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Comment by fragmede | Hacker News Reader

Thankfully USB-C charging on my laptops has made that less of an issue. Of course the good chargers are like $80 instead but still.

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Yeah, the chargers get expensive, but then again I can power my laptop, portable monitor, keyboard, mouse, phone, soldering iron, flashlight, power bank, and about a dozen other devices all off the same standardized wall wart. It's a pretty good value. With the new PD spec going to 48V 5A I could even power one of my 3D printers off it with power to spare.

Have you been able to find non-manufacturer chargers with a ground connection?

Until now, the only USB-C chargers that I've seen with that are Apple, DELL, and HP (haven't come in contact with Lenovo, etc).

I was looking to buy a second USB-C charger for my HP laptop, but since it has a metal case, the ground connection is a must for me.

Look for a medical-grade power supply. It makes the ground connection less important.

Are those actually cheaper or easier to come by than manufacturer-branded options?

I actually found an HP charger on Amazon, and it even had a USB-A port, which I've found neat. But with all the horror stories about counterfeits and Amazon stock comingling, and what with my wish to not burn down my house, I didn't buy it.

I've never seen a three prong charger for USB C. They probably exist, somewhere, but consumer electronics like that being grounded doesn't seem common.

Just get a Dell charger, they are high quality and relatively cheap.

$80USD?

GaN 90/100W chargers from manufacturers like Anker and Monoprice can regularly be had for half of that. Right now there are a lot of 90W ones from unknown-to-me manufacturers for ~$32 on Amazon.

I'm not trying to correct you here; I'm just wondering if there's something I'm missing.

I value the absence of house fires too much to buy no-name power banks and chargers (chargers also come with the extra risk of yummy 230V on the output).

Anker is pretty reliable and far from a no-name IMHO

Exactly this. I tried buying cheaper chargers but they'd inevitably break and I worry that they're damaging my USB-C cables. (I even ran across knockoff fake apple chargers). I don't always buy this[0] $80 charger but I've got a few of them lying about.

[0] https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MX0J2AM/A/96w-usb-c-power...

The cheapest 100w Anker I see on Amazon is the $79.99 PowerPort III. The cheapest I see on their website is the $84.99 Anker 736 Nano II (with no listing for the PowerPort III).

There are cheaper Anker chargers on Amazon that say 100w in the title but that's only because they include a 100w capable cable, the charger is a lower wattage.

Below 100W, last time I checked, it is easier to find good laptop chargers. Since I need a 135 W one for my laptop, thnings get trickier. Well, the 65W Lenovo from my work laptop managed to hold a charge barely when gaming. So I don't complain too much.

Ah, I didn't realize there was such a price jump from the 90W chargers to the 100W chargers.

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