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The world is a better place when companies like Apple do stuff like this properly. Besides, I’d guess that well over 95% of the chargers Apple ships are bundled

The world is a better place when companies like Apple do stuff like this properly. Besides, I’d guess that well over 95% of the chargers Apple ships are bundled with a device. Possibly 99%. So the retail cost of the charger on its own is beside the point. If you want a cheap aftermarket charger, consider products sold by IKEA. While I can’t say it’s an immutable truth, IKEA electronics tend to be well engineered considering their low cost.

kalleboo 6y ago
Here’s a bigclive tear down of an IKEA KOPPLA USB power supply, it seemed well-built https://youtu.be/uRe9w5PKmsE https://youtu.be/uRe9w5PKmsE
fsh 6y ago
Another advantage is that IKEA has its own online shop. No risk of getting a fake.
skunkworker 6y ago
IKEA LADDA AA and AAA batteries are some of the best I've ever bought and for the price are very hard to beat. There are some reports and writeups that suggest that LADDA 2450 AA/900 AAA rechargeable batteries are the same as Panasonic Eneloop due to extremely similar characteristics and the fact that they very likely come from the same factory in japan because only one makes Ni-MH low discharge. For $6.99 per 4 batteries I have yet to find any that can beat these and I have been using some for years without any noticeable drop in capacity yet. https://www.slrlounge.com/panasonic-eneloop-vs-ikea-ladda-are-they-the-same/ https://www.slrlounge.com/panasonic-eneloop-vs-ikea-ladda-ar...
- lb1lf 6y ago
  Irrelevant anecdote - "Ladda" is Swedish for "(to) charge".
- ksec 6y ago
  They are basically OEM ( at least it was in 2018 / 2019 ) from Panasonic. But not all Eneloop and in fact LADDA are from Japan. Panasonic do make Eneloop from China and they are of slightly lower quality than the one produced in Japan. I believe there are a few variant / types / size of LADDA, and there are one or two make in Japan. Unless you are perfectionist you would want the best one from Japan. Otherwise most LADDA are good enough for 99% of its intended usage.
lloeki 6y ago
Initially I thought Tradfri IoT stuff would end up being a glorious mess but it’s well designed, secure, and privacy respecting. The hub has a very reasonable API, it reaches to WAN only to get software updates and blocking that has no ill effect, and the UI of the app is both very simple and for some cases makes more sense than Home.app (Default Moods are nice, and setting the light levels/Mood across all lights of a whole room can be done without reaching to voice or setting up a dedicated scene per room) https://learn.pimoroni.com/tutorial/sandyj/controlling-ikea-tradfri-lights-from-your-pi https://learn.pimoroni.com/tutorial/sandyj/controlling-ikea-...
fmajid 6y ago
Yes, except for IKEA LED bulbs, which are cheap but terrible (low CRI, huge latency to switch one)
- coopr 6y ago
  In the more distant past I found this to be true, but recent LED bulb purchases from Ikea have convinced me they've solved the earlier problems. Their LED bulbs are now great performers with fair prices.
- sjwright 6y ago
  Hard disagree. IKEA LED lights are excellent. Maybe some early models were bad, but so were CFL back then too. Current IKEA LEDs are reasonably high CRI and are available with low lumens options. It’s often difficult to find a quality LED bulb that isn’t super bright. (By the way IKEA was almost single handedly responsible for the rapid plummeting of the cost of LED lights. They invested early and drove up volume before anyone else.)
ChuckNorris89 6y ago
>The world is a better place when companies like Apple do stuff like this properly. I don't see what's special about Apple's charging solution when compared to the competition. Sure, it's better than fake knock-offs but chargers and batteries from OnePlus, Xiaomi and Huawei have way more engineering in them allowing for faster charging that's equally safe.

kalleboo 6y ago

Here’s a bigclive tear down of an IKEA KOPPLA USB power supply, it seemed well-built https://youtu.be/uRe9w5PKmsE https://youtu.be/uRe9w5PKmsE

fsh 6y ago

Another advantage is that IKEA has its own online shop. No risk of getting a fake.

skunkworker 6y ago

IKEA LADDA AA and AAA batteries are some of the best I've ever bought and for the price are very hard to beat. There are some reports and writeups that suggest that LADDA 2450 AA/900 AAA rechargeable batteries are the same as Panasonic Eneloop due to extremely similar characteristics and the fact that they very likely come from the same factory in japan because only one makes Ni-MH low discharge. For $6.99 per 4 batteries I have yet to find any that can beat these and I have been using some for years without any noticeable drop in capacity yet. https://www.slrlounge.com/panasonic-eneloop-vs-ikea-ladda-are-they-the-same/ https://www.slrlounge.com/panasonic-eneloop-vs-ikea-ladda-ar...

lb1lf 6y ago
Irrelevant anecdote - "Ladda" is Swedish for "(to) charge".
ksec 6y ago
They are basically OEM ( at least it was in 2018 / 2019 ) from Panasonic. But not all Eneloop and in fact LADDA are from Japan. Panasonic do make Eneloop from China and they are of slightly lower quality than the one produced in Japan. I believe there are a few variant / types / size of LADDA, and there are one or two make in Japan. Unless you are perfectionist you would want the best one from Japan. Otherwise most LADDA are good enough for 99% of its intended usage.

lloeki 6y ago

Initially I thought Tradfri IoT stuff would end up being a glorious mess but it’s well designed, secure, and privacy respecting. The hub has a very reasonable API, it reaches to WAN only to get software updates and blocking that has no ill effect, and the UI of the app is both very simple and for some cases makes more sense than Home.app (Default Moods are nice, and setting the light levels/Mood across all lights of a whole room can be done without reaching to voice or setting up a dedicated scene per room) https://learn.pimoroni.com/tutorial/sandyj/controlling-ikea-tradfri-lights-from-your-pi https://learn.pimoroni.com/tutorial/sandyj/controlling-ikea-...

fmajid 6y ago

Yes, except for IKEA LED bulbs, which are cheap but terrible (low CRI, huge latency to switch one)

coopr 6y ago
In the more distant past I found this to be true, but recent LED bulb purchases from Ikea have convinced me they've solved the earlier problems. Their LED bulbs are now great performers with fair prices.
sjwright 6y ago
Hard disagree. IKEA LED lights are excellent. Maybe some early models were bad, but so were CFL back then too. Current IKEA LEDs are reasonably high CRI and are available with low lumens options. It’s often difficult to find a quality LED bulb that isn’t super bright. (By the way IKEA was almost single handedly responsible for the rapid plummeting of the cost of LED lights. They invested early and drove up volume before anyone else.)

ChuckNorris89 6y ago

>The world is a better place when companies like Apple do stuff like this properly. I don't see what's special about Apple's charging solution when compared to the competition. Sure, it's better than fake knock-offs but chargers and batteries from OnePlus, Xiaomi and Huawei have way more engineering in them allowing for faster charging that's equally safe.