I’m talking about the cheap “Made in China” stuff. Like cameras, heatsinks, multimeters, adapters, wires, LEDs, and etc. Or maybe even non-tech gear. Just share what you got and what you think about it (and perhaps give a little review). Obviously, we all know how those fake Sanyo WG and other knock-off capacitors fare .
Reason I decided to make this thread is because I have bought many cheap stuff myself, and some have been wonderful, while others were completely terrible.
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I’ll start with the latter. About two months ago, I purchased three DVI to VGA adapters for $1 each with free shipping. I though, “it’s an adapter, they can’t get it wrong”. Uhm, NO, they can, actually – and in this case, they really did.
So here is what one of those adapters looks like. As a comparison, I placed it next to a Monoprice adapter that I got from my university’s computer store for $5 (a bit overpriced, but I needed it at the time and it turned out to be a good quality adapter after all, as you will se).
Note how the pins on the cheap adapter are sticking out beyond the outer metal surround. Also note the screws for attaching the adapter – in particular, how long they are.
Now let’s have a look at the pins from up front:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1431404073
First off, this is a DVI to VGA adapter – it is for connecting an analog device on DVI. So why bother putting in all of the pins when they are not even needed? Moreover, look at those pins in the cheap adapter and compare them to the ones in the Monoprice adapter – they are all over the place and much thicker than what they should be.
Since these adapters looked goofy straight from opening the bag, I did decided to test them on a dead junk video card. Now that was good thinking on my part. As soon as I tried to plug in one of the adapters in the DVI port, it felt almost as if I was trying to put a serial d-sub into USB port – no joke! But I persisted and succeeded with a bit of force. However, after removing the adapter from the video card, the DVI port on the card had nearly every pin bent or messed up (a few even completely pushed in). Since that port was now a write-off, I decided to straighten the pins as best as I can and test my Monoprice adapter. Result: the Monoprice adapter fit like a glove and there were no bent pins afterwards. So then I tried a second of those cheap adapters. This time I was a bit more careful. But needless to say, the cheap adapter still bent quite a few pins (though not as many as the first one). Also worth mentioning is that neither of the two cheap adapters could be pushed to go all the way in the DVI port, whereas with the Monoprice adapter, there was no problem.
I’ll give them some credit, though: at least they got the VGA port right. My VGA cable plugged and unplugged fine from it. Here is another picture:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1431404073
So at this point, I had two options: ask for a refund and bin the adapters, or try to fix them. But those of you around here who know me know that I don’t give up easily when it comes to stupid small things like this. So I decided to fix one of the adapters. First thing I did was grab my dremmel tool (with a metal cutting wheel on it) and thinned out the pins in the adapter close to their edges. Then I changed the cutting wheel for an engraving tool and proceeded to sharpen the pins a bit more, since they were very dull. Finally, I took my needle nose pliers and straightened the pins just a tiny bit. Result (adapter on top):
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1431404073
… slightly thinner and much sharper pins. This allows them to engage the pins in the DVI port the right way rather than forcing them the wrong way and bending them. I repeated the procedures for the second adapter, except this time I skipped straightening the pins. Turns out that step was not really needed if the pins are sufficiently thinned and sharpened.
After fixing my “test” DVI port yet again, I tried the first modified adapter – it fit almost perfectly. Only slightly bent one pin. Played a bit more around with it and tried it again. This time, no bent pins. I then took a second junk video card with a DVI port and tried the modified adapter on it. Again, no bent pins. Success!
The first adapter took me about 30 minutes to get it right. The second, only about 10-15ish. So if you ever buy some of these for cheap, perhaps factor in the time it takes to fix them. I don’t have a job, so my time isn’t worth a whole lot really. But even then, all I can say is, it is hard to justify buying these adapters.
Now, there are a few things that can’t really be fixed on these adapters (or not easily). First and foremost:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1431404073
This is one of the adapters I modified. Note that even after I fit it on the video card (all the way in), the securing screws on the side still cannot be used – they are simply too long! And finally, when used with my LCD monitor (which stays turned ON with a “No signal” message if there is no signal on its input), the LCD monitor never turns OFF, even when the PC does. So it looks like they didn’t get the signal pins quite right either. And yes, I checked both cheap adapters. With the Monoprice adapter, this does not happen.
So with all of that said, my verdict is: DO NOT BUY THESE CHEAP ADAPTERS! They were never intended to work right in the first place, and they are certainly not worth the hassle to fix – not unless you really get a kick out of that.
I sent the seller an email explaining him the problem with these adapters (after fixing them) and even offered to provide pictures and directions on what is needed to get these adapters functional, so that perhaps he could relay the information to the factory (if he knew it) that makes them. But his reply was simply:
- We have very low profit margins on these and we know they probably don’t meet your standards. We apologize and can offer you a refund.
… To which I replied:
- Yes, I realize that. But I would rather you keep my money and work on offering better products.
