tmbrown97
Senior Member
Hi All,
So there was a thread about this a while back - I kinda want to revive the topic. I'm sure there are some interesting devices out there, but I get pretty random search results and want to know if anyone has seen or has any experience with a particular device that seems good.
What I'm looking for - I have so many devices around the house (as I'm sure most of us do) that need to be charged; iPad, iPhones, Point & Shoot cameras; the DSLR, video cameras, ipods, bluetooth headsets, Kindle, etc. I hate looking for chargers - sometimes they're next to the couch, some are in the kitchen junk drawer, etc. Some things are easy - the Harmony Remote always charges in one spot, but the rest of these are all over the house from time to time and can come to a central place to charge.
I want to step things up a little bit and come up with a general "Charging Station" where anything I need to charge can be charged there, and preferably not waste electricity on wall warts and chargers when not in use. It also needs to look as clean as possible - but I am open to the idea of mounting a power supply or something below the counter and putting a grommet in the counter so that just the hookups are visible.
Luckily a lot of things these days can be charged off USB - so a basic powered USB port (or a bunch of them rather) would go a long way. A panel with a bunch of retractable cords would be really nice. And, I'd like to find a way to work the slightly larger devices into there - like to charge the DSLR batteries or the video cameras.
Has anyone tackled this, or seen a really cool product that seems to do it all? If so, I'd love to hear about it. I came across some like a year ago but can't find them - I'm not sure if they ever really took off.
Looking forward to your ideas!
So there was a thread about this a while back - I kinda want to revive the topic. I'm sure there are some interesting devices out there, but I get pretty random search results and want to know if anyone has seen or has any experience with a particular device that seems good.
What I'm looking for - I have so many devices around the house (as I'm sure most of us do) that need to be charged; iPad, iPhones, Point & Shoot cameras; the DSLR, video cameras, ipods, bluetooth headsets, Kindle, etc. I hate looking for chargers - sometimes they're next to the couch, some are in the kitchen junk drawer, etc. Some things are easy - the Harmony Remote always charges in one spot, but the rest of these are all over the house from time to time and can come to a central place to charge.
I want to step things up a little bit and come up with a general "Charging Station" where anything I need to charge can be charged there, and preferably not waste electricity on wall warts and chargers when not in use. It also needs to look as clean as possible - but I am open to the idea of mounting a power supply or something below the counter and putting a grommet in the counter so that just the hookups are visible.
Luckily a lot of things these days can be charged off USB - so a basic powered USB port (or a bunch of them rather) would go a long way. A panel with a bunch of retractable cords would be really nice. And, I'd like to find a way to work the slightly larger devices into there - like to charge the DSLR batteries or the video cameras.
Has anyone tackled this, or seen a really cool product that seems to do it all? If so, I'd love to hear about it. I came across some like a year ago but can't find them - I'm not sure if they ever really took off.
Looking forward to your ideas!