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What To Do With All of My Gadget Chargers?

Posted by kdawson on from the visa-or-mastercard dept.

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."

5 of 696 comments (clear)

  1. Callpod by aluxe · · Score: 5, Informative

    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... :)

  2. Green Plug is already trying to do this by wyoung76 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  3. Re:Serious issue! by InakaBoyJoe · · Score: 5, Informative

    Holy ancient links Batman! If China mandated USB charging for all phones in 2006, are all phones in compliance today?

  4. Re:Serious issue! by Phreakiture · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

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    www.wavefront-av.com
  5. Re:Serious issue! by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

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    retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?