alternative to the hp charging cable

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sanjsrik

Senior Member
I lost my wall charger that came with my HP touchpad. The round plug thingie is what I'm looking for. Searching on Amazon brings up a number of items, for example:

http://www.amazon.com/HP-North-American-Charger-TouchPad/dp/B0055QYJJM/ref=dp_cp_ob_e_title_3

However, is there an alternative that works? I was able to use the Evo cable rather than the original HP sync/charge cable that came with the wall charger, but is there an alternative wall plug that works as well? Paying almost $28 for a charging cable seems a bit ridiculous.

Any help and advice would be most appreciated.

[[FOUND MY ANSWER]]
I found that Walmart was having a sale on the North American charger with the barrel wall connector for $11.99 and Meritline was having a sale for 6' long USB to micro-usb cables (pair for $4.99 no tax/shipping).

The listing on the Meritline page says that the cables are compatible with the Evo.

Given that the cable that comes with the HP barrel charger is pretty much monkey spit and fails within a month, I found a solution that works for less than $20.

Links are below:

Walmart HP Touchpad charger

http://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-TouchPad-Accessory-Travel-AC-Wall-Adapter-Charger/16641536

Meritline Cables (use this code MLCK222YNL1 for discount (cannot guarantee how long this code is good for, drops the price for a twin pack of the 6' cables from $10.99 to $4.99)
http://www.meritline.com/showproduc...e=6-feet-high-speed-micro-hdmi-cable-ethernet
 
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Pretty much any USB charger will work, but most give a notification on the Touchpad screen indicating that they may not be charging. This is because the official charger is at the high end of both voltage and current capability. I charge from laptop, desktop and a variety of Blackberry chargers with no issue, but the available current will determine how long it takes to charge and whether it charges much while the screen is on. Go for a USB charger that gives you 2 Amps and you should be fine.
 

sanjsrik

Senior Member
Pretty much any USB charger will work, but most give a notification on the Touchpad screen indicating that they may not be charging. This is because the official charger is at the high end of both voltage and current capability. I charge from laptop, desktop and a variety of Blackberry chargers with no issue, but the available current will determine how long it takes to charge and whether it charges much while the screen is on. Go for a USB charger that gives you 2 Amps and you should be fine.

Thank you for the advice. To be more specific, can you recommend any alternative charging cables/wall charger units specifically?
 

spunker88

Senior Member
Sep 8, 2006
1,318
334
Upstate NY
Any brand name USB charger that gives off 2 amps should be fine. I tend to stay away from really cheap generic chargers. Any microUSB cable should be fine even a generic one if it has decent reviews. I worry about generic chargers since a poorly regulated one could send a voltage too high, but generic cables should be fine.
 
The chargers I am currently using, as well as the one that came with the TP, are the one that came with a Blackberry Playbook and the one from my HTC Desire HD.

The Blackberry charger gives an error on the screen that it may not charge the TP, but as it gives 2 amps, charges in pretty much the same time as the official unit.

The HTC again gives the warning and takes about twice as long to charge.
 

pa49

Senior Member
May 28, 2006
582
15
There is NO after market charger that will charge at full rate like the HP barrel charger!
At best they will trickle charge at a much lower rate and take considerably longer to charge.
The TP relies on precise signaling which it will only get from the OEM item or specially modded after market units or cables.
Do a google for further info ie webosnation.com forums.
 

Izeltokatl

Senior Member
I think your looking for a 5.1v charger, aka rapid charger. This is used by the iPad, and some android phones like the Motorola droid 3, razr and htc rezound.

I could be wrong though,I haven't gotten my touchpad yet.but I do own all said device above (except the razr) and they all use the faster charging technology.

Sent from my rezound.
 

pa49

Senior Member
May 28, 2006
582
15
I think your looking for a 5.1v charger, aka rapid charger. This is used by the iPad, and some android phones like the Motorola droid 3, razr and htc rezound.

I could be wrong though,I haven't gotten my touchpad yet.but I do own all said device above (except the razr) and they all use the faster charging technology.

Sent from my rezound.

They will not work at full rate!
 

nunjabusiness

Senior Member
Jan 20, 2011
725
82
Don't believe all the hype about using ONLY the HP charger, there are many that do the job perfectly well. Too many people make these authoritarian statements and all they do is cause FUD.

