I'm a USB-C Maximalist: One Charger for My Entire European Trip
During a seven-week holiday across Europe, I traveled light by relying on a single universal USB-C power brick to charge every device I owned. From my Pixel 8 Pro and Chuwi MiniBook laptop to a smartwatch, electric toothbrush, and even a bug bite zapper, everything used the same standard. This approach eliminated the need for multiple proprietary chargers, giving me confidence that I could find replacements anywhere in the world.
There's simply no point buying any electrical gadget which uses a proprietary charging port.
- Telaneo
It's been a joy to not need to bring 3 chargers along when I travel.
I think the only thing we're missing to make the USB-C experience perfect is cable labelling. It's unreasonable to make every cable perform to the max spec, but if we could standardise on some labelling or colours for cables that are charging-only, 480 mbit (usb 2 speed), 5 Gbit (usb 3 speed), 10 GB (usb 3.1 speed), 20 GB (usb 3.2 speed), plus whatever higher speeds (and I guess Thunderbolt too), then we'd be golden.
I like the cables I have, and by know I know what cables do what, but it ain't obvious without testing.
- _jackdk_
USB-C maximalism is great for travel. I personally recommend travelling with a USB-C desktop charger, but use one that accepts a IEC C7 ("figure-8") cable. Then, travel with only the cable corresponding to your destination (or buy one when you get there). That avoids having a wall wart that might not fit in narrow spaces, or whose weight might make it fall out of older sockets.
I wrote about it a few years ago; the post does not have affiliate links: http://jackkelly.name/blog/archives/2024/10/06/travel_tip_us...
- chaosharmonic
I too am a USB-C maximalist, but with a handful of differences from OP:
- You lose me at "toothbrush." I don't want personal care items that have internal batteries at all, because they'll eventually die on me while the device itself (brush heads notwithstanding) is otherwise perfectly functional. I'd much rather keep rechargeable AA(A)s on hand for that kind of stuff. (I still haven't found a good electric razor for this purpose, though, and have actually just gone back to manual for the foreseeable future.)
- I don't think I could live off just one charging port, but would rather just ditch USB-A entirely.
- I'm using wired earbuds, with a standard headphone jack, but with the number of full-sized cans that are using USB-C in some way it baffles me that there aren't more or them (or any, that I've been able to find) that also support using it for audio input, so you you can play them while charging.
- eigencoder
I don't like USB-C because they all look the same on the outside, but they're not all the same on the inside. Especially my cheap consumer electronics. Sometimes they will charge, sometimes they won't charge, but all the cables look the same, and you don't tend to know in advance.
- cgyvbunji
> What are the chances that I could find the exact charger needed for a GameBoy Colour?
Your chance is 100% because the charger for GBC is 2 AA batteries ;)
- ianbooker
I use USB to teach students about European Union regulatory policies, because this is one obvious standard they all can connect to. (Pun intended).
Throughout the years they were cautious when it was introduced, thankful after it was established, and now they are too young to know any other world.
And yes, USB as main connection standard was driven by Apple.
But USB as main charging standard was set by the EU.
- pluralmonad
I would like the USB-C connector was more durable. I've literally never killed a USB-A connector, but enough lateral force and USB-C just breaks. I suppose it was made so small due to mobile devices, which is understandable, but came with tradeoffs.
- vablings
I would happily be a USB-C enjoyer if manufactures stopped forgetting the stupid CC resistors meaning that you device will not charge with a C-to-C cable.
It should be considered a defective design and recalled, I have been burned several times by this.
- evanjrowley
I used to think of myself as one as well but that's changing as of late.
Looking back 15 years or so, I remember the old ThinkPad and Dell Latitude/Precision docking stations functioned reliably for as long as I can remember.
Today I have a variety of USB-C and thunderbolt 3/4 docking stations, all of which have been affected by various issues. The the manufacturers of these things don't care.
The latest casualty is a Pluggable TBT4-UDZ, which randomly decided one day that I should only have one working monitor instead of two. Doesn't matter if I use Windows, Mac or Linux. Meanwhile, the same monitors & cables work fine with my desktop.
I appreciate USB-C as a means to charge my stuff, but from now on, I'm going to try and use other ports and cables for everything else. Every laptop's settings will assume only the main screen will ever be used. I've no time to get used to a nice multi-monitor setup just to have it taken away when the USB-C dock starts acting up.
- bArray
I've done a decent amount of traveling - honestly the most important thing has always just been to have stuff that works. Charging things has rarely been an issue. A few extra cables in the luggage is not a big deal.
Terrence's issue here is that he is over complicating things:
- Toothbrush - Just take a non-battery toothbrush, it's perfectly fine and will not break down or need charging.
- Tracker - I'm doubtful you will get it back in most countries. Always keep the essentials such as phone, wallet and passport on your physical person where possible.
- Bug Bite Zapper - Do as the locals do, they too don't want to be swamped with insects.