3rd party 'magsafe'? Short on cash; should I buy??

ReDDs3D · Aug 14, 2012

Hi, recently my 60w magsafe adapter for my school macbook 7.1 (2010) broke down. I was having some trouble with it the past month where it wouldn't charge and the only way to charge it was by twisting it. Yesterday, that method didn't work either, so I twisted a bit more than usual and well, the inside wires had ripped, rendering it useless.

School starts in a few days and I am genuinely screwed. My school is way to pretentious and will charge more than a $150 USD for a new adapter, and my dad just won't pay for it. I also live in Shanghai and the official apple store is about an hour and a half away, and even then it'll be around a $100 USD or so. I am short on cash since I am a student, and my only option really is to get a 3rd party magsafe, I've looked online at local shopping websites (amazon CN and tmall) and have found a few with very favourible reviews. They are also in my price range being about $20 - $30.

I'm just wondering if I should get one. I would have gotten one already since reviews and stuff for them are great, but I'm just paranoid that anything bad can happen

, I don't wanna reck this laptop!

Help me out here, what should I do....

simsaladimbamba · Aug 14, 2012

As far as I know, it is not recommended to use third party adapters, especially since they user lesser parts than the real ones and might damage your MB in the long run.
Strange though, that your school wants 150 USD when an original "only" costs 92 USD (588 RMB).
I guess your Mac is out of warranty?

ReDDs3D · Aug 14, 2012

simsaladimbamba said:
As far as I know, it is not recommended to use third party adapters, especially since they user lesser parts than the real ones and might damage your MB in the long run.
Strange though, that your school wants 150 USD when an original "only" costs 92 USD (588 RMB).
I guess your Mac is out of warranty?

I had a 1 year warranty that expired in june.

jamesjingyi · Aug 14, 2012

I would try a 3rd Party til you get a new one... almost like a spare tyre...
I had one and it worked nicely as a second adapter. If it gets hot, take it out and wait for it to cool....
BTW,
你会说汉语吗？

ReDDs3D · Aug 14, 2012

jamesjingyi said:
I would try a 3rd Party til you get a new one... almost like a spare tyre...
I had one and it worked nicely as a second adapter. If it gets hot, take it out and wait for it to cool....
BTW,
你会说汉语吗？

Hahaha 我可以说！但是，现在我可以说一点。。。我不是中国人，是因果人 XD

But yeah anyways, I think I just might. I'm just wondering though, is there any chance it becomes hot to the point of causing damage to the macbook? I usually leave it charging overnight which is a good 6 to 8 hours....

jamesjingyi · Aug 14, 2012

Is the MacBook Aluminium or plastic? It seemed to work perfectly. Just try it out a few times when you are working on the MacBook. If it is fine, continue!

是什么让你英语出生吗？幸运！一直想住在一个中国的母语的国家和我的中国变得有点生疏！你去一所国际学校？

ixodes · Aug 14, 2012

ReDDs3D said:
Hahaha 我可以说！但是，现在我可以说一点。。。我不是中国人，是因果人 XD

But yeah anyways, I think I just might. I'm just wondering though, is there any chance it becomes hot to the point of causing damage to the macbook? I usually leave it charging overnight which is a good 6 to 8 hours....

I understand the difficulty of the position you are in. It's sad that Apple has overpriced this part as much as they have. I just bought a second power adapter for my 15" ThinkPad T series, to use at home. It was less than half of what Apple charges for essentially the same thing.

I do know that it's pretty risky to use anything other than the genuine Apple part. Unfortunately they are the only supplier. So you're left with a decision of what to do. If there is anything that you might sell to help you get the money you need, that would be my first suggestion, since then you have the peace of mind knowing your laptop will not be damaged. Anything else is a real gamble.

simsaladimbamba · Aug 14, 2012

jamesjingyi said:
Is the MacBook Aluminium or plastic?

It is the white Unibody one, since the Aluminium one was discontinued in 2009.

jamesjingyi · Aug 14, 2012

In my opinion, I think you should try going to an Apple store. Is the connector the L or T style? T style connectors were recalled so you may be able to get a new one for free. A charger should last longer than that anyhow. Mine has been running fine since 2006 til I got a third party adapter.

ReDDs3D · Aug 14, 2012

jamesjingyi said:
In my opinion, I think you should try going to an Apple store. Is the connector the L or T style? T style connectors were recalled so you may be able to get a new one for free. A charger should last longer than that anyhow. Mine has been running fine since 2006 til I got a third party adapter.

It's an L shaped one。。。

你住在中国吗？你的中文很好！haha 现在我的中文马马虎虎。
But yeah, I go to an international school...they rip everyone off there ;__;

I don't know what I should say, especially since it's a chinese apple store, I don't know if they would even have the T style ones.

jamesjingyi · Aug 14, 2012

I don't know what I should say, especially since it's a chinese apple store, I don't know if they would even have the T style ones.

Hmmm I would go there and ask about it. If they refuse, try a genuine one (if you can) otherwise 3rd party...

不，我住在英国。我的妈妈是中国人，所以我尽我所能的尝试和学习。我很想去新加坡大学，以改善它虽然！

student_trap · Aug 17, 2012

Personally, I wouldn't touch a 3rd party charger.

I know someone who is now on his third one this year (they have all broken ridiculously quickly), and has in total spent more than an apple one would cost.

So now every few months he buys another charger.

Tell your father this, and say that a 3rd party one will mean frequent replacements and potentially the cost of a new macbook if it fries your logic board. That'll probably do the trick...

Blackberryroid · Aug 17, 2012

ReDDs3D said:
I'm just wondering if I should get one. I would have gotten one already since reviews and stuff for them are great, but I'm just paranoid that anything bad can happen , I don't wanna reck this laptop!

Help me out here, what should I do....

This is a charger. And we're talking about power. And that's a very serious thing.

With fake/third party chargers, I can assure you, your MacBook will get damaged. If the MacBook won't get damaged, you will. These things are probably not even tested to run on various MacBooks. Probably just once.

nyclaw · Aug 17, 2012

I bought 2 knock off 60 watt mag adapters from Dealextreme and both have been working without a problem. I think I paid about $28.00 U.S. for each.

Yally · Aug 17, 2012

Please be careful. One of the reasons to stay with an apple charger is the electronic build quality to prevent possible electric fires. I'll try to find the YouTube post, but someone ripped open the oem and third party, and it was shocking to see the lack of fail safes built into the 3rd party charger. I'm a big fan of deal extreme, but not for power adapters.

GermanyChris · Aug 19, 2012

simsaladimbamba said:
As far as I know, it is not recommended to use third party adapters, especially since they user lesser parts than the real ones and might damage your MB in the long run.
Strange though, that your school wants 150 USD when an original "only" costs 92 USD (588 RMB).
I guess your Mac is out of warranty?

and GM recommends you don't use aftermarket parts...SO

@OP I buy the cheap ones from Amazon they run 20ish and in many cases are better than the original...fraying pieces of hockey..

saggel · Aug 19, 2012

I'm using a third party charger for almost a year with no problem.
One of my friends got a third party charger and after three days it bursted into flames... it's up to you...!!!

wharzhee · Aug 19, 2012

saggel said:
I'm using a third party charger for almost a year with no problem.
One of my friends got a third party charger and after three days it bursted into flames... it's up to you...!!!

I used a third party charger for my iPhone, and it was rendered useless..
Luckily it was under warranty.

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