TX Trickle Charge

[palmcop]

The Palm knowledge base says that the trickle charge can provide 100-500 mah depending on your system. When I use just the hotsync cable my TX beeps and shows the lightning bolt. This means that my TX is getting a 500 mah charge from my hotsync cable right? This also means that I really don't need the AC power cord charger right? Why connect both cables if they both provide the same amount of charge on my systyem? Let me know if I have this right? I also posted this on Brighthands forum.

http://discussion.brighthand.com/palmhandhelds/showthread.php?s=&threadid=87937

[Dick Tracy]

If you are getting the lightning bolt you have a computer that provides 500mah. Palm provides both cables for the folks who may not be getting 500mah and need to rapidly charge. If you're good with trickle charging, great. I'm doing wonderfully with just the charger and WiFi sync since my laptop doesn't output 500 mah.

[jfer_rs]

Right, your computer may be not giving you the 500mah, so, if you want your palm to get charged fast, you connect the AC. If you want it charged, but you don't care how much it takes, put the trickle.

[_Em]

I find the two cables extremely useful; I have the power cable by my bed at home, so the TX can charge at night, even if I'm watching a movie or playing a game in bed. At work, I don't have a bluetooth enabled computer, so the USB cable stays plugged in there, to keep the TX powered while I'm at my desk.

Something else to note is that any primary USB port should be able to provide the power needed by the TX; any USB splitters that don't have a power feed will likely drop below the required voltage however.

This means that if you have USB ports on the front and back of your PC (or on your keyboard, monitor, etc.) it is likely that the ones on the back of the PC will work and the others won't -- a USB hub (with external power) should also work.

The other thing the documentation mentions is that the USB charge is significantly slower than the power cable charge. USB is great for keeping the battery topped up, but if you want a quick recharge, keep the TX powered off and use the power cable. Using the USB AND power cables together provides no advantage that I can see; the power cable alone already provides full charging voltage.