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PSA: I bought a $40 'universal' laptop charger that fried a client's motherboard in under a minute.
Some techs say cheap adapters are fine for quick fixes, but others argue you should only use OEM parts, so what's your rule for third party power supplies?
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faith_palmer512mo ago
Learned that lesson the hard way with a cheap car phone charger that killed my old phone. My rule now is to only use third party stuff for my own junk, never for client gear. If a customer needs a charger, it's OEM or a known good brand from a real supplier. The few bucks saved isn't worth the fried board and the angry call. That universal adapter is probably still in my drawer as a reminder.
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xenarobinson2mo ago
Wasn't there a recall on some of those cheap chargers?
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stellawood25d ago
48 volts peak from a cheap Chinese charger on Amazon burned up a buddy's laptop in 2019, and the listing had hundreds of fake 5-star ratings with the same photo. I see this same pattern everywhere now, like buying the cheapest off-brand blender at Walmart that throws sparks on day three. People chase a deal on something critical without checking the guts, and end up paying triple to replace the whole thing. Meanwhile that OEM charger sits in the drawer, boring and reliable, reminding me that cutting corners on power supplies is like buying a discount parachute.
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