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What To Do With All of My Gadget Chargers?
legoman666 writes "On my desk I have chargers for the following gadgets: Nokia N810, LG Chocolate, Sony Ericcson Z310a, Canon Powershot SD1000, Cowan iAudio X5L, Lenovo Thinkpad, Logitech MX1000 and my Nintendo DS. Not a single pair of them share a similar connector. I have two power strips whose singular purpose is to energize these chargers. My question to Slashdot is: How do you organize all of your different chargers? Please, share your secrets."
I organize mine alphabetically by manufacturer. It gives me something to do on the nights that I can't sleep.
But no matter how sleep-deprived I am, I would never submit such drivel to slashdot, nor, were I an editor, would I post it.
You don't need all those gadgets, and you would save your self a lot of money in the future.
on a longer power strip would be an obvious solution !!
In this field no matter how much you know, You still don't know anything.
Or stuff that matters? I'm trying to figure out which this falls under, because it doesn't look like it's remotely close to either of them.
Risk of Exploding
1- nokia
2- dell
3- sony
4...
Pack them all away and get USB charging cables for them all. Much easier and takes up much less space.
You're working for your gadgets ... maaan!
Yes the charge rate is slower, but you need far fewer plugs - I've managed to get usb chargers for all my gadgets ( ds included ) and net result is I only need to manage one plug for the server. ( the number of usb cables is a different question, but they are much easier to manage ).
"Success is based on knowing how far to go in going too far"
Since they draw little power you could chain two power strips together to save on plug space
I organise them with anger and frustration.
Thank you
I store all my chargers in a drawer. Each time I need one I sort throught them, untangle the wires and curse about it.
I keep them in a box. If you leave them plugged in they will continue to use electricity even when they are not charging (or even connected to) a device.
forget the nay sayers... I for one want to see what the /. community do. Do they run a DC ring around the house? Strip the wires and fudge some coins together to make a potential divider? replace the transformers with rodent power?
I have 4 USB hdds that I've not gotten around to putting in a case yet, because I dont have the cash for a mixed sata/ide jbod server, all of which need their own adaptor. I have a headset that needs an adaptor. My phone charger, and mp3 charger. That's some 7 sockets I'm using on 8 socket power strip, with the 8th going to a another 4 socket in serial to power my PC and high-fi (i know you shouldn't have power strips in parallel... but pfft, im not running a kettle off it like at Uni :D)
it is a problem. step down transformers are notoriously wasteful. There has to be a better way!?
Do they all NEED to be plugged in at the same time?
You could get one of those 200-in-1 universal adapter things and keep a note of the power requirements for each device in a handy notepad. Then you can just dump those chargers in a drawer somewhere, where they belong.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
With some luck, going Solar (eg, with Photo-Voltaic panels, etc.) will see our future homes able to supply DC voltages, directly, without all the chargers.
It's just a matter of time before PV panels get cheaper to make and/or more efficient at converting solar to electrical power.
Cut off the plugs from all of the cables and solder all of the wires to the output of one transformer, thus enabling you to simultaneously charge all of your devices and cook your dinner on the monstrosity you now have plugged into the wall.
You may wish to update your fire insurance.
It does raise a serious issue of why the flying fuck in the sky don't gadgets simply have the same bloody connectors for charging? There's no excuse! If all manufacturers could agree on the USB standard then why can't they make a charger standard?
there was an pci board that just converts to various voltages, so that you could use your ATX PSU to charge batteries or various equipment. It should be more efficient as ATX is switching power supply instead of most of those little 'bricks'.
http://callpod.com/ I think they're a bit pricey, but definitely worth it if you've got a ton of gadgets. Two cellphones qualifies... :)
I try to hide whatever chargers and wiring in general I don't have to unplug. That way I can wrap it all up with cable ties and keep it managed somehow. Fastening power strips to the bottom of the desk can be a good option. (The double sided tape thing never works... Use something more permanent.)
Also non-brand chargers can make sense when space is a premium. TinyPlugs are excellent for Nokia phones, for instance.
Having an off switch on the power strip with all the chargers can be a good idea too, if you aren't charging anything you can turn the whole thing off and save power. (No leeching.)
.: Max Romantschuk
I too have an LG Viewty, an iBook G4, a Nokia 6600, my iPod mini, and the battery-operated SUV my 3-yr son drives (the charger is very similar to a nokia phone charger).
Organisation is key: i charge my iPod at work: The white cable always is connected to my PC.
The iBook G4 feeds off its charger which is permanently hooked to UPS power supply that also feeds my SLI-config PC. Yes, the laptop stays close to PC, and yes its neanderthal for a slashdotter to keep it that way, but the charger doesn't get lost this way.
The Viewty (KU990) is tricky since the charger gets lost quickly enough in my clutter. But i have found one wall socket at home where the charger stays connected to permanently. I plug the phone in when i reach home, and take it out when i leave for work.
The Nokia is my company's: i don't care if its charged or not. Not my money, so if i happen to answer it i check for battery and if it has run out, i replace the viewty charger with Nokia charger (and this is why my LG Viewty is down today).
I found that having fixed location chargers for moving devices creates some discipline and order. Plus you don't have to haul the chargers every day.
iPod Mini runs out of charge?=Work PC.
LG Viewty: Fixed wall socket.
iBook G4: Charger near UPS.
Nokia: Charger at same wall socket as Viewty. (when not charging, it lies in my bag).
SUV: The charger is placed near kitchen. My wife plugs the charger in when she makes coffee in morning. My son brings the SUV to kitchen when it needs to be charged (which is about 11.30 AM when the kitchen is free).
No one is allowed to move chargers. Not even my son is exempt from this law:
This way i don't lose chargers and things are organised.
Devices can move; Chargers can't. (when i travel, everything goes into my laptop bag). Unfortunately this made me once carry the SUV charger too for about a week.
"Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
Its easy to mix the chargers up. First thing I do is stick on a piece of duct tape, and with a Magic Marker or Sharpie, write the name of the device it fits, such as "WRTG54GL" or "MOT V235". Avoids sticking 18 volts into a 5 volt device!
Why don't you lobby Congress to pass a law standardizing voltage with connector type. Then we can have another more worthless legislation to deal with!
I'm going to hazard a guess that in addition to not sharing chargers, they don't share much else either... they don't necessarily use the same memory, or have interchangeable parts, or interoperate in cool and interesting ways (like forming Voltron, for example).
So... congratulations. You've ammassed enough technology to discover why corporate IT departments standardize on a limited number of vendors. It looks like you surf the web, talk, take pictures, play media, and do computer stuff... right?
You've got somewhere between 2 and 4 different ways to surf the web. You've got somewhere between 3 and 5 ways to talk. You've got somewhre between 3 and 5 ways to take a picture.
Do you actually need this degree of redundancy? Are you collecting random shiny toys just to say you've done it? :)
I surf the web, talk, take pictures, play media, and do computer stuff, too. The only things charging off my power strip, 99.999% of the time, are a laptop and a phone. Why? Well, the laptop lets me surf the web, talk (via Skype etc), take crappy pictures via a built-in webcam, play all kinds of media, and do all kinds of computer stuff. The phone lets me surf the web, talk, take slightly better crappy pictures, and play media.
Do I have other kit? Sure - but I don't use my standalone media player that often any more, so it stays in my backpack. Ditto for the pocket camera. Ditto for the DSLR. Ditto for a lot of chargers. Oh, and my phone and media player are the same brand, so they charge the same way.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
If your worried about where to plug your *ahem* gadgets, I'd say that's the least of your worries.
Perhaps you need to step outside into that room with the big light, get a bit of exercise, read a book, have sex, go for drinks with friends, go on holiday, live a little.
Perhaps ask yourself "Why do I have so many gadgets? What would happen if I got rid of some of them? What is regular sex like?"
A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
A classic case of luxury problem.
Why three mobile phones, are you waiting for the not so ineviteble question "Is that 3 mobiles in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
"I have downloaded hundreds and hundreds of records, why would I care if somebody downloads ours?" Robin Pecknold
Arguably, you could also scrap the digital camera as most phones have cameras on them. I'm a photographer myself so I can appreciate not wanting to do that.
For the Logitech MX1000 (wireless mouse) - use batteries. As for your Nintendo DS, the battery life is pretty good on that, so you could just charge it each night instead of lugging the power adapter around.
ilovegeorgebush
..is not having many single-purpose gadgets but just one multi-purpose pocket computer (aka a modern mobile phone). I'm not bloody Rambo.
That said: Thinkgeek might have a few gadget-organising gadgets you might be interested in.
I get USB chargable devices.
First of all I try to get things that will charge via USB.
For instance your Nintendo DS IS USB chargeable. I don't have a DS, but I do have the GBA equivalent to this nice Pelican charger kit. I use the cigarette lighter to USB adapter to charge other low wattage devices, like my iRiver when I'm in the car, not just my GBA SP and GBA Micro (it wasn't powerful enough for any of my previous phones though).
I bought a PSP a few days ago, I know it's also USB chargeable, I just haven't picked up an adapter yet.
My Jabra JX10 doesn't take much wattage to charge, neither does my Skype phone I use the USB ports on the back of my KVM to charge those. The KVM is powered, so thats 1 power port for 3 devices.
I've changed phones many times in the last year, my company keeps swapping them out on me. All three of the phones they've given me in the past year, an older Motorola Q, a Blackberry Curve, and now the older model iPhone all use USB to charge. For the iPhone I actually bought an alarm clock to handle charging that.
I used to think the idea of using USB to power things was ludicrous, mostly because the first things I saw utilizing USB power were fans, lights, and mini vacs, just stupid little power suckers. Now that I've actually been utilizing it I've been freeing up the power strip. Things like this and this actually seem worth buying.
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
I neglected to ask this in my previous post: why the f-ck have you got three mobile phones?
ilovegeorgebush
Build one your self... Ikea style :-)
$3 project..
http://lifehacker.com/software/diy/ikea-charging-station-277771.php
or get this
http://lifehacker.com/software/household/mobile-device-recharging-station-137835.php
I've thought about taking an old AT power supply, or maybe even just a single large 12V AD/DC adapter, building a multi volt break down box, then adding a bunch of by-the voltage power taps to it.
