help- the kids have stolen my chargers. too many devices!!

garlan5

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May 13, 2009
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Virginia
Need some ideas for a family 5 and 5 billion devices. Ipods, Iphones, Androids galore. My kids and wife move shit around and steal my good chargers and i'm sick of it.

Is the best solution to buy everyone color specific chargers, if so whats the best fast charger out there.
Or is there a better docking solution that maybe wireless that i can put in multiple rooms.

We're on the go a lot and thats usually when shit goes missing
 

soxhop411

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Dec 4, 2009
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Need some ideas for a family 5 and 5 billion devices. Ipods, Iphones, Androids galore. My kids and wife move shit around and steal my good chargers and i'm sick of it.

Is the best solution to buy everyone color specific chargers, if so whats the best fast charger out there.
Or is there a better docking solution that maybe wireless that i can put in multiple rooms.

We're on the go a lot and thats usually when shit goes missing
Try putting these in every room.

I use them and they save me the hassle of having a different charger for each thing I use
https://www.anker.com/products/108/chargers

They have 5/6/10 port chargers.

All you need to provide is the usb cable to plug in.
 

uncannymanny

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Jan 12, 2007
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They also make them with standard outlets. I have various brands and configurations of these in every room.


Edit: I don’t know why my link keeps getting reformatted

amazon.com/dp/B00O1AKB2C/
 
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gtmtnbiker

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Jul 15, 2005
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. My kids and wife move shit around and steal my good chargers and i'm sick of it.

Is the best solution to buy everyone color specific chargers, if so whats the best fast charger out there.
My solution was to put labels on each charger identifying which charger belonged to which person. I got tired of someone misplacing or breaking their charger. This way they would pay for their own charger if something happened to it.
 

uncannymanny

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Jan 12, 2007
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Another option is to get yourself a really nice set of cables. Tell the kids that if those disappear so do their phones. FWIW, IANAP.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Leaving in a bit to the studio :)
Is the best solution to buy everyone color specific chargers, if so whats the best fast charger out there.
Or is there a better docking solution that maybe wireless that i can put in multiple rooms.

We're on the go a lot and thats usually when shit goes missing
That's just what I did with lightning cables. The inhouse brand (Insignia?) at BestBuy are really high quality and come in a variety of colors. When they went on sale a few years ago, I bought everyone in the house four cables in their own specific colors.

Didn't work.........
 

koufax32

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Dec 8, 2006
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At the risk of oversimplification, you’re the parent and they are the kids, right?
 

SumnerH

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You were all in on the gold plated cables Radio Shack used to mark up 8000% weren’t you???
Not every “nice cable” thing is Monster nonsense.

I spend like $5 a piece to get reversible micro-USB cables (so you can plug them in either way when you're fumbling in the dark), and it's worth it.

USB-C is slowly solving that issue, but it's a decent expenditure for legacy stuff IMO.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
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Not every “nice cable” thing is Monster nonsense.

I spend like $5 a piece to get reversible micro-USB cables (so you can plug them in either way when you're fumbling in the dark), and it's worth it.

USB-C is slowly solving that issue, but it's a decent expenditure for legacy stuff IMO.
You know what would have been awesome? The people who brought any of the 10 USB ports to market prior to USB-C that thought 3 seconds about how dumb it was they weren’t reversible.
 

gtmtnbiker

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You know what would have been awesome? The people who brought any of the 10 USB ports to market prior to USB-C that thought 3 seconds about how dumb it was they weren’t reversible.
It probably was harder to do when USB first came out since chips were bigger, etc. USB was great when it came out because before that, we had large serial/parallel cables to deal with.
 

garlan5

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At the risk of oversimplification, you’re the parent and they are the kids, right?
Yes but when I'm away at work and they happen to borrow a charger and lose it there is nothing i can do besides rummage thru the house. I'm dealing with a 6, 8, and 10 year old.

Don’t take the phone away. Just take the charging cable away and they can slowly watch the battery drain to 0%. Maybe encourage less frequent use. Also, IANAP.
been there done that! i've also taken tablets away and even lost one in the process for a few months. It's not a happy day when you have 3 kids and one can't have something the other 2 have. I've endured it for lengthy times but at some point you have to be realistic.
 

DominicJD

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Jul 23, 2005
23
Vienna, VA
We tend to lose cables in my family. But my strategy seems to work ok:

At home I have 2 base charger stands: one for tablets, one for phones. The tablet one has a mix of lighting and micro-usb cables, the phone one is all lightning cables. Each kid has 2 multi-port chargers (usually 2 ports) - one for their room, one for travel and a mix of cables for their devices. I don’t color code them.

For family travel, I have one six-port charger and six micro-usb / lightning combo cables (the cable ends have an end-cap which switches them from micro-usb to lightning).

Every Xmas I tend to buy everyone a new battery, personal charger and a set of cables as “stocking” stuffers.

Tends to work pretty well - the kids “manage” their own 2 chargers, and I manage the base units and the big travel charger with its cables.

I also tend to buy batches of cables (usually the inexpensive Amazon basics ones) 2-3 times a year though. Everyone is hard on cables.
 
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Murby

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Mar 16, 2006
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I have used color specific nail polish to mark my stuff. I have a dot of nail polish on each AirPod and the case to prove it’s mine and not my wife’s.
 

Just a bit outside

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The rule my wife and I use is that our chargers never move. We each have a spot where are chargers are left and the kids may use them but not move them. All the kids have their own and may move them wherever.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
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Have you tried these?


I think Amazon links are busted but google Chargerlock iPhone Charger Lock.
 

SumnerH

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You know what would have been awesome? The people who brought any of the 10 USB ports to market prior to USB-C that thought 3 seconds about how dumb it was they weren’t reversible.
FWIW, you can get reversible micro-USB cables that can plug in either way (both on the computer/charger end and the micro end). They use a kind of diamond-head shape on the micro side, and a moving flap on the big side.

I've used them almost exclusively for years for my non-C devices that need to be plugged/unplugged regularly.
 

AlNipper49

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Another option is to get yourself a really nice set of cables. Tell the kids that if those disappear so do their phones. FWIW, IANAP.
If I find my kids phones / devices plugged into a charger that’s not theirs then the device goes away. 1. I was so sick of losing or find broken cables and 2. Teaching them some responsibility isn’t the worst thing ever.

If they lose or break a cable then they buy a new one with their own money.

With that said, I have about 20 cables in my office because apparently I wasn’t taught those lessons as a kid.
 

gtmtnbiker

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Jul 15, 2005
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If they lose or break a cable then they buy a new one with their own money.
Exactly. That’s the only way they will learn to treat their stuff with respect. This is why I label each person’s item with their name.
 

garlan5

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May 13, 2009
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Exactly. That’s the only way they will learn to treat their stuff with respect. This is why I label each person’s item with their name.
I have a 6, 8, and 10 year old. they have no money. I do take things from them but there are better solutions for my particular issue. Lots of good feedback here thankfully
 

HriniakPosterChild

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Jul 6, 2006
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I have a 6, 8, and 10 year old. they have no money
My 11 year old has had an allowance (a princely $5/week) since he was 8. I recommend it.

When he wants some trashy souvenir when we're on a trip, he knows he can get it if he is willing to spend his own money. It had redirected his interests from the expensive items in the shops to the more moderately priced.

(If he wants to buy firecrackers, it doesn't matter whether it's his own money. We know when to say no, and he knows not to ask.)
 
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