But they gave me a partial refund anyways and asked me for positive feedback. I didn’t want to be an asshole, but I simply couldn't leave a positive feedback for these adapter, so instead I refrained from leaving any. And that’s that.
Reason I decided to make this thread is because I have bought many cheap stuff myself, and some have been wonderful, while others were completely terrible.
------------------------------------
I’ll start with the latter. About two months ago, I purchased three DVI to VGA adapters for $1 each with free shipping. I though, “it’s an adapter, they can’t get it wrong”. Uhm, NO, they can, actually – and in this case, they really did.
So here is what one of those adapters looks like. As a comparison, I placed it next to a Monoprice adapter that I got from my university’s computer store for $5 (a bit overpriced, but I needed it at the time and it turned out to be a good quality adapter after all, as you will se).
Note how the pins on the cheap adapter are sticking out beyond the outer metal surround. Also note the screws for attaching the adapter – in particular, how long they are.
Now let’s have a look at the pins from up front:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1431404073
First off, this is a DVI to VGA adapter – it is for connecting an analog device on DVI. So why bother putting in all of the pins when they are not even needed? Moreover, look at those pins in the cheap adapter and compare them to the ones in the Monoprice adapter – they are all over the place and much thicker than what they should be.
Since these adapters looked goofy straight from opening the bag, I did decided to test them on a dead junk video card. Now that was good thinking on my part. As soon as I tried to plug in one of the adapters in the DVI port, it felt almost as if I was trying to put a serial d-sub into USB port – no joke! But I persisted and succeeded with a bit of force. However, after removing the adapter from the video card, the DVI port on the card had nearly every pin bent or messed up (a few even completely pushed in). Since that port was now a write-off, I decided to straighten the pins as best as I can and test my Monoprice adapter. Result: the Monoprice adapter fit like a glove and there were no bent pins afterwards. So then I tried a second of those cheap adapters. This time I was a bit more careful. But needless to say, the cheap adapter still bent quite a few pins (though not as many as the first one). Also worth mentioning is that neither of the two cheap adapters could be pushed to go all the way in the DVI port, whereas with the Monoprice adapter, there was no problem.
I’ll give them some credit, though: at least they got the VGA port right. My VGA cable plugged and unplugged fine from it. Here is another picture:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1431404073
So at this point, I had two options: ask for a refund and bin the adapters, or try to fix them. But those of you around here who know me know that I don’t give up easily when it comes to stupid small things like this. So I decided to fix one of the adapters. First thing I did was grab my dremmel tool (with a metal cutting wheel on it) and thinned out the pins in the adapter close to their edges. Then I changed the cutting wheel for an engraving tool and proceeded to sharpen the pins a bit more, since they were very dull. Finally, I took my needle nose pliers and straightened the pins just a tiny bit. Result (adapter on top):
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1431404073
… slightly thinner and much sharper pins. This allows them to engage the pins in the DVI port the right way rather than forcing them the wrong way and bending them. I repeated the procedures for the second adapter, except this time I skipped straightening the pins. Turns out that step was not really needed if the pins are sufficiently thinned and sharpened.
After fixing my “test” DVI port yet again, I tried the first modified adapter – it fit almost perfectly. Only slightly bent one pin. Played a bit more around with it and tried it again. This time, no bent pins. I then took a second junk video card with a DVI port and tried the modified adapter on it. Again, no bent pins. Success!
The first adapter took me about 30 minutes to get it right. The second, only about 10-15ish. So if you ever buy some of these for cheap, perhaps factor in the time it takes to fix them. I don’t have a job, so my time isn’t worth a whole lot really. But even then, all I can say is, it is hard to justify buying these adapters.
Now, there are a few things that can’t really be fixed on these adapters (or not easily). First and foremost:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1431404073
This is one of the adapters I modified. Note that even after I fit it on the video card (all the way in), the securing screws on the side still cannot be used – they are simply too long! And finally, when used with my LCD monitor (which stays turned ON with a “No signal” message if there is no signal on its input), the LCD monitor never turns OFF, even when the PC does. So it looks like they didn’t get the signal pins quite right either. And yes, I checked both cheap adapters. With the Monoprice adapter, this does not happen.
So with all of that said, my verdict is: DO NOT BUY THESE CHEAP ADAPTERS! They were never intended to work right in the first place, and they are certainly not worth the hassle to fix – not unless you really get a kick out of that.
I sent the seller an email explaining him the problem with these adapters (after fixing them) and even offered to provide pictures and directions on what is needed to get these adapters functional, so that perhaps he could relay the information to the factory (if he knew it) that makes them. But his reply was simply:
- We have very low profit margins on these and we know they probably don’t meet your standards. We apologize and can offer you a refund.
… To which I replied:
- Yes, I realize that. But I would rather you keep my money and work on offering better products.
But they gave me a partial refund anyways and asked me for positive feedback. I didn’t want to be an asshole, but I simply couldn't leave a positive feedback for these adapter, so instead I refrained from leaving any. And that’s that.
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