Too many bloody chargers

[Valve Bounce]

I am going on an overseas trip and I was astonished how many battery chargers I have to bring with me:
2 for two different cell phones,
toothbrush,
laptop,
ski boot batteries,
camera,
logitech mouse,
rechargeable batteries,
shaver
. Why can't there be a universal charger that will charge all the above appliances? :(

[schmenke]

...ski boot batteries...

:confused:

[Valve Bounce]

:confused:


Yeah! we bought the batteries at Vail - there is a footpad in the boot, and you plug it on to keep your feet warm. My better half needs them.

[Ian McC]

Somewhere there must be an old phone charger mountain and I bet it's bloody large!

[dodgeboy]

isnt high tech great? lol

[ian959]

I suppose the concept of travelling light means nothing? ;) :)

[Valve Bounce]

Why can't somebody manufacture a universal charger? I mean, they all do the same thing. :(

[janneppi]

You mean something like this?
http://www.batteriesamerica.com/universal_charger_plus!.htm

Looking at the types of batteries there are in devices, it would be difficult to make one cheaply, where as a specific charger can be made very cheap.

[Daniel]

Yes but they all require different amounts of power. I'm sure you wouldn't be too impressed if you got a huuuuuuge brick for your toothbrush charger just so it will also charge your ski boot warmer batteries :)

[BaldyMan]

For the car I have a plug for the lighter socket with a switch to change the voltage and a set of plugs that you chose the size you want, works on lots of gadgets.
Depending on which way round you put the plug on gives you poss or neg on the inner or outer of the pin.
So why cant they do that on a gadget for mains electric?

[Daniel]

You can :) But when a power supply/charger is made for a particular voltage it's usually better :)

[Brown, Jon Brow]

. Why can't there be a universal charger that will charge all the above appliances? :(

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......................... ... ;)

Maybe this is the idea I've been looking for that could make me a Billionaire :D

[Mark in Oshawa]

What's wrong with Dodge Chargers??


OH right...BATTERIES...right...oh well, quit bringing so much stuff with ya?? I have no idea what the solution is, other than a "universal" charger, and you can bet that would be a techinical feat....

[Valve Bounce]

What we really need is some sort of standardisation/aggrement between all the companies which make appliances which require chargers. Now if you had a charger that will automatically switch between 120 and 240 volts, and where the outlte is to a USB connection, then the popularity of such appliances would increase. You'd have one charger for all your travel stuff including laptop, phones, camera, shavers, toothbrushes, mouse, and even ski boot warmers' batteries.

Surely to goodness it can't be that bloody difficult to invent such a device.

[Daniel]

Like I said batteries of different types need different types of power supplies. For instance I'm sure the power pack for your toothbrush is minute. But then again the power pack for a desktop replacement laptop will be huge. So why lumber someone with a huuuuuge charger for a toothbrush which will weigh a couple of kg's? :confused:

You can buy variable output power packs but they're usually unregulated and unregulated power supplies are more likely to kill expensive pieces of kit like your laptop :)

[ioan]

As I see it, it would have been easier if all the gadgets you take with you would work with standard accus (AA, AAA etc) that can be charged with one universal charger.

So next time you buy something, just think about this practical side of the things.
It won't be easy because today everyone will make their own special accu for the phone and for the camera and so on, just to be able to better market their product saying that you have to charge it so rarely that you will even forget that it has a charger to it!

[ioan]

valve, if you didn't leave yet for holidays than I have tipp for you:

Given that you take your laptop you might be able to leave home the 2 phone chargers and only take the data transfer cable for the phones.
Nowadays many phones can be charged through their data transfer cables plugged into the computers USB port!

You will still have to take the 2 cables (or one if by a huge mistake it happens that the 2 phones have the same type of data cable) but not the 2 larger chargers.

[Valve Bounce]

valve, if you didn't leave yet for holidays than I have tipp for you:

Given that you take your laptop you might be able to leave home the 2 phone chargers and only take the data transfer cable for the phones.
Nowadays many phones can be charged through their data transfer cables plugged into the computers USB port!

You will still have to take the 2 cables (or one if by a huge mistake it happens that the 2 phones have the same type of data cable) but not the 2 larger chargers.

Thanks ioan, but my wife's Nokia won't. I will charge my Motorola through the USB port of our laptop.

[Drew]

I've had this problem too, just having to remember everything to take is just a pain, and it takes up so much space :\

[Valve Bounce]

I've had this problem too, just having to remember everything to take is just a pain, and it takes up so much space :\

Yeah! and I just realised that I have to buy adaptors when I get there. :(

[FrankenSchwinn]

ski boot batteries,


HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hate these things.

[Valve Bounce]

HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hate these things.

There are some people who have bad circulation, and the ski boot warmers do help against frozen feet and foot cramp.

[jso1985]

you can save a bit of weight by going "old style" and using a toothbrush and a shaver that doesn't need batteries.
but I agree, even with the limitations Daniel already mentioned, a universal charger would be awesome

[Mark]

Most chargers will auto switch between 110v and 230v. I've got a charger in my car which has an ipaq type barell connector on the end but has adapters for usb, nokia, and a few other mobile phones.

[Mark]

2 for two different cell phones,


You can sometimes get chargers with interchangable ends which will charge different makes of mobile phones.



toothbrush,

Take a manual toothbrush ya lazy get :p



laptop,

Not much you can do about that. But the power supply usually isn't too massive.



ski boot batteries,

ya big wussy :p



camera,


Do what I did and make sure you get a camera which takes ordinary AA batteries, then you don't have to deal with such nonsense. You just take a load of charged up rechargeables with you and you are all good.



logitech mouse,


You need a charger for a mouse?! Doesn't your laptop have a touchpad anyway?



rechargeable batteries, Always a good one.



shaver


Can't do without that :D .

[Valve Bounce]

Most chargers will auto switch between 110v and 230v. I've got a charger in my car which has an ipaq type barell connector on the end but has adapters for usb, nokia, and a few other mobile phones.

I made the mistake of plugging in the 110V charger in Val D'Isere, but it not only fried the charger but it also buggered up one of the expensive batteries.

As I said above, my better half has poor circulation and get's frozen feet and cramps in her feet as a result. I gave her the batteries I had bought for my boots so she can have two sets of batteries.

[BDunnell]

I sympathise. When I go away, I have to take chargers for my camera (it's a digital SLR so it's unavoidable — and it was bought in the USA, so the charger requires an adapter), iPod, mobile phone and razor. Not as long as the list at the start of this thread, but still annoying.

[Kneeslider]

I hate having to cart large volumes of charger /dongle type equipment with me whenever I go away, and the problem is getting larger not smaller with time.

Wouldn't it be great if all types of consumer electronics standardised upon something like a cheap and cheerful 12v car cigarette lighter socket supplying current at something convenient like 200mA???

I fear that this will never happen because it's a bit like the old story about Xerox machines, you know the one...

The Xerox machine company supplies their machines at a fraction of the acutal cost of making them, so that they sell lots of machines, at the same time, you have to put a Xerox cartridge in the machine to make it work, and the market for cartridges is worth far more than that for the machines.

I fear that the market for power supplies and other widgets we need to make all our consumer electronics work is worth far too much money for any standardisation to occur in the near future. :(

[Mark]

I don't believe so. I doubt Nokia make much money selling chargers, rather than phones, for example. Besides there are already companies making after market chargers for various things.

There are a few charger standards, such as the Ipaq barrell connector, and the now quite common mini-USB connector, which seems to be standard on all Windows Mobile devices, and even on my sat nav.