Say, a common negative rail and a select your own positive rail setup. I figure I can cut the cords off of the chargers each device I want to charge came with, crimp some banana plugs onto them and select the appropriate ports from the box. I've given some thought on a commercial version of this as well, of course the commercial version would have identical plugs on the "box" side and the connecting cable would be keyed for voltage/polarity, we don't want the average luser figuring out their own voltages and polarities now do we?
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
I mean.. look at sites like Lifehacker:
Tired of cords and chargers?
http://lifehacker.com/software/clutter/build-a-cordandcharger-organizer-229408.php
Somehow I could not reach the article right now, but here's the image of the project that is being described:
http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2007/01/charger%20box.jpg
What sort of answer are you expecting?
- I chop off all the connectors from my expensive, official chargers and solder them to cheap multi-level adaptors?
- I bought X, a thing which includes connectors for everything and lets you charge Watts of equipment simultaneously?
- I run DC electric around my house in multi-voltage and have purchased specific connectors for every piece of equipment I own and hope I don't plug my phone into the wrong voltage?
I don't think that there is a sensible solution at the moment. I tend to have a charging area - where I keep all the chargers on a power strip which is plugged in whenever I need to charge anything. My wife and I often want to charge two similar items at the same time - for those cases I purchase an extra charger (usually from eBay or a boot sale) or use one mains charger and plug the supplied car-charger into a 220-12v adaptor I bought that has a "cigarette lighter" socket on it.
The other options don't really bear thinking about. Running DC electric around a house is an absolute nightmare so you're basically going to want to lump all the things needing charge near a suitable DC output - which could be the official chargers on a powerstrip, or a multi-voltage thing, like a PC PSU or similar multi-out DC supply if you have THAT many but I'd check the efficiency of using such a thing when a single mobile phone is plugged into it.
So you have to have all your charging equipment in one place, and you can either rig up some Heath Robinson solution to charge any peripheral with any connector via any voltage or you could just plug the mains adaptors that you already have into a £2.99 power strip. You can neaten it up by hiding the actual blocks out of site and rigging up a bit of polished wood that can hold all the various gadgets with the right connectors already in place through holes on it. But that's just poncing about.
You don't save much by doing anything different - in fact, the exact opposite when something goes wrong or doesn't work first time. Forget the whiners moaning about the power used by extra PSU's on the strips - plug in an energy monitor while they are all idle if you are that worried, but the easiest solution is "plug them all in when something is charging, take them all out when nothing is", which is facilitated by an amazing invention called the main switch on a power strip.
There is no magic solution. Even "wireless charging" is bound to be the same in 100 years - every bloody manufacturer will use a different field strength, frequency, polarisation etc. so that you have to buy their charger. Until someone (ISO, I'm looking at you) actually standardises on a DC supply to a house and countries enforce its use in law, you're stuck with it. The only DC standard I'm aware of is in cars and that actually WORKS to a degree - a car charger is a car charger and will work in basically every car in the world (24v supplies on lorries not included, but they do usually come with rather large warnings on the dash and you can get 24-12v convertors for just such an occasion).
I have a couple of power strips under the desk, and the charger's leads all come up between the desk and the wall, and then through a small Velcro loop (attached to my in-tray). This gives me a 'charging medusa' and I just extend out whatever lead I need. The weight of the leads hanging down the back of the desk means gravity self-retracts the connector back down to the loop when not in use.
Whenever possible, only buy things that run on standard, rechargeable batteries - A, AA, C, D and 9V - although I only actually use A, AA and in very limited cases 9V.
The only place this hasn't worked for me is cell phones, but even there I mitigate by sticking with one cell phone manufacturer. And I suppose one could argue it doesn't work with laptops either, but I consider the power adapter there to just be an external power supply. That it also charges the battery is a bonus.
paintball
I've found this to be very helpful: keepacable.com.
. . . with the Extended-Dance-Mix Warranty. When your device's batteries are empty, you just take it in to your local Apple Store, and they will return it to you in a couple of days, fully recharged.
Probably.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
I think it's time for walled-in 12 volt DC circuitry around the house. Something that sits as a tiny, standard connector on top of all my light sockets. Would that be very difficult; I mean, can you safely, (almost) losslessly, transport 12 volt DC over regular copper wire over a distance of, say, fifty meters ?
Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
You bought an iPhone. You've thrown out your dignity as well.
And you are more than happy to buy one locking you to a specific manufacturer for $19.99. Same reason the headsets are all different.
The manufacturers are simply giving you what you ask for. YOU are the problem.
Deleted
I agree, I used to be such a gadgetphile till I got my iPhone, now for the most part my gadget lust is sated(though a DS is still a better gaming machine)
Monstar L
missing steps 4) ...
5) profit!
Dump it all for an iPhone ... yeah right !!!
Just because you are willing to compromise on everything doesn't mean the rest of us should ...
Nokia N810 = 800 x 480 display
iPhone = 320 x 480 display (FAIL)
Canon Powershot SD1000 = 7.1 megapix
iPhone = 2 megapix (FAIL)
Cowan iAudio X5L = 30GB storage
iPhone = 4GB or 8GB (FAIL)
Lenovo Thinkpad = erm, it's a Laptop
iPhone = erm, it's NOT (FAIL)
Logitech MX1000 = erm, it's a Mouse
iPhone = erm, it's NOT (FAIL)
Nintendo DS = erm, it's a good little games console
iPhone = erm, it's NOT (FAIL)
To be honest, I can't think of a single, sensible reason to buy an iPhone. It is jack of all trades and master of none.
I choose 12V equipment wherever possible and have made a tiny power-board where many things plug in: ADSL modem, Ethernet switch, Radio gear, LED lighting, etc.
I also have a 5V connector for things that I can't get 12V versions, eg Zonbu computer, etc
Overall it works very well - the desk is very neat.
get a charger with multiple plugs and charge them all using a single transformer
most mobile devices will charge at similar voltages
Here's a grand idea, but it's going to be the usual issue of chicken and egg to get it widely accepted. http://blog.scilla.org.uk/2008/06/greener-better-more-convenient.html
Not a single pair of them share a similar connector.
PowerMonkey charges anything I own (iPhone, ipod, Nokia phones, mini-USB, DS, PSP etc) and to top it off it has a built-in large capacity battery.
Check it out: https://powertraveller.com/
You buy the gadgets, then sew the leads into a nest in which you can raise geeklets.
To be honest, I think having too many chargers to handle is a sign of having too many gadgets. Either find ones with combined functionality, or do without some of your toys you freakish cyborg person.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
I have about of them around here and a couple of transformers already died. HDDs are 12V so I got an old AT power supply and used that for power.
No sig today...
I use these units mounted behind my desk, parallel and about 12" above my desktop. Mounted a few inches below the desktop would be a little harder to access, but would be nearly invisible. Make sure you screw into nothing but studs for support.
Of course wall warts still chew up multiple outlets, but it hurts less when you have that many.
-Matt
I inserted a 6 plug power strip with on/off switch in to a large box, with a hole at one end with the on/off switch sticking out. All the bricks and chargers are in the box and plugged in. A few of the charge wires come out on the side of the box, for easy attachment of a device. For some of the devices, mostly my pocket camera that has a charging station, I have to lift the lid of the box. Just search for "charger box" and you'll find example of people doing this: http://www.google.com/search?q=charger+box
TC - My Photos..
I have not owned a mobile phone for about 8 years, but for my laptop and psp and other devices i chuck them all in my laptop backpack and i get stronger the more i add, what does not kill you makes you stronger. I agree about standardizing these charging sockets but i would become weaker as my backpack would become lighter, suppose i could just buy some more devices to make it heavier again.
Wow. A lot of people are scoffing at this question, but I agree with OP that all these chargers are a pain in the ass.
The best I've come up with is to write on the side of each one (using white-out) what it is for, so when I unplug it and toss it in my bag of wires, I can tangle through the mess and pull out the one I need.
Another solution (and one I don't care for, personally because I know I'd just end up frying one of my toys) is to go to Big Box Store Co. and buy what is often branded as a 'universal charger' that has multiple plug ends and a slider on the power adapter to change the voltage output. Just watch out and make sure the 'universal charger' spits out enough current for each of your devices.
What about the greatest device ever created, the iPhone 3G?
http://www.greenplug.us/ Green Plug has been mentioned before on /. and has been adopted by Westinghouse (http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/15/0136223)
If it is adopted widely, the problem of multiple chargers will largely disappear.
Simple,
Zip-tie all the chargers together, with ~1 ft of slack between the connector & the zip tie. Put in additional zip ties until you get to the power strip, then hook them all in. $5 for the zip ties, and you can just cut them out (be careful!) when you want to reorganize.
Care about electronic freedom? Consider donating to the EFF!
http://www.greenplug.us/
Have a power strip with a maximum of 3 or 4 chargers plugged into it at any given time. All remaining chargers are stored in a drawer or another appropriate container. I would be surprised if all the devices need charging at once, as some gadgets would be used more than others.
So you'll have to swap out chargers once in a while, big deal. It's cleaner this way.
It's not the step down transformers, it's the linear regulators on the output that are wasteful. Anyway, most power packs are switch mode these days.
The switch mode supplies are less like bricks, but as a colleague of mine says, with a switcher on the mains, you are only 20ms away from disaster.
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-06/popsci-5-minute-project-gadget-charging-station
Popular science had a nice article on how to build your own recharging station designed to cut down on the clutter. It looks like it would help in your situation.
13 year old white supremacists are shitty web designers.
I said keep the laptop, did I not? Reading for comprehension: FAIL
Besides, I ALWAYS have my iPhone with me. And it can, to some extent, and in most cases to the extent necessary, stand in for all of those other things.
