I Ch-Ch-Charge you

October 2, 2009 9:10 AM

Where would you go to get a cheap iPhone/iPod wall charger and/or USB cable?

From looking at amazon and a couple other vendors, it seems there is a very popular tactic of ramping down the product quality in successive batches. By the time an item has 4star reviews, the next shipment could very well fry your device. I have a 2G Touch.

Can you recommend a vendor that either: A) has a large inventory in stock of the same device, such that I can rely on the reviews, or B) is semi-branded such that their reputation matters?

Or, some other tactic.

posted by gensubuser to technology (8 comments total)

Buy.com has refurbished original Apple cables/chargers for sale today, for $9.99

Can the cheap ones really fry your device? That's scary. I have a set I bought off e-bay...
posted by Salamandrous at 9:23 AM on October 2

Amazon or ebay. I've used both. My iPods and iPhone are all doing fine.
posted by valadil at 9:40 AM on October 2

I've gotten mine (wall chargers and usb) from monoprice.com. They're very inexpensive. I've had one usb sync cable fail, but I'm not sure if it's theirs or apples. However at the prices they charge ($1.50 for a sync cable, $3.50 for the wall charger), you can get a couple spare ones. Monoprice is well regarded for cables and is a reputable vendor that's been around a while.
posted by jefftang at 10:00 AM on October 2

Seconding monoprice. They're magic, and sell iPod/USB cables and wall-plug 5V supplies. The only way I can imagine a cheapo power supply hurting the iPod is if it doesn't meet the USB current spec (100/500 mA) and the iPod goes into brownout, and I'm skeptical about that as well. I'd be stunned if the first thing the power hits inside the iPod isn't (a) a reverse-polarity protection diode and (b) a 3.3V regulator, which would protect you from most power-supply shenanigans.
posted by range at 10:33 AM on October 2

dealextreme if delivery time is not critical.

I'm charging my iPhone 3G right now with one of these sets.

I've got about a half-dozen of these cables around the house and office and they all work fine with various computers for charging.
posted by chazlarson at 11:41 AM on October 2

Second Dealextreme. But be cautious, it's cheap but a lot is junk too, (but you probably paid 2$ with shipping for that junk). Search for this 23525 item, it looks pretty good. WHoa, I just noticed it's 1.1 meters! That's nutty. Either way I haven't received it in the mail yet, but it should be nice.

29341 This is a charger/cable combo that I ordered too. It's as compact as the 3Gs charger and looks of good quality.

They carry a lot of different models of the same thing, be cautious and read the descriptions. But a USB cable/charger is a USB cable charger.
posted by Napierzaza at 11:50 AM on October 2

http://www.hdaccessory.com
posted by MrBCID at 3:33 PM on October 2

If you have a Marshall's store nearby, I've seen tons of iPod/iPhone accessories (including USB cables and charge kits) for sale there and very inexpensive (< $10).
posted by karizma at 4:34 PM on October 3