I just received the new Dell Latitude 5420 laptops this week and notice that they no longer have a standard power adapter port but a USB Type-C power adapter that comes with the laptop. Now I am used to seeing the port and cable which I use with the Docking stations I have been getting for the 7480 and the 7490’s. Now before I start plugging things in I also see that the 5420 has what looks like two USB Type-C connections on the left side. Should I just assume the following:
That I can plug the docking station into either port?
That I can plug the power Adapter into either port?
That I can plug in both the docking station and power adapter at the same time? Since you know I am going to have a user try that one day.
That this new adapter can be used with the 7480’ and 7490’s?
USB type-C always provides power as default, so my assumption is that you may plug in power and docking station to any of it with being in at the same time.
That I can plug the docking station into either port?
typically yes if the dock is not powered, if it has its own power adapter then it plugs into the port with a little P by it. This is the usb-c port on the left all the way to the back left on the notebook chassis.
That I can plug the power Adapter into either port?
Same as a powered dock the back left side usb-c port.
That I can plug in both the docking station and power adapter at the same time? Since you know I am going to have a user try that one day.
it shouldn’t matter, but we tell folks if the dock is powered then leave the power adapter in your travel bag.
That this new adapter can be used with the 7480’ and 7490’s?
Not unless the 7480s have usb charging ports. Also I think the 5420 laptops have a 65watt psu. That may not be enough for the larger 7480s and 90s. I think these take the 90w charging adapters.
I can tell you our 5420s have been a pita to work with. Make sure you have bios 1.10.x or later installed or you will have bluetooth issues. Also the power on/off button is just for decoration. If you need to force power off the computer it will not do it. Several times I had to pull the batter to either power the computer off or wake it up with the earlier bios.
The way USB-C works, it will get power on any of the ports. I believe that the ports with the “Lightening symbol” will be able to take full advantage of the 60w adapter while the ones without the symbol won’t. I noticed you can even plug the adapter into your phone (With the right port of course) and it will rapid charge it with the maximum power that it is capable of using. The ones I have, the back port has it, but not the front one. Either one charges, but it looks like the Thunderbolt port charges faster.
When I looked up the Latitude 5420, I see that one of the ports has a “power cord” symbol. I assume that is the preferred port for connecting the power adapter.
I would assume Dell would be smart enough to allow either usbc port to accept a power supply.
I understand the worry as only one of the ports shows the power plug icon, but at the same time, if you get a dual usbc dock, like the wd19dc, either one can supply power and the two magnetically linked cables could be rotated 180 and still plugin and work.
Maybe the idea of having two ports labeled for power might entice an end user to try and plug in two separate usbc power supplies? Or think that it’s required?
Thanks all for your answers and suggestions.
I decided to tempt fate and I plugged the new adapter into the older 7480 laptop and it worked.
Then I plugged the adapter into the two ports one at a time and that worked.
Though I am not going to tempt fate just yet and plug in the docking station and power adapter at the same time.
I might leave that to letting one of my users to do. lol
But I am going to guess it will work just like I used to have older docking stations that powered the laptop and I found some users plugging in their standard power adapter in too.
I have seen where there was power and plugged into a powered dock. All that happens is that the dock is powered by the external power supply, the laptop is powered by the one plugged into it. It is smart enough to know the best option for power and use the one it thinks is better. With USB-C, it will be the same way. It will not pull power just because it is plugged in. Check out Dell Power Manager and it will even not pull power during the times you set if you want it to.
I find that odd that the pamphlet shows that both charge, but the label on the ports in the same pamphlet picture does not. like it was an afterthought or an attempt to correct a mistake after the laptop was produced.
Not always. USB Type-C is simply a shape, much like Type-A or Type-B. It really depends on how the board manufacturer decides to implement a particular USB shape as to what features it provides.
A Type-A port can be anything from USB 1.1 - 3.2 gen2, and supply anywhere from 2.5W - 7.5W of power.
A Type-C port can be anything from USB 2.0 - 3.2 gen2 (OnePlus’ early phones used 2.0), and supply/receive up to 100W of power (I think?) - but it could also be configured to receive little to no power. I had an HP Envy x360 w/ i5-8265 that did not come with USB PD (Power Delivery) on its USB Type-C port, so no matter what USB Type-C power supplies I purchased (including HP’s own), the laptop would only receive power via its barrel connector.
Likewise, just because you have a Type-C port, doesn’t mean you have Thunderbolt 3, which provides up to 40GBps transfer speed. It’s important to determine what features of Type-C you want, and then verify whether the device you’re interested in offers those features before purchase.
