Customer Reviews

Apple Extra Portable 65W Power Adapter (for iBook and PowerBook G4)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

You'll hear all kinds of warnings and threats from Apple and Apple fans about buying third party adapters, but oddly enough the Apple Store sells third party adapters . . . and my Mac repair shop uses a third party adapter on their machines that costs about 40 bucks. Apple's own adapter, however, WILL break. The cord is just too cute (i.e. fragile), and if you do anything like what you're suppossed to do with a laptop (that is, if you sit with the laptop in your lap), forget it! Prepare to hand over another 100 bucks in a couple of months. I just got the iGo Juice (which Apple sells on their site) and it works fine. Further, it's actually sturdy, and if a connection breaks I can just spend 20 bucks on a single part. No, I'm not an iGo company shill. I just don't see the point of buying mediocrity because it's cute and has the little bitten apple on it.

I have called Apple a couple times and told them that my power adapter fried. I originally bought two. The first popped in a week. The second after about 8 months.
It's interesting to see all these negative reviews and then have the AppleCare person tell me that this is not a common problem with other customers. Wow.
Dear Apple executive, RECALL THIS ITEM.
Make something better!
This product is also over priced.

Everything critical that everyone has written below is absolutely true. It's cute with a funky design and -- and these are the only positive things I can write. It can't stand up to regular use. You'll need a replacement sooner or later either because the cord ripped, the contact shorts or because you lost the prongs.

This is a terrible product - Apple should be ashamed of itself for allowing anything as cheesy as this part to remain in production. I've been through two of these adapters. As many reviewers have previously mentioned, my first adapter broke because of the inexcusably thin wire and flimsy connector that plugs into the laptop. The second Apple adapter I purchased just internally combusted,made a popping sound and quit working one day after three months of casual use. This product is so poor that it puts the entire Apple laptop product line in a poor light. Even though I am a big fan of OS X, I would have to think long and hard before buying more apple hardware.

I have two Powerbook G4s. Great machines!! Bought them both used in 2006. Three years later, they're both doing fine. And I'm a power user.

Over the same three years, I have had to purchase about 4 of these Apple Power Adaptors (part M8943LL/A).

Basically the same thing would happen--after 6-8 months, the part the connected to the laptop would get extremely hot (seriously, you could hot keep your hand on it for more than a second), the cable would fray and no power would be supplied. Before this happened, I'd have to twist and turn the connector and listen for a disturbing "spark" noise to before it would provide power.

2 of these things actually started smoking before they went dead. One of them burned a hole into my sofa. Luckily I was home to catch it or there would have been a major fire.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. IT IS DANGEROUS.

There are SEVERAL third party solutions, many here on Amazon. Apple could have recaptured this money by being a stand up company and making a better replacement adaptor. But, as they've recently shown, they have stars in their eyes due to the success of iPod and iPhone and no longer care about supporting their legacy users.

I cannot even begin to express my frustration with this product. My iBook received fairly "light duty" tasks, and most of the time I used it at a desk, not moving it, and it has only been on two trips with me. The other day I heard a POP sound, and noticed that the adapter's light was not on. It blew out, or something...who knows. The exact same thing had happened to someone else I know who has an iBook. Also, everything I see online seems to complain about how the cord rips/tears, and how the thing is just flimsy.
In the end, if you need a replacement, and you want it to be the apple brand...I at least recommend buying it on amazon, because the price here was a little bit lower than a few other places I checked.
No sense paying even more for a useless piece of junk.

One year and the thin wire got cut. The twin prongs just can't hold the big white block to the socket when plugged into the wall if yanked a bit. Buy 3rd party on this one.

I was on my second adapter from Apple and it just broke. Granted, it was on its last leg for a LONG time, but I guess the final wire strand just gave out because a bright spark and a loud pop later, I'm on Amazon trying to find one myself another one.

I take very good care of my property, too... but like another reviewer said, if you sit with the laptop on your lap while it's plugged in, the cord will eventually wear out at the connector. Not a lot of engineering went into strain relief on this one. Plus, when wrapped up using the retractable hooks, the connector is left dangling at the edge, extremely succeptable to excess bending when put in a bag or even just sitting in a drawer.

Overall, a horribly designed and horribly expensive product.

No denying Apple makes great products, but this is NOT one of them. They spent their money on the visual design and forgot that in order for the item to function it needed to be sturdy. The cord on this WILL break and you will need to buy another. The cord is too thin to withstand anything more than occasional use. Apple should be ashamed of this one and I'm surprised there hasn't been a recall.

Most power adapters have flimsy plastic tips that just wear out over time. At a former job, our department lent out portables to other departments for special projects. Over the years, we went through a variety of brands of PC laptops... all of them shipped with the cruddiest (if that's a word) adapters imaginable.

Apple portables are called portables - NOT LAPTOPS. They are too powerful and ergo are too hot for use on your lap. If it's on your lap, it shouldn't be plugged in. People wear out their portable batteries by leaving their notebooks plugged in 24/7 until they have to be left in.

I like the option to remove the plug (aka "duck head") and utilize the thick extension cord... and I like the built-in cord-winder for travel. With the recent advent of Apple's MagSafe power adapter, it's easy to look at this older model and criticize it - but with all things Apple, it was the best and most innovative when it was released.