[PLUG] Laptop power brick

[John Jason Jordan]

On Fri, 10 Jan 2014 07:13:41 -0800 (PST)
Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com> dijo:

>On Thu, 9 Jan 2014, John Jason Jordan wrote:
>
>> Indeed, I did check eBay.
>
>   I've noticed lately that eBay prices frequently greatly exceed the
>suggested list price, and 'Net retailers are usually lower than list
>price.

My experience also. I have just about completely given up on eBay. In
the present case there are two like mine, each offered at about $230
with shipping, where Sager and System76 will sell me one for $165.

>> What the smarts do I have yet to discover.
>
>   Get folks to pay the high price?

Apparently the same power supply can be had in a "B" model and a "D"
version (mine is a "D"). As far as I can tell, the only difference
between them is that the "B" model has a standard barrel connector,
where the "D" model has a four pin connector. And according to what I
read on gaming sites, the four pin versions have an ID chip in the
brick. Sadly, everyone posting about it assumed that everyone on the
planet was born knowing what an ID chip is. I can assure you that there
is at least one person presently alive who was not so born (et c'est
moi). If anyone knows what an ID chip is, I could use some
enlightenment.

I also discovered that there are several manufacturers of these AC
adapters/chargers, the most common ones being produced by Delta. And
evidently one can buy a Y cable in order to connect two of these in
parallel to provide even more power to the computer. It seems that this
is a popular ploy by gamers. I can't imaging needing 660 watts for a
laptop, even one as big as mine.