Are there any laptop chargers that are “minified” so the wire goes directly into the plug without any intermediaries?

Question

Why does a laptop charger always come in 2 parts? (I think it's called the power adapter but I'm not sure)

Are there any laptop chargers that are "minified", so the wire goes directly into the plug without any intermediaries?

Answer 1

The not-so-technical (slang) term for a power cord with the transformer integrated at the plug end (so it hangs directly off the wall socket) is a "Wall Wart"; and they come in many shapes, sizes and capacities.

Knowing that may help you in searching for a replacement that has voltage and amperage matching what you need for your notebook.

Keep in mind that Wall Warts in higher Wattage ranges (often needed for notebooks) are kind of rare.

You'll want to determine your Voltage and Amperage needs, and then perhaps browse Digi-Key, Mouser or some other electronics parts supplier.

Answer 2

Your power adapter is not really an adapter, but the power supply of your laptop. In it exists three separate components: a transformer, a rectifier, and a voltage regulator. The transformer steps the input supply voltage down, the rectifier turns it from AC to DC, and the voltage regulator performs the task of ensuring that the output voltage exactly matches what the laptop was designed for.

The transformer is designed so that the minimum supply voltage (usually 110V) will be just enough for the voltage regulator to hit your laptop's voltage. Any higher will simply be taken care of by the regulator. Also, the rectifier doesn't "care" what your mains frequency is (50 or 60 Hz), since they are usually built to support both.

Most of these components need to be very large, since they generate some heat due to losses when converting the power down to an acceptable level. For this reason, it is unlikely that we will ever see in-line laptop chargers which plug into the wall. Think of your "charger" as the equivalent of a desktop computer's power supply unit (and indeed, they share many of the same components).

While it is technically possible to integrate these components directly into the laptop, there is one problem: where does the heat go? Yep, you guessed it, right back into the laptop! So, remember, the big laptop chargers are a good thing - and next time you feel how warm it gets, be thankful that the heat isn't being dissipated into your laptop chassis.

Answer 3

The primary reason for this is that adapters generally accept any (reasonable) input source, and so you can just take your charger to a country with different electrical outlets and simply swap the line cord rather than having to buy a whole new adapter.

There's no particular reason it COULDN'T be integrated, but if anybody does this, it's uncommon enough that I've never seen it. It's just the way these things are generally made.

EDIT: See techie007's answer for an example of what this would probably look like if you actually found one (it would be more likely than having extra cord length in both directions).