Buying Laptop Charger on Ebay?

My charger for my asus u45jc-a1 no longer works anymore. I'm checking out ebay as most people seem to buy chargers on there as oppose to other sites.


I see quite a bit of sellers and I see some people sell it for 13.95, others 12.95, others 11.95 and some others for under $10. Is there really a difference between buying any of them as long as they all have a lot of feedback?


Note almost all of them have at least 3000 in feedback and at least 99 percent feedback. There are some with like 300000 in feedback and 99.1 percent, then you have some that are 99.7% feedback and 30000 feedback.


AC Adapter Charger for Asus U45JC A1 U45JC A2B U45JT U50A U50A RBBML05 U50G U50V | eBay


AC Charger Adapter Power for Asus U45JC A1 U50A RBBML05 X44L BBK4 X53E RS31 | eBay


Power Supply for Asus K84L 7KVX L4H U43FRF BBA6 U45JC A1 X550CA LB91T X552EA | eBay


AC Adapter Power Cord Charger for Asus U45JC U45JC A1 U45JC A2B U45JC MA1 U43F | eBay


AC Adapter Power Cord Charger for Asus U45JC U45JC A1 U45JC A2B U45JC MA1 U43F | eBay


Are all these laptop chargers the exact same one that each seller is selling? When i buy electronic stuff online on ebay, usually i go and pay a few more dollars more if a seller has say 99.7% feedback as oppose to 99.2% or 98.7% feedback. I'm aware if someon has sold 300,000 products, obviously their feedback isn't going to be that good percentage wise compared to someone who sold 30,000 products.


Example the last link the guy has 99.9% feedback and selling it for $12.95 whereas one of the other sellers has 99.3% feedback and selling it for under $9. Both are power sellers though. For some reason i feel like the quality of the one with 99.9% and higher cost probably has a lesser chance of a laptop charger that has problems. Is that good or bad logic?


Also is it true you have to pay sales tax if the seller is in your state? And if so how much more percent? One of the sellers is from my state but they the one that charging the most for a charger.

 

Buy one made by reputable ODM (delta/lite-on) or possibly genuine one label'd asus. Search using the model on your original adapter.

 

This, it is also good to note that the Asus branded units will likely be made by either LiteON or Delta.

 

Indeed, my recommendation would be to search by the model number of your original charger, and go for that if available. I did that with my Inspiron, and was able to get the exact same model (used) for about $12 shipped. Worth the extra $2 over a new super-cheap one, IMO.

There probably are halfway decent aftermarket ones, the trouble is knowing which ones are decent. I recently read an article comparing efficiency, safety features, power consistency, etc. of tablet chargers for iPads, HP TouchPads, and a couple others, and the difference between quality OEM ones like the TouchPad's and cheap counterfeits was striking, with name-brand third party ones generally being in between. The situation is very likely equivalent for laptop chargers.

And as for eBay, that's the one place where a 99% feedback score doesn't necessarily mean anything. Sure, it's better than an 82% feedback score, but when half the sellers have 99% or higher, it isn't much to go on.

 

[citation needed]

 

I used to buy tons of cheap chargers on Ebay. They were like $2.50 each delivered to my house. Those chargers would each usually only last 6 months, but for the price it was worth it to have chargers for the three Toshiba laptops in the household.

Now I personally recommend just buying an OEM used charger. They are about the same price as most new cheap chargers anyway. They still have a finite lifespan, but usually have longer cables and last longer.

 

Look for a laptop charger with the same standards as if you are looking for a desktop PSU. A bad unit can easily destroy your Laptop though the potential is lower than desktop PSUs due to the lower wattage (i.e. it is easier to design a 90W PSU well than it is to design a 1000W unit)

I have a few personal red flags that I run every potential candidate through

1. Look for an input voltage selector, if there is one then avoid it like the plague, this PSU doesn't have active PFC or possibly even decent line filtering so your Laptop is more exposed to voltage ripple.

2. Look for an active cooling fan, strictly speaking, extra cooling isn't a bad thing but the presence of one on an Ebay unit typically signifies poor internal components and/or poor internal efficiency. A highly efficient PSU (typically 95-98% efficient OEM ones) will not need a cooling fan. The only time I've seen a cooling fan that was necessary was on one of the monstrous 220W units.

3. Weight, heavier is generally better since it means more components, more specifically, it means that it at least has a Passive Filter which is a really heavy coil. Again lower ripple.

4. Brand, I tend to stick to well tried and true brands, especially if they have EU approval since this signifies excellent efficiency. My list is in descending order, OEM, Delta, Acbel and Thermaltake.

5. Price, excellent 90W and 120W PSUs are within $90-$100 AUD, OEM units can be even higher at $150. This is because all the regulatory approvals and quality components aren't cheap.

Average units are within the $50-$60 range, these are passable as they use second tier components, they have similar performance to the excellent units but they may get slightly hotter (i.e. less efficient) and maybe be slightly less reliable (i.e. second tier components), don't overload these and you'll be fine.

Mediocre units are in the $15-$20, they usually have a cooling fan, very hit and miss. Try to only use these for emergencies and for a short time only, that being said, if your laptop is an old one then no use splurging on a ridiculously good PSU.

Dangerous units are in the <$10 range, they usually boast extra features like USB charging ports etc, avoid these like the plague, not worth the risk.

 

Price in Aus seems to be pretty rip off.

 

Prices in Australia are a massive rip off.. Even more then in the UK and EU...

 

Welcome to the land of $600 Radeon 290X GPUs when they're flash selling at $300 elsewhere

 

Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuchhh... That is nothing short of raaapppee... Thank god I live in the UK although I would love to live in the USA...

 

Admittedly, it's anecdotal. I don't know what the actual halfway point for eBay ratings is. It just seems to be very high in general.