And then when the USB port on your laptop blows from overcurrent....
My desktop is rather old by many standards, but one thing they pointed out in the manual is that ONE of the USB front panel connections has a significantly higher current limit than the standard, to use for charging. It seems to work, if the device plugged in properly negotiates - a standard USB port won;t really charge my iPad if it's powered on, but this one special port does. Luckily the case I used has different colors for the two front ports so it was easy to tell
Use a port configured for high power charging, or use a proper charger, this bunk is potentially dangerous for your machine. I guess it's not complete bullshit, it will do what it says, but if plugged in to a port not designed to handle the above spec charging levels, you're just asking for trouble.