Inspiron 7501 USB-C Thunderbolt port is actually useless for charging ? !!

Yes, your colleague replied (for another thread topic, not this one) with a list of DELL laptops compatible with WD19 series of docks. None of them list the Inspiron series of laptops. 

My question is simple, can I charge my laptop over USB-C Thunderbolt port ? What do I need ? 

Thank you for reaching out to us. I see my colleague has already replied to your query via Private Message. Please check the Private Message and continue.

This model doesn't have USB charging support. You can find full specs of USB-C port on page number 6-7. 

https://dell.to/2KSGAyo;

Hi,

I cannot open the link. I get a 404 file or directory not found error. 

Regards

Please try this link below.

https://dell.to/37J5oSq

It varies with different model The model you have doesn't have the USB-C charging.  

@Prvn  Unfortunately, “USB Power Delivery” as mentioned in the specs is ambiguous, since that can be used in both directions, and not all systems support USB PD in both directions. The USB PD direction you’re talking about is using USB PD power levels to draw power to charge the system. But USB PD can also be used to provide higher power levels to peripherals that require more power than standard USB power levels. Some Dell laptops can provide 7.5W or 15W via USB PD for peripherals. But it’s possible to have a USB-C port that supports USB PD input for charging but not USB PD output, or a port that supports USB PD output but doesn’t support USB PD input for charging. I wish Dell was more precise in some of their documentation, and I suppose it’s possible that this model does support PD charging and there’s just a problem with your specific unit, but just be aware that mentioning USB PD support in specs does not guarantee that it supports USB PD charging.

@Prvn  Looks like you were writing a reply while I was writing a follow-up. With respect to the description of Thunderbolt, I don’t have experience with your specific system model, so I don’t know if it’s supposed to support USB-C charging. I’ve seen Dell documentation that sometimes describes USB-C ports in a general level, such as “USB-C can support things like USB 3.1 Gen 2 and video output”, even though the USB-C port on that specific system doesn’t support those things. It’s confusing and seemingly pointless to talk about USB-C in a general way within the documentation of a system that doesn’t necessarily implement all of those features, but I’ve seen that. But even if your system does support USB-C charging to some degree, it won’t necessarily mean it supports 130W charging. And in that case if it only supports USB-C charging at lower power levels, running from a USB-C power source could mean slower battery charging and reduced performance as the system attempts to adapt to an undersized power source. I sometimes put up with this on the road for convenience. For example, I have a system designed for a 135W power source that requires a “traditional” AC adapter, but when traveling, for convenience I’ll sometimes just take a 60W or 90W USB-C charger with me because most of the time I’ll only be charging overnight where performance isn’t a factor. And even if I’m trying to use the system while connected to that type of source, things I do while traveling typically don’t suffer much from the lower performance.

In the document you refer, please see Page 12, Table 6. 

"One USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C) port with Thunderbolt/
DisplayPort/Power Delivery (for computers shipped with
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti) "

This usually means one can also charge the laptop because the port is PD capable. 

Please reply to us via Private message to address all your concerns. 

@jphughan - Your response is acceptable. But the DELL web page explaining the features of the laptop clearly says it can charge off USB-C. If the user manual is to be believed then none of the 7501 series can be charged on USB-C. I quote,

"Thunderbolt™ 3: A USB Type-C™ port supporting Thunderbolt™ 3 allows you to charge your laptop, connect to multiple devices, and enjoy data transfers of up to 40Gbps, 8 times that of a USB 3.1 Gen 1."

Then this claim is inaccurate ? 

@Prvn  Building on my earlier reply, I definitely understand the frustration about 130W. Unfortunately the industry standard USB PD spec doesn’t support anything above 100W yet, so if Dell didn’t go the proprietary route, they’d either have to limit themselves to system designs that didn’t require more power or do something like design a system with higher operating requirements but that couldn’t draw more power via AC, in which case it would end up draining the battery even while connected to power in order to make up for the power deficit. Dell actually does this with some systems and they call it “Dell Hybrid Power”. I call it “shipping systems with undersized power adapters.”  The only other option I’ve seen implemented has been on docks like the WD19DC which supplies up to 210W because it plugs into two USB-C/TB3 connectors on the system. It’s designed for the Precision 7000 Series systems, but drawing that much power requires firmware-level support from the system. (That came as a disappointment to XPS 17 9700 owners since that system uses Dell Hybrid Power with its 130W adapter but has multiple ports. Some users thought they could avoid running from an undersized 130W source by using a WD19DC with that system, and it didn’t work.)

But for whatever reason, Dell seems not to have implemented 130W charging support on any Inspiron systems I’ve seen, at least to my knowledge as of this writing. They also haven’t implemented the necessary firmware-level support for the Power button on Dell docks in their systems. That Power button works fine with Latitude, Precision, and XPS systems (and maybe Vostro systems?), but not Inspiron, G Series, or Alienware systems. And to add insult to injury there, even on systems that support USB-C charging, Dell until recently has limited charging from third-party USB-C power sources to 65W, even if the power source supports more and the system would benefit from more. This seems to have changed recently with the new XPS 15/17 9x00 models, but that’s a recent development.

Unfortunately Dell still considers docks to be a business-grade feature and therefore doesn’t provide as much docking station functionality on their consumer-oriented product lines. HP and Lenovo do the same thing. Maybe the surge in work from home that this year has caused will cause a shift in thinking on that front, but for now, Inspiron systems aren’t a great choice if robust docking capabilities are a priority. So in your case, if you can’t get 130W over USB-C, your only real option is to keep the system’s power adapter connected alongside the dock. If you want a dock that can power your system adequately without having to do that, then unfortunately you have the wrong system for your purposes.

@jphughan Hi, 

Thanks for your patience.

1. Yes, it's frustrating and disappointing. I did a lot of research about this laptop before I bought it.  I bought this specifically thinking this would charge over USB-C. The website clearly said charging was possible.

2. My impression is also that my 90W USB-C Dell monitor 'could' slowly charge the laptop. But at boot I get a message that the power requirements don't match and the laptop gets really hot if I delay acknowledging the message. I can't confirm yet if the laptop is actually charging at a slower rate. 

3. With people working from home in these difficult times, DELL has to come up with something to solve this issue. 

4. Great laptop. But I would not recommend it for someone who is looking to charge over USB-C / TB. 

5. I consider this issue closed (with disappointment). 

Regards

Hey, 

I also bought the 7501 because of it's USB-C charging capability and it's really frustrating. 

But a few weeks ago i bought the P2421DC and tried my luck even though it delivers only 65 watts of power. 

Surprisingly it worked, but way slower. 

My laptop isn't getting hot or anything, it's just charging very slow. I don't know if that's bad in some way becuase I couldn't reach any help through the support center. :')

Greetings