Put a Little Energy Dice Beneath Your Sofa

I’m penning this from my sofa. My laptop computer was at about 10 p.c after I sat down, however I’m not apprehensive. I’ve a secret weapon for protecting my devices charged in the lounge: just a little block with retailers and USB ports. I really like my energy dice.

I can’t bear in mind after I began doing this, nevertheless it’s been years of pure charging bliss. Previous to getting that energy dice, I’d use lengthy USB cables operating throughout the sofa or a conveyable battery to cost my telephone whereas it sits on the espresso desk. These have been unpleasant and unreliable choices, and so they didn’t get higher as I began accumulating tablets, a Change … and all my friends’ units.

There are a number of first rate choices for charging devices on the sofa. A aspect desk with a drawer stuffed with cables and a few retailers isn’t a foul concept. I nonetheless have this charging station sitting on a small shelf subsequent to my sofa, although that doesn’t clear up the cable drawback for individuals on the other aspect. Surge protectors are big and ponderous, and wi-fi charging pads can solely go up to now.

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Enter the Dice

The primary energy dice I obtained was truly referred to as the PowerCube. It featured 5 full-size retailers. The unique was designed to plug straight right into a wall socket, however later variations got here with a twine hooked up so you might run these further plugs additional away. 

That’s the bit that makes this entire factor work. In lots of locations I’ve lived, there’s been an outlet proper behind the sofa. That’s a really inconvenient place for an outlet, leaving you with an eternity of scooching one finish of the sofa away from the wall to finagle a plug. However the cable on the PowerCube was simply lengthy sufficient to cross beneath the sofa and let the dice sit proper within the center. When you have a nook sofa, it’s much more handy. You possibly can stick it proper within the nook the place it’s virtually inconceivable to kick it or journey over it.

Now, irrespective of the place somebody is sitting on the sofa, it’s straightforward to plug in a cable of any form. Full-size charger for a laptop computer? No drawback. USB cable for a telephone? Straightforward. Finally, different corporations began making related units, which led to my present favourite, this dice from Anker. It has three common retailers, three USB ports, and—crucially—one aspect that’s merely flat with nothing on it.

That may sound like wasted area, nevertheless it got here in helpful after I obtained a brand new sofa that was just a bit too tall. Some couches are low sufficient to the bottom that the dice will merely catch on the underside of the sofa and keep put. But when it’s taller, the dice can slip too far beneath the sofa and get misplaced or caught. I solved this drawback by placing just a little little bit of velcro tape on the ground and the dice the place I needed it to remain. (People with carpets, this may not be as straightforward.)