You on the other hand, may or may not, depending on whether or not you loaded up your Batman utility belt that morning, be carrying the LG, the Nokia, the Ericcson, the Canon, the Cowan, or the Nintendo. Nor, given the subject of the post, will you be totally certain that any or all of them are charged up and ready to go. (BTW, you forgot to mention the book reader/Kindle, GPS/Magellen, ...., ah, never mind.)
From my perspective, having the perfect dedicated device for each and every function does me no good whatsoever when it's sitting on the shelf at home because I didn't feel like being an electronic pack mule that day.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
I've just started going to college and so I've got quite some new gadgets - we have 4 phones at home (each with a different charger and connector), a camcorder, a bluetooth headset, and a rechargeable flashlight.
This is a new problem for me and to sort this out, I am trying to find some kind of a universal charger, something like a swiss knife, but for chargers. The problem is really serious as we have limited plug sockets in the wall, and we have fights on who gets to charge their phone first, and other times, who gets to charge their device WHERE.
RutSum.com
they are integral-- much like the iphone/ipods
they don't come out-- and do require a wall charger...
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
A while back I switched to all USB chargers for my gadgets. I found a USB adapter for my Nintendo DS (charges both the Lite and older "phat" model) and my cellphone, and a 3rd-party charger for my iPod. Since I normally travel with my laptop, I can charge my devices from that during the day. However, the NDS charger came with a car adapter that has a USB socket, so I could use that to charge a device while on the road. And my iPod charger came with a tiny wall-wart that also has a USB socket, so I could use household current to charge as well. So my only problem now is that I have maybe 3 different types of cables floating around in my gadget bag, but at least I've dropped all the bulky chargers.
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
It's called K.I.S.S
Keep it stupid simple?
[Intentionally left blank]
but that would drain the charge in my gadget thrower. Then what?
rewriting history since 2109
I have my phone and headset chargers at my nightstand. Your phones can (hopefully) make it through a day without needing to be plugged in, so why keep all the clutter at your desk? If you need to charge them there, any USB chargers you can get are worthwhile.
in the trash
Bad news, no perfect solution. If able I always chose USB powered stuff. If not, I look for USB power adapters (seen for nokia and most mobile phones). Anyway I usually carry an small bag inside my laptop bag to keep all chargers, adaptors, flash, usb, network cable etc so it is not messed up with papers, businesscards, wallet, etc. Wondering what women's bag was for? ;)
I use this for my recharging. it's a nice station that hides all the cables...
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p9171/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1|20|||0|||||||recharge&cm_src=SCH
I'm a fan of iGo from radio shack. Bit expensive, but there are tips for the same charger to charge just about anything.
It takes some physical effort to change the tips, but it can't be beat when traveling. I have chargers for USB, old Motorola, a PDA, Gameboy, iPod, and a GPS receiver, and only need to carry one brick.
God! Talk about consumerism gone ape! Just because someone comes out with some sort of electronic gadget doesn't mean you have to go out and buy it.
I'm not suggesting by any means that it's necessary to carry ALL thos devices around ALL the time ... in fact as three of them are cellphones anyway, I can't think of a situation when I'd NEED all three of them at the same time.
However, the point of my post (comprehension not being your strong point either obviously), is that the iPhone is a piss-poor replacement for ANY of them, and by compromising on quality you end up with shitty results.
I usually know IN ADVANCE when I'm going somewhere special and might feel the need to take a nice photograph, ergo the camera would only be necessary on those days. Whereas you, with your trusty iPhone, can take a shot anytime granted, but it'll be grainy quality crap and you'll regret afterwards having not taken the nice camera instead.
If i want to put an MP3 on my phone, I'll do it ... I don't have to go to the web-store first, or get Steve Jobs permission to listen to my own bloody music. And the iPhone has GPS does it ? Newsflash, so do a lot of other phones too. The iPhone has been playing catch-up since it left the drawing board - and up till now it hasn't caught up.
And you've had to wait for almost a year just to get 3G ... well you got it now, but only at the expense of calls dropping left right and center, and a patch that seeming didn't work after all. Can't you see the whole world is laughing at you, or are you too dazzled by the sun reflecting off the "shiny" to see past your own nose ?
Any time I read a post from an Apple fanboi, invariably I find the words "in most cases to the extent necessary", or similar apologetic terms, rather than just standing up and admitting you wasted $300 on something shiny that performs worst than just about anything else on the market (and usually costs a lot cheaper too).
And now I'd better put on my asbestos underwear, I can imagine the fanbois tooling up with flaming torches and pitchforks as I write.
Ahaha this reminds me a novel that Douglas Adams wrote to MacUser in September 1996. It's available in the book published after his death. The Novel is called "Les petits bitoniaux" in French, I don't know what the original title is, but it's worth a read.
{{.sig}}
I have one, one power charger! (couldn't resist)
For those who haven't read Douglas Adams's "The Salmon of Doubt" and the excellent essay on power supplies (a.k.a. little dongly things) here's a link: http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/980707-03-a.html
so true, since mobile phones have had decent cameras I have much more pictures as my camera is there whenever I need it. SLR's produce nice pictures but you don't carry them around on whim due to the bulk and weight.
UK citizens may want to sign this petition to the government for the standardisation of power adaptors. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/chargers/
Chuck Norris doesn't need any power adapter. Chuck *is* the power.
{{.sig}}
First, label both ends (the plug and the connector) clearly. Second, get an over-the-door shoe organizer from iKea or some place. This same technique works for all the extra cables (usb, etc.) that come with each gadget, and in many cases the gadget itself can be stored and organized this way. Photo: http://superfuzzy.com/2008-03-07/cable-storage/
Powermonkey do a device that can charge pretty much any mobile phone, camera or hand-held game console and sell plugs for sets of devices.
It is amazing to discover that they all seem to be able to charge from the same transformer.
Problem with Powermonkey is that though it works brilliantly it's designed to charge on the move, and it does the biz from it's internal battery which can't charge while it's charging one of your devices.
It amazes me that no-one sells and switching powersupply with an array of plugs.
Nintendo DS?! Come on man, get the real thing, PSP!
At Home: 1. Find your kitchen's junk drawer 2. Clean out the junk 3. Bolt in a power strip (or two) inside the drawer 4. Run a wire from one of the wall outlets and add a plug within the cabinet below 5. Plug away and hide the devices At Work: 1. Screw/bolt the power strip(s) to the bottom of your desk - (or hang them below your desk off a cube wall if you're fortunate enough to work in a cubicle) 2. Plug in all the chargers and run the wires between the wall and the desktop NOTE: Either way, use velcro straps, twist ties, rubber bands, or something to shorten the wires to the minimum length needed. You can also use a smal dot of paint to color code each device and its respective chord if you don't mind doing so. Or for the OCD, use a label maker.
Just make a box for the power strip with the wall-wart chargers, then run the cables out the top or side and set items on top of the box for charging. You can get fancy with the box design or not, but it will look better than cables everywhere regardless of how plain it is.
stuff |
You mean the iphone isn't like an ipod, in that you can't listen to MP3s? Or did ipods change since I last bought them?
We need a four-rail power connector standard, which automatically negotiates the power needed: +1.25V? to handle negotiation signals, the DC power required, plus two ground lines. You then have one transformer box with 10+ leads off a signal bus. There is then the small matter of persuading the whole electronics industry to support the standard... *cough*
It's consumerism at work: there are cheap standard connectors and universally accepted charging voltages, still corporations continue to spend money developing their own stuff when it's not necessary just for the sake of forcing the consumer to buy one more thing from them (spare or car charger, USB adapter, etc.). The western corporate world still isn't mature enough to stop this nonsense, so your best choice now is to buy one of those multipurpose chargers with adapters suitable for different gadgets.
If you stay with the original ones, put them on one of those multiple outlet power strips with a switch for each socket, so you can save energy by switching off chargers not in use.
Using a small piece of colored tape on each charger plug and the appliance it charges may also help to avoid confusion or errors.
You're out of luck on the Canon Powershot SD1000 and the Logitech MX1000 - they both appear to require docks for charging.
For your other devices, get a ChargePod. You can charge six devices simultaneously.
What you'll need is:
CHPA-0001 - This is this chargepod itself
SMSG-0001 - This is the adapter for the Cowan X5 series
NINA-0001 - Nintendo DS
CHUA-0002 - Sony Ericsson Z310a
LGVX-0001 - LG CHOCOLATE
NDC2-0001 - Nokia N810
You might also want to grab CCPA-0001 - the 12V car adapter for the chargepod. I'd probably also grab a MUSB-0001, the mini-USB adapter. Things that charge off of mini-USB are everywhere.
Grand total for all this? $119.60
Yeah, its pricey, but simultaneously charging 6 devices off of one outlet is priceless. ;p
One bummer of all those wallwarts is, they look alike but do not work alike. So 2 years later, when you haul an old gadget back from your Gadget Graveyard, figuring out which wallwart powers or charges it is a pain.
A cheap labeller can be used to help with this, as many wallwarts just have some generic writing on them. Or just some athletic tape and a Sharpie marker. I label all my wallwarts now.
Dump it all for an iPhone ... yeah right !!!
Just because you are willing to compromise on everything doesn't mean the rest of us should ...
Nokia N810 = 800 x 480 display iPhone = 320 x 480 display (FAIL)
Canon Powershot SD1000 = 7.1 megapix iPhone = 2 megapix (FAIL)
Cowan iAudio X5L = 30GB storage iPhone = 4GB or 8GB (FAIL)
Lenovo Thinkpad = erm, it's a Laptop iPhone = erm, it's NOT (FAIL)
Logitech MX1000 = erm, it's a Mouse iPhone = erm, it's NOT (FAIL)
Nintendo DS = erm, it's a good little games console iPhone = erm, it's NOT (FAIL)
To be honest, I can't think of a single, sensible reason to buy an iPhone. It is jack of all trades and master of none.
You're missing the point. I currently run an HP IPAQ 6515. The camera is not as good as I'd like; the keyboard is not as good as I'd like; the screen is not as good as I'd like; and it currently runs Windows Mobile, which I don't much like. But it does everything, and it fits in one (count them, one) pocket. It also only needs to be recharged once a week, so I don't need to carry a charger with me unless I'm going to be on the road for more than a week.
