Know the Plugs that Power Your Laptops!

by Jennifer Truong Owner

Two of the greatest innovations of human history: Machines and Electricity. Like always, the beauty of the creations often tends to enslave the creators. Today, we literally live along with the new species of electronics surrounding us. The human race today heavily relies on these gadgets. And just like us, these gadgets too hog on energy sources for their kind.

Animals acquire food to derive energy for their survival and the machines around us are as good as being alive. They don't acquire the food. But they do need energy to function. So, what is the source of their energy?

Whenever our smartphone or laptop pings and displays a notification “low battery, please connect to a charger”, we immediately realize that the gadget is energy deprived and we need to feed it. We attach it to a cable, a power cable cord and connect one of its end to the device and the other to the wall.

In order to make these connections, we use power plug adapters. Practically, the tools are part of the circuit that lets us charge the battery. Its other common names are plug packs, domestic mains adapter, plug-in adapter, wall wart, power brick and line power adapter.

The appliances that are battery backed and chargeable use Power Plug Adapters. They’re also used with devices having no power source when plugged in the wall socket. The types of power cables available in the market are:

AC Power Adapters

These are the adapters generally included with your laptop purchase. The main electrical supply is of alternating nature and the battery backed laptop requires direct supply of current. We plug one of the units of the adapter into the wall socket.

The adapter consists of another unit coupled in the circuit which is a step-down transformer, which rectifies the alternating current supplied by the wall outlet to direct current power on which the device functions.

The third and the final unit of the adapter connects the transformer and device. And this completes the circuit.

DC Power Adapters

These are generally aftermarket purchases even though few laptop manufacturers do provide these adapters with the purchase. Most of the other cables which charge the appliances from a source of direct current do not require the need of conversion from AC to DC. They are the simple adapters which we find in the car power plugs and batteries. These adapters can charge batteries without the need of an external power source.

Universal Power Adapters

These are also aftermarket purchases and are somewhat costlier than the replacement of AC power plug adapter or the DC Power adapter. In order to accommodate all the types of available charging conditions you should opt for the Universal Power Adapters.

Universal chargers use different types of interchangeable tips and pins like the 4way X connectors and six-way star connectors also known as spider connectors. Not just the pins and tips but the universal chargers also provide additional functionality across various voltages and sizes. This makes the universal charger function virtually in all the possible charging environments.

Apart from these power cable types, the buyers ought to know various other specifics about the charging cables such as the voltage and power output.