Help Is anyone else worried about . . .

[Old Member]

The charger for our Zooms? It is so small and thin, it just looks like it could break at any time . I am extra careful to plug it in cautiously. Also, I know that placing the charging port on the bottom of the device makes it nice for docks but charging it in my case is not easy when using it.

 

[Eternal_XTC]

Me not so much... I thinks its better then the standard chargers. I usually have a problem with those.

 

[kennychaffin]

The charger for our Zooms? It is so small and thin, it just looks like it could break at any time . I am extra careful to plug it in cautiously. Also, I know that placing the charging port on the bottom of the device makes it nice for docks but charging it in my case is not easy when using it.

Yes. I don't understand why they didn't do a standard USB charger????

It is a 12v charger....possibly to do with the batter used in the xoom??

Anyone know?

 

[coldfuzion]

Yes. I don't understand why they didn't do a standard USB charger????

Anyone know?

no, but its kind of annoying. I plug my evo in at work (which, like most phones these days, has the same USB port in it as the XOOM's data port) and it sucks not being able to charge the XOOM .

I don't like having to remember to carry a bunch of different chargers around with me

 

[NvrEnough]

Unfourtantly i think were stuck with it.

It does feel flimsy but im sure they had their reasons.

 

[algs26]

The Xoom pin charger looked like a Nokia pin charger to me.

Just checked and someone posted on the XDA forums that it fits.

The nice thing about the charger is that you can't plug it in wrong (especially when it's a little bit dark).

 

[Go Blue]

The battery in the Xoom is 7.4v, and the charger is 12v.

A USB charger output is 5v, and batteries charged by USB are usually 3.2v +/-. That is why the Xoom cannot be charged by USB.

I just wish the charger had a 90-degree plug to minimize the leverage of the charger when plugged in. Sooner or later ..........

 

[kennychaffin]

The battery in the Xoom is 7.4v, and the charger is 12v.

A USB charger output is 5v, and batteries charged by USB are usually 3.2v +/-. That is why the Xoom cannot be charged by USB.

I just wish the charger had a 90-degree plug to minimize the leverage of the charger when plugged in. Sooner or later ..........

That probably explains the reasoning, but technically not true. With today's switching power supplies the voltage doesn't really matter. It's relatively easy to convert, but there is of course some loss and some hardware required to do it.

 

[kennychaffin]

Speaking of damage. Anyone get offered or purchase an extended warranty? It didn't even come up at (the Verizon kiosk) at Costco.

 

[marctronixx]

yeah theres a warranty thread in the main xoom forum. squaretrade has one and then theres best buy. costco does not offer an extended warranty on their electronics?

 

[Go Blue]

That probably explains the reasoning, but technically not true. With today's switching power supplies the voltage doesn't really matter. It's relatively easy to convert, but there is of course some loss and some hardware required to do it.

I agree that it is technically possible, but now we're getting into the realm of what is a) technically possible; b) commercially feasible; and c) available in the marketplace. Then there's d) meeting customer's expectations and e) compliance with IEEE standards.

on a), it is indeed technically possible to convert voltage up. Falling off a log with AC circuits, a little more complex to convert voltage up in a DC circuit but it can be done.

on b), again cheap and easy to do with AC circuits, and no problem with packaging. For DC circuits again, not so cheap, and packaging becomes an issue. Since we're dealing with a device that users will want to charge from their car's 12v "cigarette" outlet, packaging indeed becomes an issue, as the device must fit in the area provided for access -- not talking about just the hole it plugs into but the external space for the transforming / switching device. There is also the issue of adequate current supply.

on c) I am not aware of anyone supplying a portable power supply for handheld devices that utilizes a voltage converter that increases voltage. They all reduce voltage from 120/220 ac or 12v dc to whatever the device requires. The one exception that might be pointed to are laptop power supplies that convert from 12v to 19.6 or 20.x volts, but they are rare, are even more rarely OEM provided, and are BIG and HEAVY, not exactly consistent with the empty pockets approach sought by most tablet users.

And then there's d) -- put a USB plug at the end of a wire, and everyone -- and I mean everyone -- will expect it to work in any compatible size USB receptacle, including all the ones they already have at home. Now, have a USB receptacle that requires a special and unique USB power supply to make it work, which would have to be connected to the other end of a wire from a special voltage converter device -- and what do you have from a customer expectation standpoint? You still have a special and unique charger that is required for your Xoom, you have a Xoom that would not charge on any other standard USB-plugged charger, and you have a charger that would fry 99.99% of any dimensionally compatible device on the street if it was plugged into it. You would have more pi$$ed off customers of Xooms that won't charge and phones / cameras / headsets / you name it that were fried by a high voltage charger .......

And that is precisely why the Xoom will not charge off the USB port.

Finally, there is e): Anything other than 5v is not compliant with the USB spec. And the spec is there to protect against the issues pointed out toward the end of d)

So it is technically possible or feasible? Yes.

But because it must work from a 5v input due to the USB standard, then the voltage switching must be done inside the Xoom. Virtually all of portable device manufacturers have gone away from voltage switching internal to the device in the charging or main power supply circuit, because when they did it they had such problems with warranty and failure, and it usually required the replacement of the motherboard because of the failure of what is essentially a fuse -- there are untold numbers of otherwise perfectly good laptops lying around in the basement or in the landfill due to failed internal power converters. (Yes - there are voltage converters inside laptops etc to get from battery voltage down to circuit voltages, but today those are all dc converters reducing voltage, and they are working in a controlled - or at least predictable --environment of input voltage from a battery or external dc power supply, not the uncontrolled world of dirty / spiking ac power and highly fluctuating dc voltage from cars and airplanes.) They learned their lesson on the backs of customers that power supplies are expendable, and belong outside the device. And, I would hazard to say that packaging such an internal voltage converted in the limited volume presented in the Xoom (or any tablet) would present challenges with unfavorable trade-offs with or for other features. And -- then it must work with the limited current available from the weakest / lowest current USB power supply, as in a small laptop or netbook, without exceeding the current spec of the USB circuit -- it could take days to charge at that rate.

 

[clb2196]

I asked at the verizon store and was old there was no warranty (although he said "yet" not sure what that means)

 

[Old Member]

I hope Duracell or Powermat come out with a charging mat. I'd buy one for my Xoom. Anyone every use one of these for your electronic devices? How did it work? Worth the money?

 

[rjoudrey]

I hope Duracell or Powermat come out with a charging mat. I'd buy one for my Xoom. Anyone every use one of these for your electronic devices? How did it work? Worth the money?

You would be better off buy the charging cradle.

 

[Android SN]

Umm...the pin doesn't push all the way in correct?

 

[tonypro]

On my device the pin does NOT go all the way in... And the charger cradle is the way to go for a majority of the charging... that way if there is any kind of accident replacing the charger cable or even the cradle is less heartbreaking