Hi guys!
Last week I was shopping around at a local electronics retailer when I noticed a car charger made by TomTom for a decent price (I paid ~18 Euros).
It has two USB ports, one of whom is rated at 2.1A and the other at 1A. It also has a 12V car pass-through jack, so you can plug in another 12V device.
I saw it available at Amazon.de and .co.uk:
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-Univ...tphones/dp/tech-data/B004SH3ERC/ref=de_a_smtd
£10.89
DE: http://www.amazon.de/TomTom-High-Sp...3ERC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1327522692&sr=8-4
€18.35
I thought, you might be interested
Being a frugal shopper I've tried to scrimp on car chargers and leads and adapters for my ZTE Blade and more recently my Note and I've also spent time and effort ripping them apart to solder pins to try to encourage fast charging of my Note. While they can all charge a sleeping phone perfectly well, not one combination of bits and pieces has succeeded in keeping my Note charged while using CoPilot sat nav.
So finally I bit the bullet and bought the proper Samsung 1 Amp charger from Amazon. It was £10 with free delivery and has proved an instant hit, successfully topping up the charge in the phone while running the sat nav app. Why oh why did I not buy it sooner. It would have saved money and grief.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005ZHD6E0/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
(It's now even cheaper than when I bought it, costing just £9.80 today.)
p.s. the supplied coiled lead is quite short when tightly coiled, which can be a good thing if it doesn't need to go far, but if you have a long distance to cover it might be a problem. I haven't tried stretching it to see how far it might go as I'm happy with it as is and don't want it to go all loose and floppy.
Here is a great two output usb car charger, one of which supports high output current.. less that $10
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00470C35E/ref=oh_o03_s00_i00_details
Read the third review of that charger, by K Crawford. You may wish to reconsider.
As I stated in my previous post I have bought a couple of different "high current" car chargers and neither one will charge the Note quickly enough to maintain or increase charge while running satnav. It's all to do with the black arts involved in triggering the phone to draw the current that is potentially available. I've tried tweaking the chargers themselves (shorting the two centre pins) and also tried using the Note's supplied USB lead with them, but to no avail. A high current charger is no use if the phone refuses to draw current above the "safe" 500mA USB standard. That's the problem with many of these third party chargers, be they mains or car. I've spent more money in total on "cheap" solutions than it would have cost to buy the original item in the first place.
This looks like one of them - http://www.dealextreme.com/p/car-cigarette-powered-dual-usb-adapter-charger-for-ipod-dc-12-24v-48029
And this looks similar to the other - http://www.dealextreme.com/p/designer-s-car-cigarette-powered-dual-usb-adapter-charger-72932
Maybe they were both simply too cheap, but whatever the reason they did not meet the needs. This is why I finally caved and bought the real deal, by Samsung, and now my car charging woes are over.
tdodd said:
Being a frugal shopper I've tried to scrimp on car chargers and leads and adapters for my ZTE Blade and more recently my Note and I've also spent time and effort ripping them apart to solder pins to try to encourage fast charging of my Note. While they can all charge a sleeping phone perfectly well, not one combination of bits and pieces has succeeded in keeping my Note charged while using CoPilot sat nav.
So finally I bit the bullet and bought the proper Samsung 1 Amp charger from Amazon. It was £10 with free delivery and has proved an instant hit, successfully topping up the charge in the phone while running the sat nav app. Why oh why did I not buy it sooner. It would have saved money and grief.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005ZHD6E0/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
(It's now even cheaper than when I bought it, costing just £9.80 today.)
p.s. the supplied coiled lead is quite short when tightly coiled, which can be a good thing if it doesn't need to go far, but if you have a long distance to cover it might be a problem. I haven't tried stretching it to see how far it might go as I'm happy with it as is and don't want it to go all loose and floppy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will get you the same item in the USA.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ZHD6E0/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
kraz
Related
I'm currently using a regular usb cable to charge my phone directly from my car stereo while driving. The problem is that it takes close to an hour for the battery charge to increase 10% when I'm streaming pandora through bluetooth and using the phone's GPS. I'm assuming that the usb port in my stereo is only capable of putting out 500ma, if not less. Curious to see if anyone knows whether a DC to micro usb cable would give me a faster charge (1000ma). Thanks in advance.
