Charging phone via a usb

prowla

victor2 wrote: »

This type of thing:

Of course you'd need a spare battery as well.
Totally agree with it being false economy. You will never recover the cost of the charger and battery by the few pence (a week?) you may save by charging during the day rather than at night.
You'd be paying for the convenience of always having a charged battery available when you needed it.

Also, continually opening the phone to charge the battery could lead to it being damaged - the cover isn't really designed for hundreds of operations.

And of course it wouldn't work for a phone with an integral battery (eg. an iPhone).

ic

Cycrow wrote: »

My pc has a smart extension which everything is plugged into. so when the pc is turned of, it automatically cuts the power to everything else (all 3 monitors, speakers, etc).
So the only thing drawing power is the pc itself.

I also have one on my TV which cuts power to everything else like the home Cinema Amp, BluRay player, etc.

I used to use one of these on my AV set up, but it blew the power supply of the subwoofer. I binned the adaptor the same day. I now rely on my harmony remote turning everything off to standby, as most of the equipment is no more than five years old, the standby usage isn't worth worrying about (versus the cost of fixing items that have been damaged by the auto plugs).

victor2

prowla wrote: »

Also, continually opening the phone to charge the battery could lead to it being damaged - the cover isn't really designed for hundreds of operations.

And of course it wouldn't work for a phone with an integral battery (eg. an iPhone).

Good point about the cover. Could use an external battery pack to get round that, but again isn't really worth it, if it's not worth paying for the convenience.

Presumably those who are happy to burn their money on an iPhone don't care about what it costs to charge it either. :rotfl:

jamesperrett

datlex wrote: »

Thanks, I do often charge phone at work but it can run down in the evenings when at home. (prob play with it too much).

While the cost of mains power involved in charging the battery is tiny compared to other things, the cost of replacing the battery is significant so it makes sense to learn how best to look after it. Every charge/discharge cycle takes you nearer the end of the battery's life so don't charge it unnecessarily.

Firstly, turn off everything on the phone that you don't need. If you don't need to know where you are (and most of the time you don't) then turn off the GPS. If you are in range of a Wifi access point then turn off data over the phone network. Similarly, if you aren't using Wifi then turn it off. The same goes for Bluetooth and any other gizmos. Do you really need the screen on its brightest setting and the headphones as loud? Do you need the phone switched on all the time?

The other thing to remember is that lithium ion batteries don't like to spend lots of time at full charge and a fault is more likely to occur in the battery when they are close to full charge. So don't charge the phone, switch it off and then go to bed. It is better to switch it off overnight with the battery nearly depleted and then charge it in the morning. If you aren't going to use the phone for a while don't charge it 'just in case'. Charge it just before you want to use it.

anotheruser

SLEEP: Puts the computer in an off state by writing everything to the RAM and any pen drives which are dedicated for this. Very small amount of electricity monitors PC to wake when commanded. You can still unplug the PC when in this mode but it takes an age to resume.

STANDBY: Puts the computer in a low power state. Pretty much only the fans are on, but hard drives and power to other gubbins are off.

SUSPEND: No such option.

HIBERNATE: Near on the same as sleeping but it writes everything to the hard drive instead. Takes longer than sleeping to resume, especially if unplugging the PC.


I sleep my PC all the time. Then I turn my keyboard and mouse off so they only wake by me not the cat.


OP ANSWER: Technically it should be the same as the phone takes (lets say) 100 units of electricity. You are only changing the charging method. USB tends to take longer but that's only because there is less physical power going to the device.

Some people say it charges better via USB, just like a CD will write better quality at lower speeds, but this hasn't been studied properly yet.

It's best just to charge it when it's empty (or nearly empty) and use it. Don't charge it every night unless you really need it. Alternatively you can read the instruction manual and see what the manufacturers recommend.

Cycrow wrote: »

My pc has a smart extension which everything is plugged into. so when the pc is turned of, it automatically cuts the power to everything else (all 3 monitors, speakers, etc).

I hope you turn your speakers off before simply cutting the power.
The 'pop' you hear isn't good, especially without snap and crackle.

DragonQ

Hibernate should be the same as "off" in terms of power usage. The main reason "sleep" uses more power is because the RAM is powered.