Develop Bugs

Cheap accessories I recommend

So after getting my Evo I devided I needed 3 items. A usb cable for my computer, a car charger that could also double as a usb cable for my computer, and an hdmi cable to take advantage of all of this badass phones features. Well I shopped around at a bunch of the usual sites like amazon and ebay but I ended up at dealexteme.com.
Here is what I ordered: (and the SKU so you can too)
- SKU: 26313 - Retractable USB to Micro 5P Data/Charging Cable (60CM-Length) - $3.14
- SKU: 35687 - Car Cigarette Powered USB Adapter/Charger with Retractable USB to Micro USB Cable (Black) - $5.33
- SKU: 37396 - Gold Plated HDMI V1.4 Male to Micro HDMI Male Shielded Connection Cable (1M-Length) - $12.20
So far I have only received the USB cable and the car charger. They are the exact same cord but the car kit has the cigarette lighter plug. I am very happy with both items and I am just waiting on my hdmi cable which should be here any day. Anyways I just wanted to let you guys know that ya it comes from across the Pacific so it takes longer than most other places but for the price I dont think you can beat it.

Do they charge the phone quickly? especially curious about the car charger... does the phone see it as USB? If you're unsure, the easiest way I've found to check is to install "Battery Indicator" and see if it reads "AC" or "USB" in the notification drawer when charging. Seems to make a huge difference in charging times.

agent0014 said:
Do they charge the phone quickly? especially curious about the car charger... does the phone see it as USB? If you're unsure, the easiest way I've found to check is to install "Battery Indicator" and see if it reads "AC" or "USB" in the notification drawer when charging. Seems to make a huge difference in charging times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd imagine it would be the same at plugging it into a wall in your house. the charger changes the dc voltage from the cigarette lighter into 115 vac.
i think

I've got one of those mini cigarette usb charger rated ay 700ma at ebay. I think usb cable with the car charger can do about 500ma and wall outlet can do about 1000ma. Correct if I wrong.

chinot66 said:
I've got one of those mini cigarette usb charger rated ay 700ma at ebay. I think usb cable with the car charger can do about 500ma and wall outlet can do about 1000ma. Correct if I wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
usb will give you 500ma, the htc wall wart you get is rated at 1a aka 1000ma.
the other i dont know.

jasongthang said:
I'd imagine it would be the same at plugging it into a wall in your house. the charger changes the dc voltage from the cigarette lighter into 115 vac.
i think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually the other way around. Though we use AC as our main power source most (not all) use DC power. It's a lot easier to change AC to DC and AC has the ability to transform to lower or higher voltages relatively easily and efficiently.
Most electronics run off of 12V or less.

FattySparks said:
It's actually the other way around. Though we use AC as our main power source most (not all) use DC power. It's a lot easier to change AC to DC and AC has the ability to transform to lower or higher voltages relatively easily and efficiently.
Most electronics run off of 12V or less.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rectify! I mean . . . testify!

I really wanted to have a quick car charger, seems useless to me to have a slow charger in your car, would be fine having a slow charger in my house though. the car charger from the palm pre is a 1000 mAh charger, used it and it actually seems to charge faster than the htc home charger. $20 shipped from amazon.com

I got the same USB cable & car charger & an extra wall charger in a kit for <$4 shipped.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715367

davebu said:
I really wanted to have a quick car charger, seems useless to me to have a slow charger in your car, would be fine having a slow charger in my house though. the car charger from the palm pre is a 1000 mAh charger, used it and it actually seems to charge faster than the htc home charger. $20 shipped from amazon.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is specifically made for the ipod, but it would do the same thing and its a bit cheaper. http://www.amazon.com/Charging-Gene...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1279810668&sr=8-5

Fast car and home chargers (full 1 amp)?

