Originally Posted by
moondog
One of my laptops (Xiaomi that's about the same size as a MacBook Air) came with a stock USB-C setup. The other one (~14" HP) came with an A/C power adapter, but supposedly it can charge just as fast through its USB port.
I want to semi-retire both my existing USB-C charging block and the A/C adapter in favor of a new charging block that is compatible with both laptops and can still be used with my phone/tablet without frying either. I want to say that one of the two computers needs 65 or more watts and the other one needs 80+ watts. In spite of the fact that small is an important priority, I am guessing that very small charging blocks might not be up to snuff in terms of performance or my wear and tear habits (I like to think I'm gentle, but this isn't always the case).
Just fair warning, my workplace issued 16" HP (Zbook Studio G9) will refuse to charge on anything smaller than a 100W adapter. I'd definitely recommend checking the manual or around tech forums to confirm what the requirement for charging your particular model over USB-C is. Mine is a relatively powerful spec with a 14C CPU and discrete GPU, about the same size as a 16" Macbook Pro, so this might not hold true for your 14", particularly if it doesn't have a GPU.
Every other laptop I've had with USB-C charging would at least trickle charge on smaller ~35W USB-C PD adapters. This behavior left me in a pretty uncomfortable position on a trip where I didn't bring my 120V wall adapter, so it's definitely worth confirming.
To that end, I use an Anker Prime 100W 3-port (2x USB-C, 1x USB-A) charger as my primary travel power adapter. It will do 100W over a single port or split to 65W+35W using two USB-C's. About $60-70 online. It's more expensive than the generic single-port 100W adapters but also quite a bit smaller. I especially like the flexibility to charge 2-3 devices simultaneously without carrying around extra power adapters for when I don't need the high wattage output.
I also carry an Anker Prime 20k mAH 200W power bank that can output 100W simultaneously on both of the two USB-C ports. It charges at up to 100W and supports passthrough charging. I only recently got this but it's already proven really nice for air travel. It means I can quickly top up all of my devices in the terminal or lounge, even if a wall power adapter isn't available or is broken. Only real downside is that it's less pocketable than the standard 10k maH "slim" style power banks - not that nice to carry on your person except in an empty front pant pocket. Anker makes a larger 240W 27k mAH version (limit of carry-on battery size), but that's overkill for my needs.
In terms of cables, I have an assortment of Anker, Ugreen, and Amazon cables. Most recently I've been bringing 1x 1ft 140W, 1x 6ft 100W w/ thunderbolt, and 1x 6ft 100W USB-C. Also carry a 6ft USB-A to USB-C, mostly as a backup or if I end up in a rental car with Android Auto but without wireless or USB-C. Just the basic cables really are fine in my opinion as long as they're from a reputable seller and you double check what specifications you need in terms of power and data transfer.