With modern mobile devices, most people don't need a laptop (although they may need a better keyboard - I definitely can't touch type on the IPAQ). And if you don't need the laptop you don't need the mouse. And if the choice is between a less than perfect camera or audio player or word processor on the one hand and carrying around a heavy bag on the other, I'll take portability!
Nokia N810 + Canon Powershot SD1000 + Cowan iAudio X5L + Lenovo Thinkpad + Logitech MX1000 do not fit in one pocket, FAIL.
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
Buy a cheap wooden bread box.. Put a power strip inside with all your chargers.. Then you don't see all the wires.. Just a bread box.. Of course people may wonder why you have a bread box on your desk..
(3 phones??)
I have a simple solution- unless the gadget in question presents overwhelming value and no equivalents are available, I simply refuse to buy products that don't use standard Mini-USB ports for charging.
There are a few exceptions to this (IE canon dSLR camera, uses a larger Lithium battery that has its own charger) but for the most part it's worked great.
Also I am always sure to email a manufacturer when I pass their product over for this reason. Most seem interested in the feedback, so I'd suggest you all do the same...
--IronHelix
Most of the small device companies have a USB hookup, but guess what - that takes a proprietary cable too! One Reason these companies have not adopted USB (or any other standard)for charging is money. If I buy a Samsung phone a Windows mobile device, a Mp3 Player and a camera, and they all take the same charger, then the respective manufacturers are out a LOT of money. Honestly, from a consumer standpoint I think it's dumb too.
Did I so agree with you. I understand the desire for electric engineers to change the voltage/amperage for what ever device, but why not at least offer a small converter, if not change the device to deal with the same voltage/amperage and F'ing' change it in the device.
Come the revolution, the Bourgeois, Capitalistic, "A PARKING STICKER HOLDERS", will be first against the wall!
Nokia: huge. iPhone: small.
iPhone: Good enough for snaps. Does that Powershot have a phone?
I don't need 30GB for music and movies, my 8GB holds three-four movies and all my 3 star + rated music.
Is your camera phone's browser as good as the mobile Safari? Nah.
Yes it is.
It's good with a jack of all trades sometimes, for when you don't want to bring all your shit, which you'd have to do with your things above anyways. When I need a cam I take the SLR, when I need a computer I bring the MacBook, etc. But day-to-day, a smartphone does what you need.
Just make a universal battery charger out of a wooden bicycle and a few coconuts!
I agree, it's much handier to carry 6 devices around than one, single, device. FAIL.
/. is all about working out which trolls are insightful and which are not.. generally if you're against success and believe in global warming, you're heading for a 5
http://www.wildcharge.com/index.cfm?CFID=14618980&CFTOKEN=57894540 This looks like a neat little charging pad. Just drop your device down to charge. Will have to wait until they support more devices though...
or maybe you're a consumerist douchebag who has too many plastic Chinese gadgets?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
"didn't feel like being an electronic pack mule that day" - oh my ghod! Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!
How can any trueblue slashdotter not want to be an electronic pack mule? Why, if they ever come up with a way to get electricity from a biological process, I'll be hooking up all my gadgets to myself!
It would be much easier to compress your comment into the simple statement that convergent devices do everything poorly and nothing well.
For those of us who like devices that actually do things well, separate units is the way to go.
I used to like convergent devices; I had a HTC Universal, in the hopes that it would combine my camera, PDA, phone, and music player. Hell, it even had a gameboy emulator on it. But after a while, I realized that it made a crappy phone, a crappy camera, a bulky PDA, and had a terrible control scheme to be a gameboy. Sure, it played music, but it was terribly bulky for that and held only about 4GB based on the size of my SD card at the time.
I also realized I didn't need most of that crap anyway. Now I just carry a cellphone, which has an equally crappy camera in it- but hey, I don't use the camera that often and it's a slim cell phone. I also carry a blackberry for PDA and messaging if I need it... and last but not least, I've realized that I don't actually need a gameboy or a music player the vast majority of the time.
That's not to say, however, that I've learned my lesson. The weight saved in my gear-bag is now occupied with a night vision monocular...
"It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
Isn't it a pretty good Phone ?
We are Dead Stars looking back Up at the Sky
I attack the problem at its root and have a whitelist of connectors I am willing to use. Anything that doesn't have such a connector, I don't buy. Everything I have that needs charging can be charged either with a universal adapter, or by taking out the batteries and putting them in a battery charger. Manufacturers who insist on making up their own proprietary and incompatible junk when there are existing standards available can stuff it.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
Cable and charger compatibility is an important criterion for me. Everything that uses a miniUSB plug, AA or AAA batteries gets to be picked first.
we will get the epa to mandate all these greed-driven companies to used the same charger and USB connector. we can do this in the name of reducing pollution while actually ya won't have to pay $20 for a piece of junk that ain't worth two bucks
reference: understanding politics of regulation by go figure
For any function that you can find on a swiss army knife, you can also find a number of stand-alone tools that are generally superior for accomplishing their specific tasks. But that doesn't mean that a swiss army knife isn't an incredibly useful thing to carry around. (Although, personally I prefer a Leatherman)
There are many people for whom the trade-off of lower quality in exchange for the convenience of carrying less tools around all day is an easy one. It's often a very pragmatic decision. The cellphone is turning out to be the swiss army knife of electronics.
As for the iPhone in particular, it does some things worse that the other options, but it does somethings better. Sure, there are apple fanbois who will make excuses for the flaws, but that's not any more ridiculous than you saying "the whole world is laughing at you." Neither of them are true or useful things to claim.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
Both make chargers that use special tips to carge devices. One charger, multiple tips. I carry one on tripsand am generally satisfied. iGo also has a battery pack that uses 2 Aa and a tip as an emergency power source which is a handy thing to have as well.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
nah, my wives 'gadgets' run on size 'C' batteries ;)
You should know that you can destroy chargers by leaving them plugged while not connected to the charging device.
Additionally you waste energy, as you can easily find out from the heat they produce.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
My macbook charges my iphone (one charger in total), the DSLR has it's own charger. What else do you need (unless you need a different phone for every single wife or girlfriend)?
You know, there are poor starving children in Africa who only have one device to charge...
First thing I do is put stickers on them so I can tell whats what. Then get power strips with individual turn off/on capabilities (or as a whole) as the power strip gets shared with mains appliances.
Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
I suggest a milk crate. If you don't want to go the milk crate route, a file storage crate will work really well also.
Put the power strip in an out of the way corner. Plug in all the pluggables. Flip the crate over, and put it over the power strip. Feed the ends out of the crate. Put a fancy covering or something on top.
This way, the power strips are pretty much out of sight. You can put things on top of the crate while they're charging.
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
I just am happy. Only bought one cell phone in my hole life, at 27, now 30. One notebook. Nothing else.
I bought one of these: https://powertraveller.com/iwantsome/primatepower/
I screwed a rake to the wall (without the stick), made a loop knot into each cable and hung them from the spikes. Every cable has a paper fastened to it with sticky tape, bearing the name of the device (because some of them look too similar). The cables don't entagle, and it takes a second to choose the right one.
Say out loud: I'm an Aspie and I'm somewhat proud, I guess. Uh. Can I write an email in all caps instead? Hm...
My wife and I each have cell phones, PDAs, bluetooth headsets, and rechargeable batteries.
That's 8 chargers right there, and the tangle of cords was too much for either of us. Too often, something went uncharged because the lack of outlet space left these devices spread around the house.
Solution: I bought a small cabinet for the living room, about 10" deep, 42" high, and 48" wide. It had two drawers set above two doors. The drawers were about 5" deep, and were lined, perfect for storing/charging our electronic devices.
After making some minor repairs and some paint, (it was on clearance due to some cosmetic damage.) I removed the rear panel and began to create a new home for all of our chargers.
I added brackets to the top edge of the back to the drawers to hold the cables neatly in place. This prevents the cables from slipping out of the drawer, and keeps them from getting tangled.
I cut out a small portion of the rear support under the drawers to allow the cables to be fed up from inside the cabinet.
I then cut a hole in the rear panel, that matched the wall outlet placement at the location where the cabinet would stand. Then I re-assembled the unit.
I then mounted two power strips inside the cabinet, on the rear vertical supports. These would accept the power-blocks and chargers.
It now sits in our living room, a nice addition to the decor, and a neat way to hide/charge all of our devices, my devices in one drawer, my wife's devices in the other.
Dump them, and get a powermonkey
http://www.powertraveller.co.uk/
I run my charger cords into a drawer (through the back), and keep all the ugly cellphones, gameboy, USB devices and cable mess inside of the drawer. It keeps the counters and tabletops clean looking.
640YB ought to be enough for anybody.
I would also like to point out that numerous companies are turning down contracts for the iPhone, this should be a good sign to those of you out there who think it is a worthy device. It runs slower then a lot of phones and is poorly designed to compete with what is already available.
I have a bunch of sheets of blank white label (sticker) stock. Each time I get a new charger thingy or other non-standard wire, I just cut out a little piece of sticker, stick it on the charger and write what device it's for. That's also good for going through your drawer of chargers and seeing- oh! I haven't had that XYZ for years! So this charger can get tossed.
They are not made anymore, but I just got a CORDination Station Pro from Linen's N Things. It was made by Leap Technologies, and it is AWESOME! It has two built-in power strips, so it had hold up to 10 chargers. I went out and got another one for use down the road. It is WAY better than those "charging valets" everyone is selling which can't hold more than a few charging adapters.
Why the hell do they always have to be lit up all the time? My bedroom looks like its Christmas every time I turn the lights off. I've made a habit of facing my wall simply because if I face the inside of my room, I'm blinded by friggin' LED lights all over. I tell you, there should *not* be an off-light! Who invented such a thing? Maybe its a big conspiracy from the LED makers. They weren't satisfied with ON lights so they made OFF lights too. Then, there's a light saying something is fully charged and another light saying its charging. Then there's a light on chargers that just say "yes, we're plugged in, but you already know this because the charging light is turned on as well" I'd think having a light for "charging" and another for "charged" would be enough.
