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Usual Car charger vs. USB Car Charger

It is not a secret, that charging over data cable is slower, rather than over electrical plug. I think it is due to USB max current is 500mAh, while my direct charger output in 1000 mAh.
I wondering if the same is relevant to car chargers. I'm having the one of so-called USB Car Chargers, which has the USB plug as output, than you connect it to your phone thru the data cable.
If I buy a usual mini-usb car charger, would I get any benefits in charging speed?
Thanks.

usb max current is 500ma on the spec, you can draw much more than that over the copper.. as long as it's not being regulated by "compliant" circuitry/drivers, you should be able to draw 1000ma

Ive been looking into this tonight, and I checked my GF's iPhone wall charger (which is basically a wall USB charger) and it outputs 1000ma as well, and ive found a few usb car chargers putting out 700, 800, and even over 1000ma... only problem i have is i need it to be compact... i currently have a 500ma one in the car but that didnt seem to really charge the phone...

Wickedchild said:
Ive been looking into this tonight, and I checked my GF's iPhone wall charger (which is basically a wall USB charger) and it outputs 1000ma as well, and ive found a few usb car chargers putting out 700, 800, and even over 1000ma... only problem i have is i need it to be compact... i currently have a 500ma one in the car but that didnt seem to really charge the phone...
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The reason I am asking is similar:
When I am driving with gps and 3G turned on my phone is never fully charged. In fact, it seems it even uncharging a bit. I am wondering if the same happening with usual mini-usb car charger.
And if I want to buy new on ebay, they never specify the mAh parameter.

I bought a 1000mAh USB car charger for a couple bucks at monoprice.com.

Wickedchild said:
Ive been looking into this tonight, and I checked my GF's iPhone wall charger (which is basically a wall USB charger) and it outputs 1000ma as well, and ive found a few usb car chargers putting out 700, 800, and even over 1000ma... only problem i have is i need it to be compact... i currently have a 500ma one in the car but that didnt seem to really charge the phone...
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worry said:
The reason I am asking is similar:
When I am driving with gps and 3G turned on my phone is never fully charged. In fact, it seems it even uncharging a bit. I am wondering if the same happening with usual mini-usb car charger.
And if I want to buy new on ebay, they never specify the mAh parameter.
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same here... when i have the turn by turn going on full brightness and such it does uncharge a bit over time... but look on the bright side, its not getting raped as much as it would be if it were just using the battery

uansari1 said:
I bought a 1000mAh USB car charger for a couple bucks at monoprice.com.
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Can you share the link?

worry said:
Can you share the link?
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yeah, lol... monoprice.com.

uansari1 said:
yeah, lol... monoprice.com.
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I mean link to the item you've bought.
If I search for micro usb car charger I would get only this:
Motorola V8, V9 Series Car Charger for RAZR2

worry said:
I mean link to the item you've bought.
If I search for micro usb car charger I would get only this:
Motorola V8, V9 Series Car Charger for RAZR2
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Hmmm... they don't seem to have it on their site anymore, which is odd cuz I ordered it only a month ago. Here's the info off my e-invoice:
Product ID-3523, Car Charger (Cigarette Lighter) to USB Female Converter - Black $1.16
You might want to email them and ask when they'll have them back in stock.

you can find them on ebay

here's a two USB port, 1000mA jobber for cheap.. $6.99
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=216

uansari1 said:
Hmmm... they don't seem to have it on their site anymore, which is odd cuz I ordered it only a month ago. Here's the info off my e-invoice:
Product ID-3523, Car Charger (Cigarette Lighter) to USB Female Converter - Black $1.16
You might want to email them and ask when they'll have them back in stock.
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I see a white one atm

akifbayram said:
I can confirm the 1000mah, I purchased mine from Cimo, http://cimousa.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22_27&products_id=113
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me too....this charger is awesome

[Q] N1 cardock indoors using wall charger?

anyone try the N1 cardock indoors using wall charger or know if it possible? wondering if i could use a N1 cardock indoors since i now have a spare cardock. i have the desktop dock both on my nightstand and on my office desk. i had to get a replacement cardock because i broke it. now i have a spare cardock that could be used to attach to a vertical surface on my desk at work so i could rotate the phone landscape to watch video (i know...i should be working ). for those wanting to tell me to try it...i ask if the power supply from wall charger or usb cable are compatible with the cardock?
update: works with usb to pc/mac. yet to check wall charger though.

You got the car dock working, via usb from a pc?!
I had a similar idea 2 weeks ago, to use the car dock indoors. But I couldn't get it to power my n1 via ac adapter. I thought out was because the car dock required the 2amps that the cigarette adapter gives.
But if you got yours to work from pc, that's only .5amps.
I'll have to try again.

