# Are HP / Kmashi Chargers Chinese Counterfeits?



## Hand-Check (Nov 11, 2012)

I recently purchased a TouchPad charger on eBay that was listed and described as being an authentic HP charger. The listing made no mention of the brand, "Kmashi," but the unboxed charger arrived with a warranty card from Kmashi. The charger itself says HP, not Kmashi. A side-by-side visual comparison with the charger that was supplied with my TPs shows no difference (aside from the serial # that is different on each HP charger I own).

My inclination is to believe this to be a counterfeit HP charger -- just like the counterfeit Apple iPhone chargers that are flooding eBay -- but I honestly don't know that for a fact. Does anybody have any information on Kmashi chargers? If they were the company manufacturing the chargers for HP, I would think that there would be ample documentation of that somewhere on the Interwebs, and such.

Will this thing blow up or catch fire?

How can you trust any charger you buy on eBay or Amazon? Even if it has an HP box, you almost have to verify the serial numbers match.


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## nevertells (Oct 29, 2011)

Hand-Check said:


> I recently purchased a TouchPad charger on eBay that was listed and described as being an authentic HP charger. The listing made no mention of the brand, "Kmashi," but the unboxed charger arrived with a warranty card from Kmashi. The charger itself says HP, not Kmashi. A side-by-side visual comparison with the charger that was supplied with my TPs shows no difference (aside from the serial # that is different on each HP charger I own).
> 
> My inclination is to believe this to be a counterfeit HP charger -- just like the counterfeit Apple iPhone chargers that are flooding eBay -- but I honestly don't know that for a fact. Does anybody have any information on Kmashi chargers? If they were the company manufacturing the chargers for HP, I would think that there would be ample documentation of that somewhere on the Interwebs, and such.
> 
> ...


Use Battery Monitor Widget or some other battery app to monitor the charging current and compare your original to the one you purchased.


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## Hunter X (Nov 22, 2012)

Hand-Check said:


> I recently purchased a TouchPad charger on eBay that was listed and described as being an authentic HP charger. The listing made no mention of the brand, "Kmashi," but the unboxed charger arrived with a warranty card from Kmashi. The charger itself says HP, not Kmashi. A side-by-side visual comparison with the charger that was supplied with my TPs shows no difference (aside from the serial # that is different on each HP charger I own).
> 
> My inclination is to believe this to be a counterfeit HP charger -- just like the counterfeit Apple iPhone chargers that are flooding eBay -- but I honestly don't know that for a fact. Does anybody have any information on Kmashi chargers? If they were the company manufacturing the chargers for HP, I would think that there would be ample documentation of that somewhere on the Interwebs, and such.
> 
> ...


You can't trust eBay for genuine goods. Most of the stuff on eBay originate from China, even if the item location is outside and far away from China. People buy from China in bulk at low prices and resell them individually at either the same price of the original or slightly lower (but still higher than what they originally bought it for) in order to make a profit.


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## nevertells (Oct 29, 2011)

If it helps, a HP TouchPad wall charger that I purchased from HP when they were dumping excess stock for $5 says on the box, Made in China. Nothing is stopping that Chinese company that made HP's chargers from selling them on Ebay as long as folks are buying. So I would say that they are being up front letting you know that your warranty is now with them. How much did you pay for it?


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## Hunter X (Nov 22, 2012)

To put things into perspective, here is an article you should read. http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/more-635000-counterfeit-apple-products-seized-anchorage
Now think about your "HP" branded charger and the article.


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## Hand-Check (Nov 11, 2012)

^^ Thanks, HunterX. That was an interesting and alarming read. Reassurance that if I run out of matches, there's always the remote possibility I can use a counterfeit charger to start a fire.


nevertells said:


> If it helps, a HP TouchPad wall charger that I purchased from HP when they were dumping excess stock for $5 says on the box, Made in China. Nothing is stopping that Chinese company that made HP's chargers from selling them on Ebay as long as folks are buying. So I would say that they are being up front letting you know that your warranty is now with them. How much did you pay for it?


I paid something close to the $5 I paid for the HP chargers during the sell-off (sorry I only purchased two).

It's nice that they're being up front by telling me Kmashi will handle the warranty. It's good to know that if the charger shorts out and feeds my TouchPad raw line voltage for breakfast, I'll get my $5 back (minus shipping).

I am tempted to take my Dremmel to it, to see what it's really made of. The problem is that I have no reference point, because there's no way I'll saw my original HP charger in half to see what's inside.

There was a recent post that had a link to a great charger comparison which rated the original HP charger highly, but also noted reports of counterfeit Apple chargers bursting into flames. Not good.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

Since the OP can't find his topic when it moves to page 2 apparently, bumping this.


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## Hunter X (Nov 22, 2012)

The first thing you can do to tell whether or not its genuine or counterfeit is by checking the output of the charger compared to a genuine charger you bought from HP.


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