TiBook, iBook AC adapter: I don't usually recommend generics over Apple products, but good grief...

I have an older Titanium Powerbook, and it's still chugging along despite the fact that it's five or six years old. I wouldn't trade it for a new PC laptop...in fact, I HAVE a relatively new Dell laptop for work purposes, and I don't use it at home unless I absolutely have to be logged on to the office VPN. So I'm certainly no Apple hater.

But honestly, the AC adapters for these Powerbooks were a joke. The wire, and the area where the wire connects to the thing, just isn't sturdy enough. On the one that came with my Powerbook (I got it slightly used...who knows if it was the original), the plastic broke away and the wire frayed. So I bought a replacement online (used, admittedly), and after a few months it did the same thing. Now, I'm not particularly hard on my gear -- my laptop rarely moves more than a few feet around my living room. I don't think I've EVER broken two of anything electronics related. Heck, I vacuumed up the wire to my Wii sensor board the other day, and it still works perfectly. If that tiny wire isn't that delicate, why couldn't Apple find a cord that could withstand a little twisting and turning?

It's unfortunate that the AC Adapter isn't sturdier, because it looks great and is otherwise quite functional -- it's a white square that plugs into your outlet, with little feet that come out for you to wrap the cord around. The part with the AC plug slides off if you want. (For whatever reason, that part seems to be called the "duckhead.") The part where you plug it into the computer has a nice little glowing ring that glows green if it's plugged in and charging. It's quite a nice little adapter...if it weren't for that darn cord. And it's not that the cord's terribly thin, I'd say it's about 1/4" in diameter. It's just not well supported at the part where it runs into the plastic.

After going through a couple of these things in a short period of time, I tracked down a cheap third-party one online. It was a lot cheaper than the official one, which is like $79 through Apple and $25-30 for a used or refurbished on eBay. Sadly, it's not nearly as pretty, but it does the job and won't be breaking apart at the seams in the future.

Sorry, Apple, but you disappointed me on this one. Maybe your newer products come with better adapters, but I find it ridiculous that an expensive, high-powered computer came with a cheap, easily broken AC adapter.