Question about Voltage and AC Adapters

(If there is a problem, I think it's more likely to be from the fact that the iGo adapter appears to be only loosely voltage-regulated, putting out "15-24 V" when your laptop expects a steady 19. So when you're not drawing much power, the voltage from the adapter might drift up to 24V and possibly damage something. Dunno.)

I wouldn't worry about it. Just because the transformer is rated for 75watts, doesn't mean the Toshiba is drawing 75watts. Typically the draw would be approx 20% less than the max on the transformer for optimal transformer life. So 80% of 75watts being 60watts, you're well under the 70watt limit of the igo unit.

For practical purposes, if it is working fine right now, don't worry about it. Ideally you would want to monitor the temperature of the on board voltage regulator over a few hours of use.. You might be able to feel for unusual hot spots, and it would be worth doing, but it isn't really likely to warn you of a problem, and unfortunately anything more thorough isn't feasible. Pay attention to the temperature of the power adapter you bought. It might be overloaded, which could lead to overheating and failure of the adapter. Am I ruining my laptop Don't think of it as a process.. In general, if you get it wrong, electronics fail spontaneously and catastrophically. There is a heating up factor, because it takes between several minutes and several hours to reach peak operating temperature, so spontaneous failure can happen quite a while after the connection is made. It can even happen much later, due to a hot day, or a thick coating of dust.. For the most part though, the idea of doing damage over time just doesn't apply to electronics. Also, http://ask.metafilter.com/33602/Am-I-using-the-wrong-power-adapter.

OUTPUT: 15-24 V It is very odd that a switching power supply based adapter would have so much output variability. I suppose it must be related to the input voltage range, but I didn't think that was typical..

Chuckles, it's a universal powersupply for a range of laptops. I think they have multiple outputs, ranging from 15-24 V. Which is tapped depends on the adapter.

Switched based on the plug you stick in the end of the cable? I don't know how they get that to work... Ah, I see. The tips have extra wires so that they can set the power supply output level. Neat idea, but not exactly a universal solution. Lots of 5.5mm OD, 2.1mm ID devices with all kinds of voltage ratings.. And, kind of pricey.. Whatever works :P

The http://ask.metafilter.com/33602/Am-I-using-the-wrong-power-adapter#523574 suggests that it is bad to use an adapter with lower amps.

Well, the datasheet claims it can do 90watts, but the marketing says 70. The amazon page says it automatically chooses voltage, which scares me. Considering you've done a charge already I would not worry about it.

Doing exactly that (only with a DC adapter) damaged the battery in my old laptop. Of course, it was much more on the ragged edge of being enough power, to the point that I had to turn down the backlight brightness for it to output enough to charge the laptop. In the worst case, you'll be accelerating the demise of your battery. Not an ideal outcome, to be sure, but far better than accelerating the demise of your laptop! If it's not oscillating between charging and not, it'll probably be fine.