…that the makers of laptops settled on a single charger connector size? Grr.

(Three laptops in the house, three different charger connector sizes, the charger I need is always in a different room to the laptop I have, grrr. And they’re all Lenovo!).

That will be all.

Well just so long as it’s USB-C.

Ridiculous, isn’t it.

I currently deal with a lot of Cisco routers at work. The number of different chargers just within one manufacturer is ridiculous. As well as barrel connectors there are multiplugs that are variously 2-pin, 4-pin, 6-pin or 8-pin, and the mains leads for them could be the kettle-lead, figure-of-8 or clover-leaf types.

The great thing about standards is there’s so many of them.

and whilst they are at it could they remove the big rectangular box that does some electrical stuff and just have a single cable that runs from the plug to the laptop?

Three laptops in the house, three different charger connector sizes, the charger I need is always in a different room to the laptop I have, grrr. And they’re all Lenovo!

Even the most ardent Apple haterz would surely agree this is something they’ve had sorted for a long time! (just waiting for the usual suspects to come along to tell me how terrible magsafe connectors actually are, despite never having used one 🙂 )

MagSafe is great, but there’s also MagSafe 2 and they’ve just abandoned if to USB C

could they remove the big rectangular box that does some electrical stuff and just have a single cable that runs from the plug to the laptop?

Not if you want the laptop to be thin and light

Not if you want the laptop to be thin and light

Yes I do, just like my phone. Is a laptop not just a scaled up version of a phone?

Yes I do, just like my phone. Is a laptop not just a scaled up version of a phone?

That’s why phone chargers have a big box on the them (usually built into the plug) and a laptop has a scaled up version

We have four Lenovo’s in the house. Two use the old barrel connector and two the newer rectangular connector. I bought two barrel to rectangle converters from Amazon for around £5 each which allow the older chargers to work with the newer laptops.

I guess the barrel connector was just too bulky for newer ultrabooks – progress innit!

Lenovo used to be so good too. Universal charger connector means I didn’t need to carry a charger if I’m going somewhere I know has Lenovos. Was quite shocked when mrs aracer’s new Lenovo came with a different charger connector – and whilst the body is a bit thinner than mine, there’s definitely space for the original standard one.

Two use the old barrel connector

You say that like there’s only one old barrel connector 👿

Now I am confused – I’ve only ever come across the barrel connector I have on mine (and numerous other Lenovos of various types) and the new rectangular one.

That’s why phone chargers have a big box on the them (usually built into the plug) and a laptop has a scaled up version

An iPhone/iPad charger is literally a plug to USB converter and a USB to Lightening cable. There’s nothing else inside them, and you can use other brand/generic plugs just fine.

You say that like there’s only one old barrel connector

I’ve only ever come across the barrel connector I have on mine (and numerous other Lenovos of various types) and the new rectangular one.

There’s only one barrel connector (I’m aware of) on Lenovos, but there’s a million barrel connectors elsewhere.

Dell are pretty good for this too, I was amused to see that the brand new ones use the same connector as mine which is eight years old. Though they lose points for refusing to work with unofficial adapters (I’ve got a genuine charger which is otherwise fine but whatever signalling it uses to ID it is broken).

plyphon – Member

An iPhone/iPad charger is literally a plug to USB converter and a USB to Lightening cable. There’s nothing else inside them, and you can use other brand/generic plugs just fine.

Really?
But mains is 240VAC & USB output is 5VDC.

How does that work then, if there’s nothing else inside them…..?
There will be conversion of 240V AC to 5V DC inside the plug, the same as any other device charger that has a USB output on it….

There’s only one barrel connector (I’m aware of) on Lenovos

Nope, at least two.

The older W series had a connector with more pins in it for the higher power adapters. You could plug a lower power one in but it wouldn’t charge when running, only when off. Deliberate design decision because you got a message telling you this.

Even the most ardent Apple haterz would surely agree this is something they’ve had sorted for a long time! (just waiting for the usual suspects to come along to tell me how terrible magsafe connectors actually are, despite never having used one )

except there is more than one type of magsafe connector…

just waiting for the usual suspects to come along to tell me how terrible magsafe connectors actually are, despite never having used one

Pleased to discover my Surface Pro 4 has a magnetic connector. Displeased to discover it’s different to the micro USB on my wife’s Surface 3.

Our work laptops ALL use the same barrel connector. They have done since day one.

Except there are three different sized chargers.
Small, medium and large.
If you get the wrong charger it’ll take about a month to charge your laptop.

We’re currently all being moved into a hot desk environment. The chargers will stay with the desks/docking stations. So you have to match the spec of your computer with the spec of the charger……..worst case, it’ll be completely flat within about 90 minutes. Best case, it’ll charge really really fast…..

Even the most ardent Apple haterz would surely agree this is something they’ve had sorted for a long time! (just waiting for the usual suspects to come along to tell me how terrible magsafe connectors actually are, despite never having used one )

Not really.
Why do they sell charging bricks with three different outputs- 40, 65, 85 watts? They’re all the same size and price. Just means that if we try to use the Macbook Air charger on the 15″ Macbook it struggles to keep up. The cables fray quickly. The connectors can become fussy about which way up they’re attached to the laptop.
Why will Apple make a MagSafe to MagSafe 2 adaptor but not the other way around?

Why will Apple make a MagSafe to MagSafe 2 adaptor but not the other way around?

Magsafe2 runs at a higher voltage than MagSafe so I don’t think it’s possible.