Namuna said:
You got the car dock working, via usb from a pc?!
I had a similar idea 2 weeks ago, to use the car dock indoors. But I couldn't get it to power my n1 via ac adapter. I thought out was because the car dock required the 2amps that the cigarette adapter gives.
But if you got yours to work from pc, that's only .5amps.
I'll have to try again.
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yes...a macbook actually. it charged too and the bluetooth synced and speaker worked fine. so you could not get it to work with the ac wall charger?

Good Car Charger?

Does anyone know of a good car charger? You know, the kind that plugs into your cigarette lighter socket.
I had one at one time but it died after only a week of usage.

I got this one and it works fine with a spare microusb cable. Best part is that I can now have two phones charging at once.

Thanks!
At only $8, that's a steal of a deal! Just bought it with free two-day shipping.

Should have checked Monoprice
http://www.monoprice.com/mobile/Pro...Id=103&categoryId=10321&subCategoryId=1032102
There used to be a twin plug one (I have it) but I can't find it now.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium

trparky said:
Does anyone know of a good car charger? You know, the kind that plugs into your cigarette lighter socket.
I had one at one time but it died after only a week of usage.
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In my opinion... I have wasted alot of $ on trying to get away cheap on a car charger. By far the best one is the official verizon one. It charges to 100% from 0 in less than 2hrs and charges while I am navigating, wifi tethering and using bt at the same time. Well worth the extra cash.
Tweakstock v1.4, XDA Premium

imnuts said:
I got this one and it works fine with a spare microusb cable. Best part is that I can now have two phones charging at once.
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I got a similar one, but it has one port meant for an ipad/tablet, which outputs 2A - that is helpful for when I am running car navigation and wifi hotspot at the same time. I also had to get a charging-only usb cable because regular cables would trigger usb storage mode on the phone.

ddh819 said:
I got a similar one, but it has one port meant for an ipad/tablet, which outputs 2A - that is helpful for when I am running car navigation and wifi hotspot at the same time. I also had to get a charging-only usb cable because regular cables would trigger usb storage mode on the phone.
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To bad the Charge won't draw more than ~0.8A... Also, it is the charger causing the phone to go to mass storage mode, not the cable. A microUSB cable is a microUSB cable, and if the cable says "charging only" they have the data pins shorted out (I believe that's what is done) and it really isn't fixing the root cause of the issue.

imnuts said:
I got this one and it works fine with a spare microusb cable. Best part is that I can now have two phones charging at once.
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nowai! That's the same car charger I use!
Only thing about it is, its a little short, so it may not fit perfectly in every car's cigarette lighter port. Won't work in my dad's car. :/

imnuts said:
To bad the Charge won't draw more than ~0.8A... Also, it is the charger causing the phone to go to mass storage mode, not the cable. A microUSB cable is a microUSB cable, and if the cable says "charging only" they have the data pins shorted out (I believe that's what is done) and it really isn't fixing the root cause of the issue.
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Did you ever try fastcharger script? It suppose to speed up your phone charger using USB.

mtmerrick said:
nowai! That's the same car charger I use!
Only thing about it is, its a little short, so it may not fit perfectly in every car's cigarette lighter port. Won't work in my dad's car. :/
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It is short, but works perfectly in my car. I don't even have to take it out to close my cigarette lighter, so it just stays there
buhohitr said:
Did you ever try fastcharger script? It suppose to speed up your phone charger using USB.
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The only way you could speed up charging would be to modify it via the kernel, or try to force load a module that does the same thing. Odds are the fastcharger script just gets the system to recognize USB charging as a wall charger. Either way, I wouldn't recommend using anything that says it'll make your phone charge faster unless there was SIGNIFICANT data to support the claim as well as evidence that it doesn't harm the hardware.

Charging the battery too fast is very dangerous too. I tried "supercharging" one of my batteries and it almost caught fire.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium

I would suggest this one http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Rapid-Vehicle-Power-Adapter/dp/B002N8HG0Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1329181948&sr=1-2 since it is made by moto and provides 1 ampere instead of .7 or .5 others provide.

trparky said:
Does anyone know of a good car charger? You know, the kind that plugs into your cigarette lighter socket.
I had one at one time but it died after only a week of usage.
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Click to collapse
This is a great charger I have been using at it charges my battery quick too.. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000S5Q9CA/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1323055371&sr=8-1
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App

jager420 said:
This is a great charger I have been using at it charges my battery quick too.. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000S5Q9CA/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1323055371&sr=8-1
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I've been using this for the past 5 months and have been very happy with the charging speed. It seems faster than my standard wall charger.

wahanlato said:
To bad the Charge won't draw more than ~0.8A... Also, it is the charger causing the phone to go to mass storage mode, not the cable. A microUSB cable is a microUSB ee
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It could be the cable, but the odds are against that. The way to tell if it was the cable would be to try it in another AC charger to see what it does.

