Which chargers are the most universal

zephyrost

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Apr 17, 2013
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I'm setting up a charging station in the library of my college, and I'd like to buy a as few chargers as possible for the maximum number of different devices. Looking at laptop, phone and tablet chargers rather than camera etc.

The obvious choices are apple ones (old and new phone type + laptop charges) as these devices are so prevalent, and micro USB, which seems to work for most other modern phones and tablets (Are there any big ones that don't foot into this category)

My real issue is non-apple laptop chargers. They seem to be very diverse, is this completely true. Do particular brands share chargers? (I.e all dell or all HP) Or what about chrome books?

I don't have to find one for every device by any means, but I do want to get enough to service the most people plausible. Thanks for any help.
 
Can't you just provide USB charging ports and power outlets so people bring their own cables? That's how it was at my college library.

Notebook chargers are very diverse, as not only connectors differ but also power capacity. You'd have to have a powerful charger from each brand, and even still you'd be prone to incompatibilities because connectors change in form every now and then.
 
For mobile devices, USB ports are king. You will want to use a quality adapter, as cheap stuff doesn't provide much amperage and I'm guessing you don't want people to be using a port for too long. Keep a decent stock of Micro USB and Apple cables and anyone with an Android or Apple phone/tablet should be covered.
If their device has a proprietary connection, they will need to bring their own cable.
Something like this would be good. It has two 2A (amp) and two 1A ports. You may want to put up a sign or something saying that the 2A ports should be used for tablets over phones if possible, as those provide more power than the 1A ports (charge the big devices faster pretty much).
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Quad-Charging-Station-UA4-25/dp/B009KY5JA8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391099548&sr=8-1&keywords=Antec+USB+Power+hub

Laptops are more difficult, as every brand has their own proprietary plug and standards about what voltage and amperage the laptop is expecting from the power brick. Cables arent possible to cater for, power bricks arent either. So here your pretty much just going to have to just offer up power ports and rely on the user bringing their equipment. Just grab decent power strips and your done.