So I bought a car usb charger that claimed it was rated at 1 amp. Using both my blackberry and HTC oem usb cables it will only show up as a USB charger (500ma).
This is not exactly enough to charge the phone while using 3g, gps, full screen brightness, etc. I'm looking for a good confirmed 1 amp hardwire (not using a usb cable) car charger and home charger. I used my sisters Samsung charger (rated at 700ma) and it charged it quicker than with the OEM htc charger.
And I would like to try and get ones that are confirmed to show up as fully charging the phone. I would appreciate some insight
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

And now that I think about it,
I would like to be able to use my Amazon prime for a change, so amazon links would be nice
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I went through a few different car chargers, so I can help you out here. I bought the Belkin car charger recommended here in another thread, low profile and rated at 1A, but my phone only recognized it as USB and charging was fairly slow, extended road trips using video recording and navigation while plugged in would drain my battery over time.
I used my friend's palm pre home charger and it worked very well, so I went on to Amazon and bought the "palm vehicle charger". The one I got in the mail (from Park Deals) was DOA, wouldn't turn on at all (I emailed Park Deals and they sent me a new replacement free of charge, didn't even have me ship back the defective one). I called the local radio shacks and found one in stock at $9.99 (radio shack isn't carrying palm anymore, so the accessories are on closeout but hard to find in stock). Works like a charm, the phone recognizes as AC charging, the phone still charges while running navi or recording video.
My friend got a cheapo car kit on ebay, came with rubberized case, mount that fits the evo with the same case on, and a cheap unlabeled car charger with a bungie type cord. I tried this on my phone, my evo recognizes it as AC also, so I assume it would charge well if it's rated at 1A. I've seen several other cheapo car chargers rated at 1A as well.
Another thread here on XDA says that if you modify your charger/cable by altering the middle data pins you can get the phone to believe the usb port is plugged into the wall and draw full current from the charger. I tried covering the two middle pins with a piece of paper and plugging it in, but this didn't work for me. The other methods involved shorting the two data pins together, I didn't really want to waste a cable or mess up a charger and potentially my phone so I just bought a different charger. Another thread mentioned buying a specific rocketfish usb cable had a similar effect.

nhutpham said:
I went through a few different car chargers, so I can help you out here. I bought the Belkin car charger recommended here in another thread, low profile and rated at 1A, but my phone only recognized it as USB and charging was fairly slow, extended road trips using video recording and navigation while plugged in would drain my battery over time.
I used my friend's palm pre home charger and it worked very well, so I went on to Amazon and bought the "palm vehicle charger". The one I got in the mail (from Park Deals) was DOA, wouldn't turn on at all (I emailed Park Deals and they sent me a new replacement free of charge, didn't even have me ship back the defective one). I called the local radio shacks and found one in stock at $9.99 (radio shack isn't carrying palm anymore, so the accessories are on closeout but hard to find in stock). Works like a charm, the phone recognizes as AC charging, the phone still charges while running navi or recording video.
My friend got a cheapo car kit on ebay, came with rubberized case, mount that fits the evo with the same case on, and a cheap unlabeled car charger with a bungie type cord. I tried this on my phone, my evo recognizes it as AC also, so I assume it would charge well if it's rated at 1A. I've seen several other cheapo car chargers rated at 1A as well.
Another thread here on XDA says that if you modify your charger/cable by altering the middle data pins you can get the phone to believe the usb port is plugged into the wall and draw full current from the charger. I tried covering the two middle pins with a piece of paper and plugging it in, but this didn't work for me. The other methods involved shorting the two data pins together, I didn't really want to waste a cable or mess up a charger and potentially my phone so I just bought a different charger. Another thread mentioned buying a specific rocketfish usb cable had a similar effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was me on both accounts. Love my rocket fish cable. Bought the 12v/usb converter for the car and whether or not i use the pc or car to charge, it shows as ac charger on the phone. I use this cable on all my pc's as well as the usb outlet in my vehicle.

This is the charger that I bought from amazon. It shows up as charging from AC (instead of USB) charging. It's available for Amazon Prime for under $6:
The Motorola P513 micro-usb charger.

