Ive just bid on a dell laptop on ebay and just noticed that it doesn't come with a power supply.

Can i buy one off the high street? Im not fussed if its a genuine dell adaptor or not, im just gonna need one before Monday!

you won't be able to get a Dell PSU on the hight street but on of these univeral supplies may do the job http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?menuno=12245&FromMenu=y&doy=22m2&MenuName=Laptop%20Power%20Supplies

Thanks for that. The website the Maplin page links to is in Chinese so i don't know if it work's with the Laptop im biding on!

what model is it... i have 1 at work spare....????

We have a Dell laptop and when I looked into replacing the power supply for it there was either the Dell option or I think one other potential candidate which was almost as expensive and which I had to get from a retailer I'd never heard of. The issue was that the generic ones apparently didn't work for some reason (obviously not sure how true this is).

In the end it turned out to be warranty covered anyway, but that wouldn't apply in your case.

There is also a good chance that if you dont use a dell supply the laptop will detect it and not charge correctly (usually slower)

The Maplin northern HQ is in Barnsley or very near there are 2 Maplin shops in Sheffield one on Pinstone St and the other in the old barracks area.

Most power supplies are 5+ 0 5- and 12+ 0 12- volts but the pin arrangements may be different by manufacturer. So it's just a case of getting a multimeter and checking the outputs.

All of my Dell PSUs have been 0V and +V (one pin inside the shield). The voltage has varied over the years (currently 19.5V on the two I've got to hand).

They also have a chip inside the PSU which can talk to the laptop to tell it what sort of PSU it is (ratings). My laptops won't charge unless they have a Dell PSU of a suitable rating.

what model is it... i have 1 at work spare....????

Me too, free to a good home.