I have two fixes for people who need a 85W MagSafe Power Adapter in a hurry- if you want to skip to the solution, go to the < /rant> below.

< rant >

Dearest Apple,

If there was ever a completely insane Mac fanatic convert, it is me.

I love my Apple stuff.

I love Apple, period.

I love my MacBook Pro more than I’ve ever loved any piece of computer equipment in my life, and I’ve had a lot of them. That’s saying a lot considering that I wasn’t just a PC girl, I was in Tech Support.

From Windows 98 to Windows XP Pro, I paid more bills because of Microsoft than from any other job I had except the business I own now. And the reason I finally switched over to an Apple is that they run Windows, so I have the best of both worlds. Yes, like any other piece of electronic equipment, it has its minor problems.

But every computer I ever owned before this had MAJOR problems. And that’s the difference.

Overall, it has been my experience, now, and when I first learned about computers on an Apple II, and later one of the first generation Macs, that while I still have problems with things made by Apple, they aren’t nearly at the level as they were when I used my PCs.

What I’m starting to find, though, is that when you finally DO have a major problem with an Apple, it’s Ginormous.

Hugantic.

Enmungous.

To that end, Apple, I have one huge, ugly complaint and I’m not alone.

You have to do something about this power cord issue. It would be so easy, because you can do several things.

• Make a much better power cord.
• Keep the power cords fully stocked and able to ship
  immediately.
• Make it easy to find alternate sources of cords.
• Instead of making a two-part power cord, make the part that connects directly to the laptop, the white block in the middle, and the part that plugs into the wall, three parts. Then make the first aforementioned part cheap, available, and easy to find.

If you haven’t guessed by now, that was my problem.

My power cord, the cute cord that has a magnetic connection to the laptop, that saved my laptop or a nearby human from destruction many times, became faulty, then melted, then frayed completely.

Not a big deal, right? I mean, I just bought my MacBook Pro in March, but power cords fail. Usually after a few years, but they do.

Not that I’d ever, EVER had to replace a power cord on another laptop. Ever.

Wait, what?
Why is this thing already broken? I pondered it for a minute.

But I am deeply in love with my Apple, and I was happy to trade a bunch of every day problems and constant rebooting for weekly or monthly issues, and one major problem every six months (this happened last month, and is part of why I was away so long).

So I thought, fine, I’ll just go to the Apple site, pay the $85…

Wait, what?? Eighty-five fricking bucks? For ONE power cord? Que?

Well crap, I thought. But I need it tomorrow, and I can’t go to Best Buy or the Apple store to see if they have one.

So I went through the very fast and easy to understand check out deal, only to find that hey, it can’t get here overnight from Apple direct.

Or Best Buy.

Or Amazon!!

No more, Wait.

No more, What. I was livid.

I should be able to replace a cord that shouldn’t have melted and frayed in the first place, overnight, especially since it was over-priced. Sorry.

So here’s the deal. I’m begging you to get your heads together on this issue over at Apple. I spent a total of $6000 in the Apple store that first day, outfitting myself and my partner with our Sexy MacBooks and all the bells and whistles that go with them.

So pony up the famous service I bought for, and stay consistent with
your brand message.

That brand message, whether you meant to do it or not, whether you mean it snidely or not, is this:

 ”We’re Apple. We’re smug for a good reason, smugger than Vegan environmentalist yuppies in a Hybrid living in Yurts.

And that’s because we’re better than everyone else. Our poop don’t stink and we know it, too.

And you’re cooler/smarter/happier/better than the rest of the world by figuring this out early so we’re going to treat you like royalty.”

I already knew I was way cooler than most of the people I know, and you need to get back to reminding me that my choice of computer affirms that. Of course, I’m joking about that. Probably.

< /rant >

Are You Looking for a MagSafe 85W Power Adapter for your MacBook Pro, fast? Here are the fastest methods I know.

After an online search, I narrowed it down to three places that could theoretically get me my cord within 2 business days. I had to get two power cords, as one was lost and we’d been sharing one, so two of these solutions have been tested. (This was put to the test when the only remaining power cord frayed, so the fact that mine went down in six months was likely greatly exacerbated by the fact that it was being shared. )

For both the tested places, on the second business morning after ordering, my adapter was in my hands. One of those places entailed a compromise - I had to get the 60W Adapter instead of the 85W, but if that is what is available, trust me, it works just the same, and it’s smaller to boot. It just takes longer to charge, which isn’t an issue if you have yours plugged in most of the time anyway.

The place with the most personal service and fastest delivery of the regular 85W MagSafe Adapter was PowerBook Guy.

I wrote them using their contact form and they got back to me fast. It took me about an hour of searching before I found them, so I’d suggest you go and bookmark them now. I ordered late one evening around 9 - they were on the West coast, I’m on the East coast. I didn’t get it the next day, I got it the day after, but considering how late in the day I ordered, that may still count as next day service.

The second place was Amazon. Here’s where it gets tricky. For the regular Apple MA938LL/A 85-Watt Portable Power Adapter for MacBook Pro, it’s not always in stock and they get it from Apple, even though it may be a few dollars cheaper.

So it may take even longer if you order through Amazon, especially if you try and get a used one.

But for the 60W, they always seem to have some on-hand. Just make sure you don’t order the part number MA538LL/A unless they’re out of everything else.

You want the Apple MagSafe 60W Power Adapter for MacBook MA538LL/B. It has the magnetic MacSafe thingee you need to connect it properly to the MacBook Pro, so don’t sweat it.

When it’s in stock, it will come next day. It was my luck that they were out, but I still got it on the second business day - it will say so on the site if there is going to be a delay.

The third option I could have gone for was Best Buy, but they were also out of stock, so I would have been looking at two full business days for an arrival date. They only had the 60W, but like I said, it works, and you have the option of picking it up in the store.

If you want to try your hand at searching for it online, make sure you
have the right part number. I would look for MA938LL, and then take A or B, which ever is available. If you can’t find any, you can try the 60W part number, be sure and click on ads if you see them, and on the Google Products link for the Mac Adapter.

If they’re advertising, they probably have them in stock. If they took the time to submit to Google Base or uploaded to Froogle back in the day, they’ve probably got them at the ready, or can get them pretty fast.

If you can get it offline, try calling your local Apple store at 1-800-275-2273, Best Buy at 1-888-237-8289 (or use the Click to Talk at the bottom of the site, to have them call you), and CompUSA in that order to see if they have them in stock before you go driving around.

Also, I’m not a doctor or anything. I’m not giving you my advice as a professional computer tech support person because a- I haven’t done that since I worked for MGM Mirage, 2- you don’t pay me $60K a year, and D- I can’t guarantee that anything I say will help you, because you can’t guarantee me that you’re not one of those people who thinks a DVD drive is for holding your coffee.  

So this is just one pal to another, don’t expect a miracle, or take this as like, gospel. Due diligence and all.