Charger for PowerBook G4 12”

[barracuda156]

I got a used PowerBook G4 12” which is supposed to turn on but lacks a battery and charger (I was expecting the latter to be included, but whatever).
Are there third-party solutions? Are other Apple chargers compatible with it besides the one originally coming with 12” model?

I am not too bothered about a battery at the moment, but without a charger I can’t even check if it starts up. (System drive should be corrupt, so I will have to either fix the file system or replace HDD – and then with SSD.)

 

[Zotaccian]

You can use both 45W and 65W chargers with that model, for 12" Powerbooks 45W is enough but using higher rated one does not do harm since the machine only draws what it needs from the charger even if the charger is capable of supplying more.

There are third party models but as always some of them could be questionable in terms of quality. I have bought some cheap ones from eBay and while most of them have worked fine I recall one had 65W printed on it but the machine detected it as 45W and one charger exploded immediately after plugging it to wall socket (luckily only the charger died...)

 

[wicknix]

This is what i purchased for my 17" PB i got from goodwill. I can't say how long it'll last, as mines only a couple months old, but for $13 i can't complain. It works.
(Not my auction) https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Char...=ibook+g4+power+adapter&qid=1640580283&sr=8-4

 

[barracuda156]

and one charger exploded immediately after plugging it to wall socket (luckily only the charger died...)

Sounds an adventure LOL

 

[B S Magnet]

This is what i purchased for my 17" PB i got from goodwill. I can't say how long it'll last, as mines only a couple months old, but for $13 i can't complain. It works.
(Not my auction) https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Char...=ibook+g4+power+adapter&qid=1640580283&sr=8-4

That’s pretty similar to what I have (I received two when buying two non-working iBooks a couple of years ago). I find they work on my 17-inch PowerBook, but they don’t on my 15-inch PowerBook (I’ve exhausted hypotheses on why this is). The only quirk I can speak to is there’s something hinky about the grounding on the adapters, as whenever I use it with my 17-inch, if I move my fingertips or palms along the top case whilst having my feet on the ground, I can feel an almost vibration-like sensation where skin contacts the aluminium — meaning there’s some quirky grounding issue somewhere, despite the adapters having a tri-prong plug. I just make sure to be not-grounded (i.e., sitting on a sofa) when using it.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Here's one that I've been using for a couple of years now without any issues:

Originally I purchased it for use with my iBook G3/500. I've since used it with my other iBook G3 and G4 models and IIRC it's also compatible with the Powerbooks right up to the 17" range.

 

[B S Magnet]

Here's one that I've been using for a couple of years now without any issues:

Originally I purchased it for use with my iBook G3/500. I've since used it with my other iBook G3 and G4 models and IIRC it's also compatible with the Powerbooks right up to the 17" range.

That looks a great deal like the ones I have, except yours didn’t try to hide the fact it’s from a third party — whereas mine attempted to follow the counterfeiting route by sketchily trying to pass themselves off as Apple and being designed for, inexplicably, the PowerBook 2400c.

 

[TheShortTimer]

That looks a great deal like the ones I have, except yours didn’t try to hide the fact it’s from a third party — whereas mine attempted to follow the counterfeiting route by sketchily trying to pass themselves off as Apple and being designed for, inexplicably, the PowerBook 2400c.

View attachment 1934969

"The C.S.A and other countries"? ?

Were the counterfeiters watching some Civil War drama/film on TV whilst preparing those labels and mistakenly referred to the Confederate States of America instead of the U.S.A?

 

[B S Magnet]

"The C.S.A and other countries"? ?

Were the counterfeiters watching some Civil War drama/film on TV whilst preparing those labels and mistakenly referred to the Confederate States of America instead of the U.S.A?

I mean, it’s an honest mistake when the c and the u look like the same thing, turned 90 degrees, when you’re less than cosy with the Latin alphabet.

But you’re right: team ⊂nited states didn’t have a hand in this one.

 

[ADunsmuir]

I mean, it’s an honest mistake when the c and the u look like the same thing, turned 90 degrees, when you’re less than cosy with the Latin alphabet.

But you’re right: team ⊂nited states didn’t have a hand in this one.

CSA is the Canadian Standards Association - our equivalent to America’s UL (Underwriter’s Laboratories). These organizations test products to ensure that they conform to the country’s standards requirements - mostly for safety (shock and fire resistance).

That being said, just because this unit says it is CSA or UL approved, does not guarantee that it actually conformed.

Al (Electrical Engineer and PEng)

 

[B S Magnet]

CSA is the Canadian Standards Association - our equivalent to America’s UL (Underwriter’s Laboratories). These organizations test products to ensure that they conform to the country’s standards requirements - mostly for safety (shock and fire resistance).

