Two of the biggest
laptop manufacturers in the world have given their support to plans to introduce universal power supply units for
notebooks .
Acer and
Asus, both of which are based in Taiwan, have given their backing to a scheme for standardised power units for
laptops – an idea put forward by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). A working group was recently set up by the standards body to come up with a design for a universal power brick and connector.
If the proposals receive the backing of the world’s major
PC manufacturers, they will signal an end to the practice of manufacturers charging over £100 for the power leads. The decisions of Acer and Asus, ranked second and fifth in terms of global laptop shipments respectively, to back the proposal represent a significant boost to the IEEE’s plans, which will become credible with the support of a few more major manufacturers.
The IEEE did, however, take seven years to complete the 802.11n
Wi-Fi standard, and does not have a reputation for efficiency. Furthermore, if efforts to establish a universal
mobile phone charge are anything to go by, it could be some time before we see a universal
laptop charger .