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I've bought two replica chargers for $20-30 off ebay.. i'm on my second. The first one lasted a year, which is about how long my original charger lasted due to

I've bought two replica chargers for $20-30 off ebay.. i'm on my second. The first one lasted a year, which is about how long my original charger lasted due to the cord fraying

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
The OP shows why replica chargers are not a good idea. You're lucky if it doesn't destroy your machine.
- TheSpiceIsLife 11y ago
  So far I've used about 7 cheapo MacBook chargers off eBay - I have two right now, and have, over the years, given the other 5 away. While a couple of them have died, so have my original three MacBook chargers. None of them has killed or damaged mine, or anyone else's MacBooks.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
    Yes, some people have good experiences, but it's still incredibly reckless. Chargers without proper safety features and which don't conform to electrical isolation standards could render your $1000+ machine worthless in a puff of smoke, or, worse, kill you.
    - jacquesm 11y ago
      The 'Original Apple' item shown at the bottom of the post doesn't look as if it fared much better though. The magic smoke definitely came out on that one and whoever owned it was lucky it ended there and didn't end with an actual fire.
      - rMBP 11y ago
        It could also be the Apple charger's design that makes it able to handle shorting of components without posing a hazard to anything other than itself.
      - TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
        Apple's own charger follows safety standards. It might blow up, but it won't take your laptop with it.
        vacri 11y ago
        Upthread there is someone saying that their Apple charger set fire to their carpet, and the only reason why it wasn't worse was because they were in the room at the time to stop it.
    - guelo 11y ago
      Nobody in the history of personal computers has been killed by a charger.
      - DanBC 11y ago
        You can't know that. You can't know that there haven't been house fires caused by a charger, for example. Here's a recent house fire that killed five people, started by a phone charger. http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/10/phone-charger-started-fire-that-killed-five-members-of-family-5239404/ http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/10/phone-charger-started-fire-tha...
      - TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
        I doubt that short circuits have never killed anyone. That's not the only way a charger could kill you: DanBC points out the risk of fire, which is also a possibility.
      - kens 11y ago
        There are multiple reports of phone chargers killing people: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-07/14/c_132540098.htm http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-07/14/c_1325400... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2950641/Woman-electrocuted-iPhone-dropped-bath-charging-looked-Russian-version-Facebook.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2950641/Woman-electr... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2671493/Woman-dies-electrocuted-headphones-plugged-laptop.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2671493/Woman-dies-e... http://shanghaiist.com/2015/03/15/girl_from_hebei_dies_after_being_el.php http://shanghaiist.com/2015/03/15/girl_from_hebei_dies_after... If you look inside cheap chargers (as I have), it's not surprising that they occasionally kill people.
  - 8_hours_ago 11y ago
    It depends on your luck... and I am unlucky. My knock-off charger completely destroyed the power supply in my MacBook Pro after a few months of using it.

I've bought two replica chargers for $20-30 off ebay.. i'm on my second. The first one lasted a year, which is about how long my original charger lasted due to the cord fraying

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago

The OP shows why replica chargers are not a good idea. You're lucky if it doesn't destroy your machine.

TheSpiceIsLife 11y ago
So far I've used about 7 cheapo MacBook chargers off eBay - I have two right now, and have, over the years, given the other 5 away. While a couple of them have died, so have my original three MacBook chargers. None of them has killed or damaged mine, or anyone else's MacBooks.
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
  Yes, some people have good experiences, but it's still incredibly reckless. Chargers without proper safety features and which don't conform to electrical isolation standards could render your $1000+ machine worthless in a puff of smoke, or, worse, kill you.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    The 'Original Apple' item shown at the bottom of the post doesn't look as if it fared much better though. The magic smoke definitely came out on that one and whoever owned it was lucky it ended there and didn't end with an actual fire.
    - rMBP 11y ago
      It could also be the Apple charger's design that makes it able to handle shorting of components without posing a hazard to anything other than itself.
    - TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
      Apple's own charger follows safety standards. It might blow up, but it won't take your laptop with it.
      - vacri 11y ago
        Upthread there is someone saying that their Apple charger set fire to their carpet, and the only reason why it wasn't worse was because they were in the room at the time to stop it.
  - guelo 11y ago
    Nobody in the history of personal computers has been killed by a charger.
    - DanBC 11y ago
      You can't know that. You can't know that there haven't been house fires caused by a charger, for example. Here's a recent house fire that killed five people, started by a phone charger. http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/10/phone-charger-started-fire-that-killed-five-members-of-family-5239404/ http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/10/phone-charger-started-fire-tha...
    - TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
      I doubt that short circuits have never killed anyone. That's not the only way a charger could kill you: DanBC points out the risk of fire, which is also a possibility.
    - kens 11y ago
      There are multiple reports of phone chargers killing people: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-07/14/c_132540098.htm http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-07/14/c_1325400... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2950641/Woman-electrocuted-iPhone-dropped-bath-charging-looked-Russian-version-Facebook.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2950641/Woman-electr... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2671493/Woman-dies-electrocuted-headphones-plugged-laptop.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2671493/Woman-dies-e... http://shanghaiist.com/2015/03/15/girl_from_hebei_dies_after_being_el.php http://shanghaiist.com/2015/03/15/girl_from_hebei_dies_after... If you look inside cheap chargers (as I have), it's not surprising that they occasionally kill people.
- 8_hours_ago 11y ago
  It depends on your luck... and I am unlucky. My knock-off charger completely destroyed the power supply in my MacBook Pro after a few months of using it.