[Q] Is usb charging supported on acer iconia a500 tab
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Most of the tablets can't be charged over USB - the A/C charger for the Acer is a 12v and I think (don't have mine with me at the moment) over 1 amp; even USB 3.0 only puts out 5v and maxes at 1a.
Having said that, it'd be nice if they could take a trickle charge over the USB input to reduce the battery drain, even if it can't fully charge the battery.
Having said that, it'd be nice if they could take a trickle charge over the USB input to reduce the battery drain, even if it can't fully charge the battery.
If anyone here also owns a Nook Color you may have noticed that it won't charge over USB either, and in fact even requires a custom "USB" cable attached to their power adapter for charging. Their cable looks like a regular USB cable but it is not.
The screens and batteries are just too big to support the tiny amount of power USB is designed to provide.
The screens and batteries are just too big to support the tiny amount of power USB is designed to provide.
Nope, no charging over USB. It has to do with the amount of charge needed to charge the device and USB is unable go generate the needed power.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App
The Nook Color does in fact charge over USB. I do it all the time. The only time it needs the AC power adapter is if it next to dead, and you get the "Battery too low to power on". Also, the AC adapter, even though it outputs via MicroUSB, will NOT charge other devices as it doesn't fit exactly for some reason.
My (retired) 1st gen Sony eReader was like that also, USB charge didn't work once the batt level got too low
NO
Like stated before almost no tablet charges over usb. and like one poster pointed out not even the nook color charges over usb I have one as well.
One poster says the nook does charge but you have to define chargeing. on wall power it charges full in like less then an hour. plugged into usb and only if its off or in sleep with no wifi running it will chrge but it will take all night. so for all purposes it dosent usb charge.
I dont know about other tablets but the iconia has TWO internal batteries(read your box see the little x2 next to the batteries) and most likely why it wont charge over usb.
To tell the truth I have not really understood the hang up on the usb charging or the short cord for the iconia. usually I charge mine when im done with it or not using it so cord length means nothing. and as far as usb charging, usb charging on anything is harder on the battieres. and most likely why alot of companies dont do it.
The whole idea is to be prtable who wants to be teathered to the wall with a charger 4 foot or 6 foot really whats the difference?
side note: the person who said the nook color cord was special? its just a standard mini usb just like on portable hard drives nothing special about it. i lost mine and just used the one from my hard drive worked just fine.
Like stated before almost no tablet charges over usb. and like one poster pointed out not even the nook color charges over usb I have one as well.
One poster says the nook does charge but you have to define chargeing. on wall power it charges full in like less then an hour. plugged into usb and only if its off or in sleep with no wifi running it will chrge but it will take all night. so for all purposes it dosent usb charge.
I dont know about other tablets but the iconia has TWO internal batteries(read your box see the little x2 next to the batteries) and most likely why it wont charge over usb.
To tell the truth I have not really understood the hang up on the usb charging or the short cord for the iconia. usually I charge mine when im done with it or not using it so cord length means nothing. and as far as usb charging, usb charging on anything is harder on the battieres. and most likely why alot of companies dont do it.
The whole idea is to be prtable who wants to be teathered to the wall with a charger 4 foot or 6 foot really whats the difference?
side note: the person who said the nook color cord was special? its just a standard mini usb just like on portable hard drives nothing special about it. i lost mine and just used the one from my hard drive worked just fine.
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I think the point with USB charging is it one less adapter you have to carry... if everyting supported the same port type it would make life much easier the the micro USB has been a nice solution for phones
I think the point with USB charging is it one less adapter you have to carry... if everyting supported the same port type it would make life much easier the the micro USB has been a nice solution for phones
That would be great. Maybe someday they will design a transport port and technology allowing a single port to both be intelligent enough to transport files to/from a computer as well as charge these devices.