BEst one ive ever used is the official palm one for the pre or pixi. Completely charges the evo from dead to full in about an hour while on the road on a call via bluetooth. Seriously good, verified a while ago on the precentral.net forums that its 1000 mA. They are only like 15 bucks at best buy, or maybe even less on amazon.
Go to amazon or google and search for 12V 1Amp USB charger and that should give you exactly what you need...I use a 1Amp charger for all my devices and works just fine...1 thing to note, that if you have time to use a 500ma charger, let it do it, a little bit slower charge will extend the life of the battery(not necessarily run time, but the length of time the battery will hold as good of a charge).
I use the one below. Works pretty great..5V/1A, exactly what you'd need. The thing says iPod, but it can be used for any USB charged device. An extra nice feature of this charger is that it sits nearly flush with the dash of your car
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Belkin+...hone/9235302.p?id=1218064404513&skuId=9235302
Link no longer works...see this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7089814&postcount=6
Cool, thanks for the responses guys. I ended up going with the palm pre charger from amazon, a little pricey at $20, but that's the best deal I could find for it. I'd rather pay a little more than get one that will crap out on me in a month. And it terms of a slower charge (500ma) being more beneficial for a longer battery lifespan, I'd rather dish out $10-$15 in 6 months or so for a new battery than to have to deal with this ridiculously slow charging time
Another option for 1A (1000mA)...
Not to resurrect a dead thread, but I think this may be useful to know:
Several other EVO forums ("fora?") have reported great success with this low-profile charger. I just got it off of amazon myself...
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Micro-Auto-Charger-5VOLT/dp/B002F0200Q/ref=sr_1_1
You can also get 1-meter cables from Blackberry themselves on Amazon for $2.50 each, so if you have Amazon Prime, gets you a flexible solution for 11 bucks or so. I have ordered mine and will report back in 2 days...
Slappy_G said:
Not to resurrect a dead thread, but I think this may be useful to know:
Several other EVO forums ("fora?") have reported great success with this low-profile charger. I just got it off of amazon myself...
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Micro-Auto-Charger-5VOLT/dp/B002F0200Q/ref=sr_1_1
You can also get 1-meter cables from Blackberry themselves on Amazon for $2.50 each, so if you have Amazon Prime, gets you a flexible solution for 11 bucks or so. I have ordered mine and will report back in 2 days...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually the same one I linked earlier minus the iPod cable and much cheaper
EDIT: Best Buy seems to have stopped carrying this product. I updated the link in my post above to Slappy_G's post
Slappy_G said:
Not to resurrect a dead thread, but I think this may be useful to know:
Several other EVO forums ("fora?") have reported great success with this low-profile charger. I just got it off of amazon myself...
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Micro-Auto-Charger-5VOLT/dp/B002F0200Q/ref=sr_1_1
You can also get 1-meter cables from Blackberry themselves on Amazon for $2.50 each, so if you have Amazon Prime, gets you a flexible solution for 11 bucks or so. I have ordered mine and will report back in 2 days...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Been using this for months on many devices and it works great.
Slappy_G said:
Not to resurrect a dead thread, but I think this may be useful to know:
Several other EVO forums ("fora?") have reported great success with this low-profile charger. I just got it off of amazon myself...
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Micro-Auto-Charger-5VOLT/dp/B002F0200Q/ref=sr_1_1
You can also get 1-meter cables from Blackberry themselves on Amazon for $2.50 each, so if you have Amazon Prime, gets you a flexible solution for 11 bucks or so. I have ordered mine and will report back in 2 days...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just ordered one from Amazon.com myself... I got it for free since I had a 10 dollar gift card that I forgot I had!!! Thanks for the link.