Speaking here from Canada, not in this context it wasn’t.

Here, “C.S.A.” was a typo for “U.S.A.” and was applied in the context of trademarks and copyright — as if Apple themselves were the party. Someone in Taiwan literally took a power adapter label from a PowerBook 2400c and (sloppily) transcribed it for use on this third-party knock-off power adapter intended for iBook G3s, G4s, and PowerBook G4s.

That being said, just because this unit says it is CSA or UL approved, does not guarantee that it actually conformed.

Indeed.

 

[barracuda156]

"The C.S.A and other countries"? ?

Were the counterfeiters watching some Civil War drama/film on TV whilst preparing those labels and mistakenly referred to the Confederate States of America instead of the U.S.A?

Perhaps Chinese posing as Taiwan and then referring to Communist States of America.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Perhaps Chinese posing as Taiwan and then referring to Communist States of America.

15 years before the risible Red Dawn remake, which in its original cut depicted China repossessing a defaulted U.S.A.

Here, “C.S.A.” was a typo for “U.S.A.” and was applied in the context of trademarks and copyright — as if Apple themselves were the party. Someone in Taiwan literally took a power adapter label from a PowerBook 2400c and (sloppily) transcribed it for use on this third-party knock-off power adapter intended for iBook G3s, G4s, and PowerBook G4s.

It's that sloppiness in their lack of attention to detail which nearly always gives the counterfeiters away. I've seen this countless times with bogus DVDs which were passed off as genuine commercial products but they have glaring telltale errors on the packaging in terms of spelling, punctuation and technical information such as the DVD region codes and subtitle choices.

 

[Amethyst1]

they have glaring telltale errors on the packaging in terms of spelling, punctuation and technical information

No offence intended as I can’t speak Chinese at all and am awed by its complexity — but it would be fun to collect these “Easter eggs”.

 

[TheShortTimer]

No offence intended as I can’t speak Chinese at all and am awed by its complexity — but it would be fun to collect these “Easter eggs”.

I've got some Russian counterfeit DVDs (which masquerade as legitimate commercial releases with varying degrees of credibility) that you'd probably find interesting.

 

[B S Magnet]

15 years before the risible Red Dawn remake, which in its original cut depicted China repossessing a defaulted U.S.A.



It's that sloppiness in their lack of attention to detail which nearly always gives the counterfeiters away. I've seen this countless times with bogus DVDs which were passed off as genuine commercial products but they have glaring telltale errors on the packaging in terms of spelling, punctuation and technical information such as the DVD region codes and subtitle choices.

Visions of the bootleg DVD, Wondy Showzy, enters my brain, starting C. Larence…

I've got some Russian counterfeit DVDs (which masquerade as legitimate commercial releases with vary degrees of credibility) that you'd probably find interesting.

Russia (and the Philippines) has an entire cottage industry of producing authentic-appearing music CDs which often have versions of stuff which the main, authorized labels wouldn’t (or, legally, couldn’t) release to digital format, and it’s amazing the effort they devote into making them appear authorized, right down to UPC accuracy. Discogs is peppered with a bunch of these releases, especially common with difficult to locate stuff originally produced and pressed in the later 1980s and into the mid-1990s, but they’re all locked out of the Discogs marketplace.

 

[barracuda156]

Russia (and the Philippines) has an entire cottage industry of producing authentic-appearing music CDs which often have versions of stuff which the main, authorized labels wouldn’t (or, legally, couldn’t) release to digital format, and it’s amazing the effort they devote into making them appear authorized, right down to UPC accuracy. Discogs is peppered with a bunch of these releases, especially common with difficult to locate stuff originally produced and pressed in the later 1980s and into the mid-1990s, but they’re all locked out of the Discogs marketplace.

Philippines, seriously? Wouldn’t imagine that.

 

[B S Magnet]

Philippines, seriously? Wouldn’t imagine that.

A lot of 1980s synth pop and post-new wave stuff was extraordinarily popular in the Philippines. It was the #1 reason why the Norwegian band Fra Lippo Lippi managed to do well, despite their popularity never really taking off in places outside of Scandinavia — such as mainland Europe or in North America.

Because of their popularity in the Philippines, it’s why, for example, the one and only album from UK synth pop band, Two Minds Crack, was released to CD in the Philippines only (as a very high quality “bootleg”), and packed with bonus tracks (such as extended versions of their most popular 12-inch singles) — replete with the same UPC prefix and body as the official vinyl (-1 suffix) and cassette (-4 suffix) from 1986, but with the -2 suffix specific to compact discs produced by the major labels (which in this case, would have been Sire/Warner Brothers in North America).

But now I’m simultaneously dating myself and also revealing what’s buried in my music library archives, so I’ll leave it at that.