For now, as others have said - the batteries in the A500 take too much juice to be charged through the USB port. Imagine having to charge your tablet for 48 hrs? Or worse, while it's charging you pick it up to check a website and even while charging it just starts draining because the batteries are juicing out faster than they can be charged?
It just wouldn't work.
I'm traveling to Germany in a few weeks. I have an adapter for my Dell Laptop to deal with the Power over there. The ability to charge my tablet, phone, and any other devices from my laptop would be awesome. If I wish to take my tablet, I'll need to buy another adapter / power converter that I'll hardly ever use. I often travel within the US for business, and carrying one less power adapter would be nice.
Sometimes My kids steal my tablet and use up all the battery, or I simply forget to plug it in... then I go to use it, and it's near dead. With the ridiculously short cord I cant use it while it charges unless I want to sit on the floor next to an electrical outlet or use an extension cord. And of course of the 50 or so power bricks I have.. none match..
While these things are slightly inconvenient.. It's not a show stopper. I love my Iconia.
I think people are used to their android phones, where (for me at least), my habit is to sit down and plug in the usb. It's just easy to keep it charged that way.
I found this neat device though, I think someone called it an extension cord or something? It really solved my problems of the short cord. I bet the guy who invented that is a millionaire.
(Seriously, they could have made the cord longer, just so you could sit the tab on a table and not be stretching, but $2 at Home Depot fixed the issue real quick).
I found this neat device though, I think someone called it an extension cord or something? It really solved my problems of the short cord. I bet the guy who invented that is a millionaire.
(Seriously, they could have made the cord longer, just so you could sit the tab on a table and not be stretching, but $2 at Home Depot fixed the issue real quick).
I had to return my first Iconia due to the stinkin to short power cord and when I picked it up it ripped the center pin out with it.... poor thinking acer!
I have almost done it again several times... tomorrow I am making my own car adapter and extending the charger cord myself...
Extending the cable isn't really all that difficult, just cut the cable in two, rip the insulating layer from both ends, add some extra cable in-between and voila! You've got yourself a longer charging cable
Extending the cable isn't really all that difficult, just cut the cable in two, rip the insulating layer from both ends, add some extra cable in-between and voila! You've got yourself a longer charging cable
Yep, that would definitely do the job but what about electrical resistance or conductance may be depending on the material, diameter of the wire, legth, temperature ... sorry, I'm not an electrician or an engineer but I think one shouldn't do such "grafting" with such sensitive electronic equipment...
Solution
What you ought to make is a 5V to 12V little box that you plug into TWO (or more) USB ports and draw power off both. It would be pretty small, you could probably put it inline. I have a hard drive case that draws power from two USB ports. One is power only, other is power and data. It Y's into a mini USB from two full size USB.
THAT'S what tablet makers ought to use. 1A at 5V is 5 watts, which is about 420mA @ 12 Volts which would probably let you charge when off at least on a tablet. Assuming no loss of course, but I bet you could still get 400mA effective.
What you ought to make is a 5V to 12V little box that you plug into TWO (or more) USB ports and draw power off both. It would be pretty small, you could probably put it inline. I have a hard drive case that draws power from two USB ports. One is power only, other is power and data. It Y's into a mini USB from two full size USB.
THAT'S what tablet makers ought to use. 1A at 5V is 5 watts, which is about 420mA @ 12 Volts which would probably let you charge when off at least on a tablet. Assuming no loss of course, but I bet you could still get 400mA effective.
i dont know if you've already made your trip to Germany or not, but as far as your Acer is concerned, all you need is a $0.30 US to German plug adapter. the brick from the iconia can already handle 110-240v. actually, most laptops and such's (even desktops) power supplies handle up to 240v due to people traveling with them. you dont need to worry about getting a special converter. this is coming from someone who's lived in Germany for 2 years, Bosnia for 7 months, and Iraq for 12 months. just look at the power supply and find the voltage on there and if it says 110-240v you're good. if its like 110-120v then you will need the power converter. lost a PlayStation 1 back in 1999 that way because I didnt check.