Ok so I ended up with the Moto 513 charger as well (950ma rated)
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi..._1_5?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280759739&sr=8-5
But I cant find any AC chargers under prime that are 1000ma

investinwaffles said:
Ok so I ended up with the Moto 513 charger as well (950ma rated)
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi..._1_5?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280759739&sr=8-5
But I cant find any AC chargers under prime that are 1000ma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this one works great. I have it.

Ok, so I found an OEM Nokia for the N97 that is rated at 1200ma. Is this safe to buy for my phone?
http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Origina..._1_2?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280760676&sr=8-2
Auction with more specifics of the charger:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOKIA-US-AC-10U...ccessories&hash=item414e190fa7#ht_2800wt_1026

There's a nokia micro usb charger for $6.99 available for Amaazon Prime. The model number is AC 6U. ASIN: B0030T0ULW

I'm charging with the scosche reviveII at 2.1 amps without any problems.

linhpham2 said:
There's a nokia micro usb charger for $6.99 available for Amaazon Prime. The model number is AC 6U. ASIN: B0030T0ULW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From this ebay listing it looks like the AC-6U is only a ~600ma charger:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOKIA-CELL-PHON..._Accessories&hash=item5639f88b1c#ht_500wt_721
I think ill spend the extra few bucks on the 1200ma charger, I don't think ill have any problems (and i have the best buy warranty also so I'm not too worried).

linhpham2 said:
I'm charging with the scosche reviveII at 2.1 amps without any problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How fast does it charge?

One the 2.1 amp port, the Evo only charges at 1 amp. The Evo doesn't charge any faster with this charger than any other 1 amp charger.

linhpham2 said:
One the 2.1 amp port, the Evo only charges at 1 amp. The Evo doesn't charge any faster with this charger than any other 1 amp charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha, thanks for the info.
I just ordered a Rocketfish cable. We'll see how that works.
Would be nice if they made a Y-cable to get 1amp from 2 USB ports in a PC. I mean, I know they MAKE cables like this but I read somewhere that HTC phones were designed to still only charge at 500mAh even with one of those.
Dunno.

It depends on what you're using as a charging source. When usb charging on my home pc or car, it's AC charging at 1 amp.. But if I'm charging with my Energizer external battery, it's only USB charging at 0.5 amp. This is using the same usb cable.

iGo
Would anyone happen to know what an iGo tip (A97) delivers? I am trying to rig up a custom solution that is hard-wired, but uses iGo tips so I don't have to use the cigarette lighter plug and I have the flexibility at the corner of my windshield to swap tips for different devices.
Right now, I have a 4-port USB hub installed under the dash that is 12v powered. I then use a proprietary iGo cable that uses a standard PC style USB connector on one end and then terminates into an iGo tip connector at the other end. That USB cable runs up to the corner of the windshield so I can swap tips at will.
If I use the iGo A97 tip on their cigarette lighter adapter, it seems to charge, but I am not sure at what rate. If I try to use the A97 tip on the USB hub, it charges for about 2 seconds, and then the light goes out. The Evo does not seem to like the custom arrangement, yet all my other micro usb devices do not seem to have any issues and charge just fine...
Thanks,
-Rob

I can attest to the Moto 513 working fine - it has served me very well on my Evo and the Treo Pro before it.
Unfortunately it is a big ass charger though - wish there was a good micro option.

How do u determine how much power its actually charging at or if its not using the full 1amp rating?
_______________________________
Sent from my EVO 4G

robroy90 said:
Would anyone happen to know what an iGo tip (A97) delivers? I am trying to rig up a custom solution that is hard-wired, but uses iGo tips so I don't have to use the cigarette lighter plug and I have the flexibility at the corner of my windshield to swap tips for different devices.
Right now, I have a 4-port USB hub installed under the dash that is 12v powered. I then use a proprietary iGo cable that uses a standard PC style USB connector on one end and then terminates into an iGo tip connector at the other end. That USB cable runs up to the corner of the windshield so I can swap tips at will.
If I use the iGo A97 tip on their cigarette lighter adapter, it seems to charge, but I am not sure at what rate. If I try to use the A97 tip on the USB hub, it charges for about 2 seconds, and then the light goes out. The Evo does not seem to like the custom arrangement, yet all my other micro usb devices do not seem to have any issues and charge just fine...
Thanks,
-Rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should pull 1A off the Igo

how do i determine if its recognizing a charger as ac versus usb? could this be rom specific? it seems to charge much faster with cyanogen than it did with damagecontrol

