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March 23rd, 2020 02:00
Dell Latitude 3590 - charger forgotten -> USB C charging with Macbook charger
Hi everyone,
In case you forgot your charger for your Dell Latitude 3590, you may as well use a USB type C adapter, as written in the user's guide. You may find USB C adaptor with various smartphone (i.e. Samsung Note 8).
I successfully used a Macbook (not Air, not Pro) USB-C charger. Charging is a bit slower but at least working. So, we can continue remote working from home during this Covid 19 quarantine!
Hope it helps.
JP
jphughan
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March 23rd, 2020 08:00
Dell systems that support charging via USB-C do so using USB Power Delivery, which is an industry standard. Consequently, as long as the USB-C charger you're using supports USB PD and provides a voltage level that the system will use, you can charge from those chargers. I have various USB-C chargers made by companies such as Anker, Nekteck, and Satechi, and all of them work fine with my various Dell laptops and other USB-C devices.
As noted though, if you use a power source whose wattage output is less than the system is designed to use, then you may notice behavior such as slower battery charging and even performance throttling as the system attempts to operate within the reduced power budget. I believe Apple's regular MacBook charger is 60W, which should be pretty good for a Latitude 3590. However, using a USB-C power source designed for a phone is unlikely to be usable for a laptop. First of all, phone chargers typically don't support 20V output, which is what most laptops require. And even if the charger did support a voltage level that the laptop could use, it's likely that the phone charger's maximum wattage output is significantly lower than what the laptop is designed for, so performance will either be severely throttled or the system might simply decide that the power deficit is too significant and therefore won't even try to use it.
Additionally, current Dell systems seem to have a limitation of only using at most 65W from non-Dell power sources, but relatively few Dell systems that support charging via USB-C require more than that. The XPS 15 and Precision 5500 Series models are notable exceptions, since they are designed for 130W, which is actually above the 100W max of the USB PD spec, so Dell did something proprietary on those systems and some of their docks and chargers to run 130W over USB-C.
Lastly, to use more than 60W over USB-C, you need cables rated for up to 5 amps / 100W. Most USB-C cables are only rated for 3 amps / 60W, and if you use that type of cable then that's all you'll ever get, even if the power source and the device being charged would otherwise use more.
Just general info for anyone else who might stumble on this thread.