Like many Nseries owners, I often wonder why Nokia keeps the USB port and charger port separate. My N800, N810, and N95 all have the same charger connectors but each has a mini or micro USB port as well.
Time to go for third party solutions. I found the above package at my local Circuit City for $14.99. Since all my devices charge at 5 volts, using direct USB current should do the trick nicely.
It appears to be a "Nokia universal" kit with two Nokia tips, a USB extension cable, and a USB voltage booster. There was no indication on the package as to which models were compatible. All it said was *Some tips may not be compatible with all models of the manufacturer as shown. The most up-to-date compatibility information can be found by visiting www.kensington.com. Some devices have very specific electrical requirements that may result in no compatible tip being available for the device.
I checked and found their product page but not a compatibility list, so I called. The woman verified the N95 and I asked about the N800. She said "All Nokia mobile phones." Looking at the charger, I see the N800/N810 charger puts out 5V at 890 mA, so a standard USB spec of 5V at 500 mA should charge it, though not as efficiently.
Nseries owners will not need the fat tip or the USB booster. It may be nice to have a 5V to 6V USB booster around in the future, though. There's an extra 1mm or so between the device and the charger plastic when fully inserted. I don't like that as an accidental bump or pull may bend or break the tiny barrel tip.
When plugged into my iMac, charging started right away on all three (N95, N800, N810) devices. It also worked perfectly through a powered USB hub and from my APC Mobile Power Pack. The APC battery provides 10 watt-hours which is 2000 mAh at 5 volts. The N810's battery is 1500 mAh, so the estimated web browsing time can be extended from 4 hours to 9 hours, 20 minutes if both batteries are charged.
Conclusion:
While not perfect, the Kensington USB tips are a convenient way to keep my Nokia devices with emergency power. It's more convenient than carrying a wall charger to work and, combined with the APC battery, can give me long stretches away from the desk. I'm going to find a pouch to carry this in to protect the tip then forever keep it in my gadget bag.
16 comments:
It would be fun if usb ports on tablets were powered - charge n810 from n800 usb port and vice versa :D
Hi, I'm using miniSync of boxwave, but sometimes my N800 shows "Not Charging" message. Don't you see such an error message? I also have APC battery pack and when it connects to N800 via miniSync, I see the error sometimes. So I guess the miniSync cable is something wrong.
Hi, you should NOT do this. A USB device is only allowed to take 500mA per channel!! And only AFTER(!) this has been communicated to the USB host device. Without this you are only allowed to use 100mA. Doing anything else CAN damage the motherboard of your computer.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usb#Power
Andy: Then why would Nokia offer one?
http://europe.nokia.com/link?cid=EDITORIAL_182803
If the mini(micro?)USB port has a power pin, would it be to whacko an idea to crack the case and solder a run from the charging port over to the mini(micro?)USB power pin?
Don't have access to N800/810 device info to check but did something similar on the stand years ago while moding iPaqs.
Kimitake, I am using the Boxwave MiniSync cable with the N800 to do USB charging. I have not seen any error messages. It has worked well for about one month of use.
The compatibility chart is found by going to kensington.com and choosing support and then "SmartTips compatibility tool" or going to http://us.kensington.com/compApp/ktgUSPower.jsp?siteId=2&pageId=9162
Another minisync user here. It works well for me. What I especially like is the fact that it includes a usb cable in one compact package. I also use it to sync and charge my cell phone, so I'm getting multiple use out of the thing.
Hi, miniSync user :)
Thanks for the information, I will ask boxwave support.
I'd be interested to see if this device was cabable of charging the N95 from flat.
Nokia's own USB is incapable of doing so, and is only useful for "trickle charging". I am informed this is because USB does not provide enough current for the phone, so i'm guessing this will suffer the same fate.
I was going to post about this on ITT.
I've been experimenting with USB charging for a few weeks now.
Similar chargers can be bought in the UK from the pound shop (around $2) The one I had was bought from Poundland, branded "Signalex Communications - Multi-Purpose Connector Set".
It came with a variety of plugs; but of most interest is the mini 5-pin USB style, and the 2.5mm DC Nokia style plug.
Oddly enough my Nokia style ones suffer the same as yours with around 1mm sticking out; the OEM creating these has something wrong going on :)
I also hacked apart one of the other connectors and ripped the connector out from a non-functional Sony Ericcson charger; soldered them together to form a USB->SE charger dongle which nobody seems to do! [Possibly license restrictions?]
This means I can USB charge both the Nokia and the SE using tiny dongles. No wallwarts here!
Additionally I had a DC 3.5mm socket that I soldered directly onto a USB A female port to make a tiny USB->Charger Dongle connector. Used Polymorph to make a plastic housing for it. This way I can use any standard USB cable without having to carry the larger retractable charger cable.
Poundland also sell a 12V lighter socket -> USB plug. And DealExtreme sell a mini switched 240V to USB plug. The plan is to minimize the numbers of chargers/wallwarts/etc I have to carry in the car/elsewhere "just in case".
Dealextreme also had these "USB Cable Kits" which basically come with retractable USB Male/Female data extension cables and a variety of convertor dongles to change from A->B/A->MiniUSB/etc/etc. The mini dongles are fantastic but unfortunately the retractable USB cables only support USB1.1.
The plan was to have full connectivity using 1 retractableUSB cable, 1 tiny USB->3.5" DC socket, 1 3.5" DC to 2.5"DC plug, 1 USB-A -> MiniUSB dingle and 1 3.5" DC to SE connector dongle. This may sound like a lot - but really it only takes up as much space as a pair of earphones. Couple the tiny USB wallplug charger, and the car USB charger and you have bear enough all connectivity in a tiny bag to take away with you on any holiday.
look here
http://rafanto.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/caricatore-nokia-usb-fatto-in-casa/
kimitake,
It could just be a defective item. I had the same issues with my Boxwave miniSync not charging the n800. But, Boxwave is pretty good about exchanges, and I haven't had any problems since.
Does this adaptor work on the 770?
Hi, other miniSync owner.
I just let you know that I asked customer support of boxwave and they will exchange it without extra cost. Thanks everyone!
I was able to get a charger for only $2 at KeepCash
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