Is it ok if a replacement laptop charger is slightly out of spec?

Question

The original charger for my HP laptop stopped working, so I bought a third-party compatible charger from Lap-Life.

Here's a comparison of the specifications:

Charger	Power	Input	Output
HP	90 Watt	AC 100-240V 50/60 Hz	DC 19V 4.72A
Lap-Life	90 Watt	AC 100-240V 50/60 Hz	DC 19.5V 4.62A

Will the 0.5V and 0.10 A difference in output voltage/current cause any damage to my laptop/battery?

It is charging my laptop fine but sometimes when I plug in the charger the mouse pointer flickers. Is this a symptom of being underpowered?

Answer 1

Half a volt at 19 volts won't cause harm, that's less than 3% variation in voltage.

Answer 2

You usually want an equal voltage and equal or higher current.

A higher voltage is bad, but in this case, it is only ½V higher, so it is unlikely to damage the system, especially since most sophisticated electronics power-supplies are usually designed to take a small variation up or down because not everybody uses a UPS, so they need to accommodate dirty power-lines (to a point).

That said, the flicker you are seeing is likely due to the replacement power-adapter being unable to provide the full draw that the original one can. The difference in current is fairly small and the adapters are usually rated for at least a little more than the device’s maximum draw, but if they had provided the laptop with an adapter that provides just barely enough (e.g., it was cheaper than a more powerful adapter), then an replacement that provides even slightly less may be coming up short and causing the screen to dim or flicker for a moment when you plug it in and the charger momentarily spikes.

Answer 3

It should be "safe", in that it won't harm your computer, and it should power your laptop, but it may be enough difference that your computer won't charge its battery. Laptop makers sometimes build the devices to be pickier about charger voltages than they need to be, specifically to "encourage" you to buy replacement chargers directly from them (at inflated prices, of course).