> Meanwhile less reputable Chinese branded replacements are plentiful and cheap.
Not on the power switchers, oddly.
DC-DC Buck/Boost regulators have been phasing in and out of existence like ghosts. Yes, even the Chinese ones. Even worse, changing a buck/boost regulator generally has lots of knock-on effects--the inductors change size so you just wasted a bunch of inductor stock, your swicthing fdrequency changes so your EMI is all over the map, etc.
Not on the power switchers, oddly.
DC-DC Buck/Boost regulators have been phasing in and out of existence like ghosts. Yes, even the Chinese ones. Even worse, changing a buck/boost regulator generally has lots of knock-on effects--the inductors change size so you just wasted a bunch of inductor stock, your swicthing fdrequency changes so your EMI is all over the map, etc.