable, it’ll be too big for the Dell power connector.

    you don’t have teenagers at work who sit on the floor in the middle of the room with the cable at full stretch

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Masterplug-Indoor-BOG5-MS-1-Gang-Extension/dp/B002MFJ1W4

    HTH.

    z1ppy
    Full Member

    How’s about.. http://www.cableorganizer.com/cord-cover-elasco/

    Again all Dell here onsite, and none include old un’s being returned, have 90 degree connectors. How longs the lead into the PSU, ‘might’ be able to dig you out a slightly longer one…

    Cougar
    Full Member

    If you’ve got a spare 90W Dell PSU, I’d be more than happy to exchange some beer tokens for it, if you wouldn’t mind?

    poly
    Free Member

    I’ve had a couple of laptops with 90 deg bends on them. Not sure if it is coincidence or not but they have both failed at the power socket to the motherboard (I assume by being pulled and twisted. No idea if the stright connector is better / worse.

    bensales
    Free Member

    Maybe I’m missing something here, but its a laptop? Run it off the battery and then charge as needed? Result, no damaged cables, and better for the machine’s battery.

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    I had a dell with one of those straight leads. After a couple of years it started shorting out and I had to buy a no-name replacement on ebay.

    The socket itself also started to wear, it would only charge when the plug was firmly in and it would fall out frequently, meaning you could only use the laptop on a table.

    Have a Packard Bell now and it has a 90 degree plug and its much more secure.

    Run it off the battery and then charge as needed?

    All my laptops have had useless battery life after 18 months, and thats with the laptop power being off overnight, so in the morning the laptop uses the battery until it reminds you to plug in. So inevitably the laptop will still need to be charged whilst in use.

    highclimber
    Free Member

    I think the 90deg adapter will make the theoretical problem worse. if someone was to trip over the cable, it should just pull straight out. if you put it on a 90 deg bend the force will twist the connector into the machine and probably cause more damage.

    At least your machine has the cable coming out from the back. mine sticks out from the side and is often in the way!

    stats
    Full Member

    All my laptops have had useless battery life after 18 months

    Unfortunately almost all laptops have this problem, it’s just where battery technology is at the moment.
    You’d be best buying a replacement battery from Dell.

    This problem has been solved already, though still not perfect. MagSafe

    2unfit2ride
    Free Member

    My kids laptops & phones often fail due to the power supply being internally stressed & coming away from the board, it doesn’t matter how many times I tell them not to pull them around when on charge, I just think that my kids at least have no respect & just expect things to work no matter what 🙁
    I have now given up & when they bust stuff I just tell them to use my throwaways until they can afford to replace them themselves, that way they may respect the next one.

    AlasdairMc
    Full Member

    Can’t you zip tie a loop into the cable so you create some slack for when the cable does get pulled?

    I should have mentioned it’s a second hand laptop and battery life is down to about ten minutes.
    It’s looking like the best option is a couple of these stuck to the laptop to take the strain off the plug itself.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

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