Not All USB Power Is Created Equal 240
jfruh writes "We've reached a point in our electronic lives where most of our gadgets draw power from a USB cable, and we have lots of USB ports to choose from — some of which live on other gadgets, some of which live on adapters that plug into your wall or car. But those ports supply wildly varying amounts of power, which can result in hours of difference in how long it takes your phone to charge. The Practical Meter, the product of a successful Kickstarter campaign, can help you figure out which power sources are going to juice up your gadgets the fastest."
Or use what already exists (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't really see the market (Score:3, Insightful)
At work I could plug my phone into the computer or... Buy a second plug, that seams a bit pointless even it if it does knock and hour of the phones charging time.
At home I do have choice, but why would I really worry as each night it gets charged and has all night. So again an hour does not really matter.
What am I missing from this?
It's not sex... (Score:4, Insightful)
Being the fastest might not be the best for your battery life.
Re: Or use what already exists (Score:4, Insightful)
But that company isn't paying for a slashvertisement.
Re:External DVD drives (Score:5, Insightful)
In what way is it "good and practical" to ignore a standard, possibly damaging electronics which assume the standard by providing a variable non-guaranteed maximum current? At worst this is a fire hazard, as you'd end up delivering an unreasonably high current. If the device isn't intelligent enough to ask for the right current, it should be delivered a safe trickle - as the USB standard asks.
Re: External DVD drives (Score:5, Insightful)
A USB port should react gracefully to a defective USB device - either limiting current or cutting power if draw is too high. It should not give the malfunctioning device the opportunity to catch fire by delivering it as much current as possible.
Liberal in what you accept; conservative in what you send.
Re: External DVD drives (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah, but the power supply should protect itself. If the damn thing is connected directly to the laptops 5V rail it's possible to make the laptops 5V drop by plugging in a defective decvice. That in turn means all kinds of weird shit might happen, including data corruption and hardware deaths.
Apple vs. Other Devices (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Or use what already exists (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Apple vs. Other Devices (Score:0, Insightful)
No, she's right. Your dongle is a piece of crap.
Apple devices strictly adhere to a USB charging standard. (You can google it yourself) It won't request power unless the charging device is configured to that standard. It's a safety feature.
It's not her fault your charger and devices don't follow the standard.