Measuring mains/car charger output - General Accessories

I bought a 1000ma car charger off ebay, but it only seems to charge my phone very very slowly. I know it will be using a lot of power as the gps, screen etc is running, but i do the same at home with a charger that I know works and the battery % still goes up.
I also bought a 1000ma official HTC mains charger off ebay and it doesnt seem to charge my phone at all. (I've got a refund for this charger).
Is there an app that tells me how much current my phone is drawing from its external power source? Then I can test a charger as soon as I buy it off ebay, and if it doesnt do as advertised ill ask for my money back straight away!
Or is there a way to do it manually? I have a multimeter.

I also am very interested in this, as I have several car -> USB converters that do not state their output. It would be nice to know which one(s) are going to be the best for my usage.
I have a brother-in-law that is an EE, and I'll be seeing him this evening. I'll pick his brain and post back whatever I can find out...

You should be able to do it (somewhat) easily using your multimeter if you don't mind stripping a wire or two. You basically just connect the leads across some kind of load (you could try to leave it plugged into your phone, but may want to try something else) and then use the multimeter's probes to measure the current across the load.

Related

Shocking Battery Story..

I've just driven over 400 miles...
I was using my Desire with Co Pilot to navigate me from Scotland to Bristol...
The phone was in my phone holder which is placed in the cigarette lighter so the phone can apparently be charged at the same time as being held...
The phone showed that it was "charging" and yet it still ran out of power....
That's right.. the CHARGING phone RAN OUT of power and switched off!!!!!!! TWICE!!!!!!!!
Has anyone else experienced this? I can't imagine that this phone uses more power than the charge being applied?!
I used my Desire as GPS (with Copilot) the phone had 70% - 80% battery and after sometime it actually charged to 100%. Maybe there is some malfunction in your car charger or just not making a good contact in cigarette lighter plug. Check if charger's led lights all the time.
car chargers trickle charge so they prob couldn't keep up with the demands of CoPilot on the phone
EddyOS said:
car chargers trickle charge so they prob couldn't keep up with the demands of CoPilot on the phone
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Click to collapse
You need to ensure that the car charger is rated at 1AMP at 5V otherwise it will as stated only trickle charge. I've heard this story on other devices. Do you have a genuine HTC charger?
Also if the device gets to warm, it will stop charging in order to avoid damage.
Thanks for the reply guys!
No, it's not a geniune one... I tried 2 different ones, both the universal holder/chargers from Mobile Fun..
So far they've both been fantastic until this little phone came along...!
Connections have been fine, which is the strange thing..
It did get hot though, so you may be right Ardsar... Any way of keeping it cooled?
Buy OEM...
http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=...ient=firefox-a&price2=15.00&show=dd&scoring=p
Always best as you know that it'll work...
i have had the same problem plugging it into my computer and using it at the same time killed it.
charmz2k2 said:
I've just driven over 400 miles...
I was using my Desire with Co Pilot to navigate me from Scotland to Bristol...
The phone was in my phone holder which is placed in the cigarette lighter so the phone can apparently be charged at the same time as being held...
The phone showed that it was "charging" and yet it still ran out of power....
That's right.. the CHARGING phone RAN OUT of power and switched off!!!!!!! TWICE!!!!!!!!
Has anyone else experienced this? I can't imagine that this phone uses more power than the charge being applied?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
me
http: //forum.xda-developers. com/showpost.php?p=6075788&postcount=11
http: //forum.xda-developers .com/showthread.php?t= 658338 (delete the spaces)
Same as what others say as well. Your car charger doesn't supply enough amps to keep up.
Ofcourse it gets really hot, navigation is one of the most heavy thing you can do on the phone. And while doing that you charge it at the same time in perhaps a warm car as well.
But, get a 1A charger, not a 500mah like most are.
Same goes for hooking it on the computer, the usb port might not give enough power so the phone can drain itself when doing real heavy stuff.
Plugging something in does not guarantee it will work, you have to know what you plug in
casualt said:
i have had the same problem plugging it into my computer and using it at the same time killed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course you will - USB ports can only supply upto 500mA if you have nothing else connected to the USB HOst.
Same story for me.
I got a 550 mA car charger, and battery wasn't charging but slowly discharging (about 5-10% per hour) with navi+HDSPA.
Thought, well, 550 mA is not enough, let's see the plug charger from Desire box: that's 1000 mA. Let's go get a 1A car charger.
Got this www . p4c.philips. com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=DLM2206/10&slg=it&scy=IT (saw off spaces) which is rated 5V-1A.
