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A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

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Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#61

Post by RShiki »

Moto7451 wrote: post #36
kmfrk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And even with Apple chargers you risk using a charger with the wrong wattage (iPad charger vs. iPhone/iPod IIRC).

But there will be no damage which is more important. My iPad simply slow charges (1A) on my old iPhone & my newer/current Samsung & LG 1A phone charger. Meanwhile my iPad charger works on all my devices - retired iPod Mini, my old iPhone 3G (now iAlarm Clock), Samsung Admire, LG Motion 4G, iPod Touch 7G. In the latter case, charging isn't any faster of course since the devices will only pull 500mA (Admire) or 1A. The…

> This is the first time I've seen that outside of dedicated chargers and Macs (I assume of course that some PCs do this as well but I haven't seen one yet).

My Asus motherboard can do that with the right software/driver installed and it seems that all products made by Asus these days support this. It's an optional install you can find in the Asus support website for your devices.

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#62

Post by Evbn »

w1ntermute wrote: post #60
dmpatierno wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They all come with an extension cable if you don't want that.

The problem isn't for me personally - I don't own any Macs. The issue is other people who have Macs and plug them into wall outlets in public places and cover up other slots. And I've never seen anyone carrying around an extension cable.

Because the cords are ridiculously fat, more than other manufacturers'. They shouldn't block anything, just turn them upside down if needed.

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#63

Post by micampe »

kalleboo wrote: post #54
polyfractal wrote: post #51

Very interesting review, I enjoyed the dissection and review of what most people don't even think about (wall chargers). On a non-technical note, Apple chargers should lose simply because of how goddamned large they are. They basically eat two spots on a power strip and are easily knocked out of wall sockets because of their weight.

One thing that always annoys me when Apple products take over the world is how they are limited to American constraints. Sony Ericsson made a brilliant charger that plugged into the wall and you could just stand your phone onto. Apple would never think of that since the American plug standard is too weak to carry the same weight a Schuko can. And now everyone has to copy Apple instead of innovating...

Not everyone.

http://www.bluelounge.com/products/minidock/

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Lifestyle-Outfitters-DLA49002-...

http://store.griffintechnology.com/iphone/powerblock-2011

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#65

Post by afterburner »

vostrocity wrote: post #47
afterburner wrote: post #35

Good to know Monoprice makes a good product.

Other than the fact that it's butt ugly and comes with an unwieldy loose cable.

That's ok, there's plenty of other Monoprice chargers.

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#66

Post by SyneRyder »

kalleboo wrote: post #54
polyfractal wrote: post #51

Very interesting review, I enjoyed the dissection and review of what most people don't even think about (wall chargers). On a non-technical note, Apple chargers should lose simply because of how goddamned large they are. They basically eat two spots on a power strip and are easily knocked out of wall sockets because of their weight.

One thing that always annoys me when Apple products take over the world is how they are limited to American constraints. Sony Ericsson made a brilliant charger that plugged into the wall and you could just stand your phone onto. Apple would never think of that since the American plug standard is too weak to carry the same weight a Schuko can. And now everyone has to copy Apple instead of innovating...

I find the Apple chargers ideal for international use, because they have interchangeable plug heads for different countries. When I'm traveling, I only need to take the chargers that I need, and swap the plugs as required. That seems to work better than buying 3rd party plug adaptors (which don't always grip well, sometimes causing the plug to fall out of the socket).

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#67

Post by zokier »

dhbanes wrote: post #59
Tsts wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it dangerous to use a high output power charger, like the HP TouchPad one, with a low consumption device, like a phone?

No, the current rating is the maximum output of the charger. It's up to connected device to draw as much current as it needs, rather than the charger pushing the current into the device.

Afaik it's not that clear cut. If some kind of fault occurs in the device causing it to draw more current than designed then the lower power charger could be safer assuming it has some kind of current limiter or fuse. Ie high power charger would happily give faulty device more current possibly causing more damage (heating up, exploding batteries etc), while a low power charger could prevent that by tripping a fuse or limiting current.

Of course I'm not sure if this is applicable to USB chargers which all are relatively low power.

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#68

Post by zokier »

sliverstorm wrote: post #37
kens wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, the author here. I'm using voltage sag to describe how the voltage drops as the load increases. (This has nothing to do with the presence of a battery or not.) Chargers normally are designed to output a constant voltage until the charger hits maximum power. But with the iPhone charger, the voltage is 5.2 volts if there's no load, and steadily drops to 4.6 volts as the load increases. If a device is expecting 5 vo…

It's almost always a balance between cost of manufacture and performance. I would bet money it was not designed that way as a feature. The interesting points to remember here are: - USB specifies 5V, not the iPhone - Voltage drop across the iPhone's internal regulators and charging circuits are probably less than 0.5V - Most cell phone LiIon batteries are 3.7V So, presumably they made a charger that allows droop to 4…

> USB specifies 5V, not the iPhone

Afaik USB specs are 5V+-10%, ie 4.5V-5.5V. So the iphone charger is well within the spec and all conforming devices should be able to handle that.

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#69

Post by coin »

Tsts wrote: post #52
commandar wrote: post #32

I bought up a half dozen Touchpad chargers when they were being cleared out for $5 a piece. I did it mainly because they were the cheapest 2A adapters that work with anything I'd come across, but it's good to know they're efficient and well-built as well.

Is it dangerous to use a high output power charger, like the HP TouchPad one, with a low consumption device, like a phone?

It's as dangerous as plugging in a 60 watt lightbulb into an 1800 watt (15 amp) circuit

Re: A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best

#70

Post by tisme »

Tsts wrote: post #52
commandar wrote: post #32

I bought up a half dozen Touchpad chargers when they were being cleared out for $5 a piece. I did it mainly because they were the cheapest 2A adapters that work with anything I'd come across, but it's good to know they're efficient and well-built as well.

Is it dangerous to use a high output power charger, like the HP TouchPad one, with a low consumption device, like a phone?

No, but it is inefficient. A larger charger will have a larger 'dead load', the internal consumption of the charger. So if you plug in a very small consumer into a such a charger then percentage wise you're losing a lot of energy to heat.
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