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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > 3rd party 85w MagSafe Adapters for MBP? Dumb?

3rd party 85w MagSafe Adapters for MBP? Dumb?
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Kenstee
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Apr 25, 2010, 11:49 AM
 
Plenty of inexpensive 85w 3rd party MagSafe adapters for sale on eBay. Anybody have experience with them? Or is this just too dumb to consider.....
     
Lateralus
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Apr 25, 2010, 12:02 PM
 
I wouldn't risk it when second-hand genuine Apple adapters are going for the same price.
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Kenstee  (op)
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Apr 25, 2010, 12:42 PM
 
Actually, very, very few genuine available for sale........
     
vmarks
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Apr 25, 2010, 02:20 PM
 
The problem with a power adapter is knowing what happens to it when it's placed under load. I've seen plenty of cheap DC power supplies that overheat when reaching the numbers specced on their stickers. Would one of these do the same? Possible.

If you have a genuine one and it does something crazy like catch fire, you can call Apple. Who do you call when the third party one breaks/burns down your home?
     
mduell
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Apr 25, 2010, 02:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by vmarks View Post
If you have a genuine one and it does something crazy like catch fire, you can call Apple. Who do you call when the third party one breaks/burns down your home?
False dichotomy; Apple isn't going to cover your home. Either way you'll be calling your insurance company.
     
vmarks
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Apr 25, 2010, 02:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
False dichotomy; Apple isn't going to cover your home. Either way you'll be calling your insurance company.
True. The smaller point stands, you can call Apple when the power supply breaks. You can't call the third party factory in China. If the Apple power supply breaks, or breaks your laptop, you can contact Apple on either.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Apr 25, 2010, 03:41 PM
 
Advice: don't.

Whatever is out there is unlicensed, meaning that they certainly won't be around should ever a warranty/liability issue arise.

And they know this when they design the things, which should tell you all you need to know about reliability/safety of these power supplies.
     
vmarks
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Apr 25, 2010, 04:04 PM
 
Even if the third party company is selling them with the best of intentions, how good is their QC at the factory? If they aren't pulling random production from the assembly line and load testing, then it's a good bet that quality may not be up to the standards the company selling the unit intends.

Which is another reason to not buy. You don't need to do their QC testing.
     
turtle777
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Apr 25, 2010, 05:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Advice: don't.
Seconded.

You got a $1,000+ machine, and risk damaging it because you saved $ 30 on an adapter ?

-t
     
amazing
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Apr 25, 2010, 10:45 PM
 
check the comments on amazon.com, you'll sometimes find interesting comments on how the detachable duckbill doesn't have the requisite metal grounding strips that connect with the longer plug-in grounding cord. IOW, the 3-prong grounding cord isn't really grounded. Other times, you'll see comments about failures or extreme overheating, sometimes leading to almost melting.

Caveat emptor.
     
Lateralus
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Apr 25, 2010, 10:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by Kenstee View Post
Actually, very, very few genuine available for sale........
All from the first page of results...

NEW Genuine APPLE 85W MAGSAFE Power Adapter A1290 NIB - eBay (item 300419248861 end time Apr-25-10 20:03:29 PDT)

Genuine Apple Magsafe 85w AC adapter - eBay (item 130384487112 end time Apr-26-10 08:54:02 PDT)

APPLE 85W MAGSAFE POWER ADAPTER A1290 FOR MACBOOK PRO - eBay (item 180496014219 end time Apr-26-10 18:08:18 PDT)

ORIGINAL Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter for Mac book^^ - eBay (item 180496516379 end time Apr-26-10 19:26:48 PDT)

GENUINE Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter A1222 - NIB - eBay (item 160427308906 end time Apr-27-10 11:46:00 PDT)

85W Power Adapter For APPLE MacBook Pro MagSafe A1172 - eBay (item 120496052177 end time May-24-10 02:17:50 PDT)

