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Alienware m17x r3 Power Adapter 240w ( Delta versus Flextronic )
Greetings,
Sorry for the long read but I wanted to try to explain in detail with how much trouble I have been having lately.
I have a question about my Alienware 17x r3
power adapter.
A bit of history and details to give a full picture of what is going on.
I have looked all over the internet for answers and couldn't find anything recent.
I purchased my Alienware Dec 2011.
I had to replace the motherboard to due over heating which caused
something to cause an open circuit which on the adapter the blue light goes out
when plugged in which indicates most of the time. A cooling pad with 3 fans has prevented this from happening again.
I had to replace the keyboard due to wearing out the rubber boot sticking
on the WASD keys. :-)
Now my Power adapter after 3 years finally gave out.
These are the details of the original adapter.
Note: I never had any issues with my pc's performance with the Delta 240w adapter
Delta
ac/dc Adapter
PA-9E Family
Model : GA240PE1-00
DPN : J211H
Ref.NO: ADP-240AB B
Input : 100-240V~3.5A 50-60Hz
Output: 19.5V=12.3A
I have spoken with 4 different people via the "Chat with Alienware" Support
link. They kept telling me Dell recommends I use the 150w adapter for my specific laptop. I was trying to be nice and basically said I don't care about the Dells new suggestions. I want the OEM part stats my laptop came with as I had no problems for 3 years.
I tried to order Dells 240W version on the dell parts web page even though it is not the exact same.
Dells web site does not provide any specs like I posted above meaning you have no idea what you are buying. After by order was delayed two different times and extened by a month I was notified that they had no idea when they would have the part. I had one of the 4 reps tell me the part had been shipped 4 days ago and that it would arrive the next day which was not correct. The part was never shipped as they still didn't have the part. So I was just told that to get offline.
Seems everyone is selling the Cheap "Flextronic" brand via ebay or amazon. I've read so many buyer beware review where a lot of the sellers are advertising Delta OME but shipping the cheap flextronic brand.
I ordered a Delta brand on amazon Since I had no other choice hoping to find an honest adapter seller on amazon and I got stuck with a cheap Flextronic brand also.
From my experience this is not a fully compatible adapter for those who like to play
intense games on their Alienware machines.
Sure if you are just watching videos, surfing the web it works fine
These are the specs of the Flextronic Brand that arrived as the New product.
Flextronic
ac/dc Adapter
PA-9E Family
Model : GA240PE1-00
DPN : J938H <-- Flextronic version
Input : 100-240V~3.5A 50-60Hz
Output: 19.5V=12.3A
When I plugged in this Flextronic adapter it will power the laptop and
charge it when I'm not doing anything.
Now to the main issue and things I've done to troubleshoot the problem.
ISSUE:
When I open my game (in Full screen mode)the screen starts to flicker.
When I put the game in windows mode I was then able see that the computer
was showing an icon in middle of the screen. It was displaying an image showing "AC Power"
and "Battery" off and on. It was as if during the game play the adapter could no longer supply enough power to play the game. The computer was switching from "AC Power" to
"Battery" back and forth which was causing the flickering. I have my laptop set to run as BEST performance when on either ac or battery. The computer would bounce between "AC Power" and "Battery" more frequently when Battery was at 100%.
This led me to believe that even though Flextronic says it was the same as
the Delta that it was not able to sustain the proper power during higher
demands.
Here are a few tests I performed while game was running in windows mode in order to monitor:
- I unplugged the adapter and the game ran fine until the battery died.
- I unplugged the adapter and the game ran fine until the battery got to about 80% then I plugged in the adapter and the screen started to flicker between "AC Power" and "Battery" would be the best way to describe with with the screen occasionally flickering.
- I shutdown the PC and took out the battery. Plugged in the Flextronic adapter and started the pc which started just fine. I opened the game and the pc instantly died.
Obviously Flextronic and Delta brands even though some will say they are the same they are NOT when it comes to playing games on my Alienware
Sad thing is I have been trying to order one from Dell now for over a
month and I can't get one. I now have a $3,000 dollar paper weight which I can't play my games on.
Yes you can order from the Dell website but they are not shipping any out. I was prompted on the dell sight that due so some Fed regulations that I had to click accept to continue waiting on my order. Since my order was pushed back by a month already I just told them to cancel the order until I hear they actually have the part to sell.
Why order something that is not in stock.
This has probably been my worst experience so far with my alienware. Just trying to get an honest answer was proving to be a waste of time. At least when my motherboard died I was able to buy a replacement and had it fixed in less than 2 weeks.