Plugged in, started navigating+HDSPA for satellite layer, and still wasn't charging but discharging at a rate of about 4% per hour.
I'm really annoyed 'bout this, I spent 20+15€ for both chargers, I do not want to spend another 25€ for OEM charger....it's unbelivable that I'd finish to buy 60€ of chargers to find out one that do not let battery deplete.
As a final test, I'll try a different cable from original HTC sync cable included in the box...let's see.
EddyOS said:
Buy OEM...
http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=...ient=firefox-a&price2=15.00&show=dd&scoring=p
Always best as you know that it'll work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can anyone who has used this confirm it will manage to charge fully even while the Desire is running a satnav program?
Why don't you plug in your normal charger and start running a navigation demo or something.
Not sure if that uses as much energy, but I think it most probably will. The original charger outputs 1A.
If the socket charger does the job, but not the car charger (read: you can also run a navigation demo in the car using that charger) your car charger might not be supplying enough energy as it should.
Or you can use a multimeter and see how many amps it outputs. But the pins are a bit smallish
Tried with another cable (not the original sync one) with just power wires connected, same story: I'll try with the original wall plug charger and see if it does the same or not, as both the Philips charger and the original HTC wall charger are rated 5V-1A
It does get very hot. I used my gps for 9 hours in a row and at the end it got too hot or something and the phone just rebooted.
Still It wasn't because the battery had run out of juice it was still good.
Also it was streaming music over bluetooth at the same time.
Used Nav for 1 hour this morning on the way to work while charging from the official HTC car charger. Phone now sat on my desk, battery reporting 100%.
The phone did get pretty hot though...
FlatEric83 said:
Same story for me.
I got a 550 mA car charger, and battery wasn't charging but slowly discharging (about 5-10% per hour) with navi+HDSPA.
Thought, well, 550 mA is not enough, let's see the plug charger from Desire box: that's 1000 mA. Let's go get a 1A car charger.
Got this www . p4c.philips. com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=DLM2206/10&slg=it&scy=IT (saw off spaces) which is rated 5V-1A.
Plugged in, started navigating+HDSPA for satellite layer, and still wasn't charging but discharging at a rate of about 4% per hour.
I'm really annoyed 'bout this, I spent 20+15€ for both chargers, I do not want to spend another 25€ for OEM charger....it's unbelivable that I'd finish to buy 60€ of chargers to find out one that do not let battery deplete.
As a final test, I'll try a different cable from original HTC sync cable included in the box...let's see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, not all chargers are equal. I believe that HTC devices need a combination of pins to be connected on the USB port to "tell" the phone that it's connected to a real charger and not a USB port, otherwise the phone will only pull 0.5A, regardless of the output capacity of the charger.
This always used to apply to older HTC phones, and I can't see why they'd change it, so it's quite possible that your 1A Philips charger will not charge the same as my 1A HTC charger...
If in doubt, OEM
daern said:
FYI, not all chargers are equal. I believe that HTC devices need a combination of pins to be connected on the USB port to "tell" the phone that it's connected to a real charger and not a USB port, otherwise the phone will only pull 0.5A, regardless of the output capacity of the charger.
This always used to apply to older HTC phones, and I can't see why they'd change it, so it's quite possible that your 1A Philips charger will not charge the same as my 1A HTC charger...
If in doubt, OEM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I thought, as I imagined that: I hoped that another cable I have, which has USB on one side and a 2 poles connector on the other side on which you connect various connectors, would be recognized by Desire as being a pure power cable. I wasn't lucky.
Since OEM is out for 25€, I tried with non OEM before to save some, but till now I buyed 35€ worth chargers, I'd have to stick with OEM
But now I'm really reluctant on getting OEM, since I do not want to end with spending 60€ in order to have my phone charged while navigating....I'll try to tinker some, and if I'll find out how, I'll report
I had the same problem by using a 1.5A car charger which is working great with iPhone.
As for the PC USB charge... are you sure it can't output 1A to charge the device??
JapanLover said:
I had the same problem by using a 1.5A car charger which is working great with iPhone.
As for the PC USB charge... are you sure it can't output 1A to charge the device??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
USB2 specs do say that ports shall provide max 500 mA, ehnce motherboards have this limit.
BTW, here's a discussion I've found about the "cable" problem
forum.xda-developers. com/archive/index.php/t-643808.html
For HD2 (which is actually the model to which HTC CC C200 is dedicated)
I'll try to tinker with some cheap cable and see if this works.

