16 Port USB Charging Hub For iPads And Other Apple Devices?

[6Foot2]

Link: PowerPad 16 - Charge and Sync 16 iPads, iPhones and iPads

[Arthur]

UK price and supplier?

[DSapseid]

IIRC lapsafe had something similar at BETT this year, cant see it on there site though.

[synaesthesia]

If price is very low it may well be worthwhile as a secondary charging solution. I suspect however that the sync and charge solutions would be a better all-round use of money (unless these come in at just a couple of hundred quid of course )

[mac_shinobi]

Could combine

 

2 or 3 USB mains powered USB Hubs ie (might be better ones ) :

 

Xenta 10 Port USB 2.0 Hub - Mains Powered - Wall.. | Ebuyer.com

 

One multi way to plug each USB hub into

 

One lap safe

 

Assuming 10 USB Cables would be long enough to connect 10 iPads into and said USB Hub would provide enough power without over heating issues etc

[synaesthesia]

would you honestly trust a bunch of iDevices in those? I wouldn't plug a £3 mouse into a cheap USB hub!

[mac_shinobi]

would you honestly trust a bunch of iDevices in those? I wouldn't plug a £3 mouse into a cheap USB hub!

 

Was just a quick google - as per the comment in the brackets ( there are more then likely better ones out there ). You can see from one of the comments and also the price, not to mention the above comment as per the quote that there are better ones out there lol

[dhicks]

Assuming 10 USB Cables would be long enough to connect 10 iPads into and said USB Hub would provide enough power without over heating issues etc

 

I actually had a look at those last night on eBay - I'm looking for a decent USB hub to use with the Raspberry Pi. It would seem that those particular hubs provide 2A of power - each USB port can, seemingly, be required to provide 0.5A, and for a charging situation I would have thought each device would draw the maximum amount so you'll be able to attach 4 devices to charge. The other option would be to buy a bunch of individual single-port USB chargers and plug them in to a proper 13A multi-way adaptor, but 3 10-way USB hubs are still probably cheaper than 10 single-port chargers.

 

If anyone knows of a better-powered USB hub, please post a link - the one listed above was the best one I could find yesterday. You used to be able to buy USB hubs with 4A adaptors, but I don't seem to be able to find any reasonably priced ones (although there are some 4-port USB3 ones for around £60).

[mac_shinobi]

I actually had a look at those last night on eBay - I'm looking for a decent USB hub to use with the Raspberry Pi. It would seem that those particular hubs provide 2A of power - each USB port can, seemingly, be required to provide 0.5A, and for a charging situation I would have thought each device would draw the maximum amount so you'll be able to attach 4 devices to charge. The other option would be to buy a bunch of individual single-port USB chargers and plug them in to a proper 13A multi-way adaptor, but 3 10-way USB hubs are still probably cheaper than 10 single-port chargers.If anyone knows of a better-powered USB hub, please post a link - the one listed above was the best one I could find yesterday. You used to be able to buy USB hubs with 4A adaptors, but I don't seem to be able to find any reasonably priced ones (although there are some 4-port USB3 ones for around £60).

Post from Chcn here :https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2789455?start=45&tstart=0iPad2 draws 2100Ma when connected to its own charger on mains vs lower Ma on a negioted connection of 500Ma at max and 100 Ma at min etc so if USB 2.0 hub has 2amps max that means it will either refuse to charge or it will take a long time

[ChrisJ]

We've just got one of these - NoteSync in NoteCase

 

Fun to watch all the devices power up one at a time.

[Gigabyte]

I looked into this for charging our flip cameras, but unfortunately the power is way too high at 2.1A, whereas USB 2.0 has a max output of 900Ma.

 

Hopefully they will bring out a universal charger for all USB devices.

[Arthur]

For charging iPad's you could use an extension lead plus several Apple 10W USB adapters or Griffin GC17120 XL USB to Dock cables?

 

USB 2.0 has a max output of 900mA.

It is USB 3.0 that's 900mA. USB 2.0 is 500mA.

[Gigabyte]

It is USB 3.0 that's 900mA. USB 2.0 is 500mA.

 

 

Note to self - Don't believe everything on Wikipedia.

[plexer]

That's the whole purpose of the device that was mentioned and whilst the OP was highlighting what seems to be a well thought out solution everyone else seems to be intent on McGyvering something to suit.

 

The device post has been designed specifically for charging and sync of i devices and providing the correct current etc... for fast charge of those devices it is not meant to be used as a general purpose usb charging unit as they state on their website and they also say they are working on one of those.

 

Ben

[synaesthesia]

I took it as only a charging solution which would appear to be correct unless a) I'm misreading/ignoring something or b) their sites information on that product is wrong. The only thing to say it syncs is the topic which I'm unsure of.

 

Edit: It almost certainly doesn't sync - reviews don't mention it and there's no input USB port.

[Arthur]

I don't know about other schools, but our bursar would never let us buy a $700 USB charging device from the U.S.A.

 

Surely there must be a company in the U.K. which sells chargers like the one posted by DaveP?

[synaesthesia]

Just bought in 2 sets of of the Classroom Solution from KRCS for an undisclosed school (not mine)

https://www.krcs.co.uk/pages/education/mobile-learning

Sturdy stuff and charges & syncs. But lots of cash though, the case on its own from the quotes I remember were just over a grand.

[Arthur]

the case on its own from the quotes I remember were just over a grand.

It's insane how much these things cost. Why are they so expensive?

[TLARWise]

Loxit do a charge/sync trolley now aswell (16 or 32 unit versions available) Loxit Lapbank iPad Charge/Sync Trolley 16 | iPad Trolley | iPad Cart | Loxit, no idea on pricing though as am not interested enough to check up on it myself.

[plexer]

Bretford do this:

 

PowerSync Tray for iPad | Apple Product Guide

 

No idea how much it is though.

 

Ben

[plexer]

Looking at the originally posted product you are correct in that it doesn't appear to do sync as well however they do have products that fill that slot too

 

DS-IP Sync-and-Charge Kit

 

Ben

[dhicks]

It's insane how much these things cost. Why are they so expensive?

 

Because these devices have to have some thought put into their design, and then someone has to manufacture them. If each iPad is drawing 2A as it charges, you can fit half a dozen of those on a standard 6-way power strip. Any more than that and you'll burn the fuse out, so anything that charges more than 6 devices at a time must be doing something a bit more cunning. If you're making anything in quanaties of less than, say, 10,000 it's not practical to set up a cheap production line in China, so you have to pay people to manufacture stuff for you more manually, which means you need cash for premisis and wages for 3 months before you start.

[plexer]

UK Company: C3-Case iPad, iPod, Amazon Kindle, Nintendo DSI, Sony PSP charge and sync component for USB cart/case manufacturers.

 

Think we've had their products posted about before.

 

Ben

[plexer]

The products made by Datamation as posted are powered by the Cambrionix tech from Cambridge

 

Depending on what the cost of that board is from Cambrionix it would be simple enough to have an enclosure fabricated.

 

Ben

[dhicks]

Depending on what the cost of that board is from Cambrionix it would be simple enough to have an enclosure fabricated.

 

If you're planning on using it in a classroom, bear in mind it seems to need a 38A power supply.