ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I need some power supplies, few for the iphone because of their pathetic battery (Or a blackberry charger as it also does the job).

And the PSU on my grans Toshiba laptop died.

Now looking around the 'net, especially Amazon I'm offered a load of chargers for both the above, some alleged as geniuine and some very vague on its manufacturer. But one thing in common is most of them are stupidly cheap - too cheap (i.e £5 ).

And this is where the reviews come into play...about 60-80% typically say they are great and do the job, but the rest says it doesn't work, failed after a while....or the worst...caught fire!

The problem is I'd rather not have my or my grans house set on fire becuase of a bad quality substandard charger.

Now I don't mind buying non-geniuine so long as what I buy works and won't catch fire. I'm partly suspicious of some of the reviews as some maybe 'plants' added by competing OEM sellers in order to drive away custom (especially the Apple branded stuff). Who knows.

All I want is a Toshiba charger and and iPhone charger that works at a fair price, doesn't matter if its not genuine or a fancy white triangle.

So in a nutshell what I'm asking for is a good online retailer that sells quality chargers at a fair price, they don't have to be genuine, they just have to work - anyone know of/ personallt reccomend any. As I've been googling a while now I just keep getting the same dodgy/ultra cheap stuff.

Currently looking at this for teh iphone: http://www.play.com/Electronics/Elec...rlrefer=search

And : http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/203488...rlrefer=search

(Laptop: Equium L350, Charger: pa3468e-1ac3 19volts, 3.95amps 5.5mm diameter connector, centre pin positive)



Any advice appreciated, TIA

PaulC72

If you are really that concerned just buy a genuine one surely. TBH I have never had any problems with the cheap versions of any chargers I have purchased (usually off Ebay) in the past, no fires, shocks or even meltdowns all I have ever had is charging.

The other question you need to ask yourself is how often are you away from the location they will be charging from as allot of the time it will be in the same room so if something does go wrong you will know about it very quickly.

HTH.

daviee

This is what i use for my i pod, I have had it pluged in for 16 hours at a time no probs.

http://www.misco.co.uk/Product/16805...harger-Adapter

Jamz3k

I had a Toshiba A200 laptop and got 2 cheapy power supplies off ebay and they both did the trick but did seem to generate serious amounts of heat. Happy enough to use it and burn my own house down but I wouldn't cheap out on my gran to be honest.

JohnSmith

Surely your Nan is worth paying the genuine price for ?

Some are ok, but they do run very hot and ultimately start causing the cpu to run at 100% ultimately shortening the life of the laptop, the power supply itself, and the person using it if it catches fire

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Point being I do object to paying £60 for a PSU knowing that probably 6months down the line the laptop will die anyway (its getting on a bit and its on all day browsing for cardigans and and playing mahjong titans ).

And being honest not happy teh original PSu packed in anyway...its not a cable fault (which is common, but not on this one) it appears to a voltage/regulation issue as it'll only work for 5 seconds and cut out (I'll get the oscilloscope on it on monday and see what its doing), luckily I have a tosh charger off my own laptop that seems to work it ok for now, so at least she's quiet (5 phones calls on Saturday )

I'll happily pay a bit extra for a branded non-genuine (i.e belkin, kensington etc), its just these ultra-cheap ultra-crap junk the market appears tio be flooded with that I want to avoid.




Cheers That looks pretty good, I'll get a few of them at that price as I'm always without a charger for the bloody thing

(just need the leads now )

Ant

£10 for that genuine charger is not a bad price to pay

mrmadcap

Just go to any mobile phone specialist littleman who has a stall in a Market anywhere, in every town in the uk, then you know exactly what you're getting.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

The "fake" iPhone charging cable I bought from a market stall was better quality than the Apple original... it has a proper latching mechanism and the outer insulation wasn't coming away from the plug.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Drop me a PM with the details of the charger you need for the Toshiba. I carry most of these chargers in stock and will be happy to supply for £25 inc shipping. Warranted for a year, will run cool and will work well.

Just an FYI, most of the really cheap chargers only come with the adapter to the computer part, missing the 3 pin plug to the adapter lead. Mine come complete.

Dirk Diggler 75

my cheapo charger has just fried itself ..........