GENUINE Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter A1222 - NIB - eBay (item 160426224191 end time Apr-28-10 09:59:05 PDT)

AC Power Adapter-Macbook Pro 85w MagSafe - Apple Laptop - eBay (item 300420396949 end time Apr-29-10 06:26:38 PDT)

Apple 85W Magsafe Power adapter 4 Macbook & Macbook pro - eBay (item 320521682681 end time Apr-29-10 14:21:33 PDT)

GENUINE Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter A1222 - NIB - eBay (item 160426541247 end time Apr-29-10 08:55:03 PDT)

Genuine Mac Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter A1222 - eBay (item 300420629169 end time May-02-10 17:00:07 PDT)

Apple Authentic 85W MagSafe Power Adapter - eBay (item 300376901586 end time May-10-10 15:03:33 PDT)

ORIGINAL APPLE 85W AC POWER ADAPTER MAGSAFE 60W 45W - eBay (item 220595269939 end time Apr-27-10 18:52:47 PDT)

GENUINE Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter A1290 MA938LL/A - eBay (item 380227524337 end time Apr-25-10 19:47:31 PDT)
I like chicken
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Please de-liv-er
     
amazing
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Apr 26, 2010, 12:04 AM
 
Any one of those could be real, and any one of them could be fake. I don't want to insult the reputable vendors out there, but anyone can put a picture of a real Apple 85W adapter in their ad and then ship something completely different. A disreputable vendor can easily put "original" in an item listing...and you'll find that even the Apple packaging is being counterfeited in China.

I went back and found the 85W adapter on amazon, and it looks real, right? Are those proportions perhaps just the slightest bit off? Title sucks you in by saying "Other products from Apple" though you'll see in the description that it's a "replacement laptop adapter."

Amazon.com: Laptop AC Adapter for Apple Macbook MagSafe A1172, MA357LL/A, MA938LL/A, 85W: Electronics

Here's just one of the comments--which inexplicably gave a 3-star rating?? I love the part about the tickling/buzzing sensation when you handle the adapter!

"Despite the fact that this item lists Apple item numbers in its title, it is NOT an apple power supply. It is a knockoff made to look very similar - the entire design, the gray type, etc."

"You would think from its design that its two-pronged tip could be replaced with a grounded three-pronged receptacle, just like the apple power supply. The grounded cord that comes with Apple power supplies can be used , but it will NOT ground this unit, because the metal piece that conveys the ground in apple's unit is replaced by a plastic one in this. As a result, when you use this unit to charge an aluminum laptop you are likely to feel a funny buzzing/tickling vibration when you lightly move your fingers along the laptop's chassis, whereas you would not if it were properly grounded. This doesn't affect the computer (I don't think) but I personally find the sensation annoying."
     
Phoible
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Apr 26, 2010, 03:41 AM
 
I've ordered 2 MagSafe adapters off of eBay (for use with my white Macbook)

The first was a second-hand 85W from a Macbook Pro. It was legit, and worked for almost two years. After a while, it succumbed to the contact-breaking problem that I've seen with a lot of magsafe connectors. Since I didn't have a receipt, I couldn't get Apple to replace it as a design defect.

The second was a knock-off 65W Adapter (purchased for like $30). It looked almost like the Apple one, but without the Apple logo, and it appeared to be lower-quality than the Apple adapter. For example, the grounding peg was made out of plastic, and the power cable wasn't as flexible as the Apple adapter. There was also some sort of internal short, because it would get pretty hot when I plugged it in, and the LED on the magsafe connector wouldn't turn off when you unplugged the cable from the laptop. It lasted for about a year, but stopped working recently because the contacts inside the magsafe connector broke.

I wouldn't recommend the knock-offs because they appear to be poorly made and (IME) don't last as long as the genuine adapters. I suspect that the new design for the magsafe tip should eliminate the problem with the contacts in the magsafe connector breaking.
     
   
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