Brodit active car holder won't charge the S2

Hey guys,
I got my brodit active car holder now for a few days and it seems it doesn't supply enough juice to the S2 while in use :-(
While navigating with navigon, it even loses charge, though it's connected .... that's really disapointing, since brodit normally supplies quality products.
Anyone else got the brodit active holder with the same problems?
boba
Not got the Brodit, but I have the same problem when using CoPilot and charging via the USB cable attached to a car charger. It can keep the charge at current level with CoPilot on, but will only charge with CoPilot off.
Also noticed if SII has less than 50% charge, it won't charge at all with CoPilot on.
Taking a punt on one of these to see if it makes a difference:
http://www.buyincoins.com/details/d...-for-ipad-iphone-4g-ipod-2a-product-2748.html
Which holder do you have exactly? Can you make a photo?
Does it toggle car dock in the S2? You can see a steering wheel in notification bar.
ALexander
I was thinking exactly the same thing this lunchtime. I have the cigarete lighter active Brodit mount and - if i makes any difference - a 2004 Vauxhall Astra H. I as wondering if I would have to turn off the nice things [like satellite view, etc] on the phone for it to survive the journey. Not happy.
boba23 said:
Well I don't know the exact reason yet, but it seems the S2 doesn't accept enough juice from the charger,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the S2 in USB AC Mode?
Take a look here: Einstellungen - Telefoninfo - Status
Yesterday I modified a Brodit active car holder from the good old htc HD2 to fit the S2. Now I have fast charging (AC) and Car-Mode.
I currently own some chargers. Not the original one, well the UK Version with no use in Austria.
A 1A HTC Charger with USB socket, a 450mA noname charger with USB socket and a no name car charger with micro usb.
The car charger and the HTC charger show charging(AC) whilst the noname 450mA charger shows charging(USB)...
It would be interesting to measure the exact mA taken by the phone...
ALexander
CurrentWidget doesn't work...
ALexander
Hi all,
Okay, I've now tried four different chargers, and I've also had the phone replaced. Today, in a last attempt, I bought an official Samsung charger.
NONE of them work - even though the phone says "charging on AC" for all of them.
The only thing I haven't tried is a different car (which I'm going to do, once my neighbour gets home).
The one sensible suggestion I've read is that Samsung have screwed up somewhere in software and the phone can't draw enough juice.
Electronics is beyond my little brain, so I don't get why the GS2 charges from my netbook (even when it's only on battery) but won't charge in the car.
And I'm not talking when I'm using satnav. It won't charge at all. In fact (weirdly) it actually DISCHARGES much faster than it does if it's just sitting in my pocket.
I've logged this with my provider (Voda UK), because I refuse to get stuck with a useless phone for the next 18 months if this isn't sorted out. It's ludicrous. If I can't charge the phone in the car it's as good as useless to me.
UPDATE:
Okay, I just tried my neighbour's car (Vauxhall Astra) and the GS2 charged perfectly. 3% in four minutes. Pretty much what I get off the mains charger.
I wish I knew about electrics but I don't. Explanations will have to come from the boffins round here.
I tell you what, though. I don't really want to get a new car just to use my phone properly
Do you have any chsrger with a led?
If the led stays dark the cigarette lighgter of your car might need a new fuse.
Which car?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Ive ordered one of these mounts and will report how it behaves in my 2008 Civic
barneypooch said:
UPDATE:
Okay, I just tried my neighbour's car (Vauxhall Astra) and the GS2 charged perfectly. 3% in four minutes. Pretty much what I get off the mains charger.
I wish I knew about electrics but I don't. Explanations will have to come from the boffins round here.
I tell you what, though. I don't really want to get a new car just to use my phone properly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might be able to change to a higher amp fuse in your car fusebox.
eddablin said:
You might be able to change to a higher amp fuse in your car fusebox.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROFL!! Genius!
Brodit mount arrived and looks great. Fit and design excellent and seems to charge as I would want.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
So what charger do you guys advice? Which charger does charge the phone, even while navigating with Navigon?
I got the Brodit active charger (BR512...), there isn't a problem with charging at all.
I think the issue you got is really car related. My guess:
a) your cigarette lighter port is poorly wired -> Measure voltage at the port with a voltmeter, it should be at least 12V DC (Edit: Even if it does there is still the possibility that your wiring is bad, showing 12V doesn't mean it can handle the current this charger needs)