Do they make one with 2 USB ports? One for charging the phone and another for your Bluetooth head piece.
gottria said:
Do they make one with 2 USB ports? One for charging the phone and another for your Bluetooth head piece.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not allowed to post links yet, but you can search for Scosche to find their products. They make dual port USB chargers.
Scosche makes a couple different models, one is advertised as having 2 amps over the two ports.
On a side note, I tried buying a blackberry micro usb cable off Amazon, and it starts to charge my phone for a second or two and then stops, it's very strange. I think it might work with the home charger, but I didn't check as I didn't notice till later that the charging stopped so soon.
Doing some cleanup and checking threads I promised to respond to...
The Belkin works great, and my wife has the 2-port Scosche. However, for me, NEITHER of them show "Charging(AC)" on either of our 2 Evo's. I have tried the charger in several cars, and same result. Not sure, but I'm guessing they are putting out incrementally less than 1A.
Not sure if that keeps the phone from triggering "quick charge" mode or not.
I just got 2 HTC car chargers from ebay, sent from Hong Kong. It says o/p:5.0V-2A so im not sure if I should use them.. here is what they look like.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170511321504&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
Does anyone have a OEM car charger? I would like to know how many amps it puts out. The wall charger is 1A so will 2A kill it? I sure wouldent use it much only if needed.
I have a charger from iGo, works great and has swappable tips so you can use it with other phones or devices, think it was $15-20 with a free tip.
Slappy_G said:
Not to resurrect a dead thread, but I think this may be useful to know:
Several other EVO forums ("fora?") have reported great success with this low-profile charger. I just got it off of amazon myself...
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Micro-Auto-Charger-5VOLT/dp/B002F0200Q/ref=sr_1_1
You can also get 1-meter cables from Blackberry themselves on Amazon for $2.50 each, so if you have Amazon Prime, gets you a flexible solution for 11 bucks or so. I have ordered mine and will report back in 2 days...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can someone here confirm that this does deliver the full 1A? There is a review on Amazon from an EVO owner who says his phone sees this as USB and not AC charging.
rhconcepts said:
It says o/p:5.0V-2A so im not sure if I should use them..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were trying to draw three amps from a 2-amp capacity charger, you could damage the charger. However, a device that draws 1 amp from a 2-amp charger will draw one amp. Chargers don't push more amperage than is demanded: it's up to what the charging device is drawing. You and your device will be fine in having "too much" charger.
Thanks so much for the info. So this charger should work great then when I start using the sprint nav or google maps.
URABUS0924 said:
Can someone here confirm that this does deliver the full 1A? There is a review on Amazon from an EVO owner who says his phone sees this as USB and not AC charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just received two in the mail.
FAIL
Recognized as USB charging in my car.
plus 1 for resurrecting a dead thread
I bought an off brand one (looks about identical) in a respectable local supermarket. It claimed 1.5A.. so overspecced (and no there's nothing wrong with overspeccing, devices won't draw more power than they can handle so long as the input voltage is correct).
Like the previous poster's belkin experience, my korean SGS (shw-m110s) saw it as a usb, not ac. I took it apart and shorted the data pins together, took about 5 minutes). Then it recognized as AC and charged a little faster I think, but still at empty (the fastest time to charge normally) it charges about 1% (1.5 mAh) in 2 minutes(.033 hours).. which is just under 500mA charge rate (450 but well within the measurement error and 10% loss seems quite reasonable anyway). Anyway, sure as heck isn't able to draw 1A off of it. The wall charger which is supposedly only 700 mA charges several times faster actually! (which is probably quite safe at low charge levels, but sure seems like alot more than 700mA too me, but I didn't measure it as well).
I suspect this gizmo was never actually meant to output 1.5A (as it's not configured as a quick charger) or if it does, it only does it with large losses, and an internal voltage drop that's too excessive for the SGS to still be capable of actually pulling that much current.
Wish I knew what to buy.
