Charging a US XPS 15 in Europe? Help!

I recently purchased a Dell XPS 15 7590 in the US, but I'm going to study abroad in Spain for a year and am worried about how I'm going to charge my laptop while there. So far I know of two possible solutions:

1) Buy a plug adapter that just changes the US plug to a European one OR

2) Buy a new cable that connects the external 130W power supply to the wall, but has a European plug end instead of a US one.

Will either of these cause harm to my laptop? I know the 130W power supply is dual voltage, but I'm not sure if the included 3-prong US cable can handle 240V. Should I just purchase a new power bank altogether from dell's European website? Please help!

Responses(3)

J

jphughan

4 Operator

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14K Posts

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July 22nd, 2019 07:00

Both of your suggested options are completely fine. I've used Option #1 to take my Dell laptops from the US to Italy and Australia a few times and have never had an issue. Cables don't have to be rated for voltage. They only need to be rated for amperage, because more amperage means more heat, which requires thicker cabling to carry safely instead of creating a fire hazard. Higher voltage does not generate more heat. And actually, when you're in an area that provides double the voltage, you only need to draw half the amperage to get a given amount of wattage, so you're fine there.

Option #2 will work if that's more convenient for you though.

Fyi if you'll have several dual voltage US devices you'll be taking with you, one thing I'd recommend doing is buying one or more 3-way taps (aka splitters) and then using the "US to EU" adapter to connect the tap/splitter to the wall in Spain. That way you'll gain 3 US outlets from just one adapter. Enjoy your year abroad!

U2CAMEB4ME

4 Operator

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6.2K Posts

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July 22nd, 2019 07:00

Welcome to the Dell Community @Go-Diego-Go

This is all you should need.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=european+wall+plug+spain&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sop=15&_osacat=0&_odkw=Travel+Universal+Adapter+US+to+UK&LH_BIN=1&rt=nc

Used the same in Belgium, Germany and Copenhagen.

The AC cord is already rated for "European" voltage.

Enjoy your studies and travel.

Best regards,

U2

J

jphughan

4 Operator

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14K Posts

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July 22nd, 2019 23:00

I forgot to mention that one common item you would NOT be able to use in Europe is surge protectors, in case you were thinking about bringing one to gain lots of US outlets from a single European outlet. Simple splitters/taps as I suggested above are fine, but surge protectors are inherently not dual voltage because in order to do their job, surge protectors need to know what specific voltage is normal. You do not want to plug a US surge protector into a European outlet.

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