6 ms·

Bear in mind the selection bias in effect. People are generally more likely to review a product, especially one as mundane as a replacement power adapter, if t

by UVB-76 13y ago

Bear in mind the selection bias in effect. People are generally more likely to review a product, especially one as mundane as a replacement power adapter, if they have had a negative experience with it. One of, if not the most common, reasons for purchasing a replacement power adapter will be due to a failure of an original adapter, leading to negative experiences.

JanSt 13y ago
Mine burnt through last year (after three years) and i didn't review it. A friend of mine has got her third in two years and didn't review either. This is exactly what happens: "I've had two adapters break on me, the wire somehow shorts out and melts near the "square". Really poor design, love the computers but the adapters are terrible." (one of the reviews) The wire is super thin, i'm not saying it's planned obsolescence, but it's close. edit: english
- shakeel_mohamed 13y ago
  I hope you meant planned obsolescence.
  - JanSt 13y ago
    Yup - sorry, i'm not a native english speaker :)
- hkphooey 13y ago
  You can buy a replacement cord for less than 10 bucks. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=magsafe+replacement+cord&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amagsafe+replacement+cord http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3D... Having said that, I wouldn't feel comfortable opening the power adapter and rewiring a new cord... I'm sure it's easy and safe, but still...
  - JanSt 13y ago
    Yeah I'm not that much of an electronics guy.. ;-)
keithpeter 13y ago
So how many returns versus number sold. Only Apple know and I can understand a reluctance to publish hard numbers. Perhaps if all manufacturers did publish numbers these minor 1st world problems would be put into perspective?
fat0wl 13y ago
to chalk stuff like this up to selection bias is ridiculous... wouldn't every product on the site have equally bad reviews then? hashtag apple-fanboy-armchair-social-science
wdr1 13y ago
To that effect, it's worth consider the same product has 188 reviews on Amazon.com with a 4 star rating: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Magsafe-Portable-Adapter-MacBook/dp/B004L6MLPQ/ http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Magsafe-Portable-Adapter-MacBook...
- eddieroger 13y ago
  This is particularly interesting, because people seem to view this an appropriate forum to let Apple know there's a problem with an individual product, as opposed to calling Customer Care (which is the appropriate action). The same thing happens in the Dev Forums, where angry folks complain about the beta they installed acting badly instead of filing a Radar, or even in individual app reviews despite a support link on every app's page.
  - iSnow 13y ago
    Many of the big companies don't care at all about customer care calls. Public shaming via a discussion board may work better.

by UVB-76 13y ago

JanSt 13y ago

Mine burnt through last year (after three years) and i didn't review it. A friend of mine has got her third in two years and didn't review either. This is exactly what happens: "I've had two adapters break on me, the wire somehow shorts out and melts near the "square". Really poor design, love the computers but the adapters are terrible." (one of the reviews) The wire is super thin, i'm not saying it's planned obsolescence, but it's close. edit: english

shakeel_mohamed 13y ago
I hope you meant planned obsolescence.
- JanSt 13y ago
  Yup - sorry, i'm not a native english speaker :)
hkphooey 13y ago
You can buy a replacement cord for less than 10 bucks. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=magsafe+replacement+cord&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amagsafe+replacement+cord http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3D... Having said that, I wouldn't feel comfortable opening the power adapter and rewiring a new cord... I'm sure it's easy and safe, but still...
- JanSt 13y ago
  Yeah I'm not that much of an electronics guy.. ;-)

keithpeter 13y ago

So how many returns versus number sold. Only Apple know and I can understand a reluctance to publish hard numbers. Perhaps if all manufacturers did publish numbers these minor 1st world problems would be put into perspective?

fat0wl 13y ago

to chalk stuff like this up to selection bias is ridiculous... wouldn't every product on the site have equally bad reviews then? hashtag apple-fanboy-armchair-social-science

wdr1 13y ago

To that effect, it's worth consider the same product has 188 reviews on Amazon.com with a 4 star rating: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Magsafe-Portable-Adapter-MacBook/dp/B004L6MLPQ/ http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Magsafe-Portable-Adapter-MacBook...

eddieroger 13y ago
This is particularly interesting, because people seem to view this an appropriate forum to let Apple know there's a problem with an individual product, as opposed to calling Customer Care (which is the appropriate action). The same thing happens in the Dev Forums, where angry folks complain about the beta they installed acting badly instead of filing a Radar, or even in individual app reviews despite a support link on every app's page.
- iSnow 13y ago
  Many of the big companies don't care at all about customer care calls. Public shaming via a discussion board may work better.