All. Just curious to hear thoughts before i take action.
So I have an old Asus laptop from 2011 to 2012 days(funnily enough bought post an ozbargain deal). I managed to subsequently buy a second hand laptop of the same series,albeit diff model. Replaced the DC jack and got it working but it didn't come with an AC charger (in hindsight perhaps they were doing a dodgy?)
Long story short. I've been using my original Asus AC adapter to power this but went on ebay to buy a second one. After unsuccessfully trying to hunt down the AC adapter model number I was about to buy a replacement one that works for my laptop model. But came across a Gumtree post of the same laptop for sale, and managed to zoom in to see which computer store sold them their genuine replacement AC adapter.
After conversing back and forth Ii confirmed it was the same input output and upon asking for a pic I actually discovered it was the exact same model AC adapter as my original. Ofc the eBay ad listed this adapter as the genuine asus adapter servicing my model.
So I bought it Wednesday and received it overnight express from over east. The charger unfortunately has a few discrepancies alongside my original. Firstly though the detachable Aus power plug component was bent and thus I needed to slowly brute force it gently to fit the power socket. It feels less solid and genuine if thst makes sense. What strikes me as different is the original has an Led light on the top face. This one doesn't. The cord comes out of the middle of the end of the pack whereas my original it's more to one side of the end of the pack. The sticker is also still good quality and no dead giveaways of being fake quality and spelling wise. But out alongside my original the sticker is clearly different in finish and shade.
Theres a gazillion symbols and approval symbols on my original and this has most bar one or two. Again quality of those completed looks identical. No misspellings.
Where the line for the plug out of the AC adapter comes out also has a shorte reinforced coil where the line bends when coming out of the AC adapter box than my original.
So my question is, before I go guns blazing, how do I know for sure its a non genuine? If the sticker is the same model number can different geographic regions adapters differ slightly? Or would they have to be identical given I can confirm the stickers both say they are the same models?
What's my reprecussions? I bought with eBay gift card than paypal. Can you argue counterfeit with eBay and get a refund if seller doesn't oblige?
A while back I also paid more for genuine Samsung S3 replacement battery. Looks different in places on the sticker and I managed a free refund arguing for a brand new battery. It looked fake. The battery usage time also reflected this. Guess they didn't want trouble and probsbly knew it was ungenuine.
Now I ask this as I paid 50 bucks for a genuine one. I would much rather paid 30 bucks for a replacement one with no Asus branding and being clear about being a replacement alternative. But in this case I specifically paid more for a genuine product.Had it been a non genuine replacement then I could forgiven quality or build differences.
Was it too good to be true given this was a 2011 to 2012 released laptop in that chargers were genuine and still available out there?
Any advice? Haven't tried plugging it in to power thr laptop in case a non genuine one could damage it?
P.S. Some Google reviews had genuine computer parts as being fake but they have thousands of reviews and sales. As well as a physical store front over east so I would surely think no one would stupidly sell fake genuine products?
Manufacturers often change things like chargers. I wouldn't worry. Even so I use adaptors off eBay for all my laptops, never had an issue.