Simple, elegant, portable and cheap

http://www.unscrambled.org/org.....-chargers/

1 shadow box shelf
2 styrofoam
3 fabric (cloth store scraps)
4 surge switch

Cut the styrofoam to fit snugly into the inside of the shadowbox. Glue fabric onto the styrofoam. Stick the strofoam in the front of the box and the switch in the back, and snake the cords through. It works best if its sitting against a wall, but you can hang it if you want.

And it’s a nice conversation piece ’cause most guests have never seen it before. Sure I could have crammed a power-bar into a breadbox, or some other container, but then I’d have to find a place out of sight for the ugly thing. Also, the plastic the Multipot is made of isn’t as flamable as the paper boxes that are used in the projects in the linked pages. That’s just asking for trouble.

At my “landing strip” by the front door, I have another charging station. I drilled a hole in the back of a credenza and put a power strip inside, then devoted a shelf to the power strip and all the charger bricks. (It’s adequately ventilated.) I need to drill another hole so I can run the charger plugs up to the top of the credenza, which will prevent me from leaving the house without my phone when it’s on the charger.

You can make nearly any desk, credenza, or bookcase into a charging station. Just make sure to position the power strip so that’s it’s easy to flip the switch when nothing is charging.

Always have a backup charger (the original) — sometimes it lives at the office, as it does for my cellphone.

Only have one cord (a little box with all my tips in it is nearby) to manage.

Makes it very easy to travel with my devices, because I only have to carry one bulky transformer for all the little stuff.

For another $20, the car charger takes all the same tips, meaning I can charge any of my portables while driving.

When I buy a new device, the outlay to get it on the iGo is just a tip at about $10, and that also enables the car charging.

– Disadvantages:

Doesn’t solve trying to charge multiple devices at once. It doesn’t bother me, but might be a deal-breaker for some.

High-draw devices (like notebook PCs) require a much more expensive setup that isn’t worth it unless you have several of those devices. You’ll have an extra cord and transformer regardless.

Some tips do wear out (the iPod tip is a notable example), though most simple tips seem to last a good long while (+3y for me so far).

I like it because when it’s closed you can’t see the items being charged.

The other thing I would suggest is looking for adapters. Almost every device out there can be adapted to charge via USB 5-pin. This is my charging interface of choice if I can get there.

That being said, I only carry three devices that require charging: iPod (If you count the shuffle, then four devices), cell phone, and bluetooth headset. What I charge most frequently, though is my phone and headset. I charge them in the car when I think about it.

I guess this isn’t a lot of help, but I think that buying adapters or cradles for your devices and copies of your adapters (No sense removing your adapters from your charging area at home all the time.) can go a long way to relieving some of this.