Checkmate, Nintendo! ;)

[OptOut | 8,889]

So, I've been playing a whole lot of Switch recently, and I'm sick of the stupid dock charge situation. I'm a free spirit, and it totally kills my boner when I have to go back downstairs to charge the stupid switch. 

So, yesterday I sends my lady out to buy me a switch charger. To my utter amazement, she returns with what I THOUGHT was the correct item:

I thought it was a little strange it didn't actually come with a cable... but I scratched around in a couple drawers and found one that fit. So, Switch charging, boner reinflated, job's a gooden. 

HOWEVER! Something didn't feel right... Why does this charger just say Nintendo on it, no switch branding? It's definitely official but... Oh shit. 

You gotta be kidding me! It's literally just a USB plug, the kind that has been known to BRICK switches! I didn't know whether to be more pissed at my wife or Nintendo, but either way, SOMEONE who wasn't me fucked up, big time! 

So anyway, flashforward to today and I was looking around EVERYWHERE for actual official Switch chargers, and man, they're just fucking nowhere. Eventually, I went up to the counter and asked the guy to order me one, and he was like sure, but also, that's gonna take a week and it's like 30 bucks and I'm all like FUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!! 

So, ass in hand, I was about to hand over the cash when I was like, wait, I'm a genius, I can figure this out. So, I made the ONLY rational decision and bought a Switch Lite:

Stupid Nintender, those IDIOTS! They put a FREE charger right in the box! 

Checkmate, Nintendo, you fucks. 

[Tanooki | 4,937]

That one you got first, same shape, style and look of the one included in the NES/SNES Classic Edition so it's likely a replacement for that.

[Estil | 1,265]

22 minutes ago, OptOut said:

So, I've been playing a whole lot of Switch recently, and I'm sick of the stupid dock charge situation. I'm a free spirit, and it totally kills my boner when I have to go back downstairs to charge the stupid switch. 

As Crocodile Dundee would say, heh, that's not a boner killer...

(at 9:27)

THAT'S a boner killer!  

[Estil | 1,265]

42 minutes ago, OptOut said:

So, ass in hand, I was about to hand over the cash when I was like, wait, I'm a genius, I can figure this out. So, I made the ONLY rational decision and bought a Switch Lite:

Stupid Nintender, those IDIOTS! They put a FREE charger right in the box! 

Checkmate, Nintendo, you fucks. 

You mean we live in the year 2020...

Yet...

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by Estil

[fox | 1,668]

You know you can take the AC adapter out of the charging dock and pop that sucker directly into the Switch right?

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

4 minutes ago, fox said:

You know you can take the AC adapter out of the charging dock and pop that sucker directly into the Switch right?

That's what I do whenever I travel with my Switch so I don't have to worry about docking it

[Gloves | 11,794]

16 minutes ago, fox said:

You know you can take the AC adapter out of the charging dock and pop that sucker directly into the Switch right?

Optout reading this:

[OptOut | 8,889]

41 minutes ago, fox said:

You know you can take the AC adapter out of the charging dock and pop that sucker directly into the Switch right?

Two words:

Eff. ert.

You know how lazy I am, right?

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

2 minutes ago, OptOut said:

Two words:

Eff. ert.

You know how lazy I am, right?

So it took less effort to do all of this than to unplug a cable?

[OptOut | 8,889]

14 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

So it took less effort to do all of this than to unplug a cable?

One cable purchase, or 50 billion cable disconnections/reconnections... I think I know who's winning! 

In unrelated news, I have a Switch Lite for sale. Cable NOT included.

Edited September 27, 2020 by OptOut

[fox | 1,668]

21 minutes ago, OptOut said:

In unrelated news, I have a Switch Lite for sale. Cable NOT included.

But it is not yellow...

Edited September 27, 2020 by fox

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

36 minutes ago, OptOut said:

In unrelated news, I have a Switch Lite for sale. Cable NOT included.

$20, take it or leave it.

[OptOut | 8,889]

6 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

$20, take it or leave it.

You know what, on second thoughts, I'll give it to my kids for Christmas!

Of course, I'll need to buy a SECOND Switch Lite, so I can replace the charger I took from the first. That's okay though, because I have two kids, so they can have a Switch Lite each!

But... Then I'd need to buy a THIRD switch lite to replace the charger I took from the second... Man, this is getting expensive!

Hmmm... I guess I'll just throw the third Switch Lite in the garbage, and end the chain right there, problem solved!

[fcgamer | 4,729]

49 minutes ago, OptOut said:

One cable purchase, or 50 billion cable disconnections/reconnections... I think I know who's winning! 

In unrelated news, I have a Switch Lite for sale. Cable NOT included.

That better end up on my stack of goodies for our trade

[Sumez | 2,967]

I'm going to assume the whole original post was just an elaborate joke, and trying to come up with constructive suggestions are just gonna make me look dumb.

But just in case it's not - you do realise you can use any generic USB-C charger to charge a Switch right? Like, the one you're probably using to charge your phone.

[Tabonga | 2,324]

15 hours ago, OptOut said:

You know what, on second thoughts, I'll give it to my kids for Christmas!

