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Charging the Battery - Alternative Methods? Charging with USB Cable to any Computer?

According this this article:

Android, Over The Air, and Sprint | Android Phone Fans

the battery life is less than ideal
When I plugged my USB cable into my computer to transfer files as discussed in this thread:

http://androidforums.com/sprint-htc...e-hard-drive-onto-pc-desktop-macbook-etc.html

I noticed the red light went on on my phone.

Questions

I normally charge my phone with the USB cable and plug-in adapter that came with the phone.

May I simply plug this into any PC computer via the USB port and this will charge my phone?

I have a PC computer at both home and work, is it as simple as simply plugging this into the computer to charge the phone?

Just wait for the light to change from red to green?

Also, I have a macbook (laptop). May I simply plug this cable into the macbook as well to charge the phone?

If the answers to of the above are yes, an extra USB calbe or two may come in handy. If so, where might I obtain extra USB cables cheap?

The USB port is standard of course, but what about the port that plugs into the phone?

Is charging the phone this easy?

While I'm on this topic, what about getting an extra battery:

http://androidforums.com/sprint-htc-hero/16482-extra-battery-sprint-htc-hero.html

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Yes, you can use your USB sync cable to charge your phone in any USB port (as long as the USB port supplies power) Only thing is, it'll charge a lot slower than if you plug the sync cable into the adapter in a wall outlet. If I remember correctly USB outputs at 500mA where the wall out let charges at 1A or 1,000mA.
Also I've noticed that when I charge via USB the battery doesn't seem to last as long as if I'd charged it via a wall outlet. It could just be me.. but thats my opinion on the subject.
 
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At 500ma vs 1000ma, that would be twice as long.

Correct?

Also I've noticed that when I charge via USB the battery doesn't seem to last as long as if I'd charged it via a wall outlet. It could just be me.. but thats my opinion on the subject.

As long as the green light comes on, shouldn't that mean that the battery is fully charged?

Is there a circuit of some sort that switches to ensure that phone batteries aren't overcharged?

Yes, you can use your USB sync cable to charge your phone in any USB port

Not the same concern as the iPod of course, whereby it'll sync with the iTunes in the computer. No concerns here as there's nothing to sync to. We simply connect it to any PC that puts out power and the phone will charge.

...an extra USB cable or two may come in handy. If so, where might I obtain extra USB cables cheap?

Where might I find a USB calbe cheap? Is the phone plug compatible?

The USB port is standard of course, but what about the port that plugs into the phone?

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Correct 500mA vs 1000mA would be twice as long.
Yes, when the light turns green the battery is "fully charged" I haven't tried to charge via my USB port, wait till it turns green, then plug it into the wall adapter to see if it keeps charging or not.. but IMO the battery seems to last longer when charged with the wall adapter. Could be me, I dunno.
I've noticed the same thing when charging my Ipod via my USB port vs the Wall adapter for it.
It could be all in my head but I swear it seems like it lasts a lot longer.
As for a cheap USB cable.. Personally this phone is worth too much to me to risk shorting it out or bricking it with a cheap cable. I'd only use cables made by HTC for this phone..

On the other hand, the phone's charging port is a standard mini-USB connector so as long as the cable / charger is putting out at 5V / 1A it _should_ be ok.. Again, personally I'd only use cables made by HTC.
 
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The Hero uses a 'Mini-B' USB port, usually just referred to as 'miniUSB'.

Note that this is not the same as 'microUSB', which the Samsung Moment and other new devices use - this is a much thinner connector than the Mini-B

Most digital cameras (the point-and-shoot kind), external USB harddrives, etc use this type of connector, it's fairly common. As such, I had several just 'laying around' to use. One plugged into the wall adapter next to my bed, one plugged into a USB cigar-lighter adapter in my car, and the HTC supplied cable I bring around in my laptop back for work and elsewhere. My girl did the same for her Hero, and i've still got a couple lying around.

I can't say anything for the monoprice site, never used them, but I wouldn't pay more than $5 for one of these cables. They're ubiquitous. So common, in fact, that I bet if you asked 3 friends if they had an extra hanging about from some old device they never use, you'd get one for free ;)

If you do buy, the 'ferrite core' isn't necessary, but is usually wise. this is basically a dampener to reduce the 'noise' over the line. Great for data transfer, but doesn't matter much for power transfer. I wouldn't buy from places like BestBuy, RadioShack, etc - extremely overpriced there. Also, regardless of whether or not you think you'll use the USB mass-storage feature, make sure you're buying data cables, and not just power cables. The rocketfish-brand 'charging' cables, for example, are not data cables. Made that mistake myself. Generally, if it's not labled 'charging cable', it's usually a data cable.
 
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When I charge my battery by connecting this to my PC, it keeps prompting me and asking me about HTC Sync.

Is there a quick way to just ignore/reject all this?

I simply just want to change the battery.

I had an option:

Mount / Don't Mount

I tapped "Don't Mount".

When it said unable to Sync with HTC Sync, I tapped on "Ok".

I imagine that if I just go through these processes, nothing other than the battery charging will occur.

Correct?
 
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You could just ignore the notifications. On my hero I only see those if I drag the top bar down. Other wise I just ignore them. If you choose to mount then your phone will charge and work just like a USB stick (if you have a microSD card in it of course).

I have a whole box full of these cables and use them interchangeably on many devices. Camera's, Playstation 3 remotes,Nintendo DS, other phones, etc etc. I keep two in my back pack, two in my car, the there is three downstairs that are used for charging the PS3 remotes, or my phone. My experiment with the Pre was so painful because of it's use of microUSB, I only had one cable and it was a hugh pain in the ass.

You can find a cheap miniUSB car charger just about anywhere these days too.

It's important to note that the port on the phone and the end of the cable that comes the phone have a slanted shape that looks different then other miniUSB cables. This has existed on HTC phones for a while but it's fine to go ahead and plug in a regular miniUSB cable.
 
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I know this is an old thread, but to avoid creating a new I will post my question/ concern here. I left my wall charger at my moms (an hour drive from my house) so I used a USB cable from one of my other electronic devices, but after charging from 2am till 8am it was only charged from about 40-50% to 75%. When I got to work I plugged it in at about 930 and it's now 1220 and it has only charged 3%. I realize it will cahrge slower via the USB cable, but that's ridiculous.
 
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Not all USB ports charge at the same rate. All are 'current limited' based upon their design. Cheap universal chargers tend to be more limited, IMO. The charger that comes with the Hero, so far, is my favorite as it seems to do a complete charge in less than 2 hours. The charger I use overnights (cheap universal model) will NOT fully charge the phone if I leave the display running as a nightlight. The USB port on my office computer takes about 4 hours to ramp the battery back to 100 percent. All different devices with different charge rates. :)
 
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