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so a couple of weeks ago my original laptop charger blew. So I ordered a new one with the same voltage and amperage. On arrival I noticed that the polarity might be in reverse. The old charger had (+)--(o) -(-) and the new one has (-)- (o)--(+). The negative one isn't directly connected to the center in both.

The Old One:

the old charger

The New One:

the new charger

Is it fine if I use this new charger?

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    Yes. They are fine. They are the same polarity. That polarity, btw, is pretty much universal. The center pin is positive, and the ring is negative.
    – Appleoddity
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 7:57

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Yes, they're the same. If you look very closely at the polarity symbols you'll see that in both cases the "+" has a line that goes all the way to the center contact, while the line from "-" only goes to the outer ring.

Or as you yourself wrote, "The negative one isn't directly connected to the center in both."

That's what matters for the polarity symbol. The order in which the "+" and "-" appear in the symbol is irrelevant.

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While the drawings differ, they carry the same message: The center pin is +, the outer ring is -.

I have yet to see a charger with a different polarity.

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  • Oh, I have a LOT of AC adapters with negative-center plugs. But they tend to be older. Center-positive seems to be a more recent idea.
    – Jamie Hanrahan
    Commented Nov 26, 2018 at 9:09

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