I Have been using the official palm charger since June. I picked it up at sprint corporate store or radio shack. It is rated for 1 amp and come with a nice short micro usb.
If I were buying today I would go with one of the Platinum branded items Best Buys sells. I saw them for the first time last night so they must be new. So far I have purchased the Pt branded case for EVO and 2 different mounting kits. All of their stuff seems top quality. The have a 2 amp single usb and a 3 amp dual usb model that I saw.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
So T-Mobile has the MicroUSB portable charger, that can charge your phone at any given time. Anyone brought one of these yet? Interested to see if it's really worth the $34.99+tax.
I purchased iGO from Radio Shack for $24.99. The exchangeable tip is free with base unit. Subsequent tips cost from $2 to $10, but it's more economical than buying a new charger for every device; less cluttered too.
I used to use this all the time with my G1. Of course now I would need an adapter for the USB connection.
Basically I would charge this thing up. When I was expected to be away from a source of power for extended periods of time I would bring this. It basically acts as a wall charger, but instead of plugging it in you would plug your USB and call it done.
I've misplaced it since I retired my G1 otherwise I'd show you photos in use.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorola-PORTABLE-BATTERY-Charger-P790-/150478669801?pt=PDA_Accessories
Edit:
I found the original thread that started it all a long time ago.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=522405
yesucan7 said:
I purchased iGO from Radio Shack for $24.99. The exchangeable tip is free with base unit. Subsequent tips cost from $2 to $10, but it's more economical than buying a new charger for every device; less cluttered too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the whole iGo wall/car charger already.
No, this is not another "what's a good car charger."
This is simply a warning post and I have a question about car chargers.
My warning is that the car charger that I bought, started burning after using it couple of times. Now this is the first time that it has ever happened to me. The product is this ebay link. So just putting this out there for those that will search in this forum in the future.
Now, the question is (which should go in the Q&A forum, but might as well just put it in this topic). I'm pretty sure the fault is of the car charger. So for those that know a lot about chargers and cars, do you think it was the chargers fault or the cigarette port in the car's fault for burning?
I don't have another car charger to test out and want to get your opinions before buying another car charger.
Thanks
I'd guess it is the charger. The design looks very similar to this one. From the reviews and the comments the DE design doesn't have a fuse, so if something goes wrong it will go up in flames. There was one mention of it causing sparking and car fuse blowing but that was related to the long rail touching the wrong place and causing a short.
The problem with eBay is you don't really know where that part comes from. It can be overstock of a know good charger (best case), it can be rejected 2nd quality stuff w/ or w/o reworks (can be ok, but more often not - some have reported loose solder flying around in the case) or it contains inferior parts to keep the cost or basically defraud the buyer. From my observations the 500mA chargers are a well known quantity in the market and you can get good ones easily. The 1000mA are not that frequent, but becoming more popular. I have bought 5 such chargers (3 wall, 2 car) all were sub-standard designs. Luckily I just complained to the eBay seller and the game me a full or partial refund. At <$3 a piece it's not worth it to send them back.
My preference is to find a US seller (if they have been around they screen what they sell to avoid problems) or get it from dealextreme who has user reviews and a name brand for a china seller. I'm looking to get their blackberry 2A charger and maybe a couple of 1A usb one as soon as I heard back (~1-2 weeks) from someone who has bought them.
Thanks for your input. just bought a motorola charger from amazon. Hopefully I don't experience this again.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
what are some cheapo accessories to buy on eBay? Shoot!
Let's see, there's a wide variety out there. I use tons of these micro USB retractable cables:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...12124&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_3908wt_1002
I've got them at home, in the garage, in the car, at the office, etc. just about anywhere I could possibly need to connect / charge my evo. Over the years I've accumulated plenty of USB wall /or car chargers, the kind that just plug into the wall and have a USB port sticking out, so with the retractable cable I'm good to charge no matter where I am.
