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."

Comments

Insomnia

[Harmonious Botch]

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.

Re:Insomnia

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree as well, lame stories such as this shouldn't ever be posted to the front page of Slashdot! On the other hand, whining about which stories and questions are posted, and 'me too' replies to them, keep me fascinated, please tell us more of your expert editing opinions. If at all possible, please continue to do so without any humor, off hand insight, or any other redeemable content, as we all are better knowing that you too, have felt like your time is wasted.

Re:Insomnia

[maxume]

Getting a USB port installed in your body also seems like a drastic step.

News for nerds?

[Kuroji]

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.

Re:News for nerds?

[Max Romantschuk]

Some of use nerds have "wives", and desks messed up with mountains of chargers has a low WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor)... Anything with a low WAF will lower the chances of wife-provided entertainment, a.k.a. sex.

It matters, my friend. It truly matters. ;)

Re:News for nerds?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah, a newlywed I see.

chance_of_sex = 1 / (year_of_marriage + number of children - WAF/1000)

As you can see, prior to marriage, a high WAF can actually be detrimental (she'll think you are gay). But after a few years of marriage and/or children the WAF becomes all but meaningless.

Re:News for nerds?

[PopeRatzo]

And some wives have their own "gadgets" that require chargers.

Re:News for nerds?

[PopeRatzo]

Yes, because the government should mandate things like that.

That's the first insightful comment you have ever made, #1345021.

That's exactly the kind of thing government should mandate, just like the shape of the plug that goes into the wall and the gauge of wire that should be built into new houses.

organize them according to their risk level

[extirpater]

Risk of Exploding
1- nokia
2- dell
3- sony
4...

Re:organize them according to their risk level

[oodaloop]

I don't get it. Any vertical list of positive integers on /. should include ??? and Profit! What gives?

USB

[Anonymous Coward]

Pack them all away and get USB charging cables for them all. Much easier and takes up much less space.

Re:USB

[Barny]

And will make your USB power fall over and die and blow something up, very creative and "performance art".

Better:

500W PSU
a pair of side cutters
soldering iron
a terminal block
tons of heat-shrink

Select and solder some heatsinked resistors over the 12v and 5v rails so that you are sinking an amp in each (switchmode PSUs need a constant load).

Next tap wires for different chargers, 12v and 5v are easy (as almost all are now) 3.3 and 12v will give you around 9v, 5v and 12v will give you 7.

Then all you need is a nice little cabinet with some ventilation and one power lead and you can dump all your junk in there to charge and GO THE FUCK OUTSIDE AND LEAVE THEM BEHIND!

A phone, an mp3 player and a camera should do anyone, heck some phones can be your mp3 and camera too now.

And if you can't follow even a bit of what I said, don't try it :)

Wherever possible, use usb chargers.

[DJProtoss]

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 ).

Re:Wherever possible, use usb chargers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Genius! I can charge my thinkpad from my thinkpad's USB port! Could this be the solution to the world's energy problems?

Randomly

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

I store all my chargers in a drawer. Each time I need one I sort throught them, untangle the wires and curse about it.

Disassemble them all!

[ThomsonsPier]

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.

Serious issue!

[Swizec]

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?

Re:Serious issue!

[ex0a]

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!

Your question takes two steps to solve. First, hold shift. Second, press 4.

Re:Serious issue!

[kmac06]

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.

Re:Serious issue!

[lobiusmoop]

China has already mandated USB charging for all new mobile phones

Re:Serious issue!

[cheater512]

Boost/Buck converters negate those factors.

E.g. phones which can charge over USB dont use 5v batteries.

Re:Serious issue!

[Joce640k]

Yes, AT THE MOMENT.

There's no reason why gadgets can't be designed around a particular voltage - look at all the stuff you can buy which plugs into car cigarette lighters.

Being forced to use 12V doesn't seem to slow anybody down.

Re:Serious issue!

[rarel]

First, hold shift. Second, press 4.

I have a French keyboard, you insensitive clod!

Re:Serious issue!

[InakaBoyJoe]

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

Re:Serious issue!

[digitalsushi]

I have a better idea -- First, hold Alt. Second, press F4. Thanks!

Re:Serious issue!

[Dikeman]

I know a lobbyist who works for a company that makes connectors. He actively lobbies in Brussels against any standard. That's his daywork, he get's paid to do so. His company has thousands of different connectors in production, and standards would make there business les profitable.

Re:Serious issue!

[Phreakiture]

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.

Re:Serious issue!

[Knightman]

One would assume that the manufacturer's motivations remain where they "should" be, to insure profit. If you lose or break a charger, or if it just plain fails, you can either order another one from the manufacturer for some unreasonable amount, or you can buy a whole new unit. I've had to buy a whole new unit on several occasions.

When a charger I own breaks or get lost I stroll to the nearest hotel and asks if they got one of the model I need. The hotels are very happy to get rid of them since they usually have bins full of chargers that people have left in their rooms and never claimed.

Re:Serious issue!

[gnud]

"les Profitable" sounds like a boring musical.

Re:Serious issue!

[Andy Dodd]

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.

Re:Serious issue!

[Fishead]

All devices should have over-voltage protection by default. Even if the device you are manufacturing comes with a super-wahzoo psu that is absolutely limited to 5Vdc output, your device should be able to handle 30Vdc and not have a problem. Simple electronics design, not complicated rocket science. Varistors are cheap. Resetable surface mount fuses are cheap. Voltage regulators are cheap.

Re:Serious issue!

[LunaticTippy]

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.

Callpod

[aluxe]

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... :)

Three Mobile Phones?

[ilovegeorgebush]

I neglected to ask this in my previous post: why the f-ck have you got three mobile phones?

Green Plug is already trying to do this

[wyoung76]

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.

Re:Three step process...

[shmlco]

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.

Re:Because chargers cost $0.99 to make

[Stewie241]

Ahhh... but say you want the car charger? That'll be an extra $25. They find ways to make money on sales of these things. If all devices used USB, you wouldn't have these charges.

USB is the answer

[d3ac0n]

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?

Re:USB is the answer

[MrNaz]

I will and I have. The benefit is that I now have NO wall warts or AC chargers, and I can travel with all my devices using either a USB to USB-MiniA or USB to USB-MiniB connector.

That's a phone, camera, MP3 player, GPS tracking token and wireless mouse all sharing two very small and light cables, whereas previously I'd need a whole nuther bag for the charging silliness.

We, as consumers, need to get more people behind this.

Re:USB is the answer

[Beardo the Bearded]

I shaved my beard off four years ago.

A little know engineering fact:

[drpt]

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.

Re:USB is the answer - Uh, about that...

[amilo100]

You are going to wait quite a while for your plug-in hybrid.