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News IEC announces universal laptop charger standard

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 17 Dec 2013.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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  2. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Universal chargers are all well and good, but until manufactures stop providing new universal charger with every device aren't people just going to have a draw full of them, instead of throwing the old charger out with the old device ?
     
  3. ZeDestructor

    ZeDestructor Minimodder

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    Nah, you end up in my situation: one charger per desk. I've actually bought extra chargers so I could do that... I'm that lazy.
     
  4. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Oh, that could well come. We've already seen smartphones being sold sans-charger for that very reason, the 3DS XL comes without a charger, and Amazon's Kindle does the same. Give it a few generations of universality - assuming that anybody actually picks up the IEC's standard, which ain't a given - and manufacturers will make the cable optional, just like printer manufacturers did with parallel and later USB cables.
     
  5. Unicorn

    Unicorn Uniform November India

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    Drawer* "draw" is a verb :)

    I am all for universal laptop chargers. As it is I have to keep spares for about 10 different types in the workshop just for troubleshooting and repairs. You would not believe the number of laptops which come in with chargers that are in bad enough shape to make me refuse to use them.
     
  6. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Sorry, I will take myself outside to be shot immediately.
    No, No, i don't need a blindfold.
     
  7. ZeDestructor

    ZeDestructor Minimodder

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    With any luck this gets applied worldwide...

    And hopefully some MagSafe-like contraption we can all benefit from.

    Just how many laptops do you have to deal with? In my experience its fairly standard: 20V for Lenovo, 19.5V for Dells, 18.5V for HPs and 19V for other generics... Same connector withing manufacturers if you discount Ultrabook chargers as well...

    Here, have a .357 Magnum for the shooting.
     
  8. RichCreedy

    RichCreedy Hey What Who

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    it could save money as well, "damn my charger has died, have to get a new one, oh wait, my old laptop had same end, maybe that will work"

    eventually, we wont need chargers for anything, as near field charging becomes the norm, with walls and floors having the fields built into them
     
    Last edited: 17 Dec 2013
  9. Sheiken

    Sheiken Wat?

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    Yeah, I really hope that doesn't happen.
     
  10. RichCreedy

    RichCreedy Hey What Who

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    I actually like the idea of wireless power
     
  11. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Do i dare ask why ? and am i going to need my tin foil hat ?
     
  12. ZeDestructor

    ZeDestructor Minimodder

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    Me too.

    The idea is good, but I simply don't see how it could be executed reliably

    Burns. Fire. Burns and fire everywhere. 100W is a lot of power to send over wirelessly, and with the sort of absorption human tissue/water has, you'll end up with second/third degree burns near instantly. Not to mention the arcing that will happen in normal electronics (thus frying them) or the EM interference to other stuff...

    Yeah, no. No wireless power past ~5W very short distance for me. And even those have issues already which mean I stick to cables eitherways.

    NB: This is all armchair physics, since I can't be arsed to do the math, but the concerns are real... And why we don't have wireless power for that matter.
     
  13. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    That isn't how inductive charging works, no electric current is passed through the air as it uses an alternating electromagnetic field. Inductive charging has already been used to power an entire room full of electronics.
     
    Last edited: 18 Dec 2013
  14. ZeDestructor

    ZeDestructor Minimodder

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    Radio waves are also alternating magnetic fields.

    Do you have any links on the roomful of stuff powered wirelessly? I'm interested in seeing what hallenges they had to overcome, how they did it and what the base tech they used is...
     
  15. Sheiken

    Sheiken Wat?

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    I know it is tinfoil hat related speak, but still I can't help thinking of my home being turned in to a large-scale microwave oven. I don't like that thought.
     
  16. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    One of the company's are WiTricity Corp.
    http://www.witricity.com/index.html
    And an article done by Computerworld gives a fairly good synopsis of it.
    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9232953/Power_play_Wireless_charging_at_a_distance_arrives
     
  17. Unicorn

    Unicorn Uniform November India

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    No need for blood to be spilled, just a helpful correction :)
     
  18. ZeDestructor

    ZeDestructor Minimodder

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  19. soopahfly

    soopahfly Minimodder

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    Laptops need some sort of wireless charging imo, however the charging pad should be integrated into desks.

    Just plonk the laptop down, and it charges. It would be brilliant in schools, as the kids are useless at plugging them back in after they've used them, and the cabinets generally only charge them up for 2 hours overnight.
     
  20. ZeDestructor

    ZeDestructor Minimodder

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    Like one of these?:

    [​IMG]

    I have one for my Dell, and another is inbound for my lenovo...
     

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