It seems to me that everything functions on batteries nowadays In the past year I have seen my life upgraded: My son gave me his old IPAD and I have recently purchasesd a Sony Xperia SmartPhone.
Both come with 5v chargers which have independent USB cables. Both have the same exact ratings: Input of 110v-240v output of 5vDC 1000 MiliAmps. My question is, Are these chargers really the same, are all smartphone chargers now at 5v DC? Can I use the same charger for phones and IPAD?
No, your iPad will need a 2 amp charger.
Not if it’s an iPad mini. I can charge my iPad mini with the same small charger I use with my iPhone or I can charge it via the USB port on my PC.
The charger which came with the IPAD says 5v 1Amp. The IPAD itself measures 18.5cm X 24cm, which google says is 7.3" X 9.4". So is it a mini or a maxi?
False. It will take longer to charge with a 5W adapter, but it will work.
An article on the topic.
Basically, all USB ports can provide 5V, 500mA, but USB chargers can provide up to 2100mA. Generally, if the port fits it will work, but it might be slower normal if the charger you are using can’t provide the amperage of the “standard” charger for the device.
On-topic ignorance fighting request:
[ol]
[li]In general, it’s the device that draws a particular amount of current, and if plugged into a mainstream USB wall charger will only pull that current, whether or not the charger is rated above that amount. A higher-rated charger will generally not push or force that amount of current down the line. If the charger is rated below the device’s draw, charging will not occur or be much slower. (ignorant/accurate)[/li]
[li]In general, USB cables are fairly universal. A random, non-specialist USB cable that fits a device should be capable of carrying the requisite current irrespective of the device it was originally packaged with. (ignorant/accurate)[/li]
[li]Inserting the word ‘universal’ into a set of cable standards with many sizes and shapes and only one orientation was a good practical joke. (ignorant/accurate)[/li][/ol]
ETA: Reading article posted by leahcim while I was typing (ignorant/accurate)
What does “(ignorant/accurate)” mean?
It means you should completely darken the correct response with a number 2 pencil (I’ll be feeding the answers into a Scantron reader later today).
I don’t know how anyone could possible verify whether or not he was reading the article while typing.
Rhythmdvl, this is sergeant Sacker. Listen to me. We’ve traced the IP … it’s coming from inside the house. Now a squad car’s coming over there right now, just get out of that house!
Since I have a cold, I specifically disclaim the accuracy or value of my answers below.
This is effectively accurate. It’s possible that a charger will not provide enough current to usefully charge a device, and that the device will opt to not charge at all. But that’s a fairly rare condition these days, I believe.
I’d say this is accurate.
I’ll go with ignorant on this one…because I don’t think it was a “good” joke. 
Leap of faith - accurate. I suppose it’s possible you got up and walked away, or and thus were not actually typing.
I recently purchased this car charger with two slots, one delivers 5V, 2.4 amps, the other 1 amp.
Works great.
This may be true of USB chargers, but it’s not true of standard DC adapters, as I discovered when I plugged in what I thought was my scanner power adapter but turned out to be the adapter for a power drill. Cue loud bang and puff of smoke.
Of course not, a DC wall adapter could have any voltage rating under the sun (well, not really). However, any DC adapter marked USB must confirm to the 5V voltage rating (with a max. amp of 0,5-2,1A as noted above).
Some cheaply made electronics (like your scanner, I guess), have no over-voltage protection, no reverse polarity protection and no draw-current limiters, and will fail if any DC adapter is used that doesn’t fulfill its exact requirements, but these are thankfully growing rarer…
Please, back to my original question: Could I basically use any 5v 1 amp charger for my IPAD and phone? That is, carry only one charger on vacation, for example and use it for both apparatuses?
Relevant answer from the Apple community. Using ‘ipad iphone charger interchangeable’ in Google got several confirming answers (both of the charger and the cord), but before blowing anything up I’d repeat the search to feel comfortable on your own.
I’m going to say “yes” (if the cords fit).
Whether or not your device is going to blow up is determined by the voltage, not the current, and the voltage is uniformly 5V for USB chargers (but, as noted by Colophon not for general DC adapters).
Does Apple consistently respect non-Apple standards?
As others have said, baseline USB provides 500 mA and is compatible with pretty much everything, and some chargers can provide more than that.
The problem is that these high current modes aren’t a part of the baseline USB specification, and so the device and charger need some way to negotiate the higher current rating. This is done via some kind of resistor network involving the data lines. There are several different standards out there: the Chinese have one; there’s another semi-official USB standard; Apple has a few of their own for different power levels; Sony has their own as well; there are probably others.
It is actually possible to build a charger that supports all of these methods simultaneously, but in general there’s no guarantee that you will actually get high speed charging from a high-current charger unless it’s specifically designed for it.