[Q] Rapid Chargers - Not Really Rapid?

i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
so, my question is, why is it called "rapid" if it doesn't charge any faster?
and i suppose secondly, is there an actual microUSB charger that will charge the Thunderbolt faster?
they make one for the iphone that will fully charge it in 30 minutes so i know they are out there.

voxigenboy said:
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you should try this one.

Install the battery monitor widget. Monitor the battery for about 20 minutes while charging. Tell us what the charge current is.
Does the Motorola charger include a cable? If not, you may just have a weak cable. I have seen cheap cables with wire so thin that the charging current is no better then charging off a weak USB port.

My experience has been that the phone typically recognizes car charges as USB charging and uses a different charging profile. My solution to that is use a wall charger through an inverter or a kernel that doesn't use radically different charging profiles for A/C and USB.

loonatik78 said:
My experience has been that the phone typically recognizes car charges as USB charging and uses a different charging profile. My solution to that is use a wall charger through an inverter or a kernel that doesn't use radically different charging profiles for A/C and USB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need for that.
Cut a small piece of aluminum foil. Carefully place it where it shorts the two center conductors in the charger. Plug the USB cable into the charger. Make sure the foil stays in place over the two center conductors.
It is now a high rate charger. (assuming it can put out 1 amp.)

The limiting factor is typically the usb cable itself. Most usb cables can't support the 1amp that is provided to it. Since you used the original usb cable that came with the thunderbolt (that's been "shorted" as mentioned above" ) it will be just as fast as the moto car charger. the 1amp charging rate that the moto charger charges at (i have one) and that the original one charges at are already "rapid". if you plugged a normal usb cable from somewhere else into the other usb car charger, it'd be much much slower

squeakyl said:
The limiting factor is typically the usb cable itself. Most usb cables can't support the 1amp that is provided to it. Since you used the original usb cable that came with the thunderbolt (that's been "shorted" as mentioned above" ) it will be just as fast as the moto car charger. the 1amp charging rate that the moto charger charges at (i have one) and that the original one charges at are already "rapid". if you plugged a normal usb cable from somewhere else into the other usb car charger, it'd be much much slower
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock charger is what shorts the connections. The cable is NOT shorted on the two inner pins because they are the data connections used for connecting your phone to a computer.

doodlebro said:
The stock charger is what shorts the connections. The cable is NOT shorted on the two inner pins because they are the data connections used for connecting your phone to a computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To meet the USB charging spec (which the TB uses), the two inner (data) contacts should be shorted with no more that 200 ohms.
But, the cable can also be an issue for rapid charging. The voltage drop for a 1A/5V source, across only .5 M of 28 gauge copper is ~220 mV. If you use a longer cable, there's more voltage drop. The TB likely current limits itself when the voltage drops below a certain threshold. Best to buy 24 gauge USB cables, if you can, especially if getting longer ones (monoprice has them).

