Pilgrim
Puritanboard Commissioner
After the issue that I described in this thread, I wasn't sure what to do with regard to a replacement AC adapter for my Toshiba Satellite laptop.
There are a lot of cheap off brand replacements ($25 and below) as well as one from Toshiba that was on sale for about $62. But there were many negative reviews for all of them, most likely due to the poor design that I noted in the other thread. The average review on most sites from Amazon to Toshiba's own site was 3 stars or less. Not good for a rather basic consumer electronic item.
I think its probably conservative to say that in 3+ years this laptop running Vista Home Premium has blue screened over 100 times for various reasons. There have occasionally been other problems too. I didn't want to pour a lot of money into a solution that might not work for long when I'm contemplating replacing the computer in the near future anyway. I already had to buy a replacement battery recently. But I was also hoping to avoid replacing the laptop entirely at this point. So after searching around, I came up with this: Amazon.com: Cooler Master NA 90W Universal Notebook/Netbook P0wer Adapter - (RP090-S19AJ1-US): Electronics
Most of the universal chargers I had seen were close to twice the price, so the relatively inexpensive price (cheaper than Toshiba Direct's replacement) is what first got my attention. I figured that if it worked that I would have something that wasn't tied to this specific laptop and which could be used with other laptops in the future as a backup or travel charger. It even comes with a handy little travel bag.
The charger is supposed to be able to charge most laptops. It has different tips to fit the different manufacturers, and you can go to the Cooler Master website to see if it will work with your model. (However, the website isn't that easy to navigate to be able to get to that page.) The instructions note that some laptops have a proprietary "ID" that prevents this adapter from charging the battery. But it is supposed to be able to provide power even if it can't charge the battery. From reading reviews I think this issue mainly affects certain Dell models.
After arriving today, it seems to be working ok and is charging my aftermarket battery, which charges very sloooowly. I'll post an update if anything goes awry. But I that won't be necessary!
There are a lot of cheap off brand replacements ($25 and below) as well as one from Toshiba that was on sale for about $62. But there were many negative reviews for all of them, most likely due to the poor design that I noted in the other thread. The average review on most sites from Amazon to Toshiba's own site was 3 stars or less. Not good for a rather basic consumer electronic item.
I think its probably conservative to say that in 3+ years this laptop running Vista Home Premium has blue screened over 100 times for various reasons. There have occasionally been other problems too. I didn't want to pour a lot of money into a solution that might not work for long when I'm contemplating replacing the computer in the near future anyway. I already had to buy a replacement battery recently. But I was also hoping to avoid replacing the laptop entirely at this point. So after searching around, I came up with this: Amazon.com: Cooler Master NA 90W Universal Notebook/Netbook P0wer Adapter - (RP090-S19AJ1-US): Electronics
Most of the universal chargers I had seen were close to twice the price, so the relatively inexpensive price (cheaper than Toshiba Direct's replacement) is what first got my attention. I figured that if it worked that I would have something that wasn't tied to this specific laptop and which could be used with other laptops in the future as a backup or travel charger. It even comes with a handy little travel bag.
The charger is supposed to be able to charge most laptops. It has different tips to fit the different manufacturers, and you can go to the Cooler Master website to see if it will work with your model. (However, the website isn't that easy to navigate to be able to get to that page.) The instructions note that some laptops have a proprietary "ID" that prevents this adapter from charging the battery. But it is supposed to be able to provide power even if it can't charge the battery. From reading reviews I think this issue mainly affects certain Dell models.
After arriving today, it seems to be working ok and is charging my aftermarket battery, which charges very sloooowly. I'll post an update if anything goes awry. But I that won't be necessary!