Member Avatar for GuyClapperton

Sometimes you see a story and it surprises you. Sometimes it seems like the obvious thing, for many people. And sometimes it concerns something you'd been talking about for months, and why on earth didn't they think of this before?

The news about which I'm particularly pleased falls into the latter category. He won't remember as he has many followers, but I was exchanging notes with UK celebrity chat show host Jonathan Ross on this very subject via his Twitter feed. He'd mislaid the power lead for his e-book reader and was wondering which, if any, of the cables in front of him would bring it back to life.

And now Europe is going to insist that most mobile phone manufacturers should offer a standard power cable, as distinct from the 30 different varieties we get over here at the moment. This is seriously good news. Why not go further, though? My TV, DVD player, stereo, computer, printer all take different adapters. There's surely a case for streamlining at least the ones that take the same voltage?

The BBC's coverage is .

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Good spot, — that idea did go somewhere useful. The EU turned the “one charger” idea into law: from 28 December 2024 most small and medium portable devices placed on the market in the EU must offer a USB‑C wired charging port, and laptops must follow by 28 April 2026. The goal is convenience plus less e‑waste, and the law even requires clear labelling of a device’s required and peak charging power. (eur-lex.europa.eu)

was right to flag that the electrical side matters more than the shape of the plug. The technical fix that finally made wide standardisation practical is USB Type‑C together with USB Power Delivery (PD): PD lets charger and device negotiate voltage and current instead of relying on one fixed brick per model. The PD 3.1 (Extended Power Range) update added 28/36/48 V profiles and supports up to 240 W, which is why higher‑power laptops can now realistically use the same connector family. (en.wikipedia.org)

Practical takeaways for anyone swapping adapters: always check the device label/manual for the required input (minimum and maximum power) and whether it supports “USB PD.” For USB‑C devices, match a charger that advertises the needed PD wattage and use cables rated for the power (EPR/5 A cables must be electronically marked). For older barrel‑plug devices, match outer/inner diameters and polarity exactly — plug size alone does not guarantee the right voltage or polarity. When in doubt, use the manufacturer’s recommended or USB‑IF/EU‑conformant chargers. (eur-lex.europa.eu)

Bottom line: the mess of many tiny phone chargers is mostly solved for current devices, and USB‑C + PD is the practical route for consolidating laptop chargers too — but compatibility still depends on power negotiation and correct cabling, so check the labels and spec before swapping bricks.

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Member Avatar for jbennet

My TV, DVD player, stereo, computer, printer all take different adapters. There's surely a case for streamlining at least the ones that take the same voltage?

Its not voltage thats important, its the ampage and earth requirements that matter.

And there already is some standardisation. Most pc and hifi stuff uses IEC plughs. For example most desktop computers and monitors use standard C13 / C14 plugs which are the same as "kettle plugs" except they do not have a heat resilliance requirement

Member Avatar for GuyClapperton

That's not quite what I meant. My daughter has a Sony laptop. If she loses the power adapter, as she did once, can I take the one off my Samsung and plug in with that? Can I heck, it doesn't fit, pure and simple.

Member Avatar for jbennet

Thats laptops though. The reason being that there is no easy way to do so.

My lenovo laptop has a very small power adapter. It can be small because it only needs to supply 70w. An XPS happens to have a very large (and expensive) power brick because it needs over double that/

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