[Chrybdis]

I'm sorry if this has been posted before but i've been searching all night for a post that replicates my problem to no avail. I have a Mini 9 that I take EVERYWHERE - i'm an artist and basically it's become my sketchbook/journal/comic reader/etc. It was my father in laws up until he got cancer and he gave it to me a couple years back. It runs winXP.

Anyway, it was working fine until yesterday night. The battery died while i was using it on the train. I plugged it in at my wifes house but the white AC light only flickered and it wouldnt turn on. I tried a couple outlets with the same results. I was starting to freak out so I left it for a while just plugged in and hoped for the best. Later that night it hadn't charged but I was able to start it and run it on 1% battery for about 15 minutes before it died. I had it plugged in while it was on but still it wouldnt charge and i noticed that the screen (which dims when its on ac power) was flickering irregularly in time with the ac light. I tried to run it without the battery plugged in but the white light doesnt even flicker when there is no battery- i get no response at all! so is it my power supply? or battery? or both? Im broke so i really cant just throw money at the problem but i gotta have my mini

oh, another thing- ive looked online and all the replacement ac power cords look like the one from my old inspiron. its weird tho, the one i was given with this computer looks more like a big cellphone power supply and doesnt say dell on it. Ive been using it for a couple years tho and had no problems. Are the older inspiraon power supplys cross-compatible? (i may still have a spare somewhere)

Anyway, thanks ahead of time for any help, i really appreciate it

[holmes4]

Yes, an Inspiron power supply should work if the plug fits.

[rrfranczak3]

just verify 2 things, that the pins are the same by that I mean positive(+) and negative(-), the inside of the pin and the outside of the pin, it should tell you on the power supply and the 2nd thing is make sure that the power supply is no more than 30watts output, 30 WATTS, not volts or anything but WATTS, 30 WATTS is what the max is, if you use greater you may end up with a bigger problem

[holmes4]

Rich, a higher watt rating is fine. What you don't want is a lower rating. Voltage should be 19-20V.

[rrfranczak3]

dont know Steve, the output on my big HP charger (the charger weighs more than my Mini) is 19v but its 180watt and I dont think I would plug that into my Mini even if the plug did fit.....

[holmes4]

The watt rating is maximum draw. It does not mean that it is going to force that much current into the device. The Mini will draw 20-25W at most, and a larger power supply will easily handle this. The larger laptops require more power and therefore their adapters are larger. But there is nothing wrong with putting a smaller draw device on it. Conversely, putting a heavy draw device on a low-powered charger will either fry the charger or simply fail to power the device.

The only things to worry about here are voltage and polarity. The Mini can handle input voltages from 19 to 21V without an issue.