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Accessories Is there a 1000mA USB car charger that actually works?

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#56
I have the cheap white one from monoprice and it works just fine. I remember in another thread that people were having trouble with the black one, but i don't know why, i'm sure they're the same. I bought the white ones since they were out of stock of the black ones at the time. I haven't tested to see how much current it actually puts out.

I don't think we should have any trouble charging while in use, even at 500mA. It might just charge slower.

Hm, say you had a 4 hour battery life (all awake time), then you'd be drawing 375mA, which leaves 125mA to charge. Not a whole lot, but still charging.
 
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#57
Just a heads up, I got the Scosche Revive at Target for $15. Found it in the automotive dept, last one they had at the store on Peterson Ave in Chicago. YMMV on what Target stores have it. Was kinda shocked when I found one, as I looked it up online and no stores locally looked liked they carried the Scosche Revive. Thought I was going to have to order it from Amazon, but I needed a charger for a trip I took yesterday.


Seems to work fairly well, not sure if it's faster or slower than other chargers though. But it did charge while using the phone.
 
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#58
Kaskimondo said:
Just a heads up, I got the Scosche Revive at Target for $15. Found it in the automotive dept, last one they had at the store on Peterson Ave in Chicago. YMMV on what Target stores have it. Was kinda shocked when I found one, as I looked it up online and no stores locally looked liked they carried the Scosche Revive. Thought I was going to have to order it from Amazon, but I needed a charger for a trip I took yesterday.


Seems to work fairly well, not sure if it's faster or slower than other chargers though. But it did charge while using the phone.
Click to expand...
Acting on your intelligence and already having to go to Target last night, I slipped over to the automotive section and, sure enough, they had it!

I agree with you - it seems to do a better job than the monoprice rig I bought (man, that was the first monoprice purchase I regretted). However, the charging indicator still says USB. Of course, I'm not sure I should be expecting anything else (why would it say A/C in my car?!). Still, is there any way to actually confirm this Schosche thing is really doing its job other than from observation? How can we be sure it's really driving 1A to the phone?
 
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#60
Cache22 said:
Sorry, I meant to post back with my results with the Scosche Revive earlier.

First off, there is some confusion since Scosche has at least 3 different dual-USB chargers. The one I bought is the "Revive" model # USB12V2A, which is 1 Amp per port for a total potential 2 Amp capacity across two devices. (Currently $12.21, I paid $11.40, I have Amazon Prime so not sure what regular shipping is.)

The adapter is built well, not the most solid construction I have seen in a car outlet plug, however definitely above average and I have no concerns about its durability. When power is on, it has a blue LED indicator, which I don't care for that much ... when I leave for work it is still dark out, and I have to have it rotated to where LED is pointing down since the blue LED is too bright and distracting, however during the day then I can't see it. My car socket is a bit loose, so sometimes between morning and afternoon the plug may loose contact (This is a fault with my car, not the adapter, and I should probably get around to fixing this! ) but if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't really care about the brighter blue LED. I may just go over it with a black marker though, and see if I can get the brightness down. The main issue for me (due to my car socket) is it can be fine in the morning when it is 72 degrees, but when I leave work and it's 95 degrees out and much hotter in the car, the expansion/contraction of my socket can cause it to lose contact and I have the LED turned where I can't see it anymore in the sunlight. (And while typing this, I put a note to myself to finally get around to getting a replacement socket for the car, so hopefully this won't be an issue at all soon anyway.)

When in use, it has no problems charging the EVO while running GPS and 4G, running turn-by-turn navigation, etc, with another device using the second port. I plugged my old phone on the second port for a bit (which still doesn't use as much power as the EVO) then mostly had my Zune connected (which uses even less) so I still can't verify how well it performs with two high power devices, but with the EVO and an average device, it does great. There are no problems with the adapter getting hot.

Overall, this charger seems to handle the power requirements of the EVO just fine, and I don't know if there is any advantage compared to the more expensive (and on-preorder) iPad version with the 2.1 Amp port given the price difference.
Click to expand...

You said your revive charges the ipad too?
 
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#63
rldev said:
You said your revive charges the ipad too?
Click to expand...

Revive II will charge iPad and has one port dedicated to that with a 2.1A output. I wouldn't recommend charging an iPad with 1A chargers as it will take quite a long time. In a pinch, it's fine but I'd find it frustrating to wait at least 2x as long to charge.

Revive will charge, but very slowly.

Revive works great for 2 Evos though!:D
 
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#64
RedWingsFan said:
If I were to gat a 1A charger and used it with my GF's blackberry (whose chargers are usually 500-700ma), could it cause a problem? Or does the charger just supply the max amount the device pulls?
Click to expand...

That should be fine ... the charger is rated for the maximum amount of current (amps) it can deliver, but the phone itself is what will determine how much current is actually used. (And the USB standard voltage is 5V, so the voltage should match whether the charger is rated 700mA or 1A)
 
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#65
Fixmy59bug said:
I don't know the specs or output on it, but when I bought my EVO from Radio shack, I also bought the PointMobl (That's an L, not an i) Micro USB car charger. Check it out here:

PointMobl Micro USB Vehicle Power Adapter : Cell Phone Car Chargers | RadioShack.com

Not only does it have the micro USB plug thatworks with the EVO (has no problem keeping up with leaving the EVO on and charging), but it also has a built in USB port. It promotes as being able to charge two devices at once.