At my office, I use the AC charger from my last Samsung phone (mythic) and it works IDENTICALLY to the OEM one. I have also used a Moto and and LG with NO PROBLEMS. I have no issues getting to fully charged in little time.

At home, my OEM cable is plugged into a high-power USB port (2.1A, I believe) and it has no problem charging from near zero to full as well. Front or top-mounted USB ports tend to be 500mA or less, but the rear ones (coming directly off the motherboard) tend to have a higher supply. I also use a non-HP USB cable occasionally and it works fine.

(I got my TP during the original fire-sale and have been charging it these ways ever since with ZERO ISSUES.)
 

spunker88

Senior Member
Sep 8, 2006
1,318
334
Upstate NY
No one else uses 5.2 volts

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2

The small voltage difference is marginal and isn't going to matter, the internal hardware should be able to tolerate a few tenths of a volt difference. In fact, I tested my Motorola charger rated at 5.1v and the Touchpad charger rated at 5.2v on a multimeter. The Motorola charger was outputting 5.20v and the Touchpad charger 5.16v. Granted this is at no load, but switching transformers are regulated so they should supply rated voltage at any current draw equal to or less than rated. Also depending on how well the voltage is regulated there may still be a slight AC ripple that the device has to deal with.
 
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sirclesam

Member
Feb 22, 2012
10
0
SB, CA
Does anyone know the time difference between using the TP charger and a standard droid/blackberry charger? Also curious if the charges last the same. I know theoretically they should since the battery is full either way, but electricals can be tricksiy..
 

pa49

Senior Member
May 28, 2006
582
15
Does anyone know the time difference between using the TP charger and a standard droid/blackberry charger? Also curious if the charges last the same. I know theoretically they should since the battery is full either way, but electricals can be tricksiy..

Its all down to the charge rate that the TP is able to draw.
2A which is theoretically possible from TP AC barrel charger would charge the 6A+ battery of the TP from flat to full in approximately 6.5 hours.
If the BB charger were able to have 500mA drawn by the TP then it would fully charge in approximately 26 hours.
The charges would be no different.
 

stuart_f

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2006
71
5
To convert any regular USB charger into a TouchPad charger you need to add 2 resistors as per the diagram attached.

The presence of the resistors will trigger the TouchPad to draw the full 2A from the charger rather than the trickle charge it does when they are not there.

Please do not modify a cheap charger that is only rated for 500mA as you will most likely overheat it and it could present a fire risk.
 

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pa49

Senior Member
May 28, 2006
582
15
To convert any regular USB charger into a TouchPad charger you need to add 2 resistors as per the diagram attached.

The presence of the resistors will trigger the TouchPad to draw the full 2A from the charger rather than the trickle charge it does when they are not there.

Please do not modify a cheap charger that is only rated for 500mA as you will most likely overheat it and it could present a fire risk.

Just pointing out that you need to start with a charger that is rated at least 2Ah to start with.
You can't turn a low rated one into a high rated one.
 

sanjsrik

Senior Member
Just pointing out that you need to start with a charger that is rated at least 2Ah to start with.
You can't turn a low rated one into a high rated one.

oh, for the love of gods. REALLY? I was just asking for a replacement cable. I don't want to reinvent the charging paradigm. I just need a simple recommendation for a cable. If a thread could be highjacked any further I don't know how it could be.

I appreciate all your "advice" but seriously, this is NOT what I was asking.
 

DreamWiva

Senior Member
May 22, 2010
116
3
Anyone know if I can get a similar cable in the UK? Kind of lost my TP cable, and I miss the flexibility the long cable gave me, it was so much easier to use on charge!
 

mattmartin77

Senior Member
Oct 15, 2010
244
17
Massachusetts
well i know that my tbolt cable works. i have to use the tp adapter though. my tbolt adapter makes the touchpad say that the charger is incompatible.
 

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    To convert any regular USB charger into a TouchPad charger you need to add 2 resistors as per the diagram attached.

    The presence of the resistors will trigger the TouchPad to draw the full 2A from the charger rather than the trickle charge it does when they are not there.

    Please do not modify a cheap charger that is only rated for 500mA as you will most likely overheat it and it could present a fire risk.