b) your cigarette lighter port doesn't make a good contact to the brodit plug. Check for corrosion of the contacts, dust, dirt, etc. Some ports go bad after lots of plug in / out cycles.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about here, I'm pretty sure every car mechanic can fix your problem for a small amount of money
Edit: it's very possible this plug works with other chargers and phones and still fails with the S2 charger. The reason for this is the different ways chargers convert the car's 12V DC into 5V DC. Some might work down to 7V input, some already **** up at 11.8V
I have the same problem with my GSII trying to charge it with my 12V Ipod adapter...
I just arrive from a short travel with my Citroën Xsara and i almost got lost cose the phone discharged all the time while using IGO on the phone...
I don't think this is car related because there are so many people with different cars having this problem... so... Samsung wants me to buy a new car to be able to use their phone in travels?
Hi guys, just thought I'd try to clear up a few of things:
1. All phones can use more power than they can draw. Note that the more apps you use, the more juice you draw depending on their features.
2. Not all CLAs are the same. Most modern devices will need 2amps, but the majority of CLAs on the market are 1 - 1.2amp units.
3. Your device will stop charging if it reaches a certain temperature, without giving you any further indication that it is too hot. This is a common scenario if you've got a phone on the dash giving guidance, with the sun rays beating a back. And yes this does mean dedicated satnav devices have a greater operational temperature range than phones, usually a 15-20 degree difference (celcius).
4. If the CLA is being tripped out due to poor isolation (a lot of cars suffer from this) it will also stop charging.
5. In general terms, the lower the battery level of the device, the more juice it pulls. This is why you may find you ha email no problems getting a small charge when you start with a battery at 85%, but your phone dies if the battery is 50% or less.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
OK, I have no idea what the problem is. I have a Brodit active charger (the cig-plug version) for my Galaxy SII. It's not charging my phone AT ALL. There is no sound, nothing displayed on my phone when I connect it. I have the charger led (blue light) on, so I know it's working.
Things I have tried so far:
1. Asked for a replacement from Brodit. Got it, no difference.
2. Tried with a different car (I have a BMW, my wife a brand new Toyota Auris) - doesn't charge it either.
3. Tried a different no-name universal charger - it works perfectly well, the phone is charging as expected. Other things like the GPS device also work fine.
4. Tried a different kernel and ROM on my phone, still no success.
Any suggestions are welcome.
LazyPawn said:
OK, I have no idea what the problem is. I have a Brodit active charger (the cig-plug version) for my Galaxy SII. It's not charging my phone AT ALL. There is no sound, nothing displayed on my phone when I connect it. I have the charger led (blue light) on, so I know it's working.
Things I have tried so far:
1. Asked for a replacement from Brodit. Got it, no difference.
2. Tried with a different car (I have a BMW, my wife a brand new Toyota Auris) - doesn't charge it either.
3. Tried a different no-name universal charger - it works perfectly well, the phone is charging as expected. Other things like the GPS device also work fine.
4. Tried a different kernel and ROM on my phone, still no success.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats strange, in the first place i thought a faulty micro-usb or charger. But you got it replaced so can't be the problem.
I have a brodit with charger too, but i use it in a different way, meaning i can remove my holder and unplug it without unplugging my charger. ( near my holder i have a small connector that i can unplug).
What i did is cutting the cable from the charger and i did put a male usb port on it ( regular male usb port) and i have a Belkin charger with a usb port, this charger deliver 1A charging current and charge my phone even when i use my navigation. ( with bluetooth and gps on).
Your phones micro-usb seems to be fine too because it charge with other brands of chargers.
Your BMW delivers enough power i guess at your cigarette lighter plug, because it doesn't charge at the Toyota either and both not delivering enough power would be coincidence.
Anyway mine works perfect the way i did it and if i can remember it worked too with my original plug attached too. ( though the original one doesn't provide enough power sometimes to keep it charged while using navigation).
The only thing i can think of is that there is some stress-pressure on your connection between phone and holder connection and that one pin isn't connected properly, with the universal charger you only plug the micro-usb plug in your phone and the micro-usb plug can adjust freely to your phones micro-usb port.
Try to wiggle a bit with your phone when in the holder and see if the power comes on. Or try to connect a little device on your holders micro-usb port ( if you have something small that charge over micro-usb) and see if that works.

