I installed the 120 outlets with USB connections in our guestroom by the nightstands, just as a convenience for guests.
I first got one when I was about eight. It played "Scotland The Brave" as the alarm. I was sooooo cool.
... and much easier / quicker / cheaper to replace when it becomes obsolete and I need an upgrade. USB has gone through many update cycles since I first worked with it two decades ago. What was state-of-the-art back then is now obsolete, very few of today's devices could make use of those old ports. I expect my home's outlets to go unchanged for longer periods than that. I don't know what the phantom / vampire / idle load is on these devices, the first couple spec sheets I checked didn't list it, nor mention any EnergyStar rating. But back in the old days, vampire loads turned out to be a very big deal. I did a big purge cycle once, and don't want to let a bunch of them creep back in.
Nope...... USB chargers just flake out all the time. Its a throw away crap power supply. More expensive ones last a little longer but no surprise when they fail. Especially if you plug in a near dead ipad all the time. It will get very warm. Just plug in a 3 port expander plug now you have 3 USB charger spaces on one outlet or Speaking of iPads my Gen7 battery all of a sudden has started tanking even though I'm careful with it's charging cycle. The process on youtube to change its battery is nuts so I use my ipad & phone now with this 20 volt Dewalt battery USB adapter. Works great. Runs cool and very portable. Life saver for Hurricanes. I have a few of these and 20 Dewalt 20 volt batterys. This one I grabbed a link of happens to be expensive there around $40. And have had one of these now for about 6 months works real good has some real good power and a clever form factor.
Agreed. I had a drawer full of old probably 1st Gen USB-A chargers which are rated anywhere from 1.4A to 3.0A. For the most purpose, they no longer work on today's power-hungry USB rechargeable devices. I still have a few very old USB-A chargeable devices, but since newer USB A QuickCharge and USB C Power Delivery bricks are perfectly backward compatible, I just toss old chargers in the trash whenever I find one. I would be very frustrated if the wall charger can't be replaced and its technology is stuck in 2020.
USB 1.0 could supply 0.1A. I hopped on during the early years of USB 2.0, which could supply 0.5A. It would be many years before USB 3.0 came along with 0.9A, and USB Power for battery charging at 1.5A, and that was a big deal. I was already retired when USB 3.1 boosted to 3A. Now USB 3.2 and 4.0 can supply 5A. USB - History & Timeline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Power-related_standards
And in the earlier versions, those currents were all at a single voltage, 5 V, but the newer USB PD negotiates the voltage with the connected device, which is how you can see USB-powered devices at 30, 45, 60, 100 watts.
