Slashdot Mirror
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."
Organizing those dongles is beyond human efforts. The only real way to deal with those stupid things is to have a tray beneath the rear of the desk to keep their power strips hidden. Then run the wires underneath the desktop and fish the ends up through a hole near where you will plug in the gimmicks that use them.
Every time I look at mine I feel guilty for not having a smoke alarm hanging above them.
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
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!
For one thing, different gadgets require different voltages. If you hook up the wrong voltage, you can fry the gadget. Different size plugs helps to avoid this. Also, different devices require different amperage. There is no reason to make a rectifier that can handle higher amperage that it really needs, since that adds cost.
I've found this to be very helpful: keepacable.com.
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/
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.
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.
Holy ancient links Batman! If China mandated USB charging for all phones in 2006, are all phones in compliance today?
One for business One for friends One for women Doesn't everyone have three phones?
You can talk to women AND post on slashdot?
Your main problem is having a Zune. Not that there are many good MP3 options out there since apple started screwing the pooch in an endless loop... Seriously, how can you justify a classic iPod's firmware crashing every few days? It's a MP3 player, OS stability should NOT be an issue.
~ Mooga
I've noticed that the power warts get quite hot.
Indeed. And all that heat is wasting a lot of energy. Everyone should turn things they're not using off at the wall (or unplug them of course). It's incredible the amount of energy that's being wasted in this way.
USB would actually be a good charger standard, for that matter. It works for some phones and cameras (though Moto perverted the spec for the RAZR -- this should be avoided as it is deliberate proprietariness and that's bullshit).
Anyway, how about some answers? Over at the Gawker Media site Lifehacker, there have been a few suggestions.
www.wavefront-av.com
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
Well, in some ways many HAVE agreed on a charger standard - and it's USB!
Manufacturers are starting to realize that charging from standard USB ports is less likely to sell "add-ons" like chargers, but FAR more likely to sell the devices themselves due to issues such as this.
Even my new Motorola Talkabout FRS radios have Mini-USB ports for the sole purpose of charging.
Unfortunately manufacturers haven't quite standardized on how to handle "dumb" chargers without violating the USB specification. USB devices are not permitted to draw more than 100 mA without negotiating with a PC for more current. So a manufacturer has three choices:
1) Violate the USB specification (can't put the USB logo on your packaging)
2) Figure out some way to signal the presence of a "dumb" charger to the device, allowing it to draw more than 100 mA (sometimes even more than 500) when connected to such a charger. There's a de facto standard for Mini-USB plugs - There's a pin that is not connected in normal USB operation that "dumb charger" plugs will usually ground. If a device sees that this pin is grounded it will draw as much current as it can. I know these cables can be used with, at the least, Holux GPS receivers, HTC PDAs, and I believe most new Motorola phones and FRS radios. Unfortunately you cannot have a single cable that will both communicate and "dumb charge" from one of those wallwarts that has a USB Type A jack.
3) Limit current to 100 mA (this is unsatisfactory for many devices)
4) Wait for USB 3.0 - Supposedly USB 3.0 has taken this whole issue into consideration.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Yes, powering lower voltages off of 12VDC is easy. For my DIY projects I usually just throw in a LM317 or LM350 regulator set to the voltage I want (unless it's 5VDC needed, then I just go with the (slightly cheaper) 7805).
I don't usually bother, but you can also wire the LM317 as a current regulator. So if you wanted a USB device to run off 12, you can limit the voltage to 5VDC and the current to 500mA etc.
Anyways, I guess I'm trying to agree with you in my long winded way.
I bought a Motorola phone, the cheapest I could find, and while the power connector is a mini-USB, and it has the little USB symbol, it only charges when it's connected with the Motorola-branded charger it came with. I once left it at my girlfriend's house (5-7 hours away), and tried charging it with my mp3 player's USB cable. It did nothing but turn the backlight on from time to time and say "Please wait...", then turn back off. I was left without phone for about a month, until my gf visited me and brought the original charger.
I suppose the carrier did some disabling on the port to keep people from actually using their cheap phones. That way they would buy expensive ones the next time. Well it worked. I'm never using that carrier again.
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
It's not the carrier that does that, it's Motorola themselves (I also have a RAZR V3).
I have come accross several devices that will only charge (or charge at a decent rate) when connected to their own dedicated charger or when connected to a real, live computer. sometimes even requiring a special driver (I'm looking at you, blackberry!)
Maybe it will charge if you plug it into a powered USB hub?