Car Charger Spec Query

i am looking for a decent [working, cheap and quick charging] car charger.
I know I'll need at least a 1amp [right?] however i have seen a few that charger at 1amp and 2.1amp
is it going to ruin my battery if i use 2.1amp?
anyone found and goodies out there?
thanks
I second this request, i've got a few generic car chargers from older gear that i've tried with the galaxy nexus. So far they all come up as charging via usb, and so the phone loses power when the navigation/bluetooth/etc/etc is all on. I understand the power requirements, and looked into the data-cable soldering malarkey solution, but my soldering skills in the "fire hazard" class at best so i'd much rather an off the shelf solution.
I'd be very grateful if anyone could point out a car charger that they know/strongly suspect works fine.
Cheers
so the same car charger i've been using for my nexus one for navigation won't work with the GNex?
grizlore said:
is it going to ruin my battery if i use 2.1amp?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, but it won't charge the battery faster either.
More amps is fine. Your phone will only pull what it needs, even if more amps are available.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Also be aware that even though some car chargers state they can supply >1A current, some phones (like my Nexus One and Galaxy Nexus) will not recognize it as a high speed charger.
Smartphones and other devices check to see if the data pins (D+ and D-) are shorted or have a specific resistance before activating high-speed mode since normal USB data specifications say that devices should only pull <500mA from the port.
I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002IW79ZC/?tag=68656c7064757-20, which is supposed to supply 1A, but I when I plug my phone in with a normal USB micro cable, it says it's charging through "USB" vs "AC", where "AC" is the high-speed charging.
I've made a hacked cable adapter, though, which has the data pins shorted. When I use this with the car adapter, it charges at full speed. You should check to be sure that your phone is fully utilizing the charger by going into the Settings > Battery menu.
Hi all,
I thought I'd share how I've gotten on. There's a 2.1a charger that maplins sell that I thought might do it, but alas no - still comes up as "Charging(USB)". I know taFFer solved the problem with a little solder, and a lot of forum threads also suggest the same fix, but the last time I picked up a soldering iron actually ended with a trip to A&E (long, embarrassing, story) so I was still keen to find an off the shelf solution.
Anyway, after reading a lot more forums, I found a few different people recommending the same motorola charger. Amazon UK sell it, so I stuck in an order. Details below:
MOTOROLA P513 MICRO USB IN CAR CHARGER, £5.45*
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
*above item(s) sold by and shipped from Keep Talking
It arrived today and sure enough simply plugging it into the car results in it appearing as Charging(AC). I've not gone on a long enough drive to know about charging speed when gps/bluetooth/etc is all going, but if anyone else is after a cheap car charger that just works without hacking your own cable I think this is the one.
Cheers
***EDIT***
After criss-crossing the country over the xmas period i can tell you this charger is working fine for me. Even when using all the gps, bluetooth, screen on, etc that i can muster (while still driving straight!) the phone gains power and would often come out the car more charged than when it went in. The charger has one annoyance - they've built in a blue led to the charger which is lit up the whole time the thing is plugged in and thats kind of distracting, i don't really know what they were thinking with that, but otherwise i've no complaints.
nexuskettle said:
Hi all,
I thought I'd share how I've gotten on. There's a 2.1a charger that maplins sell that I thought might do it, but alas no - still comes up as "Charging(USB)". I know taFFer solved the problem with a little solder, and a lot of forum threads also suggest the same fix, but the last time I picked up a soldering iron actually ended with a trip to A&E (long, embarrassing, story) so I was still keen to find an off the shelf solution.
Anyway, after reading a lot more forums, I found a few different people recommending the same motorola charger. Amazon UK sell it, so I stuck in an order. Details below:
MOTOROLA P513 MICRO USB IN CAR CHARGER, £5.45*
*above item(s) sold by and shipped from Keep Talking
It arrived today and sure enough simply plugging it into the car results in it appearing as Charging(AC). I've not gone on a long enough drive to know about charging speed when gps/bluetooth/etc is all going, but if anyone else is after a cheap car charger that just works without hacking your own cable I think this is the one.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the news mate. I'll be getting one soon! Will you be able to post again when you find out how the charger works with gps etc. Thank you!
Anyone know if this charger works with the galaxy nexus (detected as AC?)
http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-Dual-Charger-iPhone-Players/dp/B000RYSU7O/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
nomisunrider said:
Anyone know if this charger works with the galaxy nexus (detected as AC?)
http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-Dual-Charger-iPhone-Players/dp/B000RYSU7O/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For optimal charging, you need 1000mAh output. How much does this charger output?