voxigenboy said:
i bought that Motorola Rapid Car charger recent and have been using it about a week now. i've noticed that it doesn't seem to charge my Thunderbolt any faster then it did when i was using the Thunderbolt's USB cable with this USB car charger adapter.
so, my question is, why is it called "rapid" if it doesn't charge any faster?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think its a matter of rated output current. BUT on the other side, the phone must be capable of drawing/using that much current. If the adapter is rated for more current than the phone can charge, the "extra" current wont be supplied.
Initially, Moto's standard car chargers output 5V and up to 550ma max (just like a standard PC USB port) so they didn't charge phones all that fast. Moto then came out with chargers that had higher current output, so they were capable of charging the phones "faster" than the original car chargers (but on par with the home/travel/AC chargers) and called them "rapid car chargers"..
Today, the current output on the Moto SPN5400A car charger is 0-950mA, and I've seen it sometimes referred to as "Rapid Car charger."
But as far as I know, Moto no longer makes/sells the lower current car chargers, and their web site only shows one MicroUSB and one MiniUSB car charger for sale, both of which appear to be of the 0-950mA output variety.
voxigenboy said:
and i suppose secondly, is there an actual microUSB charger that will charge the Thunderbolt faster?
they make one for the iphone that will fully charge it in 30 minutes so i know they are out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because someone makes such a charger for the iPhone, doesn't mean one must exist for the TB, or other phones, does it? I know the iPad uses a 2A charger. What happens if you connect an iPhone to that? will it charge faster? I guess that depends on if the iPhone is capable of drawing more than 1A to charge it.
I've not seen a "home" or AC charger that can charge the TB any faster than the Stock 1A charger. Does such a thing exist?
A proper car charger with 950mA to 1A output should charge the TB at almost exactly the same rate as the stock 1A wall/AC charger.
And btw, the Moto SPN5400A car charger DOES charge my TB in about the same amount of time that it takes me to charge my TB at home with the stock HTC charger. So while its not "rapid" compared to the stock home/travel/AC charger, its "rapid" compared to PC USB Port charging, or a plain lower current car charger.

KidJoe said:
I've not seen a "home" or AC charger that can charge the TB any faster than the Stock 1A charger. Does such a thing exist?
A proper car charger with 950mA to 1A output should charge the TB at almost exactly the same rate as the stock 1A wall/AC charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made a charger for my motorcycle. I use it as a GPS, screen on MAX, phone active with marginal signal. And I wanted to actually charge the battery at the same time. I did a lot of experimenting with the Thunderbolt. It would not exceed a pull of about 850ma from the supply, even at 5.5 volts. IMHO, you are wasting time looking for any charger over 1 amp.
Also, even with about 850ma in, not much over 500ma is getting to the battery. So a totally dead battery is still going to take between 2 and 3 hours to charge, no matter what charger you have. And twice that long if the charger looks like a PC USB port.

worwig said:
I made a charger for my motorcycle. I use it as a GPS, screen on MAX, phone active with marginal signal. And I wanted to actually charge the battery at the same time. I did a lot of experimenting with the Thunderbolt. It would not exceed a pull of about 850ma from the supply, even at 5.5 volts. IMHO, you are wasting time looking for any charger over 1 amp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was asking because of the OP's statement about knowing "they must exist" because they are out there for the iPhone.
I'm perfectly happy with my Moto car charger, and how fast it charges my phones.

Automobile Quick Charging Solution

What is the best solution for quick charging the Galaxy Nexus in an automobile?

I have started to use 12-220 volt converter so I can use wall chargers.

I have bought a few of the low profile car usb chargers but they were never recognized as an AC charge. Come to find out, it was the USB cable. I bought a usb charging cable from Amazon last week and it goes in the USB charger and the phone does not think it is a USB charge. I have not timed it but it is recognized the same as the wall charger.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBCAY

ellisz said:
I have bought a few of the low profile car usb chargers but they were never recognized as an AC charge. Come to find out, it was the USB cable. I bought a usb charging cable from Amazon last week and it goes in the USB charger and the phone does not think it is a USB charge. I have not timed it but it is recognized the same as the wall charger.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBCAY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 .. this solution has been working great for me, as well.

I've been getting 2.1A car chargers (look for ones for the iPad), most of the ones I had prior to this were 700mA or so and they can't keep up with my 1A phones. Be careful of dual port chargers advertising 2A, they may only be 1A each and may be "optimistic" about that rating. And don't worry about getting one rated for too much current, the Galaxy Nexus won't pull more than an amp no matter what the charger rating.

Some really good solutions here and thank you all for the help.
I'd really hate to use an inventer in my car just to maintain a clean install, so that really isnt an option for me.
Was really hoping to be able to use a off the shelf car charger with the correct pins to trick the GNexus into thinking that it was charging from a USB port, but the above solution should work well with using a socket USB charger.

