Feb 10, 2019, 10:52 am
Last edit by: cheltzel
If you want to use USB C for more than charging, then these two posts are useful: 1 2.
When planning your charger loadout, do note the charger your laptop shipped with is not a requirement, a lower one will be fine. For example, https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/25/60w-u...-all-macbooks/ says
On the other hand, most laptops are not built to use higher wattage even if available. It won't hurt your laptop, though.
Buy chargers on Amazon at your own risk, they are known to commingle stock from every third party sellers. But, the chargers here do not have fakes (yet?) so even Amazon might be safe.
The smallest USB C chargers:
Cabling wise, AmazomBasics and Monoprice is your friend. Do not use female USB C to USB A / micro USB adapters, these are explicitly forbidden by the USB C standard. Male USB C to USB A / micro USB is fine.
When planning your charger loadout, do note the charger your laptop shipped with is not a requirement, a lower one will be fine. For example, https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/25/60w-u...-all-macbooks/ says
the 87W charger filled up my 15-inch MacBook Pro battery more quickly than the 60W charger, but not by very much. After an hour and a half, the 87W charger added 76% battery while the 60W charger added 72%.
Buy chargers on Amazon at your own risk, they are known to commingle stock from every third party sellers. But, the chargers here do not have fakes (yet?) so even Amazon might be safe.
The smallest USB C chargers:
- Mu One. 45W. Comes with UK, US, EU folding plugs. 96 x 55 x 14mm, 82g with the UK plug attached. 3.78 x 2.17 x 0.55 inch, 2.89oz. Manufacturer shop, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N1PK1RP https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07N1PK1RP
- RAVPower GaN 45W : 72 x 54 x 14.9mm / 2.83 x 2.12 x 0.59inch, 75g / 2.65oz. This is a similar charger to Mu One only without the nifty plug heads. It is marginally cheaper, but without the unique multi-region folding plugs it isn't as good of an option for international travelers. Manufacturer shop, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H9WMW6N
- Innergie 60C (nee 55CC): 65W 60 x 30 x 30mm / 2.3 x 1.2 x 1.2 inch, 85g. While much thicker than the previous two, when the socket is hidden in a recess this has a much better chance to fit. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBYVF4Q Also, a cable is available to charge legacy laptops https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBYL5KZ only compatible with the Innergie 60C. This makes the Finsix Dart fully obsolete, it started as a legacy laptop charger and a USB C cable was planned and reviewed two years ago but never shipped.
- Satechi 75W: USB C 60W, USB C 18W, two USB A share 12W. 4" x 2.63" x 1", 11.14 oz. Manufacturer shop https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078864F15
- LVSUN LS-PD87-2C sold as Hyperjuice 87W charger: two USB C and one USB A all three share 87W. 4.33" x 3.86" x 0.79", 8.32oz Aliexpress Hyper https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KLWDY9C
- Hyperjuice battery: 27000 mAh USB C 100W, USB C 60W, USB A 18W. 7.2" x 3" x 0.84" / 183.2 x 77.1 x 21.3 mm Manufacturer shop (although it goes through indiegogo, it is not crowdfunding, it's just a shop)
- Maru & Masa Kickstarter: Maru is a 82mm/3.23" diameter bagel, 28mm/1.1" thick, 7.4oz, USB C 45W, USB C 18W, two USB A share 15W, three international AC sockets, nifty interchangeable international plugs. Masa is a battery 80 x 80 x 28 / 3.15" x 3.15" x 1.1" , 11.3oz 18000 mAh, USB C 45W, USB C 15W, Qi 7.5W, kickstand. Promised shipping: April 2019 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...e-yet-powerful
- SuperTank & SuperPort 4 Kickstarter: SuperPort 4 is a 114 x 100 x 24 / 4.5" x 3.95" x .95" charger, weight not disclosed, USB C 100W, USB C 18W, two USB ports share 18W. SuperTank is a 27000 mAh battery w/ lots of features, 4.7" x 2.8" x 1.6", 17oz USB C 100W, USB C 60W, USB A 18W, USB A 15W all ports share 138W Promised shipping: May 2019 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ek-recharge-in
- AlsterPlus Kickstarter: 7.4" x 3.28" x 0.85", 20oz / 568gr, 27000mAh battery with 2 x 100W USB-C + 2x 18W USB-A, lots of features. All ports share 156W.
- Anker Atom PD4. Two USB C, two USB A all share 100W, USB A per port is 12W max. 4.1" x 3.3" x 1.3", 13.5oz. https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Chargin.../dp/B07VSMK849
- MagicFox PD180. This is a DC-DC unit, it takes 12-28V 180W via a 5.5mm x 2.5mm jack or 100W max via USB- C input and provides three ports: USB C 100W, USB C 40W, USB A 40W. Size 3.15" x 2.76" x 0.53", 3.44oz. Possible interesting AC-DC choices: Lenovo 4X20Q88542 at 135W either from Encompass with very long ship times or from Japan via Rakuten, Lenovo-to-5.5mm plug adapter here. 4.65" x 3" x .83", 15.24oz. If that's not enough Razer has a 180W which, AFAIK has the right plug. Notably light at 14.82oz, 5.98" / 152mm x 2.87" / 73mm x 0.93" / 23.5mm. The MagicFox PD180 itself is, so far, China only, I had good experiences with Superbuy as proxy so https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/buy...832086035.html While the MagicFox PD180 itself is cheap, high wattage, quality, lightweight AC-DC adapters are anything but.
