Car Chargers

[CharmCityCrab]

Saw a Motorola micro-USB car charger for $5ish. Is something like that good for a Virgin Mobile Android phone? Or do they have negative effects on battery life? Do you need to stick to the official one for your phone and get that or nothing? What's the skinny?

Waiting for a replacement phone to come in and for me to put it through it's paces to make sure everything, including the battery, is good to go (as it might be a refurb, not sure), before I mess with accessories. But a car charger is something that I'd like to get once everything is smoothed out with my phone transition, assuming I can one that's a) affordable and b) doesn't risk messing up my phone's non-replaceable battery.

What are your guys' thoughts/experiences?

[digi7al ph0enix]

A quality car charger won't cause any problems. You want to watch out for fake and knock off chargers commonly sold on eBay and sometimes Amazon. You want a charger sealed in factory packaging and with ends that are injection molded, not the snap together ends that the cheap made in China knock offs use.

As long as you buy a good charger you are fine, if you buy a no name or cheap one you may end up with voltage fluctuations that will damage your battery and possibly your phone.

[billm261]

Buy a quality, OEM charger, don't skimp and get a 2.00 one.

If you search "OEM Sprint Car Charger" or Verizon, Motorola etc on eBay there are tons of them. Just make sure it's a micro usb.

They are not much money and another thing I like about them is that the cord is usually longer. I bought some back when the BB Tour came out and we are still using them.

[Etegral]

Seconding the advice these guys are giving. I bought the cheapest car to USB adapter I could find on eBay, and it worked fine for a few months. One day I tried pulling it out and some small bit came loose inside the car port and sparked and sizzled and let out a bunch of smoke. Just spend the extra few bucks to get a quality one.

[jeffmd]

I bought the usb charge port (belkin maybe?) and its been sitting in my cig adapter for months with no issues. I have both an apple and usb charge cable out there for when ever I need it.

[hershey_squirt]

Saw a Motorola micro-USB car charger for $5ish. Is something like that good for a Virgin Mobile Android phone? Or do they have negative effects on battery life? Do you need to stick to the official one for your phone and get that or nothing? What's the skinny?

Waiting for a replacement phone to come in and for me to put it through it's paces to make sure everything, including the battery, is good to go (as it might be a refurb, not sure), before I mess with accessories. But a car charger is something that I'd like to get once everything is smoothed out with my phone transition, assuming I can one that's a) affordable and b) doesn't risk messing up my phone's non-replaceable battery.

What are your guys' thoughts/experiences?

I installed on of these in my car. http://www.amazon.com/PAC-IS32-Modul...xp_grid_pt_1_2



As you can see you can use your usb cable to charge, and have a line-in. It is interference free because it connects in-line with your vehicle antenna. The usb power is regulated very well too, which is what kills batteries and phones (on the cheap chargers).

[billm261]

I installed on of these in my car.

As you can see you can use your usb cable to charge, and have a line-in. It is interference free because it connects in-line with your vehicle antenna. The usb power is regulated very well too, which is what kills batteries and phones (on the cheap chargers).

That device is pretty cool.
I have XM Radio in my cars but at times would like to listen to stuff I have on my phone.

How do you change the FM frequency on it? Is it fixed, automatic manual etc.

Sent from my Incredible 2

[hershey_squirt]

That device is pretty cool.
I have XM Radio in my cars but at times would like to listen to stuff I have on my phone.

How do you change the FM frequency on it? Is it fixed, automatic manual etc.

Sent from my Incredible 2

Its on or off. Radio works normally, turn it on and whatever input you have in will play. So no need to tune anything in, it feeds directly to your antenna input. The USB port powers on with the accessories.

[503ducati]

Buy a quality, OEM charger, don't skimp and get a 2.00 one.

If you search "OEM Sprint Car Charger" or Verizon, Motorola etc on eBay there are tons of them. Just make sure it's a micro usb.

They are not much money and another thing I like about them is that the cord is usually longer. I bought some back when the BB Tour came out and we are still using them.

+1


Recently 2 amp chargers or "Rapid Chargers" were a topic of discussion on a podcast and it seems they can be more difficult to find especially if you want a quality one. Most generic or standard charges are 1 - 1.5 amps. The Blackberry Premium Charger(2 amp) was recommended but it is only a wall charger.

Several months ago I purchased one of these Sprint branded all in one Travel Chargers. It's a well made 2 amp charger with two USB charging ports. It has been very convenient to have one charger for a wall outlet and a car charger. These Sprint branded ones are available on ebay for $6 - $7 free shipping but I'm sure there are other options. I only use the OEM cable for my phone as the Blackberry cables tend to not be as snug fitting on my EVO LTE's port but maybe others have had better luck.

Sprint all in one charger

[primetechv2]

(my) RadioShack is selling several varieties of car and home chargers, 2.0, 2.5, 3.1 amps, spread evenly across all plugged in outlets (so they claim). My initial thought was that only having one port used would give it maximum power, but upon further looking I'd guess it only receives (total amperage / number of ports) amps instead

Still, a 2.5A, 2-port charger should give each port 1.25A...

I've heard arguments that a higher-amped charger will charge a battery faster, but wear it out faster as well. So beware, the faster you charge, the fewer charges you'll get. (I don't know how tablets work.)

[503ducati]

(my) RadioShack is selling several varieties of car and home chargers, 2.0, 2.5, 3.1 amps, spread evenly across all plugged in outlets (so they claim). My initial thought was that only having one port used would give it maximum power, but upon further looking I'd guess it only receives (total amperage / number of ports) amps instead

Still, a 2.5A, 2-port charger should give each port 1.25A...

I've heard arguments that a higher-amped charger will charge a battery faster, but wear it out faster as well. So beware, the faster you charge, the fewer charges you'll get. (I don't know how tablets work.)

FWIW on a podcast over at androidcentral, Jerry Hildenbrand indicated that a 2 amp charger such as the Blackberry Premium charger would not damage cell phone batteries. He seems to be educated on battery chemistry based on that discussion.

[primetechv2]

All the information out there seems based on people's experience with rapid chargers on AA Ni-CD or NiMH batteries... they seem particularly destructive.

[503ducati]

All the information out there seems based on people's experience with rapid chargers on AA Ni-CD or NiMH batteries... they seem particularly destructive.

It's important to note that cell phone batteries today are lithium-ion/lithium polymer. These do not have "memory" like previous technologies do. Battery wear coming primarily from charging cycles or "cycles" per life. This discussion on the podcast initially started over non removable batteries if I recall then reader questioned on rapid chargers.

Hit the 1 hour 3 min mark:

[hershey_squirt]

The main thing I would be worried about is poor voltage regulation of the cheap car chargers.

[503ducati]

The main thing I would be worried about is poor voltage regulation of the cheap car chargers.

I agree, there is a clear difference between OEMs and cheap brand X.