I've never run into a car adapter that looks like a USB port, including the VZW charger with a spare port or the cheap 2.1A chargers I got from Amazon. My guess is that a charger not built correctly and leaving the data pins open only supports ~500mA anyway. Even if that's not the case I have a moral objection toward buying a cable to fix a design flaw in another cheap product - but that's just me

Grant H said:
Some really good solutions here and thank you all for the help.
I'd really hate to use an inventer in my car just to maintain a clean install, so that really isnt an option for me.
Was really hoping to be able to use a off the shelf car charger with the correct pins to trick the GNexus into thinking that it was charging from a USB port, but the above solution should work well with using a socket USB charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got a charger similar to http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/USB-Car-...ccessories&hash=item4ab18358f4#ht_1638wt_1392
All I had to do was undo the screws at the top, put a bit of solder between the middle usb pins, and my phone recognises it as a AC source rather than USB.

There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA

Grant H said:
What is the best solution for quick charging the Galaxy Nexus in an automobile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure the charger has the IC (rapid) chip. I use this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehicle-Adapter-micro-USB-Charger/dp/B000S5Q9CA

I've heard that Motorola one mentioned a lot as a good one.
The nice thing about having the low-profile usb plug is (a) it is low profile, (b) I can use it to charge other devices. The charge-only cable is only about $4, so I had no issues buying it to work with this to charge as an AC charge over a USB charge.

Grant H said:
There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this one and it charges just like it does from the home outlet and its says "AC" charging. I bought another 8 for family and friends and they all love it.

I think I've figured out the disconnect, I've run into chargers that appear as a USB host which limits the charging to 500mA on previous phones I've had.
You guys are concerned about USB vs. AC charging mode. Of the chargers I've got, this one lists as AC while the rest as USB. However, the fact that the other chargers all work just fine keeping up with GPS+streaming music indicates that the USB vs. AC really has no bearing on the charge current delivered. I'd stay away from charge-only cables just because they'll get mixed in with your standard USB cables and you'll knock yourself out wondering why they don't work. On the other hand, if you really want AC in your battery info order the one I linked.

I keep it in my car... i think I've heard on other threads that USB charging doesn't keep up with GPS (for Directions). Any verify?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

TheKaz said:
I keep it in my car... i think I've heard on other threads that USB charging doesn't keep up with GPS (for Directions). Any verify?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's much more important is the rating on the power source. The GN can pull up to 1000mA, if your charger is only rated for 800mA (like many car chargers) it doesn't matter if it's in AC mode.

jdbower said:
What's much more important is the rating on the power source. The GN can pull up to 1000mA, if your charger is only rated for 800mA (like many car chargers) it doesn't matter if it's in AC mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
makes sense.. the one I use has dual usb (1.0 and 2.1)

You went and gave me a project for the weekend, and once again science prevails over anecdotal evidence. I took each of my 5 chargers and hooked them up to a 12V power supply that measures current. I then recorded whether the charger reported AC or USB, for the ones with USB I modified a right-angle adapter to short out the data pins, and I measured the current. The contenders:
Verizon Wireless Dual Charger
XTG Dual Port Charger
Griffen Powerjolt Dual USB Charger
Griffen Portjolt Micro
CostMad Dual USB Charger
The VZW model was USB out the external port as I had tested before, however AC out the built-in cable which I hadn't bothered to test. It pulled 0.25A @12V via the USB port and 0.59A via the cable. Hmmm... A hole develops in my previous observation. While I had used this on a long car trip with no issues, it was via the built-in cable.
The XTG was new, I hadn't used it before as it's in the car I rarely drive. It reported USB and 0.22A. With the adapter to make it report AC it pulled 0.48A.
The pattern was set. I had expected the Griffen adapters to be built more appropriately but the dual charger reported 0.22A without the adapter and 0.42A with. I had used this without losing charge in the past so this was surprising to me, but it's possible I just wasn't drawing as much current because the screen was dimmer or something.
The compact Griffen adapter (which is great for a laptop bag, BTW) pulled 0.21A and 0.47A respectively.
The cheap CostMad adapter was the only one that performed well out of the box, both reporting AC and pulled 0.57A.
In theory, a perfect adapter should pull 0.42A. Anything more is waste, anything less means it's not keeping up. I have doubts about the Griffen 2x allowing for a full amp, but the VZW and CostMad chargers are pretty lossy. What's even worse is that I'm pretty sure the VZW charger is rated for 800mA (but I can't find an actual spec on it) which would mean that it pulled the most power for the least current. Not that this really matters unless you've got an electric car.
Sorry for misleading you earlier, I should have checked the other port of the known-good VZW charger and probably doublechecked the numbers on my other "known good" charger. Still hating cables that work for charging but not for data, I ended up modifying each of the chargers to short the middle pins (except for the VZW one). If I didn't have the soldering iron for this, I probably would have gone for some of these instead.