Someone needs to release an ethics guideline for goddamn LED use.
It seems odd to me that nobody's mentioned the great products from iGo. When you get a new phone, you buy a new tip for the charger. And you can add a splitter to charge multiple devices simultaneously. I keep one iGo in the car, and another in the home, for charging my cell, my wife's cell, my palm pilot, and our iPods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_wart
Its going to take a standards body and government to resolve this issue. There is already legislation to require standby mode for unused wall adapters. It certainly not in the interest of manufacturers to standardize on connectors and voltages.
Using USB to power devices reminds me of people who used to use free power from their phone line (maybe they still do?).
How about wiring DC along side AC in the home/office That way energy sucking bricks won't be needed. Doesn't really solve the interconnect problem on the device side, but I'm sure there could be some standard. Hey even the iPhone 3G doesn't have a USB connector.
Simple.
Chuck all the stupid crap toys you have that use proprietary connectors.
I have made a decision: In the small electronics area, I will ONLY buy devices that use the mini-USB style connectors. I flatly refuse to buy anything that cannot be charged or connected via USB to my PC, or a USB base station.
Yes, this does mean that I will miss out on some "hot" tech items. For example, I do not have an iPhone. Why? Not because I think it's a bad device or because I cannot afford it. I think iPhones are very nice and I can certainly afford to buy one. I don't have an iPhone because it uses a 30 pin proprietary dock connector. The means that I would have to buy all sorts of expensive connecting devices from Apple that I have no intention of spending money on like a moron.
The same goes with most other phones. I selected my Motorazr cell phone because I can charge it with a USB connector. I selected my Creative Zen MP3 player because I can charge it with a USB connector (the same one I charge my phone with) Should the need for any other small devices come along, I will select the one I can recharge with a USB connector. If no devices have that option, I will forgo the device altogether. NO device is so important that I should have to clutter my life with useless connectors and chargers, when a simple mini usb 2.0 connector will do everything these idiotic proprietary connectors will do AND MORE.
It's time we as consumers put our feet down. Manufacturers need to stop trying to follow the "give away the razor handle and sell the blades at a 500% markup" model and start selling their devices, unlocked, with a standard unified connector at a reasonable price.
It starts with each one of us deciding to change this one thing in our lives by only buying devices with USB connectors. I have made the change, who will join me?
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
... you could get a slim battery charger from Lenovo for your ThinkPad and buy different tips for each of your gadgets. There are tips for different phones and even the iPod
Many devices with standard plug sizes can share power supply. Switched mode power supplys produce the same voltage even if the load (amperage) varies.
There are even plug converters availiable, they often come with a variable voltage switched mode powersupply. Just make sure your device does not overload the amperage rating of the powersupply and it'll work like a charm.
For example the PSP comes with a 5V 1000ma switched mode powersupply and a fairly standard plug. My mediaextender that I found in the trash uses the same voltage and plug and draws less amperage so I use the PSP powersupply to power it when I'm not charging it.
A switched mode powersupply can be identified by specific symbols on it, or by it's weight. A linear powersupply is generaly much heavier bulkier and produces more heat and thus generally has ventilation holes.
/ Jonas Rosenqvist from Sweden (sorry if my english sucks btw)
Get a charging valet and replace the stock powerstrip with a power squid. And cut back, 7 devices is silly.
I only plug in the one I need to use just now.
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
Nokia N810 = 800 x 480 display
iPhone = 320 x 480 display (FAIL)
You could also admit the N810 does have the processing power to handle video properly, even after installing mplayer and after it switchs to a considerably lower resolution. I have long since stopped using mine because the performance was pathetic compared to my ipod-touch. Shame really.
I confess - I saw it on DIY or HGTV. Get a nice lidded box that's large enough to hold the power strips and charger transformers. The one I saw was just a simple decorative cardboard box that you can get at the container store or wallyworld, but you could make your own custom one if you wanted - in a nice wood, or metal or some such. Cut holes in 1-3 sides as needed, just large enough for each chargers cord to fit through - with the gadget connecter ends outside the box of course. Cut holes in the 'back' side of the box - large enough for the powerstrip cords. You can pretty-up the holes if you wish - maybe with some of those whatchamacallits - you know - the little tin reinforcement things - usually square-ish. Put the box on a desk, preferably near an outlet: - put the powerstrips and charger transformers inside the box and plug in the transformers. - plug the powerstrip cords into the electric outlet (never another powerstrip of course) - put the gadgets on the desk and connect each one to their respective chargers. Voila - Gadgets are easily accessible, and the cord mess looks less messy.
ok, lets figure this out.
my phone charger is in the bedroom as i use my phone as my alarm clock.
my Laptop charger is in the livingroom, next to the sofa, as thats where my laptop lives most the time. same for my girlfriends laptop...
my other half's blackberry charger is plugged into the same strip as the broadband router in the hall next to the front door so she can grab it on her way out, and plug it in when she gets home
my DS charger is in my toy room along with my games consoles and musical instruments
my camera charger only comes out the draw when going on holiday.
my 9yr old minidisc player has recently died, so thats in the draw.
my girlfriends ipod usually lives and is plugged in next to the stereo in the livingroom.
where do your devices live most? would it not make sense to plug them in where they are most used?
consolidate your devices. i use my phone as a day-to-day camera if needed, an mp3 player, an email device, and a phone. do i need anything else? wallet, train ticket, work pass, and keys.
annonymous post due to giving a basic inventory of everything nickable from my house.
I use the iGo universal charger for all my devices. Works great.
...if you have the money!
Multipot is an excellent and cool looking solution for organizing your chargers and cable. However it comes with a price tag of ~$200. So you have to be either very rich or very desperate* to buy it.
Since it shouldn't include any fancy electronics, it would be nice to see some Chinese guy producing something similar on a reasonable price.
*Desperate either with your cable problem or your love-life. Multipot looks like a great girl-attractor.
A beautiful solution exists in the form of Bluelounge's Sanctuary.
It's a very elegant desk accessory that only needs one power supplies and will charge dozens of gadgets.
I love mine.
http://www.bluelounge.com/thesanctuary.php
The iPhone comes with a cable to connect its 30 pin proprietary dock with USB. It charges over USB. True, it charges faster by plugging its USB connector into the charger that's also supplied with the phone. Did I mention that that charger is tiny at roughly one cubic inch (16.39 cc)? At least Apple tried to minimize the clutter. The charger can sit on a power strip without blocking access to either adjacent socket.
Of course, if you want to be a purist, just throw the charger away and forget you ever had it.
BTW, I don't own any 'expensive connecting devices' for the 30-pin dock connector and I'm not likely to buy any either.
RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
I know what you mean, I have a Ferarri F350, a hybrid Toyota, a Hummer and a Smart. Oh I forgot the Tesla prototype. The thing is, I want all of them to perform at their 100% but I want to use the same fuel. What do you slashdotters do to avoid this kind of problem?
Answer: Stop whining about trivial problems you already know the answer for.
Every gadget that I have has a MiniUSB port for charging. So I only have one wire comming out of my pc to charge everything. Choose wisely your gadget and it won't be a problem...
Get rid of two of your three phones? Do you really need that many?
C7 C4 25 8A 11 BB 0D 40 8F 4E 4E 47 CA F0 BE 5B
Sure, if you'd rather not talk to people or don't mind a bit of crap call quality.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
The iPhone comes with a cable to connect its 30 pin proprietary dock with USB. It charges over USB.
While there may have been some fuzzy statements in there, if you reread the beginning of the post you were replying to you'll notice that he said that he'll "ONLY buy devices that use the mini-USB style connectors," and that he selected his ZEN mp3 player because of the fact that it will charge with the same style cable as his phone.
I don't believe that a cable that simply plugs into a USB jack but still takes a proprietary adapter to enable it to do so would conform to his quite narrow standards.
I've been hearing for quite some time now that researches have discovered a way to charge devices wirelessly. I would suggest that you find out when and where that is being released and buy it, then trash all your chargers.
Put them in a box and use the one you need, you fucking idiot.
Get an AC-to-USB adapter, and a usb hub. Then use USB cables to charge your smaller devices.
How about you throw some of that crap away? No one needs all that garbage. You might think you do, but, you don't.
I plug all of my chargers into different outlets randomly throughout my apartment. That way I don't have a mess of chargers in one spot, instead I have charging capabilities no matter where I am in my apartment (as long as I have the right device in hand).
It makes life interesting.
+5 insight - only on ./ .
Why the fuck iphone? This is true for some of the other gadgets out too. Get the fuck off, fanbois.
At first, you come across as one of those annoying iPhone loving gheyboi twerps. But you're actually right.
And not a twerp.
I got this from the DIY Network: get a pretty rectangular cardboard box (like from Ikea or The Container Store) and cut small holes, evenly spaced, on the two longer sides, and one hole on one of the shorter sides. Screw small metal decorative plates (something to make the openings look neat, like light-switch covers but for a hole) over the holes, and stuff a power strip inside the box, with the cord coming out the one shorter side. Plug all the chargers into the strip, and bring their cords out the little holes you made. Put the cover on the box. Now you have a neat charging station that doesn't look like ass. I think this tip was brought to you by Quaker Oats chewy protein bars or something.
Whenever you get another charger, write something descriptive on it with a silver sharpie, then toss it in a box with your other chargers. You'll always be able to tell what the darn thing is for.
"Man is nothing without the works of man" -- Helvetius
What you need is a charging valet like this one from Costco
Works great. I have a usb hub & several wall warts tucked into a similar one.
...stop buying gadgets.
WTF do you need 3 phones for anyway? Maybe, MAYBE, you need 2, if one is provided by your employer and they have strict limits about personal use. But you certainly do not need three, no matter what excuses you give yourself.
You can't make calls with iphone. So, it wont do the job of at least the third (a phone) of the four.