Of course, I'll need to buy a SECOND Switch Lite, so I can replace the charger I took from the first. That's okay though, because I have two kids, so they can have a Switch Lite each!

But... Then I'd need to buy a THIRD switch lite to replace the charger I took from the second... Man, this is getting expensive!

Hmmm... I guess I'll just throw the third Switch Lite in the garbage, and end the chain right there, problem solved!

 

[Makar | 1,946]

You can also charge your switch with any USB-C charger. I have a portable power pack that works very well with my switch. Glad you found an official charger though!

[OptOut | 8,889]

@Sumez & @Makar I've heard conflicting reports as to the compatibility of 3rd party chargers with Switch. I think most are fine, but not the kind of thing I'm willing to risk, personally.

ApparentlyNintendo switch is NOT fully USB C compliant, which is super confusing seeing as they used a USB C connector, but that's just Nintendo for you, tricky bastards!

 

[Tanooki | 4,937]

20 hours ago, OptOut said:

Two words:

Eff. ert.

You know how lazy I am, right?

Probably as much as me.  It was a happy day I found one of those ac adapters at a goodwill they mistook for having nearly no value on a shelf for $2.   I keep it in my desk so I don't have to go behind my cabinet to fish out the plug it came with.

[OptOut | 8,889]

19 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Probably as much as me.  It was a happy day I found one of those ac adapters at a goodwill they mistook for having nearly no value on a shelf for $2.   I keep it in my desk so I don't have to go behind my cabinet to fish out the plug it came with.

THIS guy gets it! There could be spiders behind there, or anything! 

[Deadeye | 1,596]

8 hours ago, OptOut said:

Apparently Nintendo switch is NOT fully USB C compliant, which is super confusing seeing as they used a USB C connector, but that's just Nintendo for you, tricky bastards!

That is what I recall as well.  It it not just Nintendo that did this.  For a period of time it was the wild west where the laws of USB-C / 3.1 were not set in stone.  So you had companies doing different things. 

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

On 9/27/2020 at 4:03 AM, OptOut said:

You know what, on second thoughts, I'll give it to my kids for Christmas!

Of course, I'll need to buy a SECOND Switch Lite, so I can replace the charger I took from the first. That's okay though, because I have two kids, so they can have a Switch Lite each!

But... Then I'd need to buy a THIRD switch lite to replace the charger I took from the second... Man, this is getting expensive!

Hmmm... I guess I'll just throw the third Switch Lite in the garbage, and end the chain right there, problem solved!

Nah, give each kid a Switch Lite, then have them share a charger.   Switch-ception ended!

Also, I was very happy to find an official used charger at Gamestop for 10 bucks a while back.

[RH | 4,918]

You know, it's because of the bricking issues and Nintendo's mistaken engineering that I've wanted a second dock.  I mean, I could go the charger route, but with a second dock, I can hook it up to a monitor in my office and I can play at work, in the living room with the kids or in bed.

 

[Deadeye | 1,596]

46 minutes ago, RH said:

Nintendo's mistaken engineering

I don't want to go on the side of a big corporation, but I don't think it is that cut a dry.  The standards were not fully set by USB.  Bricking of other devices, like phones, were happening in the beginning of USB-C before the standards were finalized.  There were websites just documenting what cables work with which devices.  I haven't stayed up to date with what happened going forward.  If bricking is still any issue with these devices.

For a second dock, I did go with a third party one, but one that was tested.  It wasn't cheaper, but was portable.  GENKI.  I backed it on KS, which was discounted to $59.

[RH | 4,918]

10 minutes ago, Deadeye said:

I don't want to go on the side of a big corporation, but I don't think it is that cut a dry.  The standards were not fully set by USB.  Bricking of other devices, like phones, were happening in the beginning of USB-C before the standards were finalized.  There were websites just documenting what cables work with which devices.  I haven't stayed up to date with what happened going forward.  If bricking is still any issue with these devices.

For a second dock, I did go with a third party one, but one that was tested.  It wasn't cheaper, but was portable.  GENKI.  I backed it on KS, which was discounted to $59.

Thanks for the info.  Knowing you're a homebrewer (read, have technical expertise), I'm sure you are correct and trust you in sourcing your... sources.

Anyway, the last I had read/heard was after the headlines broke about third party docks bricking Switches was that Nintendo made a "minor flaw" in the design that sort of had the resistance on the power line was within spec, but at the higher end or lower end of what was allowed. Meaning, more cheaply made devices could be within spec, but not within the proper range required for the Switch.  But, maybe someone did the research to test what was going on and assumed the reasons.

If the spec wasn't nailed down, I think it kind of sucks that Nintendo decided to keep the power outlet.  I mean, it's kind of your fault, regardless, if you include a port on a device that is "universal" but the device doesn't really function that way in such a critical manner.   I can imagine that Nintendo wanted to "play nice" by using a universal port, rather than a priority one, but getting so close to the end, and seeing that the spec wasn't finalized, they should have made some slight modification to the outlet shape and made it OEM.  Of course, people would have probably cried fowl even louder, so maybe not. Regardless, it still feels like the fault falls on Nintendo for releasing a product with a universal port that isn't truly universal.  I just think they should have had a plan-B.