Use a Razr charger

[onthefence]

This is my first "smart" phone. I came to the G1 from a "stupid" phone, the Motorola V3m Razr(Verizon), but it may have some redeeming value afterall. I'm not going to state that this is safe, you are responsible for your own electronics, but I'm just going to share my experience.

Since both phones use a mini-usb charger, i looked at the specs on the chargers. The Razr charger pulls slightly less current so I felt safe trying it out. Why? I was at my girlfriends house and forgot my charger if you must know.

Anyway, it worked for me. I imagine that if I timed it, the Razr charger probably charges slightly slower, but it worked. I haven't tried with my Razr car charger yet, but it could mean not having to buy another charger for this phone.

Hope this helps someone.

 

[richy240]

Yeah, this generally applies to all phones with a mini-USB for a power port. I've been doing this for years, but I've never paid attention to the amount of power output each charger produces - maybe I should start!

 

[PhantomTrace]

Hope someone soon clarifies if theres a better charger our for the battery life of the G1.

 

[drustvold]

All USB chargers should be outputing 5 volts at 1 amp or "5v 1a" because thats what it has to be to for it to be authentic USB.

Check the end of the cable where it plugs into the wall, it should say the output level.

 

[Pathosis]

All USB chargers should be outputing 5 volts at 1 amp or "5v 1a" because thats what it has to be to for it to be authentic USB.

Check the end of the cable where it plugs into the wall, it should say the output level.

My aunt once had a problem charging her RAZR phone with a blackberry charger. Of course the G1 picked up the charge, but I tested the charger iwth another RAZR, and still the same problem. I always thought mini USB was a universal charging method, but I guess not...

However, I do like charging my G1 through a PS3.

 

[onthefence]

OK, so I guess I wasn't the first to think of this.

But I also used a normal USB-USBmini computer cable to charge it and it also allowed me to exchange data as with the strange proprietary connector that was sent with the phone.

So now I'm confused. Why the strange not-quite=mini-USB connector/cable that shipped with the G1? It seems you can just use reg mini-USB cables anyway?!?!?

Is this like a quirky Android thing?

 

[drustvold]

OK, so I guess I wasn't the first to think of this.

But I also used a normal USB-USBmini computer cable to charge it and it also allowed me to exchange data as with the strange proprietary connector that was sent with the phone.

So now I'm confused. Why the strange not-quite=mini-USB connector/cable that shipped with the G1? It seems you can just use reg mini-USB cables anyway?!?!?

Is this like a quirky Android thing?

From Wikipedia

HTC, a company which makes Windows Mobile-based Communicators and the Android-based G1, has a proprietary connector called HTC ExtUSB, which combines mini-USB with audio input and output

So its funny because it has some extra pins for audio. But should still work with regualr mini usb cables.

 

[ram100987]

ive always used any miniusb charger for my phone. i have so many usb charger i dont even know which one came with my G1 anymore. and phantom, the battery life is not effected by the charger. all the charger does is Charge the battery. it cant pump extra juice into it or make the phone use less power...

 

[ghoonk]

Not sure what you guys are going on about, but I've been charging my phone fine with mini-USB to USB cables on my office notebook, home notebook, home PC, and a PC at my friend's home.

 

[mguthrie]

Moto phones have a data pin that won't let them charge off a nonmoto charger

 

[carlosnumbertwo]

I use a BlackBerry charger, a Motorola brand car charger (used with a RAZR back when they were cool) and they all work fine. Even the generic mini usb cable I leave at work.

 

[krstofer]

Moto phones have a data pin that won't let them charge off a nonmoto charger

This is not entirely true, I had a first gen razr that I used to charge off the USB on my PC, however, you needed to install the drivers on the PC to get the charge to work.

I did recently have a friend that tried to charge his RAZR with my USB plug and it didn't work.

My wife has the Dash and that charger works on my phone and vice versa.

 

[agentaaron]

My wife has the Dash and that charger works on my phone and vice versa.

This would make sense because the Dash is also known as the HTC excalibur

I dont know if this was just coincidence but I know that while we were on vacation this spring, I used a generic usb car charger on my dash (made for a razr if I remember correctly)...shortly after that, my battery would only last about 5-6 hours before I started getting a low batt. warning. I later found out that the batteries in the dash are prone to having problems though...so I dont know.

I have always tried to use the correct chargers for all of my phones with the exception of USB cords for the computer (I have so many it would be impossible to keep them all straight)