[Forbodium]

I have a reason to use two power cables, and I'd like to know if the one that came with my ibook 600 G3 will work with my ibook 1.33 G4. The older cable has a two-pronged plug while the newer one has a three-pronged plug. Other than that, they both look identical.

[bluedog]

If you are only talking about the 'extension' portion of the cord that connects BEFORE the adapter it should work. If you are intending to use different ADAPTERs and the cords are different at the outlet/plug end, you may still run into trouble because the G3 machines had a much lower wattage charger. You likely woudn't be able to charge the battery and run the computer at the same time.

You *may* be able to run the computer with it plugged in, but I don't know if there are any repurcussions with running with the lower wattage and if your newer laptop would suffer/become damaged electronically as a result. You may also be able to charge the battery if you have the computer off/asleep while its plugged in. I'm not an expert on this so take it as my opinion.

BUT if its just the 3prong/2 prong portion before the adapter you want to use, and you're using it with the appropriate charger for you laptop it will be just fine. The 3rd prong is just the ground (in the US power system) and your laptop shouldn't have any troubles.

[Forbodium]

Thanks for the helpful reply, Bluedog! I can certainly consider using the stock power brick along with the two cables.


Anyone know if there would be any issues associated with using a plug that isn't grounded, instead of the stock plug that is grounded? Apple must have had a reason to include a grounded cable with the newer ibook, right?

[Big Mac]

I assume that the power adapters without the grounded plugs have their grounding functionality built into another part of the adapter. If they weren't grounded at all, that would be a very bad thing. But I don't know what advice to give you. I picked up a third party charger for my iBook through Froogle, and I'm happy with it.