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I think part of the lesson here is that so few manufactures bother to put any effort into design or quality at all that the ones who do get to name their price.

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The Samsung charger compares favorably to Apple's at about 1/3 the price. It seems any "name brand" company is going to at least comply with UL rules. The no-name brands are completely unsafe, and Apple's charger may provide better touchscreen performance (for $20 more). Apple's prongs are also more overengineered than Samsung's. (Wait, not overengineered... who doesn't superglue their iPhone charger to the wall?)

Anecdote: My 2008 charger had its "hot" prong break off. It was in a dorm, so I couldn't turn off the breaker to pull the prong out, so as far as I know that prong is still there ready to zap the shit out of some unsuspecting college freshman...

Most people would open a service request to get that thing pulled out rather than leave 120V exposed for whomever happens to be near that outlet next.

(I would have just pulled it out with insulated pliers, though.)

Absolutely, I definitely should have filed a request. I just remembered about that now in the context of this story. :( Hopefully it was found during summer room inspections.

the problem i ever had with the short outlet plugs in the US is the cable falling on it's own.

can't fathom it being stuck there in any circumstance.

fathom, unless you're seeing ghosts.

thanks, dyslexic and cellphone prediction. Not a good combination

apple $20, 0.5Amp

samsung $8, 0.5Amp

HP, $15, 2Amp, plus interchangeable plugs for several countries in 1.4x size of apple's

Google, no option to buy extra power cords for nexus one, but who would? it's 1Amp and cheap components. with the cable permanently attached.

This tear down is the < 1" cube. You sure HP's is 1/4 the size?

And when I add a generic 2 prong Euro adapter, Apple's is still the smallest brand name charger I've seen.

Finally, the iPhone 4 charger torn down here is labeled 1A, not 0.5A, and certainly charges iPhone 4 in a fraction of the time of lesser chargers.

I'm amazed how much less time it takes to fully recharge from 10% - 100% the iPhone 4s versus the Samsung (Google) Galaxy Nexus. Granted, thats not just the charger.

Read again. "1.4 the size" is 40% larger, not one fourth the size.

The Nexus One (european) charger that I have here is by Phihong and at least has CE and PCT labels on it, so it is not downright awful.

CE stamp is self certifying. Any manufacturer can self declare they are in compliance and affix the label, it doesn't mean any third party testing was done at all. UL on the other hand requires third party testing but isn't a mandated government label, it is just a quasi requirement as virtually all fire inspectors in the US accept it as a safety standard.

Apple's is actually 1A (5W at 5V http://goo.gl/Fw4FB), as is Samsung's as listed on the linked Amazon page.

I stand corrected. it's 1A when used with the proprietary cable.

when used with a regular miniUSB cable , i only get 0.5A.

or the one i have from a 3Gs box is only 0.5A.

> Samsung charger compares favorably to Apple's at about 1/3 the price

From this article:

“When I opened the charger up, I expected to find a standard design, but I've compared the charger to the Samsung charger and several other high-quality industry designs,[17] and Apple goes beyond these designs in several ways.”

But what he doesn't say is that Apple's charger is safer than the standard design. The best we can say for Apple is that it has cleaner power which is helpful for the touchscreen circuitry. That's why I say Samsung's charger compares favorably: it charges the device and it meets UL standards.

You said that it compares favourably and then noted that it's 1/3 the price. To my eyes that reads, "the Samsung charger is a better value", and I think that that's what you meant too, until Terreta corrected you.

I still think it's a better value. Actually, I just use a nearby computer because those are free and can charge many devices at once.

Or maybe the point is that nobody cares or bothers to check the labels (safety? We don't need this...).

It all comes down to price and most customers (myself included in this case) do not know any better.

The consumer does not have to know about UL labels or other safety markings. If the device doesn't have the required markings, the vendor is not allowed to sell them.

This is not true. The UL label is not a "requirement". In fact Underwriters Laboratory has no government affiliation what-so-ever, its a distinct entity. UL isn't the "requirement" normally, just an "acceptable safety certification", it has just come to pass that UL is the defacto safety certification in the US, UL has cornered the market.

