2 Prong Double Insulted Battery To Eliminate Hum

Is this true and if so can I safely use a 2 prong power supply on a Dell Studio XPS 16 Laptop and does Dell sell them ?

I don't think that you can can use a different type of power supply with your laptop than the type that was intended for it, but your question might be better answered if you post it on the General Hardware board of this forum.

You probably know this but there are electrical hum eliminator devices for musicians..

Another alternative is if you have a way to convert your audio signal into optical spdif. That would eliminate the electrical connection between the laptop and the speakers and eliminate the hum.

Thank you. I reposted to the general board as you suggested. Yes I am aware of the hum eliminator devices but I wanted to first explore all options available. That and I'm concerned with trusting my laptop with an 'unknown' device. Though many do use them without incident.

About a dozen years ago it was common for the Dell laptops to cause an awful static-y noise, very loud, when connected to an amp or powered speakers. Running on battery eliminated that problem too. Eventually Dell re-designed the power bricks to fix that issue.

The solution for a lot of us in those days was to use a 3-prong to 2-prong plug adapter that one could get from any hardware store for a dollar or two. The adapter did not have to be used with the laptop because it also eliminated the noise if used only with the amp. Of course that was not a solution I could ever advise anyone else to try, because of the safety concerns.

Yes I guess we're all guilty of doing that at one time or another. But the safety concerns probably outweigh the convenience.  I was hoping I could purchase a newer redesigned power supply that would correct the problems of the old supply.

If I purchased a 'replacement' power supply, would I just be getting more of the same ?  

Power supplies are outside of my area and until I read your initial post I had not thought about the possibility of swapping a grounded brick for an ungrounded one, which is why I suggested posting on the hardware board. My unexamined assumption would have been that the laptop's circuitry was designed for one kind or the other but not both. Now that I do think about it it seems possible that the brick itself is designed for one or the other, but once the ac power is transformed in the brick and goes to the laptop as dc it is the same in either case. Is that correct?

Anyway, I think the people to ask is the parts-people. They specialize in Dell replacement parts and would probably know, if anyone does.