I like your thinking! (As oppose to all the nay-sayers who accepts defeat so readily...)
Another thing we should consider: many USB ports (even USB 2.0) will provide more power than the specification calls for - my motherboard puts out 1,500mAh on multiple ports, and my laptop has a dedicated "phone charging port" that puts out 1,000 mAh. Some travel adapter also has a USB charging port that puts out more than 500mAh. I know this is not the norm but is becoming a trend. So, for the lucky few who has a high-power USB port, charging the tablet via USB is entirely feasible. In fact, even with standard USB port, it can be done, just not "well".
If you don't believe me, do the math yourself - the Iconia has 2x 3.26Ah battery. At 3.7v, that is about 24 watt. For 2x USB at 500mAh, you get about 5 W/hr of juice. At no-loss, the tablet would be charged in less than 5 hours. Even if we assume 30% loss (typical), it will still be less than 7 hour to fully charge the tablet - aka one night of sleep. And it only gets better if your laptop puts out more power on the USB ports.
I would much rather have 1 power adapter for my laptop, and then plug all my phone/tablet/wifi-hotspot into the laptop... as oppose to lugging around 4 different power bricks. Plus, for those of you who travel a lot, you will know this... hotels never have enough power outlets! I have to start bringing my own powerstrip these days because if there are two of us sharing a room, we'd frequently have to pull out the TV cabinet and unplug the TV, or charge the phones in the bathroom...
So, any chance we can put this in action? And instead of waiting for tablet manufacturers to get their acts together, how many of you would actually pay for a "2x-USB-to-12v" adapter cable that is smaller/lighter than the Iconia wall brick but can charge your tablet overnight via laptop? If there is enough interest, I wonder if we could get a Kickstarter project going for this...
W.
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The Nook Color does in fact charge over USB. I do it all the time. The only time it needs the AC power adapter is if it next to dead, and you get the "Battery too low to power on". Also, the AC adapter, even though it outputs via MicroUSB, will NOT charge other devices as it doesn't fit exactly for some reason.1NO
Like stated before almost no tablet charges over usb. and like one poster pointed out not even the nook color charges over usb I have one as well.
One poster says the nook does charge but you have to define chargeing. on wall power it charges full in like less then an hour. plugged into usb and only if its off or in sleep with no wifi running it will chrge but it will take all night. so for all purposes it dosent usb charge.
I dont know about other tablets but the iconia has TWO internal batteries(read your box see the little x2 next to the batteries) and most likely why it wont charge over usb.
To tell the truth I have not really understood the hang up on the usb charging or the short cord for the iconia. usually I charge mine when im done with it or not using it so cord length means nothing. and as far as usb charging, usb charging on anything is harder on the battieres. and most likely why alot of companies dont do it.
The whole idea is to be prtable who wants to be teathered to the wall with a charger 4 foot or 6 foot really whats the difference?
side note: the person who said the nook color cord was special? its just a standard mini usb just like on portable hard drives nothing special about it. i lost mine and just used the one from my hard drive worked just fine.1I think people are used to their android phones, where (for me at least), my habit is to sit down and plug in the usb. It's just easy to keep it charged that way.
I found this neat device though, I think someone called it an extension cord or something? It really solved my problems of the short cord. I bet the guy who invented that is a millionaire.
(Seriously, they could have made the cord longer, just so you could sit the tab on a table and not be stretching, but $2 at Home Depot fixed the issue real quick).1Extending the cable isn't really all that difficult, just cut the cable in two, rip the insulating layer from both ends, add some extra cable in-between and voila! You've got yourself a longer charging cable
Yep, that would definitely do the job but what about electrical resistance or conductance may be depending on the material, diameter of the wire, legth, temperature ... sorry, I'm not an electrician or an engineer but I think one shouldn't do such "grafting" with such sensitive electronic equipment...