You think only you can troll, eh?
But I know, you would be an 'insightful' troll, while I would be just a 'troll' troll.
I have a similar problem with hauling around several different laptops, a couple of cell phones, a GPS, camera, MP3 player, and external HDD. My solution is an IGo universal power brick. The brick and all the tips store in a convenient case and I can charge 1 large device and 2 small ones at once.
Correct. It doesn't count of you have to use an (purchased separately for a stupid amount of money) adapter. The Mini USB port must be IN the device itself.
Yes it's a narrow definition, but it has served me well. No Mini USB in the device, no money out of my pocket. Period.
There is NO EXCUSE for phone, PDA, and MP3 makers to NOT use the USB standard. It works, it works really well, and everyone can use it.
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
hmm.
for year_of_marriage = 0, number_of_children = 0,
there is a negative chance_of_sex for any WAF > 0
Ummm, nice rant, but the iPhone *does* charge via USB. Apple throws in a nice 30-pin to USB connector with the iPhone.
But don't let that stop your iconoclasm!
There are some organizers out there designed specifically for this problem. The link is to one I saw a couple of weeks ago on HSN. desktop-valet-charger-station
but we should make the best of this question, because it is a good one.
Only recently have manufacturers jumped on a bandwagon. Many cell manufacturers are providing mini-usb connectors for charging and sync. With the recent addition of the new USB (3?) offering higher output voltages, we may see more manufacturers moving to a common charging system.
There are, of course, several manufacturers that require proprietary connectors or needle barrel plugs who should be encouraged to change to a standardized connector.
With the possibility of a common connector on the horizon, we may see the exact opposite of this post in the future. "I can't plug all of my devices in because I don't have enough USB ports" or "I can't find additional USB cables because they're so popular that the stores are sold out"
OK, so the latter will probably never happen, but I frequently run out of USB ports and have to make a decision about what gets unplugged.
"Lame" - Galaxar
Invent a generic induction charging plate. Problem solved.
In the meantime, cable turtles.
http://www.cableturtles.co.uk/
I can't find them anymore in Canada. They were expensive, but the nicest solution I've found.
Skot Nelson music is my saviour / i was maimed by rock and roll
Nerds tend to have a number of devices on-hand which, at various intervals, require charging.
I personally tend to have have a small bag with my PDA, digital camera, and Mp3 player kicking around. All these devices use 5V, but connectors include:
a) Camera: standard barrel-connector
b) PDA: standard barrel connector (my old HP Ipaq required either the addon pack or keyboard to connect to a proprietary connector, but the addons had the barrel connector)
c) Mp3 player (Insignia): standard USB-mini
d) Phone (Samsung): USB cable connected to proprietary jack
I carry around a charger with an adjustable voltage setting and various connector bits for charging, but it lacks one for the USB-mini (or the weird USB-attached one on my phone).
What I've actually been wanting to do is emasculate a USB extension cable and add a barrel connector on one end, that way I can plug the phone's cable or the USB-mini into my charger and thus not need extra chargers for them while on the road. Overall they're a major pain in the ass to deal with though.
Does your collection of gadgets have an absurd number of power connectors? Change them yourself. Standardize on a common standard. This is what I have done both on the commercial doodahs that I've bought and everything that I design and build. My standard is the 2.1mm power connector found on modern guitar effects boxes with the center pin being ground. (I also put bridge rectifiers on my own designs so either pin-positive or pin-ground power adapters can be used in my designs.)
Weirdo power connectors is a manifestation of a brain-dead Marketing-major-mentality that believes that putting a weird power jack on the product will force the customers to buy the overpriced proprietary power supply that has been matched to the product. Unfortunately brain-dead Marketing-majors have more influence than the intelligent tech design staff over the people who have the final say in the product design.
We, the techno-elite, should take the initiative in forcing a productive solution to this problem. We have a long history in setting technical standards. This issue of power adapter connectors has been 'below the radar', but the time has come to impose reality on the brain-dead Marketing-majors.
If you are gadget retailer, then you should offer a service to replace the weirdo connectors with a standard design and demand that the manufacturer continue to warranty the product. Since there is no chance of that actually happening, consider dropping the manufacturer until they standardize on a power connector and put the inexpensive components into the power-supply front-end that will handle the wide range of power adapters in the marketplace.
This nonsense really needs to stop.
Use microwaves,, just place face up in a microwave safe dish for 48 seconds 4.5v, 81 seconds 12v (microwave ovens vary you may need to tweak the times) after it cools off try it, if it isn't charged simply repeat the process.
Proudly Butchering code for 20 years
The problem with a "universal" style charger is that it might screw up and overvolt your device (or you might set the dial wrong when switching between devices), but what about something that was semi-smart and would auto-adjust depending on the plug?
Let's say you get a little charging pod, maybe with a simple interface (LCD, buttons for +/- voltage or amps within available range). Now, it can come with several end-connectors, all which have different pins to plug into the master device. Plug one in and set the volts/amps.
Next time it will automatically start charging at the voltage assigned to that pinout combo (two pins are always for actual power, but the rest are identifiers).
Next, you can chop up your old connectors and then wire them onto the positive-negative leads from each. If it were to be a non-geek project then perhaps it would have some sort of easy-to-use clip to hook things onto the adaptors.
Finally, charging. Plug end into device, plug other end into charger. The correct power settings are detected, and charging begins.
dymo, shoebox.
For whatever reason, very few manufacturers label chargers/power supplies in a way that makes it easy to tell which one goes with which device. (Especially after the charger/PS has spent some time in the plastic tub I store them in when not is use.)
The first thing I do when I unpack something new is grab a silver colored marker and jot the device description on the wall wart. That way I can go through the bin and find a supply labeled "Uniden WiFi Router" without needing to check the AC/DC/Voltage/Current/connector types.
I was super proud of my surge protector arrangement last year in my dorm room.
Instead of having to buy a lot of extension cords to reach a surge protector in the floor, I wrapped the cord around a bar of my loft bed, then triangulated a support by putting my weighty printer cord through a bar at the top and letting that cord bear most of the weight so that the surge protector just kinda floated in space within easy reach of even my alarm clock (top shelf).
as for organization, it's easy. Anything that can be plugged in there gets plugged in. If I have to charge something that's not plugged in, I have to unplug my cell phone charger and plug it in :X ;.; )
(i just wish i could get to that last un-used plug. why oh why did I not get one of those squid units instead of the bar
Take a look at: http://www.instructables.com/id/The-IKEA-charging-box---no-more-cable-mess!-Very-e/
Damia
buy an rc battery charger that lets you select what type of pack to charge and use that to charge everything...
mine has adjustable charge rates from 20mA to 4000mA
and settings for lithium, nickle cadnium, and nickle metal hydrade batteries....
this worked well for me and was cheap to make:
http://lifehacker.com/software/clutter/build-a-cord+and+charger-organizer-229408.php
They're about $30 at Frys. They can be mounted to be somewhat unobtrusive (underneath desk, etc.) instead of putting them on the floor.
You are going to wait quite a while for your plug-in hybrid.
Throw 'em all in a bucket with a hole in the top, and a power strip inside. Here's an instructable:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Vintage-Minnow-Bucket-Charging-Station/
Sell 2 of your 3 phones (or smash them with a mallet for even more satisfaction). Don't be such a retarded gadget addict and you won't have a problem. You surely do not need access to more than 2 of those gadgets at any given moment in time. Don't keep them all in one place maybe. Sheesh, some people... would ask why they were on fire even if they themselves had lit the match.
I use a Zip-Linq USB multi-head charging cable. About $10 most places, and you can get heads for just about anything. Fits in a very small bag.
Currently I charge with it:
Nintendo DS
PSP
Nokia e61i
Nokia LD-1W GPS
Bluetooth headset (anything with USB Mini-B)
iPod 5th gen (anything with standard USB)
The power source is either a laptop, desktop, cigarette lighter USB adapter, or a USB wall-power converter.
http://www.pcaccessories.org/ZipLinq-USB-Cell-Phone-Charger-I/M/B0000UI2KU.htm
I had to order the e61i head, model "NK2", from the mfr, but that was easy enough. I also have a 9-volt booster tip; I believe the charger itself is 5v.
When I remodeled my kitchen I had a double outlet put inside an upper cabinet and plugged an outlet strip mounted on the back of the cabinet into that. I keep all charging cables and devices in that cabinet organized on some small shelves. Everything is at eye level so it's easy to plug and unplug devices.
I checked all the chargers with a Kill-A-Watt device to tell me which ones draw juice when they are not charging, and marked them. So I unplug those when they are not in use.
I close the cabinet door and everything is hidden from view.
While traveling for business in New Zealand I picked up this Universal USB Charger at Dick Smith Electronics. It has connections for DS, PSP, IPOD, and mini USB. It also included a adapter for plugging into a cigarette lighter. And since I can charge everything from my laptop's USB port, I didn't have to worry about having power plug adapters/voltage transformers for all my gadgets.
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/48b58b4d086699a2273fc0a87f9c0751/Product/View/YG7556
I try to keep the office chargers to a minimum, with a file drawer assigned to them and wires out the back to the floor power bar.
But at home, I also have chargers for 18v tools, 12v tools, screwdriver, nail gun, digital camera, carpet sweeper, portable vacuum, second laptop batteries, RC toys, and the like. I have made a shelf over the water heater just for the cluster, and use several switched power bars so I can leave them off when not in use.
I kid, I kid!
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
Does having one make you feel closer to Ballmer and Gates, the other two Zune owners? And is that a good thing or a bad thing? :-)
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
Well put. I'll be honest - it takes slightly longer to place a call using my iPhone than it did with my old freebie phone, particularly if the person is not in my 'favorites' list.