Solution for Nitro HD car charger problem

Hello all. New member to your forum but a Senior techie here. For anyone having the issue with the car charger not keeping up with the discharge of the battery, the problem is that car chargers make the Nitro think it is plugged into a PC's USB port. When this happens, the internal regulator only allows about half of the chargers current to charge the battery. The AC wall charger has pins 2&3 shorted which tells the Nitro it's plugged into an AC charger and allow full current from the charger.
I have a USB cable adapter I made with pins 2&3 shorted that I tested and have the results in the below images. With the Nitro plugged directly into the car charger without my custom adapter (pins 2&3 shorted) you can see in the first image the battery status is listed as "Charging (USB)". Doing nothing more than keeping the screen on for 5 minutes, you can see in the second image, that the battery charger was not able to raise the battery level at all from 39%. I then plugged in my shorted adapter between the phone and the same car charger and the battery status changed to "Charging (AC)" as you can see in the third image. I performed the same test and this time the same car charger was able to raise the battery from 39% to 43% in 5 minutes, again with the screen kept on as shown in the fourth image.
There are threads on this board under other phones about the USB Car charging issue and how to make a shorted cable. I would however recommend taking an extra cable and soldering together the conductors for pins 2&3 (usually white and green) instead of just using a piece of foil as others have done in the past. Just remember, the shorted cable can only be used for charging, not data syncing. Happy modding...
Hey guys, I know this is kind of a dead thread, but...
Can anyone confirm that the cable at:
(mobile.brando.com/brando-workshop-usb-to-micro-usb-cable_p04980c0704d003.html)
will work to "A/C" charge my nitro HD. It seems from looking around on the forums that it will, but I have never seen a confirmation.
Here's another option too... Name brand (Motorola) vehicle rapid-charger for only $5 !!!
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi...CA/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1323890013&sr=8-14
Rated at 950mA and there's customer review confirmation that this charger will show up as "Charging A/C". I just bought 2.
Thanks Namuna - you've been popping up all over this forum huh!
Anyway, I decided to go with the brando cable. I really hope it works as expected, otherwise I'll be using a janky electrical-taped hacked up wire. Or order a mini-micro adapter...
That Brando cable looks fine, I'd be all over it too if it were cheaper.
As to be being all over this Forum?...HELL YEAH! I like backing the sleeper/underdog. When the Nexus One first came out by no means was it a "hit", but it sure as hell was a sleeper/underdog! Now though, the Galaxy Nexus is going to be the me-too phone so I didn't go that route.
The upside of the brando cable is that it has a switch to make it a data cable or a charging cable. So I can keep it with me and decide to either charge slowly or quickly.
red_solo_cup said:
