AR61M chrarger dead

[vijsingh]

Yesterday my laptop battery was low so I tried to charge it only to find out the charger stopped working and the green light was not on. I changed the fuse but that didnt help.

Today i took it to a local computer shop who confirmed it had died even though it wasnt that old, they then tried a universal charger on the laptop and it started to charge up. I phoned my closest Sony Center only to find out the genuine charger costs £100.

I phoned a few computer shops to see who had the best prices but I got mixed answers from them about compatability problems, half the shops said that a universal charger will work fine and it doesnt matter how many volts it needs because it will pick it up (mine is 19.5V) and the other half said only a genuine sony will work for vaio's and the universal chargers will definetly not (even though it did work at the shop where I took it )

So whats the deal? will a universal or none sony branded charger work or harm my vaio?

[vijsingh]

I forgot to mention the charger model is VGP-AC19V20 OUTPUT 19.5V 3.9A, I just checked the Sony Style shop online and noticed it says that the AR series charger is VGP-AC19V16 19.5V 6.2A.

Could this be the reason it died and got quite hot at times?

[Blencogo]

My AR31S came with the AC19V16 6.2Amp charger.

I would have a word with Sony support - the VGP-AC19V20 is usually supplied with the N-Series Vaios.

[vijsingh]

My AR31S came with the AC19V16 6.2Amp charger.

I would have a word with Sony support - the VGP-AC19V20 is usually supplied with the N-Series Vaios.

 

thanks for the reply

It was bought refurbished and that was the charger given to me.

If I was to buy a 3rd party universal charger does it HAVE TO BE 19.5V AND 6.2Amp? I cant afford the offical Sony charger at the moment