You know, it really is rediculous. It's not like the guts of all the machines aren't substantially similar. Processors pretty much run on the same voltages, digital ICs have been running on 5 volts since I was in High School, and that was when we used tubes in the electronics labs, other stuff uses 12 volts. Point is the internal stuff pretty much runs on the same voltages, and the amount (current) may vary based on the stuff included. It does make sense that there are different voltage inputs to the various laptops, as the engineers try to match the power requirements to the power delivered. You wouldn't want an OQO with a power brick twice as big as the unit would you? Thing is, any excess power provided by the brick has to be dissipated somehow, and generally that is in heat. So if you wanted to hook the 19v brick for your 17" Sony for you 12" Sony, technically the 12" could be designed to use the bigger brick, but you would have to disspate more energy than you would for the 16v brick it comes with.
So that's why the bricks are all so different. No reason a Dell 19v supply shouldn't work on a Sony product requiring 19v though, except for the connector. The connector in my view is trivial. You can always create an adapter. As long as all you are talking about is a plain DC input. The folks at Gomadic (
www.gomadic.com) and CallPod (
www.callpod.com) have done done that sort of thing for smaller devices. Of course Belkin and others have done so for bigger things. Keep in mind that current capability just needs to be better than what the device asks for. If you have a laptop that wants 16v at 2A, you can hook a supply up to it that delivers 16v at 4A. The laptop draws the current it needs, the supply doesn't push current. The drawback is the 4A supply will typically be physically bigger than the 2A one. BUT, if you have two things that require 16v, and you can resolve the connector issue, just take the big supply.
Voltage on the other hand is very important. Too low and the internal electronics that develop the needed voltages may not be able to create them. Too high and you may exceed the internal electronics ability to dissipate the excess. In the first case the device may not work, and in the second it can burn up, spectacularly, or just a pfffft and dead. You can create a supply with a switch to change the output voltage. You can find these 'universal' supplies at Radio Shack that do 3, 6, 9, 12v based on a switch setting. That requires the user to know the device requirements and remember to set the switch before hooking it up. Not a great idea for devices that can cost $500 to $2500. So the voltage switching on things like the Belkin and I-Go power adapters is based on connector arrangements at the power supply end. So, you buy the right cord for your device, and the configuration of the cord effectively switches the supply to the right voltage, and comes with the appropriate connector for the device. It's understandable that the supply guys, want to ensure that they have thoroughly tested their product against a new portable unit. Even a change in the laptop connector though may cause them to decide not to support the new device, as testing and tooling for the new configuration might not be seen as profitable considering the potential user base.
Oh, well, sorry about the tirade, rant, pontification. It's just a topic that irritates me too, though I understand it to some degree. Just glad that small portable devices seem to be gravitating to 5v min-USB connectors.
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