, I wouldn't recommend using anything that says it'll make your phone charge faster unless there was SIGNIFICANT data to support the claim as well as evidence that it doesn't harm the hardware.

I tried a 2.0 amp USB car charger and the factory cable.. .my battery got really hot and didn't charge at all.. .not sure why but the 1.0 amp charger seems to work the best...I have seen a 5.0amp at Walmart in the car department.. .but I don't feel like experimenting with that
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium

Samsung smartphones and Tablets charge in std mode (Charging USB) unless the two data wires are "shorted". (I have seen it done directly in a high speed charge only cable or in the Samsung chargers. Some say they use a resistor.) When the data pins are "shorted", Samsung switches to high speed charging. (Charging AC). I have been harassing a factory overseas for a dual car charger (2100mA) with one std. Port (iPad) and one Samsung port. It should be available soon.
Sent from my Samsung Captivate running ICS 4.0.4 AoCP CP v2.1 w/KG3 Modem

Hindle1225 said:
In my opinion... I have wasted alot of $ on trying to get away cheap on a car charger. By far the best one is the official verizon one. It charges to 100% from 0 in less than 2hrs and charges while I am navigating, wifi tethering and using bt at the same time. Well worth the extra cash.
Tweakstock v1.4, XDA Premium
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I haven't tried another car charger personally, but can vouch for the Verizon one. Always works for me and I just leave it plugged in the lighter outlet in my center console so whenever I need it, it's easy and quick to plug in the phone. Also has the scrunchy style cord to keep things neat. But at the same time, it makes it more difficult to use the phone while it's plugged in as it keeps wanting to pull back lol

confirmed working car charger or dc setup?

As the title states, anybody have any input about car chargers or dc setup?

I have used NTK 12V 2.0a usb car dock. It does work, but it's a very slow trickle charge. If you're using it to while the Infinity is on, the battery will drain, just slower.
I'm not aware of a car charger that will build charge while the Infinity is on. Maybe the official ASUS car charger.
Alternative that could work would be to use a car AC power converter, something like DBTech 175 watt Portable Micro Power Inverter. I've had coworkers use similar items with their regular cellphone chargers. That particular may be nice since it does have a USB port, so you can charge your phone, or keep it charged while using as a mobile hotspot.

lovekeiiy said:
I have used NTK 12V 2.0a usb car dock. It does work, but it's a very slow trickle charge. If you're using it to while the Infinity is on, the battery will drain, just slower.
I'm not aware of a car charger that will build charge while the Infinity is on. Maybe the official ASUS car charger.
Alternative that could work would be to use a car AC power converter, something like DBTech 175 watt Portable Micro Power Inverter. I've had coworkers use similar items with their regular cellphone chargers. That particular may be nice since it does have a USB port, so you can charge your phone, or keep it charged while using as a mobile hotspot.
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some planes, especially AA give you a 12v outlet under your seat and I have a lot of flying to do.

jrkart99 said:
As the title states, anybody have any input about car chargers or dc setup?
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Click to collapse
I've been using this package from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0081BFYY2/ref=wms_ohs_product
As confirmed by myself in this post,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1827738
Both the AC and DC chargers work wonderfully.

jrkart99 said:
some planes, especially AA give you a 12v outlet under your seat and I have a lot of flying to do.
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ok. Nonetheless, the information I gave was solid and appears to still apply to your situation.
The big thing to look for with car charger is that it outpus the 2,1a so it triggers the charging in the Infinity. The one I got does 2.0a. It doesn't indicate there's a charge, but it does. It's a trickle charge.
Ideally, I prefer to get something like the EZPower Dual Power Charger or GTMax daul port Power Charger. I don't know if these work with the Infinity. It would be nice if they did and could use both ports at the same time. This would let you charge the Infinity and another device, such as a cellphone. This is ideal for situations such as long road trips.

Ahhh, those are what I am going ot need so I can charge both the Infinity and the BIONIC.
Thanks I was wondering how this was going to work....

[Q] List of Nexus 5 car chargers that charging in AC mode

Hi,
I would like to create list of car chargers that are able to charge N5 in AC mode.
Till now I have found only one review on Amazon on: "PowerGen Dual USB 3.1A Car charger".
Sorry, but I still can't post links.
I want to buy something that works for sure.
So, please share your real life experience...

armourer1 said:
Hi,
I would like to create list of car chargers that are able to charge N5 in AC mode.
Till now I have found only one review on Amazon on: "PowerGen Dual USB 3.1A Car charger".
Sorry, but I still can't post links.
I want to buy something that works for sure.
So, please share your real life experience...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-Dual-...5839252&sr=8-1&keywords=anker+usb+car+charger is working fine, it has 2 ports one of which says it is for apple but works just fine on any device both ports charge over 2 Amps.