I picked up some super-cheap screen protectors there as well, but that was too long ago to get the link from my transaction. I think they were something like 5 protectors for $3. the protector I have on now has lasted 3 months and it's about ready to be replaced, so it's not the best screen protector I've seen, but at that price who cares?
over the years I've had hit/and miss on spare batteries on ebay, but sometimes the prices are so low it's worth the risk.
And last but not least, do not, under any circumstances, buy cheap micro sd cards on ebay. Trust me on that one! You probably knew that already, but it bears repeating.
also check out www.meritline.com. They've got everything from flash memory to chargers and cables, blank DVDs, flashlights, and even lingerie and wedding gowns (seriously, I'm not joking, it's a wierd little site). I'm currently using this car charger:
http://www.meritline.com/iphone-usb-car-charger---p-38528.aspx
this thing is so tiny it's nearly flush with the cigarette lighter in my car, making for an almost stock look. combined with the retractable cable I'm saving precious space for other junk in the cramped interior of my Honda Fit.
I also carrry around some spare microSD cards with a couple of these:
http://www.meritline.com/microsd-memory-card-reader---p-38215.aspx
thanks herc i bought that retractable usb cable
Nice. I have a ton of cords and wall adapters as well. They seem to pile up really fast. I love the car adapter you linked. It really is almost flush so you dont notice it. I got it for like 99 cents with a coupon. The best thing is that it seems to charge as fast if not faster than my wall charger. Thanks for the links.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Hi all,
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with portable battery packs. I don't mean extended batteries either. I mean the universal usb charger kind that packs several thousand mAh.
I'm looking to get one for a nine hour flight, and I want to know what is a good brand.
Luuthian said:
Hi all,
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with portable battery packs. I don't mean extended batteries either. I mean the universal usb charger kind that packs several thousand mAh.
I'm looking to get one for a nine hour flight, and I want to know what is a good brand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't answer your question, but a lot of planes have a USB/charging input now. I know when I fly Air Canada, they have it.
I have had an Energizer XP18000 for about 3 months now and it has surpassed my expectations.
It holds 18000 mAh of power and will charge my Gnex and my Xoom at the same time (need to order a special tip for the Xoom/non standard device). I use it for long train rides to keep my phone topped up.
When watching HD video over 4G my battery level will drop about 1-2% every half hour, so it is not charging as fast as the wall charger, but it is enough to keep you from having a dead battery when you get to your destination. With my usage I can go 3 to 4 days and never need to look at a wall outlet.
The size is about as big as a external hard drive. There is also a wall charger that has a good size power brick in the middle of it. You can remove it when you don't need the wall charger, but I keep everything in one small bag so all I have to do is set it down next to an outlet and top up the external battery, then fold the cord into the bag and pull out what ever cord I need when I am on the move. It works just fine with the original Samsung usb charging cable.
I picked mine up from Amazon but you might be able to find a better deal if you look hard enough. They make a smaller model too that is only 8000 mAh.
I always keep it in my bag and it works so well for me that I don't even need the extended battery and leave 4G on all the time.
http://www.energizerpowerpacks.com/us/products/xp18000/
Beautiful. Thanks Dante. And yeah, I heard some planes have USB chargers now. Unfortunately I'm not flying with them. I live near YVR, but Air Canada is having a bunch of problems with their workers right now. Last thing I need is flight delays or bad service.
I did a ton of research before buying mine. I wanted a pocket sized one, that had large capacity (enough to fully charge the phone twice), and could charge a device at a full 1 amp. After much research, I bought the original version of this one:
http://www.newtrent.com/store/iphone-external-battery/iphone-battery-imp50d.html
Mine has less markings and I believe both ports on mine are 1 amp, where as the new one has one 500mA and one 1A port. Mine was also like $55, this one is on sale for barely over $40, an even better deal.
It is very powerful - 5,000 mAh will charge the phone 3+ times - much bigger than other "pocket batteries", fits in a pocket nicely (I wear cargo pants) because it's skinny, like a deck of cards. Fairly light too. Only complaint is that I bought it before MicroUSB became the new standard, so it charges with miniUSB instead.
