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Have you ever traveled for business or taken a vacation and forgot to bring along the charger for your smartphone or tablet?
Yeah, me too. And it’s really frustrating.
A while back I wrote a post on my tech blog explaining how you can usually borrow a charger from the “Lost & Found” box at the hotel’s front desk, but now there’s an even easier way to charge your devices after leaving your charger at home…
Simply plug it into the TV in your hotel room.
These days most of the TVs in hotel rooms are equipped with USB ports. (There are still a few hotels around that still have older TVs that don’t have USB ports, but that’s quickly changing.)
And guess what? A TV’s USB port will charge the battery in a smartphone or tablet just as easily as the ones in your computer will.
Of course you’ll need a charging cable for this to work, but chances are you’ll have one in your laptop bag or suitcase.
If you don’t happen to have a charging cable you can always either borrow one from the front desk or buy one at the nearest store for just a few bucks.
That’s a great solution because a charging cable will cost a lot less than a replacement charger.
By the way, situations like this are why it’s a good idea to always carry a spare USB charging cable in your laptop bag or luggage. Just sayin’.
Bottom line: There’s no use spending your money on a replacement charger if you don’t have to. Simply use the TV in your hotel room as a charger instead.
And now, to finish up, here’s a fantastic short video that shows where you’ll usually find the USB port on a hotel room TV. Check it out.
Note: As always, you can watch the video at full screen by clicking the “square” icon in the lower-right corner of the video after it begins playing.