USB Desk Lights

[Doug Siddons]

Seeing as a USB port is now quite common on a lot of desks, are there any issues to be aware of if one was to use a USB LED light powerd from the port, I have found a 12 led lamp on a gooseneck for laptops which would seem to be ideal.

[MarkPAman]

Would depend on how much current (and therefore power) is available from the USB socket. I would imagine this will depend on the desk in question.

 

I keep a couple of these in my case & find the batteries last ages. I can use them with any desk.

[back_ache]

The amount of current a USB port provides is part of the USB standard, so as long as the manufacturers are playing nice and sticking to the standard there is no reason that something that can be powered off a PC USB port cannot be powered by a desks USB port

 

Off the top of my head I think it will a minimum of 100 mA

[timsabre]

The amount of current a USB port provides is part of the USB standard, so as long as the manufacturers are playing nice and sticking to the standard there is no reason that something that can be powered off a PC USB port cannot be powered by a desks USB port

 

Off the top of my head I think it will a minimum of 100 mA

 

It's a maximum of 100mA for a "dumb" device like a light, if it is an active USB device it can specify that it is a "high power device" to the host during handshaking, which allows it to have up to 500mA.

[ramdram]

Or, you could try these (slightly OT ref supply) and for those who read the posts about the line of LED lights go anywhere desk lamp:

 

http://www.toolsdiy.co.uk/shop/view/electr...function-light/

 

I bought some from TRAGO MILLS (three branches in West Country; Liskeard, Falmouth and Newton Abbot):

 

http://www.trago.co.uk/

 

At £5.69 inc batts you cannot go wrong.

 

The base can be used for transverse/on end mounting of the tube bit. The base comes with keyhole slot, magnet or velcro type pads (even stick it on your jumper.)

[TimmyP1955]

I keep a couple of these in my case & find the batteries last ages. I can use them with any desk.

 

We have several of the duals. I'm a bit disappointed with the goosenecks, but the light heads are quite good. Given the price, you can't go wrong.

[Bobbsy]

From memory, the USB standard specifies a maximum draw of 500ma. I recall that the earliest BT-issue ADSL modem was USB powered and tried to draw slightly over this amount, causing problems on many systems.

 

As for USB powered lights, there should be no big technical problem with this...my son has a USB lamp he uses with his lap top and it draws well under the maximum. However, I see an operational issue--when mixers have USB ports I tend to use them for the intended purpose: memory sticks with setup files, music playback, etc.

 

Bob