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, I hear this a lot

None of my replacement chargers have failed yet. The oldest has been in the field for 2 years now, and I use them for my own kit. They run a lot cooler than Dell standard chargers thats for sure!

Jamescsti

I bought a USB cable for my iPhone from the pound shop, works very well, I leave it around the office at work so others use it too, seems pretty solid.

dpb

Apple accessories < -------–------–------------------------––-------------------------> fair price


The two don't meet

JohnSmith

Loomy, do you have any Mac Power supplys ?

mag ones

Dr Hu

I bought a cheapy set of apple chargers off the 'Bay - one of the white multi packs - AC charger, car charger etc.

the car one worked for a week, until it expired...

the wall charger frighted the **** out of me one day about 4months in when I plugged it in it went *bang* big stylee, and tripped the breakers in the house.

So not a great investment (it was only about a fiver for the lot!).
So I think you get what you pay for....

Carlh

cough up the amount for a genuine or get a universal charger from tesco/asda.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Get a genuine charger, avoid the really cheap 'copies' and universal are false economy in my opinion.
You can get genuine chargers on ebay at reasonable money.
I recently bought two Dell laptop chargers for around £20 each.
They looked identical to the original, they were also in bag with Dell stickers and bar codes.

DonNedly

iTrader: (10)

If i buy a cheap charger online i go for ones from sellers in the UK and with a warranty.

Luan Pra bang

The charger that came with my 4s broke after 3 days. not the cable somehow the actual plug broke, I started using the old plug I got with an ipod years ago and then the cable broke, all day long I would recommend buying aftermarket kit rather than the cheaply made apple crap that they overcharge you for.

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

Bought one of these from here a couple of weeks back and they're 100% genuine.

Ant

So why didn't you take it back for exchange? MInes lasted 3 years and MacBook pro Mage charger 2

Luan Pra bang

The phone was given to me by a family member who was sent it by O2 and diddn't want it and that made returning it too much of a ball ache.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Not for apple stuff, no sorry. They don't license them at a reasonable cost

madmerlin

iTrader: (14)

Im sorry chaps, but if anybody thinks they are going to be safe paying just a fiver for a charger they are sadly mistaken, you are playing russian roulette with your lives and the life of everyone who uses the item.

Please take a moment to read the link... very sad.
http://www.bs1363.org.uk/html/chargers.html

We have had a fair few customers in with these fake ones, one we opened was stuffed with thick strips of metal, the only use for this was to weigh it down to make it feel "better quality" Every single one we have tested failed in one way or another.
I simply can not stress enough how you shouldnt go near these fake ones, also dont get fooled by the "UK" dealer thing, a lot of people are buying fake ones in bulk and reselling, the buyer asumes they are ok as the seller is based in the uk, the seller happily offers a warranty as they are only paying a few quid for each item.
Its an old saying but never the less true - "if it seems to cheap to be true - IT IS"

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Are you talking specifically about "fake" or "counterfeit" chargers here, ie. those which carry the name of a well-known brand but aren't actually made and sold by the brand owner? Or just any aftermarket accessory being legitimately sold without any attempt to mislead customers as to who the manufacturer is?

I think it's going too far to say that people should only buy chargers specifically sold by the big brands. Laptop and phone makers rarely actually make their own anyway, they're bought in from companies like Delta or FSP who make them in huge numbers and sell them to many different companies.

Stick to a reputable reseller who actually cares that the product they're selling is legitimately CE marked and you should be fine, IMHO. There will be exceptions, of course, but paying a lot doesn't guarantee quality - you could be getting junk AND getting ripped off.

madmerlin

iTrader: (14)

Andy i wasnt talking specifically about "fake" or "counterfeit" chargers i was merely talking about chargers in general, pay sub tenna for an oem one or aftermarket one and you will come acropper at some point sooner or later.

Im not saying only buy genuine from the manufacturer (and never did), genuine ce aproved aftermarket ones are just as good as oem ones

I do agree though buy from an established high street shop. Unlike ebay if any shop is caught selling fake goods they would be put out of business fairly quickly, i wouldnt allow any to be sold in my shop, as would the vast majority of shop owners.