Apple MagSafe power adapter - Should I be nervous?

November 27, 2006 · Comments

One thing they never mention when they tout the weight of a laptop computer is the heft added by the power adapter brick. In the case of my Dell Inspiron 9300, the power adapter adds a full pound!

I mean look at this monster, and it doesn’t even include the cable that connects from the brick to the wall.

The weight of a computer when it’s sitting on your lap isn’t really the problem. The problem is when you’ve got that bag on your shoulder and your flight lands at Atlanta’s Terminal E and your connection in 20 minutes is taking off from Terminal B. Every accessory you throw in that bag with the computer counts.

The new Apple MagSafe power adapter is nicely portable, as I remember my old iBook adapters were (also missing the part that plugs into the wall in this picture).

But there appears to be a widely reported problem of these light and cute things flaming up bigtime. Here. Here. I hope this is a problem Apple fixed since then.

I’m also curious what the real battery life is on the MacBook Pro…sure if I keep it really dark and never connect to the Internet, I can theoretically get 5 hours. But what about real-world? My Dell got 90 minutes under regular use, tops.

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