Cabling wise, AmazomBasics and Monoprice is your friend. Do not use female USB C to USB A / micro USB adapters, these are explicitly forbidden by the USB C standard. Male USB C to USB A / micro USB is fine.
Outfitting your travel kit for USB-C
Aug 1, 2018, 6:55 am
#93
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I just bought a new laptop with 65W USB-C charger. The previous Aukey unit I have wouldnt cut the mustard.
Looks like this Monoprice is a great all purpose tool and well priced.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_...seq=1&format=2
Looks like this Monoprice is a great all purpose tool and well priced.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_...seq=1&format=2
Oct 25, 2018, 5:03 pm
#94
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Anker has apparently made a 27W USB-C charger the size of the charger that comes with the iPhone: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbrea...allium-nitride
Should be interesting to see how this (and the higher power variants in the series) work out in real life.
Should be interesting to see how this (and the higher power variants in the series) work out in real life.
Oct 25, 2018, 7:13 pm
#95
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Anker has apparently made a 27W USB-C charger the size of the charger that comes with the iPhone: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbrea...allium-nitride
Should be interesting to see how this (and the higher power variants in the series) work out in real life.
Should be interesting to see how this (and the higher power variants in the series) work out in real life.
Oct 26, 2018, 8:22 am
#96
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Still patiently waiting for Finsix to re-release USB-C cables.
Oct 26, 2018, 9:46 am
#97
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Oct 26, 2018, 12:35 pm
#98
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And Finsix, of course, has a story of its own: Finsix vs. Twinkle 65.
Oct 26, 2018, 1:16 pm
#99
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I've been using the Apple 29W charger to charge my 2017 Mac Book Pro without any issues. But my use case may be different than most: It is my traveling computer and I don't use it without AC power that much. When I do use the battery during the day, an overnight charge brings it back to 100%.
I am basically interesting reducing size and weight of my travel kit so I will definitely look at the new Anker charger.
I am a good way along the road to no micro USB -- Only my Kindle, reMarkable and a GLocalMe WiFi hotspot use them and I don't take all three on most trips. Everything else is USB-C or Lightning and I have USB-C -> Lightning cables as well (actually, a lightning cable with a USB-C adapter attached)
I am basically interesting reducing size and weight of my travel kit so I will definitely look at the new Anker charger.
I am a good way along the road to no micro USB -- Only my Kindle, reMarkable and a GLocalMe WiFi hotspot use them and I don't take all three on most trips. Everything else is USB-C or Lightning and I have USB-C -> Lightning cables as well (actually, a lightning cable with a USB-C adapter attached)
Oct 26, 2018, 10:04 pm
#100
Join Date: Nov 2008
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If you are looking to add a USB C flashlight to your kit , The on the road U16 is a nice one U16 Flashlight , there is also a larger version the U18
Oct 31, 2018, 1:31 am
#101
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In another thread we began to discuss the Maru Kickstarter. It's a lot of things, including two (!) USB C ports, one is 45W max supporting 5/9/12/15/20V, the other is 18W max, 5/9V support. There are two USB A ports as well, sharing 15W. It borrows the shape and the universal AC sockets from the MOGICS Bagel. But where the Bagel has a tiny US plug at the end of the cord, this ends in a "figure 8" connector and ships with a US/AU, an EU and a UK folding "duckhead" plug and a little thingamagic to hold two duckheads while the third is in the Maru.
Finally, there's a battery with the same USB C ports and 7.5W Qi charging.
Finally, there's a battery with the same USB C ports and 7.5W Qi charging.
Oct 31, 2018, 11:14 am
#102
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I’ve been watching USB 3.1 drives with USB C ports for a acouple of years. Not much movement in price or new products.
Maybe if the new MacBook Air is a hit, it will spur more drives.
Maybe if the new MacBook Air is a hit, it will spur more drives.
Oct 31, 2018, 3:08 pm
#103
Join Date: Oct 2003
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Interesting new 3 port USB hub with USB-C PD - HyperDrive USB-C Hub Attach https://www.theverge.com/circuitbrea...-charger-hyper Too bad they didn't make a model with 2 usb-c PD ports for 87W brick so customers could purchase the larger power supply and charge the new MB Air, MB, 13" Pro, or iPad Pro and another USB-C PD device without using ports on their laptop (assuming there are any).
Samsung released a new nVME based Thunderbolt 3 drive this year https://www.samsung.com/us/computing...-mu-pb1t0b-am/
Samsung released a new nVME based Thunderbolt 3 drive this year https://www.samsung.com/us/computing...-mu-pb1t0b-am/
Nov 1, 2018, 11:54 pm
#104
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Oh there is a huge development: you can now get USB 3.1 to M.2 key M (NVMe) adapters. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/USB3...904347018.html
And if you have a Thunderbolt capable USB C port, then the Netstor NA611TB3 allows two such M.2 disks. For some demented reason AFAIK no single M.2 to Thunderbolt chassis exists -- previously Sonnet claimed Intel doesn't allowed naked TB3 to M.2 adapters but apparently it was fine for the Netstor.
Nov 2, 2018, 1:37 pm
#105
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Oh there is a huge development: you can now get USB 3.1 to M.2 key M (NVMe) adapters. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/USB3...904347018.html
And if you have a Thunderbolt capable USB C port, then the Netstor NA611TB3 allows two such M.2 disks. For some demented reason AFAIK no single M.2 to Thunderbolt chassis exists -- previously Sonnet claimed Intel doesn't allowed naked TB3 to M.2 adapters but apparently it was fine for the Netstor.
Interesting but it's around $300 a TB.
That's good for short trips I guess.