It may not be "dealextreme" cheap at $24.99, but it certainly does work.

pRS1-7084007w345.jpg
Click to expand...

I bought this one with my phone, too. With the preorder $20 and 15% off accessories it cost me like three bucks. Works good. IIRC it's 1.2 amps. The second port is under the little rectangle under the white logo as pictured. It's also not so tall that it's almost embarassing to have sticking up out of the cigarette lighter in my console like a lot of the other chargers available, but just a little too tall to be able to close the lid on the ash tray in my 330i while it's still plugged in. (holy god, unless you *really* need the convenience, don't buy that car/travel charger from sprint for $40. When it's using the car charger, it has to have an arm swing out, and it is monstrous. Ridiculous size aside, it was a good charger until I lost it somewhere in Portland.)
It does glow a bit while it's plugged in, so if that's a huge turn-off for you, look elsewhere (or put some tape over it or something).
 
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#70
Long time reader... first time poster. (Just Joined today)

Sorry that my first post brings up an older thread, but I've followed this thread and checked it from time to time. I ended up getting the Scosche Revive II. When using a Motorola Droid 1 micros usb charger into the "1A" port it shows "USB Charging" and I did a few tests. One day it went from 23% to 74% in 1hr 20min, then did another test using the EVO Cable(also shows "USB Charger") and it went from 73% to 85% in 21 minutes. These are not EXACT figures... timing errors may be at most 1 minute.

My question to you all is is it ok to use the "2.1A" port on on Evo4g?

It was a toss-up between the Belkin mentioned in this thread and the Revive II. The "2.1A" looked interesting so I went with it. Just wondering if I could get some feedback from other users. Does the "Belkin" that is mentioned here and sold on Amazon show as "Wall Charger" when charging? I have to admit, I was a little let down when the Revive II didn't show "Wall Charger",(on 1A port) but have not tried the 2.1A port as I'm concerned how that would affect the phone. All in all tho.. simply having a straight usb cable is much better than trying to stretch out those regular car chargers cables. :D
Would the "2.1a" port be like a RAPID charger for the EVO4G?

Anyway, if you have some input or info. I would really appreciate it. Especially if you have a Revive II.:)

Thanks
 
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#71
On a somewhat-related note, does anyone have issues with the device becoming VERY hot after extended use in the car? It SEEMS to have to do with having the backlight constantly on, but if I reach back and feel the kickstand it ends up pretty close to burning hot. I know the device should have an overheat-safety feature but I still get worried and turn off the screen for a while and that seems to help...
Am I out of the ordinary, or is this typical and is it anything to be concerned about?
 
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#72
Are you using a case? If so.. which one?

I take it you have a way of mounting it... and have the screen on for long periods of time navigating, music, etc... Also, how many things do you have going at once? I'm curious about which charger you're using. As that too could be involved.


On another note... I just picked up the Radio Shack charger that Fixmy59bug and tardmobile are using. I've got something else to return to "the Shack" and the guy said I have 30 days to "play" with it. Gonna compare it to the Scosche Revive II. Will post back the results. (I did see a review on RadioShack's site for this product and there are only 2 reviews... One of them was a very mad customer who claimed it "killed 2 of his blackberrys" That might actually be good news for evo4g users tho... because it shows its putting out some juice.

I did further reading on Amazon about the REVIVE II, and read thru some of the user reviews and one user said he contacted Scosche technical support, and the tech support guy said the 2.1a port "does not meet usb specifications" and "using the 2.1a port on an Iphone may cause premature battery failure." (That's not good. :eek: )
 
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#73
Shishio said:
Are you using a case? If so.. which one?

I take it you have a way of mounting it... and have the screen on for long periods of time navigating, music, etc... Also, how many things do you have going at once? I'm curious about which charger you're using. As that too could be involved.
Click to expand...

I slip it out of its gel case and slide the bottom half of the device into the bottom half of one of those plastic shells with two halves. The top part stays exposed the whole time. It's a simple mount I built for the car. So the lower half of the device (where the LEDs are, I guess) is in that plastic case, and the top is exposed. I typically have GPS and Pandora or my Cubed music player going. I was just wondering if it really is expected for it to get that hot, or if something was wrong. I know devices get hot (my tablet will literally get hot enough to burn my hand) but was curious what to expect from this phone.
 
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#74
Can anyone tell me what is causing a bottleneck on my car charger?

When connected to my car charger, the EVO shows Charging (AC) under the battery status via Settings -> About Phone. When I charge via USB, it says Charging (USB) in the same place.

I took out the fuse, and it's rated at 2 amps.

So what gives? I've heard that you need to short two pins together, but since my EVO sees it as an AC charger, I don't think that's the problem (but if it still is the problem, please let me know).

Also, I've used Current Widget to confirm my suspicion. The Car charger is only charging at a max of 500 mA. When charging via AC, it's usually above 900 mA if the battery is less than half full.
 
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#75
I bought a "Micro USB Retractable Car Charger For HTC Sprint Evo 4G" from Ebay seller
1
"
1
itrimming" for $3 bucks and change shipped!

It recharges my EVO while it's on according to the Battery status on the EVO.

I like the thin cord and that it is retractable. Great price for under $4 bucks shipped right to my door. :D

Bad: It's a 500 mAh charger.
 

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