On the other hand, I stopped carrying a standalone music player, and my Nintendo DS mostly sits at home collecting dust. For short trips, I sometimes leave my laptop at home, since the iPhone is 'good enough' at web browsing to check travel information, and email/VNC have me covered in case of some emergency at work. Now, sometimes this doesn't work out perfectly - last weekend, on a family vacation, my brother-in-law wanted to hear some music that I didn't have on my iPhone, since the storage space isn't enough to carry my entire music library. And if the production systems go up in a glorious inferno of electronic hellfire, I'd rather have a full-sized keyboard to type out emails and a full-sized screen to poke around on machines with VNC. But the point is, it covers so many different use cases 'well enough' that the convenience of having them all covered in a small package is often worth the trade-off in terms of the hassle of carrying a multitude of more purpose-specific devices, or a larger general-purpose device.
I live in the countryside of Oregon and find it quite easy to organize all my charging devices. See, I have this fifty gallon drum in my backyard that I use to organize these devices. First, I place all the devices that I want organize in the drum.Second, I pour any flammable substance into the drum. I have found that petroleum products work the best. Third, light and stand back. Done and done!
But seriously, maybe you should consider some self reflection to see if all those things are actually necessary or make your life that much better.
The screen of my Samsung phone won't turn off when it's plugged in. I have to charge it face down or in another room.
Even people that believe in pre-destiny look both ways before crossing the street.
...that was in Fortune about Sony's new (Scottish!) CEO. The interviewer asked him what Sony's most fundamental problem was and he replied (paraphrasing): "I own seven different Sony products and have seven different battery chargers and wall-wart power supplies. That's the problem." Haha! Well put. He was pointing to how Sony was divided up into too many separate (and strictly hardware-oriented) fiefdoms that didn't team up on anything. And good luck to him. Goddamn.
This is one place where the government should step in and impose a standard to help the consumer.
12v with a standard connector would work just fine and make chargers that worked just fine from car voltages as well.
I've not used any of these. I personally use the "spaghetti" solution. :) But here are a few suggestions. Bed Bath and Beyond has something that sits on your desk. Just search their site for "charging". I've also seen many DIY solutions on Lifehacker.com such as customized IKEA tables.
How about other types of connectivity you might want on a device? In addition to USB, my iPod photo also provides S-video out (maybe composite as well; I know composite video is available through the headphone jack), audio in/out, control (for things like car stereo connectivity), and FireWire. My Treo puts RS-232, audio in/out, and some other signals on its connector. On a larger device, you might get away with including all of the appropriate connectors somewhere on the device. For something like an iPod or a phone (at least one that's not just a phone)? Not so much.
FWIW, I tend to charge most of my stuff by plugging into a USB port on a computer, a USB hub, or a cigarette-lighter-to-USB adapter. Standardizing one end of the connection on something that's small and ubiquitous isn't a bad idea. Insisting on doing the same with the other end of the connection, though, is unnecessarily limiting in terms of what you can do with it. I'd like to see you try driving a projector with the mini-USB port on your Zen for a slideshow. I've run several from my iPod.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
Actually, this is a bit of a problem for my wife and me.
She sells these "gadgets" as a side to her day job.
They demo best on a new set of batteries.
But I'm really getting tired of blowing money on new batteries. It's not terribly friendly to the environment, and even Costco mega-packs of them cost more than the rechargeable ones would per demo.
One little problem: The set of Kodak NiMH AA Batteries we tried got stuck in Patchy Paul...
We stopped after that. I don't want the headache of having one specific set of batteries for each individual gadget that she carries. They should all be interchangeable. I need to try more batteries, but I'm not looking forward to the cycle of buying, trying, extracting, and returning batteries to find one that fits all of the "gadgets."
Oh yeah, and the chargers they carry at the local Wal-Mart suck. I really don't want to have to pay for and use a dozen individual chargers because they seem to think nobody needs to charge more than four batteries at a time.
Any ideas?
Personally, if this is such a problem you're probably carrying too many electronic widgets. But if you really need them, then this thing is supposed to have adapters for most stuff.
===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
I simply hide all the voltage converters ( anyway, the big part of the chargers ) in a boxed env ( i know, they get pretty hot, but that's no big deal ) and let the jacks of the chargers pop out from the base of the external drives and big devices on the shelf just on the top of my monitors, so that i can simply plug the devices, having all of them charging in a raw, and clean the boxed env as rarely as possible. Does that sounds some psychotic, duh? :P
"... is that the iPhone is a piss-poor replacement for ANY of them..."
If it were, I wouldn't own one. It's okay as a phone, probably the best music/video/audiobook player out there, has a wonderful web browser for the size of its screen, does email fairly well, SMS is great (though MMS would be nice), and so on. Most of the games I play are logic games like Sudoku, so not having Super Mario Brothers or arcade-style crap doesn't bother me.
It's biggest weakness is the camera, but I tend to throw the G9 into the backpack most days, and, as I said, I still have a camera even when I don't. And, newsflash, you can put MP3s on an iPod/iPhone without going to the "web-store".
Most of the issues the phone has now, other than the camera, are simply in the software, and Apple and third-parties are definitely aware of the flaws and updates and applications are coming.
Any new platform has issues, and a few arrows in the back is the price anyone pays to be an early adopter. That's not being a fanboy, or apologetic, but simply a fact of life. I'm sure Android, if/when it ever gets around to shipping, will have its own flaws, sins, and omissions.
But that isn't going to stop anyone who really wants one from getting in line on day one.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
You might want to check with iGo.com, they make a charger that allows you to plug in different tips for different devices.
Not particularly cheap, but if you're more interested in space savings/convenience...
Out of 8A 5V power supply from Halted, some pieces of gray acrylic and blue 7-segment led display amp meter off eBay.
It looks like this http://i35.tinypic.com/25p30jn.jpg
I have cut the ends of cables for mini-usb, ipod, samsung phones and other crap I have and made universal connectors inside the box. If I get new gadget with unique connector I just cut the cable, solder universal connector and connect inside the box.
It is 5V only but most of my gadgets are 5V except for stupid sony bluetooth headphones at 3V. WTF?
As soon as I get a new toy that uses power and requires a plug in transformer I make sure it works then label it.
I use a roll of girl friends favorite color electrical tape and fold one 3" piece about six inches from the connector and add one piece to the transformer. Write the name of the toy at both ends with a short description that will allow you 10 years from now to go ah-ha.
Charging adapters can go coiled up in a basket next to an outlet.
Monk
Like other posts, but taking it one step further (or farther?): I force all my computer-illiterate co dwellers to only purchase phones with the usb charger. So now we have a phone charger in every room, and especially by every bed. I have a couple cheap cigarette to usb adaptors so car charging is easy too. The most commonly used charger is in the kitchen with a high amperage so it charges devices fast. Additionally my phone is my *only* device: ...pda etc.
- phone, gps (gmaps)
- camera
- alarm, calculator,
- mp3 player (swappable 2GB cards)
- web browser
- chat (skittle)
- password mngr
- porn storage
What more do humans really need? Without really trying or thinking about it, every other device has been almost useless and discarded. Ah, just thought about one exception: a $20 mp3/RADIO device (which also charges USB). Since my car radio receiver broke, I've used my phone/mp3 player, but needed the radio function. While we're protesting, lets make phone makers start including radio.
Get one of these:
http://bluelounge.com/thesanctuary.php
Has adapters for most everything, looks great and works great, but does not work with iPhone 3G sadly.
wrap them around your epenis for convenient storage since you're trying to increase its size by posting your "extensive" device list here...
I moved to Korea for a year with 2 suitcases and 2 carry ons and I have more chargers than that. Come back when you have a serious problem..
There are pro's and con's to having a standardized charger for say cell phones, and other rechargeable gadgets [PSPs, DSs, MP3 Players].
Pros:
1) 1 charger does it all, no clutter
2) Costs vendors less, no need to pack a damn charger with every item, considering just about everyone has one [Apple did it with the iPod, and shortly anyone that made an MP3 player did the same]
Cons:
1) Somebody gets hurt, meaning the company that makes the charger, yeah it sucks, but honestly, chargers are getting worse than spam
2) Some gadgets that require a higher draw of power [say over 5v] are going to need their own types of adapters, that is understandable.
If there can be a standard for USB, FireWire, Molex connectors, yadda yadda, why the hell can't there be a damn charger standard.
For the environmentalist in all of us, Think Green, because what the hell are we going to do with that damn charger when we get a new device.
Besides, I ALWAYS have my iPhone with me.
I have a Nokia 6220 classic with me all the time. It's much more capable than your iPhone. Give the Apple iGadget fanboi-ism a rest will you?
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
It's a little pricey, but you buy one wall adapter, one car adapter, and all the right tips. Then you only have to swap the tips before charging. http://www.igo.com/
Manufacturers of all kind of electronics go to extreme pains to ensure that chargers and connectors differ as much as possible from each other.
Basically they are all acting anti competitively forcing consumers to buy the chargers made by themselves.
Governments and standard bodies are equally culprit for not standardizing all this big mess.
There is no technical reason why we could not be standardized to 2 or 3 different chargers for varying amounts of current and to one or two types of connectors on any gadget. This would open the market to competition and we could choose the solutions that suit us best. Buying a charger for a mobile phones is the most ridiculous exercise, you know you are buying something clearly overpriced just because the connector is different (very often the same manufacturer having different connectors, thus ensuring the consumer has no choice in the matter).
As things stand it may very well be that the same charger could work for 3 or 4 devices but all this anticompetitive mess forces people to have 3 or 4 instead.
We are being abused but some people can think only about insomnia ....
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Additional connectors are fine. if manufacturers wish to make their machine EASIER to connect using MORE standard connectors than simply a mini-USB, then I'm fine with that. I just refuse to be pigeonholed into using some stupid proprietary connector when mini-USB would work just as well.
As far as larger devices are concerned, I haven't really seen them as an issue. By and large, your PC, Netbook, AV equipment, and automobiles all use standardized connectors and (some) interchangeable parts. These companies have all standardized on a set kind of connection, and consumers (and the companies too) have benefited from it. Small electronics need to do the same.
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
J'ai un clavier franÃais, vous insensible motte!
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
It is no great Engineering feat to accept a range of voltages from the charger and put the necessary circuitry in the gadget to deal with whatever it receives.
