Is anything that's charged w/ a USB C plug able to be charged w/any USB C situation?

[Algeh]

Work has decided to get us new laptops, and they're 2-in-1 Dells that use a 45w USB-C charger. (I have ... many opinions about this choice.)

I'm looking for the cheapest sensible way to get a second charger for use at home or on the road so I can leave my main charger in the Cable Snarl on/around/under my desk at work rather than crawl under my desk every day. (I'm in a job where I work both from home and in the office most days). It looks like buying another Dell 45w charger just like the one the machine comes with is about $30-$40, but that assorted USB to USB C cables can be had for less than 10 bucks.

Would one of those USB to USB C cables work to recharge my computer at home? I have a wall tap with two 2.4A USB power ports on it already, and regularly plug suitable USB cables into it to charge assorted other electronics. I can't think of any particular reason why it shouldn't work, but I also would expect 3rd party chargers to be obviously using this method (and cost in this ballpark) if so and that doesn't seem to be what's happening.

[tyckspoon]

45w is a higher power level than most charge+data cables are going to be rated for - your standard phone charger block is usually designed to provide 10-15 watts, and will cut itself off if asked to provide higher. If you try to plug your laptop into a 2.4 amp phone charger, it will most likely trickle-charge at best, and will not be provided enough power to do any active work. Similarly, the actual USB cables may or may not be designed to support high-power charging like that, and I'm not aware of any useful way to determine that.. but chances are if you try to plug a few random cables in to replace the one that came with/possibly was hard-wired into that 45w supply, you're just going to wind up with a bunch of toasted cables.


Edit: That said, the actual intent of newer USB standards was that they'd be pretty much universally useful, so you could do what you're talking about. The problems come when you release them to the manufacturers, who have no real incentive to actually spend money on implementing most of the possible features, and now there are so many optional variants and aspects of USB-C that the only thing you can reliably say about any given USB-C cable is it will physically socket into a USB-C port.

[factotum]

Dell do USB-C attached docking stations that would allow you to permanently have a monitor, mouse and keyboard on your desk at work, and plug in a single connector to both charge the laptop and allow you to use those additional devices. Don't suppose your work would swing for one of those?

[Algeh]

Dell do USB-C attached docking stations that would allow you to permanently have a monitor, mouse and keyboard on your desk at work, and plug in a single connector to both charge the laptop and allow you to use those additional devices. Don't suppose your work would swing for one of those?

We currently have a previous generation of Dell docking stations (purchased for our previous generation of Dell laptops) that do all of that but provide power, so I doubt they'll upgrade them just to avoid using a power cable. (I have two external monitors, an external keyboard, and an external mouse hooked up through the current docking station. There is a TREMENDOUS cable mess under/behind my desk as a result of all of that, since it's 4 separate power cables and also all of the connector cables.)

I'll probably just end up asking work to buy me a second charger, but I wanted to pick the cheapest viable option since it's not like I'll be the only one asking.

[LordEntrails]

As tyckspoon said and for the same reasons, I don't think a regular USB charger using a USB-C cable is going to work.

A quick Google search shows generic 45w USB-C chargers for less than $20.
https://www.google.com/search?q=45w+...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[snowblizz]

As tyckspoon said and for the same reasons, I don't think a regular USB charger using a USB-C cable is going to work.

A quick Google search shows generic 45w USB-C chargers for less than $20.
https://www.google.com/search?q=45w+...hrome&ie=UTF-8

And Dell warranty will not honour anything after you've plugged one of those into the laptops. And with the failure rates on Dells that's gonna be a concern.

Presumably if work had old Dell laptops and got dockingstations it would make sense to get new ones for the new laptops. But I guess basic IT maangement is too hard here. Considering the are going for Dells that's not a surprise.

[LordEntrails]

And Dell warranty will not honour anything after you've plugged one of those into the laptops. And with the failure rates on Dells that's gonna be a concern.

Presumably if work had old Dell laptops and got dockingstations it would make sense to get new ones for the new laptops. But I guess basic IT maangement is too hard here. Considering the are going for Dells that's not a surprise.

?Huh? I've never had a problem claiming a Dell warranty regardless of what power source I've used. Over the last 20 years I've probably had a dozen Dell warranty claims. Never once has one been denied based upon using a non-Dell power supply, and I often don't use a Dell power supply.

Maybe the warranty makes such a claim, but it's never been an issue for me.

(As for the number of claims, I've run fixed and mobile training centers, so less than 1 claim a year is low for the number of computers I've been responsible for.)

[Algeh]

And Dell warranty will not honour anything after you've plugged one of those into the laptops. And with the failure rates on Dells that's gonna be a concern.

Presumably if work had old Dell laptops and got dockingstations it would make sense to get new ones for the new laptops. But I guess basic IT maangement is too hard here. Considering the are going for Dells that's not a surprise.

I guess I don't see any reason to get new docking stations when the old ones, as mentioned, still work just fine and are still on our desks from the previous laptop cycle. It would certainly be cheaper to buy a second power cable for each laptop user than it would be to replace the docking stations when the only thing "wrong" with the old ones is that they don't provide power (which they didn't provide for the previous laptops either - those were charged with a separate cable, and I had a second charging cable to use at home with that laptop).

I don't see how criticizing decisions that I was obviously not consulted on (laptop brand and level of IT support) is helpful here. I made it pretty clear that I wasn't the one who chose the machines, and I'm certainly not the one who keeps deciding to not fund public education well enough for us to afford to hire a proper IT department.

[LordEntrails]

I don't see how criticizing decisions that I was obviously not consulted on (laptop brand and level of IT support) is helpful here. I made it pretty clear that I wasn't the one who chose the machines, and I'm certainly not the one who keeps deciding to not fund public education well enough for us to afford to hire a proper IT department.

Cuz this is the internet? And everyone must post their opinion on every topic that interests them.