USB charger

[chucka]

i was wondering if anyone on here knows how fast the usb charger cable actually charges the clie. i cant find my charger cable that clicks to the back of the cradle and i ran up to frys and they had the 2 in 1 charger-sync cable for $9. i bought it and came home to my dead clie and have been charging it for about 12-14 hours straight and its still only at about 80% charge. is this right?

[wellsjs]

The extra power injected to the standard cradle that comes with Sony Clies combines with charging via the USB to do what Sony calls a Rapid Charge. With just the USB cable, you still charge the unit, but at a slower rate. It should not take more than 8 hours even starting with a dead one. Battery metering software tends to be only semi-accurate at best. Try (with it not charging) running a couple of apps and then back to your launcher and wait 20-30 seconds and see if your meter levels top out.

[DanT]

Looking at your Avatar, it looks like you have the N series, which requires 5.7VDC (the spec for the OEM charger). Typically the USB puts out only about 5 VDC. I have one of this USB charger myself and checked the voltage with voltmeter once (pin #7 or 8 = +, pin #12 = -). Charging my N760C with this USB charger is like watching the grasses grow. The newer models are faster because they only require 5.2 VDC (see their charger spec).

That N-series USB charger is only good for HotSync . If you want to use it for charger, you need to get the USB to 120VAC or USB to 12VDC (car cigaret lighter) adapters.

[chucka]

thanks. thats a big help. so i guess i can probably use the cable i just bought for my s320?

[DanT]

You can use it for both. Just get the USB/120VAC adapter, stick the male USB end of your USB charger to the female USB end of that AC adapter, then you'll have AC charger similar to the one you originally get from Sony and for half the price. Stick the Clie plug to the back of the cradle, plug the other end to AC outlet then you're good to go.

Just for pricing reference, I bought 4-in-1 type charger from eBay that include 2-in-1 USB charger (like yours) + USB/AC adapter + USB/car adapter for $18.25., a lot cheaper than Sony's Travel Kit PEGA TK-500 ($57).

[Unregistered]

Does anyone know if these two products are compatible?

Thanks

Ian

[DanT]

No. TK500 is for N series, which has 13 pins. T-series and newer models have 18 pins.