Then you would standarize to 2 or 3 connectors that would match different voltage ranges.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
That is the problems with today's "entrepreneurs": they forget that profit is a consequence of providing a better good or service, not of abusing their loyal costumers.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Protecting against voltage or current peaks is not black magic.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Multiply by 15 or 20 bucks.
To be generous, I would say you have been overcharged by at least 50%.
If that does not matter to you my guess is that it matters to many others.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
A Noma RX4 pocket charger may be your ticket to get rid of a few: http://www.fabianrodriguez.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/noma.pdf
Notepad specialist & FAT administrator, group training available
at 5V/0.5A, however, he's gonna have to wait about 6 weeks for it to fully charge.
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
its impossible to find a solution on this case
I think every device that does not specially require high amperage or voltage should have usb-based charging.
Call me old-fashioned, but I'm still using NiMH cells for most of my stuff. Forget standard charger cables, what they need are standard Li-ion cells.
I use an IGo, It keeps my laptop, both cell phones, bluetooth headset and GPS charged. Just swap the device specific tips. I can also use it in the car (with the 12V plug) on a plane (it came with the airpower tip)and if/when I travel overseas I can get a country specific power cord.
Personal
Work - standard
Work - Oncall
What I REALLY want is one phone that can have multiple sim cards, or be accessible from multiple numbers.
To answers your questions:
Yes, I do like to have a phone I can make and receive personal calls on and give to people to contact me on that I don't need to account for.
Yes, work pays for work phones. All accounting for all calls gets audited.
Yes, there is a difference between the 'work phone' and 'oncall phone' (which is rotated).
At this particular moment, I don't have a Work Phone. Thankfully. This won't last long. I'm looking at 6.. maybe 9 months and they will come back and say "you must be contactable" and hand me a work phone. Ahhhhh. Sometimes it isn't good enough that you are *at* work - they want to be able to get through to you *anytime*
Who are the crackheads moderating tonight? Microwaving batteries is not a good idea.
I've been using one of their wall chargers for a few years. I think they sell a device that can charge that many devices at one time. Or at least get a few with the Y connector and reduce the number of adapters by half.
Try this guy: http://www.callpod.com/products/chargepod
Cabble Caddy! I bought one of tehse a while back.
http://cablecaddy.com/
investigate the iGo system. 1 charger - multiple tips - certainly much more convenient when travelling
if "Faith" could be proved with facts - would it still be faith? So why does "Faith" try to present beliefs as fact? -
I've found the following works for me.
1. Read the voltage/polarity/current spec. off a charger as soon as I buy a new device.
2. Using a label maker, label the voltage/polarity onto the device, and the device's name onto the charger.
3. Put the charger into storage.
4. Use a little regulated powerpack I bought years ago, that allows you to adjust the voltage it puts out and comes with a variety of different shaped tips, and can output about 1A of juice if needed. (I keep the tips in an old tin that was originally for mints).
If I lose a label off a device, I can go back to the collection of chargers and re-read the specs. On the other hand, I don't have to lug ten different chargers around. You soon get used to ensuring the powerpack is set up properly.
Additionally, I recently bought a mobile phone and forgot to label the charger. Promptly lost the charger so I just plugged in the powerpack at it's lowest voltage setting, then quickly ramped up the voltages until I found the lowest one that would charge my phone. Things are still going fine.
> You are going to wait quite a while for your plug-in hybrid.
Nah, you can make your own adapter. Of course, it may take some fancy electronics and a lot of time to get it charged up via mini USB...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/a2e2/
I have a similar problem. I keep it under control by keeping the cords bundled up and secured with twist ties--often the original ties that come with the charger. I only let the cords out enough to be useful. I have a power strip with one or two usable outlets on top of my desk, where I plug in the charger I need to use at the moment. All of the other chargers go into a plastic popcorn tub that sits under my desk. Keeping the cords bundled keeps them from getting tangled up with each other too much.
Buy an iGo charger system and chuck (well, maybe just box away) all the ones that it is able to replace.
Of the list given, it appears that they have charger tips for everything but the Canon Powershot, the Cowan iAudio X5L and the Logitech MX1000.
I can personally testify that they have tips for the Nintendo DS and DS-Lite, and I've used this system extensively (except for laptops).
Not really the cheapest option, but probably the one easiest on the sanity.
You'll probably need to get two charger systems:
Check with the company— they'll be able to tell you what you should need.
Radio Shack also sells these, but I've never seen them carry the heavy-duty ones (the ones needed for laptops and other high-power devices).
They also have options to allow charging of multiple devices off of a single charger, but I've never messed with those so I don't know how well they work.
So you carry it, and not a phone AND a MP3 player AND a video/DVD player AND a GPS system AND a camera, and so on. Which in turn reinforces my point. Unless you need the advanced capabilities a particular device provides, convergence devices are the wave of the future.
Thank you.
(BTW, with a 2.2" screen, no keyboard, no WiFi, and a measly 3 hour rated talk time, I'd probably argue "much more capable"...)
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
So you carry it, and not a phone AND a MP3 player AND a video/DVD player AND a GPS system AND a camera, and so on. Which in turn reinforces my point. Unless you need the advanced capabilities a particular device provides, convergence devices are the wave of the future.
As long as the device performs its primary function well, I have no issue with adding other features. As for it being the way of the future, I'm not so sure. The GPS' in these phones are useless - old tech, slow aquisition requiring clear line of site. I actually do carry around a much more capable GPS and my iPod much of the time. The camera on the phone is actually quite good for what it is, compared to my previous phone anyway, but I wouldn't swap it for my SLR, that's for sure - so if I want to do serious photography, it doesn't come out of my pocket. I will use my phone to photograph a whiteboard at work or for an occassional quick happy snap. I do like having that feature.
If the device doesn't do a passable job at all the things it tries to be, it's almost useless.
(BTW, with a 2.2" screen, no keyboard, no WiFi, and a measly 3 hour rated talk time, I'd probably argue "much more capable"...)
Let's see.
I have a small screen. You have a larger one. It also makes your phone bulkier but I would trade bulk for screen size (though I don't like touch screens). So I'll give that one point to you.
No WIFI is hardly an issue. I have bluetooth which talks to other hardware I own, and some of your WIFI features are crippled. What's more my phone's connection is USB 2 (one reason I didn't touch the N95 8Gb is it's slow USB transfer), so in practice all I have to deal with is the minor inconvenience of plugging in a cable if I want to connect the phone (and that gives me better than WIFI speed anyway)
3 hour talk time is no issue at all. It'd cost me a small fortune to regularly speak for 3 hours on my mobile phone. In practice I can go without charging for 4-5 days and still use the phone as a phone (and to play music to soothe my newborn son).
What can I do that you can't? Let's see:
MMS.
Take a decent picture (5MP and clarity that shows the ridges on my fingers really nicely) vs your 2MP.
I can play more media formats than you.
I can record video and do other mundane things without having to "jailbreak" the phone. Does your phone even allow you to record voice? I can dictate till I go blue on mine.
Can you view your Office documents on the phone? I can. Not a high priority that one I'll admit. I have no interest in viewing movies or editing documents on a small screen (and your screen is only slightly larger and still of no interest to me. My 17" laptop screen is what I use for that)
You had to plug your phone into a PC before you could even make a call. That's just funny.
And my phone's more compact, and cheaper to boot.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
http://www.amazon.com/iGo-juice70-PS00055-0003-Universal-Notebook/dp/B000PRN2UI/ref=sr_1_36?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1220024229&sr=8-36 -- The iGo Juice70. You can hook up two devices at once the the charger, it comes with plugs that fit most laptops, and tips are available for just about every device I own. I didn't check for tips for the devices you have, but I've reduced the number of chargers I have significantly. Plus, it comes with airplane and car adapters.
Arrived late to this thread, try:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/a2e2/zoom/
"WIFI is hardly an issue"
WiFi is faster than 3G, and using it doesn't burn up your data plan. Further, you can only plug in a USB cable if you also happen to be carrying a computer around as well (which tends to negate the compact size). With WiFi, any publicly available access point will do.
"3 hour talk time"
Just indicates the size and strength of the battery. With 5/10hr talk times on iPhone, there's more power for talking AND music AND games and so on.
And video and MMS is coming, can already do dictation, can already view office (and iWork) documents, and other than mp3s and mpgs, don't really have any pressing interest or need to for "other" media formats (many of which are only popular with torrent freaks anyway).
As to other capabilities, iPhone can access Google, Wikipedia, and most any other web site, and not need a stripped down mobile version to do so. Access and read news and RSS feeds. Get real-time weather information, including weather radar. Get real-time access to traffic cameras. Immediately cross-sync contacts, appointments, and the like to my home/work machines without needing that USB cable, hear and view podcasts and vidcasts, and I'm finding out that it makes a very, very nice little pocket ebook reader.
What else? Even if my phone did video, I'd probably ignore it, and bring my HD cam if/when I thought I'd need it, just like I dig out the G9 (or the 1Ds) depending upon the photographic situation. Turn-by-turn nav doesn't float my boat, and the next car I get will probably have it built in anyway.
The iPhone isn't just a phone, it's the first of a new generation of pocket general-purpose computing platforms. The touch screen may not be the very best text entry system out there, but in my book it's just as good as a Crackberry, and far, far superior to the hit-one-button-three-times system used on your phone. Wouldn't want to type a novel on it, but I wouldn't do so on a 'berry either.
The advantage of the touch screen, however, is that the interface is endlessly mutable. It can be a scientific calculator one second, a dive computer the next, and a home entertainment remote control system right after that.
I know the uses we've discussed, but have you given any thought as to the number of custom devices this thing (and others like it) are going to replace? Installment loan calculators (ANY special purpose calculator), pocket dictionaries, language translators, metronomes, chess clocks, timers, trip computers, portable game systems, PDAs, bar code scanners, video surveillance monitors, remote camera controllers, and more.
The general-purpose pocket computer is going to kill off the majority of these things as surely as the general-purpose desktop computer killed off the Wang Word Processor.
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