I have noticed, though, that I can use the same 5V, 2A plug for my PSP, my Creative Zen and my iPaq (with a tiny conversion plug).
USB harddisks also seem to standardize on a similar plug at 12V, 2A (I have 6 different ones, 4 are compatible).
The only thorn in my eye is my new Nokia, which uses a new, tiny charger plug.
They make matters worse by charging a fortune for a conversion plug.
"I was in love with a beautiful blonde once, dear. She drove me to drink. It's the one thing I am indebted to her for."
USB 2 theoretically supplies up to 500mA at 5V at the controller. It gets less as you start adding hubs (which is why many hubs are powered). The USB ports that don't work with the drive probably don't supply enough current to run the drive. The Y adapter isn't to speed up USB 1.0 connections, but just to give the drive enough power to spin up. If you look closely, one of the cables in the Y is thicker than the other. The thicker one is the data cable, the thinner one is supplementary power.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
Put the positive test lead in the center contact and the negative test lead on the outer contact. A positive voltage indicates a "tip positive" plug and a negative voltage indicates a "tip negative" plug.
Man, you really need that seminar!
In addition, devices are only supposed to pull that much power after negotiating with the controller for it. Otherwise, the most you're supposed to pull from USB is only 100 mA. When plugged in, the GP's hard drive negotiates with the hub in the keyboard for the extra power it needs. When the keyboard says it can't supply it, the hard drive refuses to fire up and an error message pops up. Odds are pretty good that the keyboard will only supply 100 mA (less the small amount of current it needs for itself) and won't support bus-powered devices that need more. That's OK for mice and flashsticks, but not so good for bus-powered hard drives, scanners, etc.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
Actually, I found the USB drivers without having to pay for Phone Tools. The Motorola Developer site has them here:
http://developer.motorola.com/docstools/USB_Drivers/
Works fine for charging my KRZR K1m from a generic USB cable.
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.
Here's something interesting. I bought an MP3 player from SansDisk. I specifically bought it because (besides some pretty much Windows only access tool) the player can simply be accessed as an MSD - and either way it connects via USB through a supplied cable (mini-USB to USB).
The odd thing is, though I thought the cable nothing more than a regular cable with a toriod on it, the thing only seems to work with that cable.... maybe the other cables were defective, or it was more than just a toriod inside the little shell around part of the cable.
Anyway, as it isn't always possible to get something that charges via USB, there are alternatives. One, which isnt the best, is at least better than the original scenario...
- Get a "smart charger" with a tip for each device (I then attach the tips to the device using a short piece of rope or thick hair tie cut in half (so it's a rope than a circle), and use some cloth tape (hockey/sports tape) to tape one end to the tip, the other to the charger's cable near it's tip receptacle. That allows one charger for everything, and all tips on hand and out of the way.
- Look for USB to (XXXXXXX) adapters for the chargers for your device. Many many devices can be charged via USB with a usually inexpensive adapter. This method at least allows charging more than one device at a time (similar to d3ac0n's suggestion to using all USB ones)... but means, at the very least, again, a bunch of tips.
- Get a power strip and/or outlet extender, and a cable management system and then simply label the ends of each cord to make them easy to determine at a glance which is which. By "cable management system" I mean get something similar to those retractable phone cords they sell in the "dollar store" - failing being able to find one of those, get one of those retractable phone cords from the dollar store, open it up, remove the phone line, and insert the charger's cable. This will at the very least minimize the clutter. In my office, we mount the power strip, place a few hooks right above it, and hang the things right from there so, even retracted, they are organized (and then we label each with a label machine... a piece of tape and a permanent marker does the job just as well - or color coding each).
.
Yeah, none of these are as elegant as finding devices that call can be charged via USB, but, as I said above, oft times, it's not possible to get what one wants by choosing that scenario... so, these suggestions are for those who cant... and for those who can, d3ac0n's suggestion is a great one.
As for me, I hate having a bunch of cables (at least till I organize them), but they do come in handy as I dont always have something with USB to charge them from. My preference are the chargers that will use either DC or AC (without the need for a separate charger),so I can charge them at home or on the road.
StarTrekPhase2 - The Five Year Mission Continues!
* or crazy things like the way you can plug a device into a Mac and it's fine but if you plug it into the USB port on the keyboard you get a "not enough power" warning. WTF?!?
The keyboard on a Mac is a hub. Hubs generally do not provide as much power on the line as an on-board port does (the hub itself uses power, and must share power with everything plugged into it), unless the hub is powered. This is why a number of peripherals specifically state that they must be plugged into an on-board USB port.