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I have found many similar questions, but no one fully satisfying.

Please correct me if wrong, but from what I understand the Voltage of the power supply should match closely the specs, while the Power (Amperes or Watts, which for a fixed voltage are proportional to each other) supplied is referred to the maximum possible output the brick is capable of and should "enough", as the laptop will drain at any moment the power it needs.

What I would like to understand is what are the scenarios if I used a brick, for example a 60W one while the official one is 120W: - I guess most of the time the laptop would use less than 60W, thus working correctly - at times the laptop will require more than 60W - Do most modern brick self-limit the output or do they risk to burn? - Given the the brick does not deliver enough power, will the laptop start to drain the battery or malfunction? (And if draining the battery, just for the missing power, or will ignore the power brick and start running completely on battery?)

And finally: Can I use a smaller power brick (easier to carry around) given that MOST of the time will provide enough power, counting on the fact that the battery will make up for those short moments of high drain, without malfunctions or hardware breaking?

Thanks :)

swK
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Do most modern [power supply] brick[s] self-limit the output or do they risk to burn?

Ones made by reputable manufacturers will have overload protection and will shut down.

Cheap ones, with no makers name or a faked maker's name, made by unscrupulous manufacturers in a far-away low-wage economy might catch fire and/or electrocute you.

will the laptop start to drain the battery or malfunction?

I would expect it to switch to battery supply if the PSU cuts out cleanly, a cheaper PSU might drop it's output voltage and might cause the laptop to behave erratically, there may be data loss. This would be unusual I suspect.

Can I use a smaller power brick (easier to carry around)

This seems a foolhardy thing to do. Better to buy a higher capacity battery (if available) than a lower-power PSU.

RedGrittyBrick
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