Grant H said:
There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CyberPunk7t9 said:
Make sure the charger has the IC (rapid) chip. I use this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehicle-Adapter-micro-USB-Charger/dp/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the same one and it works perfect. Charges even when GPS navigation is running.
Make sure you select Amazon as the seller though. I heard there are a lot of fake ones.

Grant H said:
There has got to be a standard car charger on the market with the middle usb pins already soldiered!
I found this on Amazon which advertises itself as a rapid charging device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5Q9CA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 to those recommending this one. I have this exact model and it does indeed charge at the "AC" rate, about twice as fast as the "USB" rate.

TheKaz said:
I keep it in my car... i think I've heard on other threads that USB charging doesn't keep up with GPS (for Directions). Any verify?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Motorola one will charge even when using GPS. I have a friend I bought one for that uses his GPS all day and loves the Motorola charger.

Charge 2 SGSIII's at once?

I would like to get a charging cable that has 2 Male Micro USB connectors and 1 standard Male USB connector.
These are supposed to charge 2 cell phones through one USB charger, but I've read that you might need a higher capacity charger than comes with your single cable charger.
Will the standard USB charger that comes with our phone work, or will I need a higher capacity charger?
Thanks

OKAstro said:
I would like to get a charging cable that has 2 Male Micro USB connectors and 1 standard Male USB connector.
These are supposed to charge 2 cell phones through one USB charger, but I've read that you might need a higher capacity charger than comes with your single cable charger.
Will the standard USB charger that comes with our phone work, or will I need a higher capacity charger?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our S3's can charge at approximately max 1.1amps and perhaps more on a custom rom. Our stock chargers will not likely provide enough to charge 2 S3's at that fast rate. But, instead it will likely charge both at half that rate. So. I would get a charger that can handle more than 2amps...preferably 3amps so that there is plenty of headroom especially if the charger specs are over-rated. The S3 will only use what it needs and of course, it will slow down the charge as it gets closer to being fully charged. Also, note that if the USB Y-cable or splitter is not wired correctly, then it may not charge at fast rate.

themadproducer said:
Our S3's can charge at approximately max 1.1amps and perhaps more on a custom rom. Our stock chargers will not likely provide enough to charge 2 S3's at that fast rate. But, instead it will likely charge both at half that rate. So. I would get a charger that can handle more than 2amps...preferably 3amps so that there is plenty of headroom especially if the charger specs are over-rated. The S3 will only use what it needs and of course, it will slow down the charge as it gets closer to being fully charged. Also, note that if the USB Y-cable or splitter is not wired correctly, then it may not charge at fast rate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Where can I find a 3 amp charger?

OKAstro said:
Thanks. Where can I find a 3 amp charger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a usb 2amp cigarette lighter charger and it has 2 usb ports for charging and charges my S3 and an HD2 together at fast rate when I use proper usb cable(s).
On a 2sec Google search, I found this 3amp usb wall charger (2amp + 1amp) example...or this Scosche 4 port 4amp wall charger although it says each port is limited to 1amp max. You can always put in a USB Y cable making 2 ports merge into 1 yielding 2amp max output...if necessary.
Here is a 2 port x 2.1amp per port example..which would give you maximum headroom and might work well for more demanding tablet devices etc.