Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family, iPhone
Offshore iPhone/iPod USB power adapters: Caveat Emptor
When I opened my iPhone 3GS, I was surprised to find that the power adapter was nothing but a little 2-prong AC plug (I live in the US) that allowed you to plug in the standard USB to 30-pin connector to charge the phone.I wanted to get a spare; checking online told me that the Apple Store wanted US$29 for the little plug, which just seemed like too much for too little, so I went shopping.
On eBay I found a bunch of auctions based in Hong Kong selling what looked like the exact same thing for anywhere from under around $2-4, and they often included the USB cable to boot.
I ordered four from a vendor and after a few weeks received them. They looked perfect, right down to the little green dot -- but none of them worked. They might start charging, but after a few minutes the iPhone would beep a few times and I would be informed that "this accessory is not compatible." And so it went for all four pieces. After sending some pictures back and forth and reading a few emails containing a combination of surprise and amazement from the vendor, my money was refunded.
Undaunted, or maybe just dumb, I went back to eBay and found another vendor that claimed to be selling, "100% Brand New Original OEM Charger and Original OEM USB Cable for iPhone/iPod" for around US$4. I just checked eBay and found this same vendor raising the price to US$10 in one auction and lowering it to $US.01 in another.
I bought another bunch and after the usual few weeks, I found that they were not OEM by any stretch of the imagination. The cable didn't fit smoothly and had plastic flashing on it while the plug, although looking perfect once again, didn't work in exactly the same manner.
Upon contacting the seller, I got my refund just about immediately. Now I'm not saying that all of the product coming from Hong Kong is bad, but my record is two for two. Perhaps this is par for the course when knockoffs seem to be a healthy business in some places.
The moral of the story is: don't believe everything you read, and if you do, use PayPal so you have some recourse in case you come across a recalcitrant vendor, which I didn't.
But the search goes on. I found something similar at Amazon.com for US$1.89 + US$2.98 shipping, and I'm waiting for some to come in.
Crazy can be defined as doing the same thing multiple times and expecting a different outcome, so I'm not ruling out the fact that I may be crazy. But It's also crazy for Apple to sell the plug for US$29... that, and curiosity got the better of me.
When these come in I'll let you know if they work and if we can all save a bundle. If they don't you can send the padded wagon and straitjacket.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
wallacejohnathan said 6:36PM on 10-14-2009
Thanks, captain obvious.
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Jordan said 10:45PM on 10-14-2009
Exactly what I was thinking, where has this guy been?
Brian Allen said 8:46AM on 10-15-2009
If you want it to look like an Apple changer, it sure seems like you would purchase an Apple changer.
Fred O said 6:43PM on 10-14-2009
I've also been stymied by the $29.00 Apple is charging. Hope the new ones work as I'd like to save a couple of dollars also.
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ProfessorDex said 11:38AM on 10-15-2009
Unless it's changed recently, the $29 price for charging plug also includes a USB cable as well........at least it did when I bought mine. $29 for charger and cable isn't a bad deal IMO.
SubGenius said 1:07PM on 10-15-2009
@ProfessorDex
So you are still paying $27 for the charger and getting a $2 cable for "free".
I bought 5 of these mini ipod cables and all of them worked perfectly.
They are only $1.64 a piece!
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25809
Even when I worked for Apple, I didn't buy my cables and chargers from them.
Kento Ito said 6:43PM on 10-14-2009
But here's a thing. The plug is cheap, but expensive to design. I think most of the Apple's expensive price is to pay for the design. Designing product that is very aesthetic is not cheap.
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brian said 10:31PM on 10-14-2009
Another way to look at it: the adapter gives off standard USB voltage/current/whatever, so I use my magic 1" cube with the proper cables to charge my Garmin GPS and my BlackBerry Curve from work. (The Garmin didn't come with an AC adapter and the BB one is huge and ugly and in a box somewhere.) So paying $29 for a teensy device that'll handle anything that charges via USB is not too bad of a deal to me.
That said, Monoprice.com has a reputation for low prices and good quality merch so you should check them out.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=iphone
The top two matches are bigger and uglier and just $1.80 apiece. But read closely--a third, similar item specifically says "Not compatible with Apple Ipods." So who knows. Standards--gotta love'em. :-)
Achal Aggarwal said 6:46PM on 10-14-2009
Here in India, we get an adapter costing about $10 and it works great with all my iPod Touch/iPhones. It's a little over the price you pay, but its better than paying $29 to Apple.
and btw, it says that its made by HCL. I don't know if its true, but it does work!
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Ron said 6:50PM on 10-14-2009
I bought 10 USB cables from a vendor in Hong Kong for my family. Purchase price was 98 cents each. I have opened about half of them and all have worked just fine. Maybe I'm just lucky!
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oki said 7:15PM on 10-14-2009
me too!, ive gotten lucky i guess.. did buy a dock that didnt work but all the chargers and cables seem to be solid
David Winograd said 3:27PM on 10-15-2009
I don't think so. I've never had a problem with cables, even if they did look and feel a bit rough. The cables that came with the second shipment all have worked fine, at least the ones I tried.
skohler said 7:05PM on 10-14-2009
I bought the Bellkin BZ103050vTVL Mini Surge Protector/Dual USB Charger (about 20 bucks from Amazon). Yeah, it's bigger than the iPhone charger alone, but it gives me two powered USB ports PLUS three 110 grounded outlets all protected from power surges. I've carried it on many trips and the convenience of the USB ports and the three 110 outlets in hotel rooms with limited A/C outlets made it extremely worthwhile.
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smelly said 7:33PM on 10-14-2009
I've been using one for about a year now whenever I travel, got mine at Radio Shack, definitely recommend.
mfarrow said 8:38PM on 10-14-2009
I also have one of these, and they're worth their weight in gold for hotel rooms.
tl said 6:56PM on 10-14-2009
looking to kill two birds with one stone I use this Macally PowerPal on the road.
http://www.macally.com/EN/Product/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=236
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Justin said 6:56PM on 10-14-2009
My advice is to buy from Monoprice.com. It's the best of both worlds: generic and reliable. I've purchased this type of USB power adapters, car chargers, etc, and they've always worked.
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David Winograd said 7:16PM on 10-14-2009
Thanks for suggesting Monoprice. I've been looking at their site and although they don't sell exactly what I'm looking for, they do sell wall chargers at a very good price. $3.49 I think, but I didn't check out shipping.
booticon said 7:23PM on 10-14-2009
I always suggest ordering from Monoprice in bulk, as their shipping prices are a bit high. Get some HDMI cables while you're at it!
JD said 7:28PM on 10-14-2009
Sorry, and this is news how? You buy a $4 knockoff and think it's going to work correctly? It's just dumb to use this on your $600 iPhone.
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