Safety certification of some sort is only "required" in some markets, some jurisdictions, etc. For instance a safety certification is required for devices in a public school, is usually required by the local fire inspector in commercial structures. etc.

Getting a UL stamp on a consumer device is actually just a "cover your ass" move. If a device were to short out and kill someone or set a structure on fire, the existence of the UL certification allows the manufacturer to avoid legal responsibility for damages in most cases.

The only generally applicable certifications that are actually legally required for sale to end users are the FCC part 15 electrical interference tests. Other than that, there are market requirements for schools / hospitals but those are not requirements for sale, but rather requirements for use in particular markets.

Your point does not contradict mine though. I did not say the UL label is a requirement.

I don't follow, your statement was:

> The consumer does not have to know about UL labels or other safety markings. If the device doesn't have the required markings, the vendor is not allowed to sell them.

My point was that this isn't true. You can sell devices without UL safety stamps, there is no government regulation that says you can't. If your using the device in a certain context your fire inspector may call foul but that is completely different from a consumer not being able to purchase something because the "vendor is not allowed to sell them".

The problem is, there's often too much of a focus on design. Apple's power supplies for their laptops are really expensive, yet they offer limited interchangeability for the cables, so if a plug fails (due to the design) then most people end up buying a new expensive power supply.

Another example: an old Macbook with a dead battery is extremely prone to being accidentally powered off by knocking the magnetic connector.

But while your Macbook's battery is not dead (which I would hopefully presume is for most of the time you're using it), the magnetic connector is quite useful to have. It's got both great form and function. At least, until you come to the unfortunate side effect you've mentioned.

Actually I'm referring to a Macbook whose battery is permanently dead (or removed). It's also a problem when the battery is fully drained.

I don't find it useful at all really. It's very neat but I've never had problems with the power plugs of any other laptop.

I broke a few DC plugs by tripping on the cable. Or stretching it to reach a power outlet and picking up the laptop still plugged in. Or getting tangled in the cable on the couch and such. These things break when you're not carful with them.

In fact I don't remember having a laptop charger break for any other reason. It's always the DC plug or cable.

Every laptop I've ever owned that wasn't a macbook (4) had complete hardware failures related to the damned DC power jack in the side of the laptop. Without fail the damn things always shorted out and/or just stopped working.

The standard DC connector also has pretty good function. Humans have been putting things into holes for a very long time and we've gotten pretty good about it. I estimate I use 0% of my mental capacity to plug in my Thinkpad.

So glue it in. Your situation is rare.

I don't think a laptop with a dead battery could be considered rare.

Having been in both situations, I'm pretty certain the magsocket has saved more in avoiding damages than I could reasonably expect to lose on those that are already battery-dead. And if it's a permanent failure, epoxy or sugru or something will probably serve you just as well.

I don't know if Apple hold significant patents on the idea, because I'd absolutely love to see it applied to other connectors, especially headphones and wired ethernet leads.

Not "dead" as in "has no charge". "Dead" as in "This battery is no more! It has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile! THIS IS AN EX-BATTERY!!"

Wow! Awesome!

Counterpoint: The reason that old Macbook is still in good shape may very well be because it wasn't pulled of the work surface and onto the floor by a stoutly plugged, tripped-over cord.

The benefits of the magsafe connector far outweigh the hazard in the uncommon scenario you've described. Those benefits are reaped over the entire life cycle of the machine itself. The hazard you're describing only occurs at the end of the life cycle of a relatively inexpensive and user-replacable subcomponent.

Design is very much about tradeoffs, but one would never trade off such vast benefits to ameliorate such a limited hazard.

Plus, you'd be using the hardware beyond its designed intent. This is very similar to never checking or changing the oil in your car, and complaining that the engine has seized after years of use. Just stop deferring basic system maintenance: go buy yourself a new battery!

Someone made a USB plug hook that holds the magnetic power cord in with more friction. Googling it has not proven easy, so I'll have to just leave it at that.

Are you referring to the engineering of the power supply specifically, or to Apple's reputation for focusing on industrial design and quality products? Because I don't think they're able to “name their price” because their power supply is better engineered, because only a tiny fraction of people will ever know that it's better engineered.

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