Important for people with laptops

Got my laptop serviced (finally got it back!) and the man mentioned something about chargers that I found shocking.

He said you should never get a laptop charger from somewhere like eBay, as a lot of people do because it's easier and not as pricey as other options. Even if the charger is the correct type for your laptop, it's highly likely that it's from somewhere like China. He said that they are actually illegal in England because they're faulty.

He brought out a 'laptop' from the back of the shop. I used inverted commas because it was hardly anything resembling a laptop anymore. It was a black, charred mess of metal and plastic. All because the woman who owned the laptop had bought a charger from eBay, even though it was listed as being an English product.

The chargers generate too much heat and basically melt the laptop. The woman apparently woke up with her bedroom in flames. Because the charger was faulty, she couldn't get insurance for the damage.

Just a warning to anybody who has bought a replacement charger from eBay - run the serial number through your laptop company's website to check.

Thats a very good heads up as I am always buying things like that from ebay, cheers chick........

I've seen the same kind of reports before with stuff like 3pin usb adapters etc , read up on someone that had bought a genuine Apple or Blackberry one from Amazon which was a chinese one and burnt out , still all the potential fire risks i under a pile of paperwork.
I have a serious dislike for plug in air fresheners too for the same reason

Scary to hear about all these things that you'd assume are safe for use! Going to need to get a new battery for my laptop at some point - guess where I won't be buying it from!

Eleanor wrote:Scary to hear about all these things that you'd assume are safe for use! Going to need to get a new battery for my laptop at some point - guess where I won't be buying it from!

Fair point actually as I have an ebay battery in my private dell laptop  

It might be okay, but you could try running the serial number through google or the Dell site.

Eleanor wrote:It might be okay, but you could try running the serial number through google or the Dell site.

I already know its not genuine Dell

They never work anyway, this is why i like desktops!

Dave wrote:

Eleanor wrote:It might be okay, but you could try running the serial number through google or the Dell site.

I already know its not genuine Dell

They sometimes have products that have been classed as faulty though, even if they're not Dell products. I think.

Hayley wrote:They never work anyway, this is why i like desktops!

They work fine, until the laptop overheats.

Thanks for sharing! Im always buying chargers and leads from ebay  

Hayley wrote:They never work anyway, this is why i like desktops!

Pretty much only use laptops and they always work fine for me:D 

Same here. Always use laptops and connect it to the big TV every now and again, mainly when I'm playing poker. Have got loads of chargers down the years from ebay. One did start sparking once so I chucked it. I only have them plugged in when I'm using them

I buy all kinds from eBay, thanks for the heads up Eleanor, I'll definitley not buy electrical chargers or items from there in future

Thanks for sharing this Eleanor! Great info, too much internet shopping we don't really realise what is good from bad!

Thank you for this Eleanor. I have never got on with laptops, even when I had to use them at work when travelling, so dinosaur that I am I don't have one myself. But most of my family have one, so I am copying the text of your warning to them, if that's OK with you (no names).

That's fine, Lynda!