USB Car Charger

[LSainsbury]

Hi,

Got a mix of phones here - HTC Sensation / HTC Desire HD.

The other half went to a phone shop to buy a car charger but they only had a BlackBerry car charger.

All the phones phones Micro-USB.

She wants to be able to charge the HTC Sensation in the car using said charger.

The mA rating on the mains AC adapter is something like 700mA whereas the mA rating on the car charger is something like 500mA.

Originaly I didn't think it would be powerful enough to charge it, but thinking about it and doing a bit of research, as long as the voltage is correct is should be fine. The mA rating is how much capacity the battery has and chraging it witl 500mA instead of 700mA will just result in a slower charge.

Can anybody confirm my assumptions are correct and the BlackBerry charger will work just fine?

[Kymmy]

If the current was just being used to charge the battery you would be perfectly correct (though most phones will have a charge limiter built in and would probably never use the full current), but some phones will use the current to power the phone whilst the battery is being charged. In that case you may find that the charger will be pushed to it's limits.

Also to bear in mind is that the 700ma mains charger might have been selected by the company because it was cheaper than a lower rated charger and the phone doesn't use the full current

Try it and see.. If the charger get very warm then find a higher rated replacement.

[LSainsbury]

Originally Posted by Kymmy

If the current was just being used to charge the battery you would be perfectly correct (though most phones will have a charge limiter built in and would probably never use the full current), but some phones will use the current to power the phone whilst the battery is being charged. In that case you may find that the charger will be pushed to it's limits.

Also to bear in mind is that the 700ma mains charger might have been selected by the company because it was cheaper than a lower rated charger and the phone doesn't use the full current

Try it and see.. If the charger get very warm then find a higher rated replacement.

Cool - thanks for that.

I'm trying to find the mA rating of the official HTC charger but all the sites I've found so far don't give that infomation! I'll keep looking...

---------- Post added at 10:13 ---------- Previous post was at 10:11 ----------

Ummm...

HTC Sensation Car Charger with USB/micUSB Cable (1A/5V, CC C200

Official HTC Car Charger

[Kymmy]

The 1amp charger will do both devices

[Peter_]

If you go to Ebay they have in car chargers from £1.25 which mention both the Desire and the Sensation plus many other makes and models as it uses a standard USB micro lead.

It is up to you what price you want to pay as many companies now use the same universal charger fitting which is good news for us the consumer.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_fr...All-Categories

I forgot to add that we have 3 other phones all different makes that use the same USB micro mains charger with no problems whatsoever.

[LSainsbury]

Yeah - but they don't show the mA rating though - and that's the bit I'm intrested in.

[Kymmy]

Search on ebay for car usb charger 1a and there's lots of options starting from less than £2 posted..

[Peter_]

Here is what Kymmy recommended http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_fr...All-Categories

[Halcyon]

Anyone else reccomend a particular USB charger?

I need one that will be good enough to power and charge my Garmmin Satnav and also sometimes be used to charge an iphone. (Not both devices at the same time).

Thanks.

[Hom3r]

Halford do a dual cigarette one which has two USB ports, it also fits snuggky into a cup holder.

I tried to find a link in halfords but their search engine ins crap.

[Halcyon]

Thanks, I'l have a look. Don't really need to do both devices at once, one at a time is ok.

I've seen a lot on ebay from China and wondered if some were dodgy or if they were ok.

[Hom3r]

personally I wouldn't by from china directly