Are third-party accessories safe?

[slapple]

Hi everyone,

I just ordered an iPhone 3G from an AT&T store, and am patiently awaiting its arrival. In the meantime, I'd like to get the following accessories so that I can have them when the iPhone arrives:

- dock connector to USB cable and USB power adapter (I want to have 2 sets, so that I can charge it at home and at the office)
- car charger

(BTW, is there any point in getting the dock instead of the cable?)

The iPhone will be the first Apple product that I've ever gotten. I see that at the Apple store these accessories will cost anywhere from $19 to $49. I also see that on ebay, I can get third-party accessories for less than $10. Are any of the third-party accessories safe to use? Because I've seen some people say that they used a third-party charger and now their iPhone doesn't work anymore.

 

[hkftw]

I'm in the same boat as you, although I don't exactly trust those cheap knock off accessories on ebay, there do seem to be some OEM ones for cheap, but who really knows?

On the other hand, I bought a third party usb wall charger for my first gen nano a while back, and it works fine. Just be careful of any that look shady