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August 1st, 2021 00:00
Dell XPS 15 9500 USB Charger
Hello!
One very important reason I bought Dell XPS 15 9500 was the USB C Power Delivery. As I travel a lot I wanted a laptop that I could charge from any USB C PD charger. Unfortunately I didn't get what I expected. Is there any charger that is portable like the new GaN chargers and can charge this machine adequately?
I have read mixed reviews regarding RAVpower 90w but I am not sure if I should invest in that or sell this machine and get a macbook.
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ejn63
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August 1st, 2021 04:00
If your system has integrated video, a 90W adapter will work fine.
If it has discrete video, you need a 130W adapter.
Dr. Haris
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August 8th, 2021 00:00
Thank you for the reply. I have the version with the NVIDIA graphic card.
jphughan
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August 9th, 2021 09:00
@Dr. Haris In that case, 130W charging is achieved via a proprietary Dell technique because the official USB PD spec maxes out at 100W. A recent update was announced that will raise that to 240W, but products implementing that haven't reached the market yet to my knowledge, and even when they do, your system wouldn't support using them at that higher capability since 240W is achieved via support for 48V. So your options with that setup are either to carry Dell's own 130W USB-C charger that supports its proprietary technique for pushing that level of power, or else getting a 90W charger and accepting that you may experience slower battery charging and/or some throttling when using that. If you don't use the discrete GPU on the road, you may find that a 90W charger is fine for your purposes.
jphughan
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August 9th, 2021 09:00
@Dr. Haris For what it's worth, I use this RAVPower charger. It seems to have gotten much more expensive since I bought it -- probably another casualty of the semiconductor shortage right now -- but I like it because it offers 90W total output, dual ports, and multiple ways to split that power output, namely 90/0, 60/30, and 45/45. Not all dual port chargers can deliver maximum output through a single port even when the other port is unused, and not all of them support multiple power splits. I have another dual port charger that can only do 60/0 or 30/30, but not 45/15, for example. I realize that when using your XPS you'd want the full 90W output from a single port, but that second port can be useful when charging other devices, or even when charging your XPS overnight while it's asleep, where 60W would be sufficient, and then using the other 30W for something else. That RAVPower charger is also quite small for its output, in fact it's smaller than many chargers that offer less than 90W output and/or only a single port.