The upside of the brando cable is that it has a switch to make it a data cable or a charging cable. So I can keep it with me and decide to either charge slowly or quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't forget, the cable can only put through, what the adapter it's plugged into provides. If the adapter is rated =<500mA output then the extra features of the cable are a moot point.
I had the Car Dock for my Nexus One, that monster was rated at 2A! Believe me when I say that phone got HOT when you were doing Nav with it plugged it!...Now THAT'S a rapid charger! A 10min ride to the store (while phone idle, screen off) and that thing would top-off my phone that was at 75%.
I have this car USB adapter.
The top port is rated at 2.1 amps so as to be able to charge an Ipad.
I'm prepared
Nice find red_solo_cup.
I gotta get me one of those
My phone battery usually lasts till the evening and dies while driving back from work lol.

Car Charger

I bought the below car charger because the cheap generic one I had from an old phone couldn't keep up with the drain from the screen when running sat nav.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290627400358?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
This also doesn't work, it loses a percent of charge every 10 minutes or so, while I'm aware this isn't alot and I can probably get anywhere in the UK on a full charge, the fact is I want my phone to actually be charging while it's plugged in as I don't always have a full charge and I may need it topping up on my journey in case I don't have another charging opportunity for a while.
I cannot find another genuine samsung product that claims to be compatible with the s2 (indeed the above "genuine" charger doesn't appear on Samsung's website.) There is one on their site (P10CBE In-Car Charger) however it claims to be only compatible with the galaxy tab. While I know it simply has a USB socket for use with any data cable, I'm worried it may damage the phone if rated too high in amps (700mA to 2A is a big jump.)
So I have 3 questions...
1) Is the tab charger safe to use, and does anyone else have this and can confirm it can keep up with the screen permanently on with google navigation running.
2) Can anyone suggest another brand that they have experience with it definitely keeping up with the charge on a galaxy s2, running screen etc.
3) I quite like the look of the official Samsung car mount, can anyone confirm if the charger included with this can keep up etc (also if you know what ampage it's rated to as I can't find this info on the product data.)
Many thanks if you take the time to reply to this, a bit lengthy I know.
lancemate
Use siyah's kernel to increase the charging current, how high you can go is anyones guess. Stock kernel supply's 450mA when plugged into a usb port and 650mA when plugged into a charger, i set mine to 800mA for both and all seems fine so far.
I have used a motorola car charger and this has actually worked better that the original samsung car charger, charges faster, and has a cool blue light. since the micro-usb is non-proprietary, you have lots of options.
Using an Official charger, better than those cheap ones that fail to keep the battery topped up while using the phone as a satnav.
I have a Sony Ericsson Original AN401 Compact Car Charger and it charges when using satnav.
The main problem with the cheap adapters is the output current, it tends to be too low for GPS. Make sure it is regulated & 750mah or higher.

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