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Comment by agurk | Hacker News Reader

When I got a new laptop this summer I researched what chargers were out there, as I was fed up with carrying the normal assortment of cables and chargers. I settled for another GaN charger - the Innergie Powergear 60c[0] which is a very decent size for 60w and not having a mains lead built into it (still very common on non-mac chargers) makes it a lot more compact.

I travel a lot, often with more than one laptop, so now I'm very happy I can charge all my electronics with this one charger and also with the changeable country tips it's more compact than a travel adaptor.

The only downside I've had with it is the US power tip got bent the first time I used it - I contacted Innergie to see if I could get a replacement, but they never got back to me.

[0] http://www.myinnergie.com/sg/product/136

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US plug prongs can usually survive being bent and re-bent a number of times.

It's quite quite common for people to manage to bend the prongs on their vacuum cleaner dozens of times. Those pull more amps than almost anything else you plug in regularly, and they do just fine. Just go slow.

I've been known to twist them with a pair of pliers into the shape required to plug into Australian sockets (like this: \ / ), then twist them back again.

Works fine if there is no earth pin.

I saw someone do this with the plug to a laser printer once. The toner literally exploded in his face when he plugged it in.

That’s why you check that the printer can even support 240V before you do this

Yea I had some speakers pop using a US-AU adapter. Luckily it had a fuse I could easily replace. I tried it out with a step-down and luckily it still worked. It got stolen during a break-in a few months later. They didn't steal the step-down. I hope it blows up in their faces.

That's killing the fun though!

FWIW, I've had a kind of opposite need in the past (using European plugs while in the US) and I found that the European plugs can be connected to a partially retracted (but still connected) American plug. The inner distance of the two European leads just fits over the outer distance of the two partially exposed US leads.

I mean, since this thread doesn't seem too picky about fire safety anyways... ;)

I've got the same one, very pricey, but amazing to travel with compared to the giant macbook charger. It's only 60W but charges almost as fast as the 87W one for 15" macbooks. It's also really nice to be able to charge all my travel gadgets with one small charger, reducing the number of cables and chargers I have to carry.

I'm hoping that giant power bricks and those adapters that power via barrel plugs will disappear soon, as I find them to be unwieldy and dirt magnets. Computer monitors are most guilty of having some of the biggest power bricks, and I'd love to see them replaced with regular power cables (the ones that plug into desktop computers), or the monitor be powered over usb-c so any regular 100W usb-c adapter can power them.

> I'm hoping that giant power bricks and those adapters that power via barrel plugs will disappear soon

Laptop makers will never let that happen. My partner and I have had 4 USB-C laptops between us for work from Dell and Lenovo and the Dell 90w USB-C Dock PSU is the only one that could power all 4 of them. Each one complained or refused to boot if a different charger was used. The wattages for all of their supplied chargers were different.

> Computer monitors are most guilty of having some of the biggest power bricks, and I'd love to see them replaced with regular power cables

Dell Monitors have a single power cable (for example this P2418D [1]). Many other manufacturers ship giant power bricks because it allows them to make the screen thinner, and nobody sees the power brick under the table. It comes down to customer preference.

1: https://snpi.dell.com/snp/images/products/large/210-AMUH-mvi...

I'm fine with a brick for heat dissipation, I just wish OEM bricks came with a label saying which device they're for.

If you don't need 60W, I find that the CA4-Pro [0] is great – it has the travel adapter built in (so you don't have to carry attachments), it can act as a travel adapter for plugs for other appliances, and it's got three USB-A ports as well.

[0] https://www.card-tec.com/ca4-pro.php

Been using this for a year now, zero complaints!

Their photos all seem to be hiding the connector between the unit and the power tip. Is that standard or proprietary?

I assume it's proprietary (are there even standards for this kind of connector?).

The charger body has two fixed pins inside a circular collar with two tabs on it that the tip is placed over then rotated 45 degrees to lock.

It's pretty common to use IEC C7/C8 for the PSU<->AC connection:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320#C7/C8_coupler

I'd love to replace my MacBook Pro's power brick with a small wall charger.

But I'd want a long (10 feet) USB cable for those places where the outlet isn't near where I sit, and it doesn't look like that exists yet. All the ones I find on Amazon are 3A, and the MacBook Pro apparently needs 4.3A.

Anyone know of one?

I've been using this cable: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074W1G389/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_...

Haven't used it for 100W charging so I don't know if it stands up to the full rated 5A though.

Thanks. "Current unavailable". I found a few other ones (like [1]) just now by searching for 5A, but I have to say I'm skeptical of Chinese no-name cables that haven't been certified.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/uni-Braided-Compatible-MacBook-Galaxy...

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