I carry a retractable mini-usb cable, and a retractable microUSB cable, in an altoids tin, in in my pocket with it. Works great, can charge my friends phones at the same time as me. Had it for 2 years, still going strong!
There are newer designs they have now too if you look at their website.
It does take a long while to charge - 8 hours to charge fully or so if you charge off a 500mAh USB port, because it's a huge battery! a lot less maybe 4 hours if you charge off a high speed 1A charger.
i was looking at this one http://www.amazon.ca/Anker-8400mAh-...UTF8&coliid=I3IVVC4G6YETK&colid=1ILTNQ88L4FE5
it has a 2amp 5v port, this can charge a transformer prime with the screen off.
I got this one recently:
http://www.amazon.com/Anker-SlimTal..._1_2?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1335035472&sr=1-2
Its (much) smaller than my Nexus, has a built in micro-usb cable, and charges via micro-usb as well. While it doesn't have the capacity of those listed above (only 3200mAh), it was only $20 and the size really does let you take it everywhere.
It can fully charge it the phone from dead about 1.5 times.
I bought mine due mainly to the fact that it includes the micro-usb cable that hides away when not in use. It has a standard USB port as well for charging other items, but the appeal of only having to carry one item and no extra cable sold me.
My only complaint is that the built in cable could be a bit longer.
It has a flashlight too... lol
Been researching this topic lately and found that Anker's 10,000mah external battery is looking the best
Sent from my i9250 (GSM) Galaxy Nexus.
[email protected]
I use the Veho Pebble and it's fine for my needs. I get 2 charges out of it.
after hours of my own research I also bought the Anker Slimtalk. I dont travel enough to need one that is huge and can charge my phone 8 times. This seems small enough to toss in my pocket and not bother me since its so thin and light. For $20 and the convenience of having its built in micro usb cable sounds like a perfect little invention to get me through the day.
If I traveled more I would of probably got the Energizer XP8000. Their tip program is awesome. Free tips for life but really its $2 shipping each. if you want this device to charge a whole bunch of things it can. My Acer netbook, EVO 3D, girlfriends RAZR, 3DS, bluetooth, iPad 2, Nook, and the list goes on. I've been trying to ask New Trent for almost a week if their products would be compatible with the Energizer Tip program but found that contrary to what I've read their customer support is terrible, but their prices are better than energizer. So they loose out on the sale since over the last few times of researching has allowed me to find the Slimtalk which for the price and for my needs is perfect.
Curb71 said:
after hours of my own research I also bought the Anker Slimtalk. I dont travel enough to need one that is huge and can charge my phone 8 times. This seems small enough to toss in my pocket and not bother me since its so thin and light. For $20 and the convenience of having its built in micro usb cable sounds like a perfect little invention to get me through the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly why I went with it. Even while traveling I'm generally within range of a car or home charger, especially now that pretty much everyone without an iPhone has a micro USB charger somewhere.
I just wish it had a built in AC adapter as well but I'm sure the size would increase by quite a bit. Someone (iGo maybe) makes one like that but it only has about an 1100mah battery if I recall.
I found something here in the Netherlands, and I'm not quite sure if you guys in the US have the same thing..
The thing this has going for it is it's portability. It fits in your pocket, and if you don't mind a big lump in your pockets, it even fits together with your phone.
Click over there <<< to check out the dutch website of duracell. It basically is a battery with a socket plug on it, and 2 USB outlets.
Tech. info:
Output voltage: 5 volts DC
Input voltage: 5 volts DC, max. 1 amp
Capacity: 1800 mAh
Offcourse, this is the dutch version, with the dutch socket plug, but maybe there's an US version as well?
Thanks for all the info here guys. I have that crappy Black and Decker Pocket Power from a few years back, that well, isn't living up to the charge these days, so I need something else.
Still a bit too many options, but I'm sure I'll find one that works the best.