> straight line with 3 dashed lines under it

That means DC (as opposed to AC).

For polarity, look for a symbol like this:

Pierre32 wrote on 2022-08-12, 23:12:

> straight line with 3 dashed lines under it […]
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> straight line with 3 dashed lines under it

That means DC (as opposed to AC).

AC DC.jpg

For polarity, look for a symbol like this:

polarity.jpg

yeah, I looked for that, and it's nowhere on the laptop that I can see. Usually it's by the barrel jack, but not in this case.

I'm tempted to say that this will take any common 19V laptop supply. But I'm always cautious to throw out blanket advice like that when it comes to retro gear.

Have a look at this 3rd party offering (which I'm not endorsing) for plug details (sadly polarity still not mentioned): https://www.laptop-charger.com.au/compaq-lapt … top-charger.php

Note that it's rated 4.7A, so onto your question about that. Amperage is not fed into the device, it is drawn by the device as required. So that one can provide up to 4.7A according to the specs. But the laptop will only draw 2.8 of those amps, according to its specs. Think of it like putting a 1000W PSU into your desktop rig. It's not going to pump all that power in - it's just going to be there if you need it. The important thing is having the correct voltage, provided by a properly regulated supply.

Pierre32 wrote on 2022-08-13, 00:15:

I'm tempted to say that this will take any common 19V laptop supply. But I'm always cautious to throw out blanket advice like that when it comes to retro gear.

Have a look at this 3rd party offering (which I'm not endorsing) for plug details (sadly polarity still not mentioned): https://www.laptop-charger.com.au/compaq-lapt … top-charger.php

Note that it's rated 4.7A, so onto your question about that. Amperage is not fed into the device, it is drawn by the device as required. So that one can provide up to 4.7A according to the specs. But the laptop will only draw 2.8 of those amps, according to its specs. Think of it like putting a 1000W PSU into your desktop rig. It's not going to pump all that power in - it's just going to be there if you need it. The important thing is having the correct voltage, provided by a properly regulated supply.

Thank you VERY much for that great explanation!!

I have a 1688. Probably the same power adapter. It’s a Compaq ADP-60DB. Output: 19V 3.16A

Hope that helps

Zeerex wrote on 2022-08-14, 23:45:

I have a 1688. Probably the same power adapter. It’s a Compaq ADP-60DB. Output: 19V 3.16A

Hope that helps

According to the bottom of the notebook, it takes 18.6v and 2.7a, which doesn't concern me as much as the barrel size.
From what I've been able to glean, the barrel could be 4.7mm x 1.8mm or 5.5mm x 2.5mm

I've been looking for "universal" adapters that have both size tips and can output in the 18-19v range, but haven't had a lot of luck yet.
There are some that might be right, but they're usually missing a piece of info, like either the voltage or the tip size.