Ady1976
Thanks for replay,
Can you please Goto Settings -> About -> Status -> Battery Status: and verify that you see Charging (AC) ?
I am also able to charge with old Griffin charger, but it only works with "Charging (USB)" - 0.5A.
Thanks...

armourer1 said:
Ady1976
Thanks for replay,
Can you please Goto Settings -> About -> Status -> Battery Status: and verify that you see Charging (AC) ?
I am also able to charge with old Griffin charger, but it only works with "Charging (USB)" - 0.5A.
Thanks...
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Click to collapse
Hi, yes it does say charging by (AC)

Ady1976
Thanks a lot !
Now I have one more charger to choose from -

0.5A is USB level so that's why that one doesn't work, anything that charges at 1A or over should be fine.

b1g1an said:
0.5A is USB level so that's why that one doesn't work, anything that charges at 1A or over should be fine.
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My charger is capable of driving more than 0.5A, but the phone don't "understand' it.

Android determines that a charger is a wall charger (as opposed to a computer) by the fact that the data ports are shorted together. Apple chargers don't do this, so most chargers made for Apple products will only charge Android devices at 0.5A. Heck, almost no car chargers do, unless they were made specifically for an Android device. Here's what I did:
I ordered this Griffin car charger, mainly because of the size. It just BARELY sticks out of the car's charging plug. Then, I ordered the Nexus Wireless Charger, and used the cable it came with (minus the wall plug). Presto... Qi wireless charging in my car. The magnets hold the N5 in place nicely so it doesn't slide off the charger in my center console, and the charger I linked easily supplies the 1.8A that the Nexus Charger expects.
The catch is that this charger was designed for an Apple product, so I had to carefully pry it apart and short the center two USB pins with solder using a soldering iron (those are the data pins).
EDIT: I should point out here that the Nexus charger may work fine without shorting the pins. I didn't test it. I wanted the ability to quick charge via cable if necessary, since Qi charging is a bit slower, so I shorted the pins, but if all you're interested in is Qi charging, you may be able to get by without modifying the charger. If someone wants to test this, please let us know.

jt3
Thanks for the info. I have some kind of Griffin charger with 2 USB ports.
So, I will try to do the same - shorten data pins inside the charger.
I will post it works

Just an FYI, I was charging with a charger that listed AC mode last weekend yet it wasn't charging faster than the power was draining.
Not all the AC modes officially charge at a faster pace unfortunately. My Galaxy Nexus car dock charger though did charge it at a proper AC pace.

What took me a little while to figure out is that this issue may not be as related to the charger as it is to the cable. I tried 3 different car chargers and none of them would keep up with GPS battery drain in the car. I figured out that common to all 3 chargers that I was trying was the cable. So I bought this cable and now all 3 of the same chargers work great. I am finding that even at 1.0A you can keep up with the gps battery drain. At 1.5 amps or greater you can charge the battery in the car while using GPS full time.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0088HTYUE/ref=ya_aw_oh_pit

jalanjkcarp said:
What took me a little while to figure out is that this issue may not be as related to the charger as it is to the cable. I tried 3 different car chargers and none of them would keep up with GPS battery drain in the car. I figured out that common to all 3 chargers that I was trying was the cable. So I bought this cable and now all 3 of the same chargers work great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is because some "charge only" cables don't have data pins at all (usually, because they came with a charging dock of some sort, or were designed for devices other than Android). Remember, I said earlier that Android notices that it's on a charger when the data pins are shorted. If they're missing completely, then it will only charge at 0.5A.
My rule of thumb is to stay far - far away from charge-only cables.

I bought a "2.1A Car Charger" with a single USB port (made by PNY....Amazon for about $6 shipped)... opened it up and soldered a bridge between the middle 2 USB pins.
Previously it reported Charging (USB), now I get Charging (AC). Confirmed with a widget that showed charging amps, the number went way way up.
Presumably any of these chargers claiming high-amp output will only work with iDevices, I guess they ignore the USB standard that if the two middle pins are bridged, its a power-only connection and full power can flow.
I did test this on an HTC One X running 4.2 and it reports Charging USB though, so there is a dependency on one of the newer Android kernels (my N5 runs 4.4.2)
Edit: oh yea... with my newly modded charger, I tested turning on Bluetooth streaming audio to my car, GPS on, navigation running, screen on, 100% bright, and wifi tethering enabled, and i STILL had a net charge going.

I've just bought a Blackberry Premium In-Vehicle Charger and my N5 recognizes it as an AC charger. The phone pulls around 1A from it (it's good for up to 1.8A). This is it, though I purchased mine from a local store.