Help Please, What would you pay for a replacement laptop charger

raysalis

Hi guys and girls,

I'm here to appeal for your advice! A friend of mine has recently had his laptop charger die on him after a year or two (as they seem to do these days, grr!) and he's looking at a new laptop charger.

Now, it's given him a potential business idea. If anyone's been to a Compuworld or a PC World lately, you'll notice that the universal laptop chargers (that fit about 90% of laptops, 90W and auto-voltage detect, they don't do Macs and 120W laptops though which account for about 5% I think) go for between £80 and £100, which is insane!

The question he wants to ask is:

- A universal laptop charger (90W)
- Fits all major brands of laptop
- HAS AN ADDITIONAL USB PORT WITH ADAPTER TO CHARGE YOUR MOBILE PHONE OR MINI USB DEVICE WITH (Nokia/iPhone/Blackberry/Sony Ericsson/Motorola/MiniUSB etc.) and you can even charge that without your laptop being turned on!

Based on the above (the last point is one that is quite rare, even PC World don't do mobile phone leads for the USB hub they have on their £100 model!):

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU REALISTICALLY PAY FOR ONE?

Bearing in mind that you would need one if yours was lost or broken, and computer shops seem to be charging so much for them, what would you pay for one of these that is fair and also takes into account the extra charging stuff it can do?

For me personally, I'd stick myself in at around £55 but would very much like to hear some feedback from people and thought this place would be a good place to do it!

Cheers!

kwikbreaks

Your low point is way too high in that poll.

Marty_J

I think you'll find almost everyone selects "less than £40".

Having said that though, a laptop charger for a Mac is £58!

Bowling_4_Gold

To be honest, when my laptop charger breaks, I am only really fussed that it charges the laptop and doesn't have a phone charging port- the laptop has 4 of them already! I personally would go into PC world, find the cheapest in stock, and buy it. If your mate can sell them for £25-£30, he might have a good chance, but if not, he may find it difficult to get many customers.

Sput2001

Going to PC World for something like that is just asking to be right royally fleeced.

I just got one from eBay for for my Dell laptop less than £15, and it's a genuine Dell charger.

Bowling_4_Gold

NickMidgley wrote: »

Going to PC World for something like that is just asking to be right royally fleeced.

I just got one from eBay for for my Dell laptop less than £15, and it's a genuine Dell charger.

So would I and so have I! but if I was in a rush i.e had an important file on laptop which needed to be finished for the morning, I would go to the nearest PC shop, which could be PC World, and buy one. If I wasn't in a rush, as you have, I would buy one off eBay.

bookduck

£18 from the US, or £22.30 from Hong Kong - sourced via ebay.

PCW does have advantages, in that you will be walking away that very second with it in your hand, even though you pay an obscene price.

Did you and your mate see a quick buck to be made here? The fool and his money are easily parted!

damo24

You can pick up a universal charger such as this http://necables.co.uk/nec/index.php?target=products&product_id=30300 for just over £20. You can pick up a mobile phone charger for about £10 so I would expect to pay no more than £35 for the suggested charger.

M4RKM

Marty_J wrote: »

I think you'll find almost everyone selects "less than £40".

Having said that though, a laptop charger for a Mac is £58!

i selected the "£50 - £60" option, as i've just splashed out on a new laptop charger for my 3 year old macbook pro...

smaller than the old one too...

shame the battery i bought was over £90!

M

staffie1

Now you've let us all in on your business idea, I could have them knocked up for a fiver sell em for a tenner

staffie1

By the way they had something very similar on QVC or Ideal World the other day