Small Electronics Charging Station

[tmbrown97]

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!

 

[Dave X10]

It is a little early to convert to a charging mat but you may want to keep that in mind... it IS coming (I am looking forward to it). Charging Mats/Power Mats generate a RF signal that new phones and other rechargeable devices will receive and convert to electrical power to charge their battery's.

I use a cell phone charger/organizer to keep the phones handy.

 

[Digger]

I have been meaning to build a charging station for various phones, ipods etc. What I plan on doing is using the 12 V car adapters instead of wall warts as they tend to draw little if no idle current.

I can also easily have battery backup so I can charge the phones etc in a blackout.

My plans are to use a 12 V 1.5 A Power supply with battery backup. That should allow me to charge 3 things at a time. If I use an energy star transformer (Level IV) the transformer will be about 80% efficient.

 

[abbeyhetford]

I always misplace my chargers specially when i accidentally leave them at work. It's too expensive (and too cluttered) to buy another set of chargers for all my devices to leave at work. I'm really interested in getting a charging mat. I think the price is ok considering the convenience it gives.

The mats require some sort of "receiver" that's supposed to be compatible with the mat. Is it something I have to install in my devices or do new devices have these receivers automatically?

 

[Dave X10]

The mats require some sort of "receiver" that's supposed to be compatible with the mat. Is it something I have to install in my devices or do new devices have these receivers automatically?

I think some devices already have available add-on receivers. And some new.. or soon to be released phones have that built-in. The "mat" isn't completely ready for prime-time... just yet (maybe after Christmas). But even if I could just find a nice [desirable] replacement phone that could rest on its mat when I am at home... that could start the process here.

according to this: http://www.sharperimage.com/Electronics/Po...+Office+Mat.axd

POWERCUBE RECEIVER (8 TIPS INCLUDED)
Tip: Mini USB (default receiver tip) --- Charges These Devices:
• BlackBerry (all models that use Mini USB)
• Many Motorola® phones
• Many HTC® phones
• Many Bluetooth® headsets
• Many GPS devices

Tip: Micro USB Tip --- Charges These Devices:
• Many Motorola® phones
• Many LG® phones
• Many Palm® phones
• Many Bluetooth® headsets

Tip: Apple Tip --- Charges These Devices
• iPod® (all generations)
• iPhone™ (all generations)

Tip: DS® Lite DSi Tip --- Charges These Devices:
• Nintendo DS® Lite

Tip: DSi Tip --- Charges These Devices:
•Nintendo DSi™

Tip: LG 1 Tip --- Charges These Devices:
• Many LG® phones

Tip: Samsung 2 Tip --- Charges These Devices:
• Many Samsung™ phones

Tip: Sony PSP Tip --- Charges These Devices:
• Playstation Portable® • Some Kodak® cameras
Additional tips can be purchased separately

 

[tmbrown97]

I did consider a powermat at one point, but honestly see no point just yet. Since I use so many iDevices (iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc) and basically you still have to attach your device to a receiver - you're not saving much in cords here, and I can't imagine they charge as reliably or as quickly. Hopefully the technology will improve over the next several years. I like it much better when it can be installed as simply as changing a battery cover (and not affecting overall size/weight).

I saw something at one point kinda like a USB hub - had about 8 ports around it, and a series of tips you could plug in to attach your devices - and IIRC, it even had adapters to charge things like camera batteries. Now for the life of me, I can't find it again.

 

[mustangcoupe]

I looked at the powermat at one point, and did not like the seperate "receiver" idea for the devices it did not have cases for, I would ahev bought it if they had a wider receiver/case selection. I beleive they have ipod and iphone cases with the receiver built in.

I also know what you mean by the round charging station... I cant find it either, but here is a option

http://www.amazon.com/Charge4All-52901V-Po...0280&sr=1-2