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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Mains Powered USB Charger - Do They Make These?
Hi All
I have an MP3 Player with an internal battery. To charge it up I remove the end cover from the MP3 Player and plug it into a USB port on my PC. It is not always convenient to get to a PC to charge the thing up so I was wondering does anyone make a mains powered charger like you have for a mobile phone but with a USB port on the end? It would make life simpler! |
#2
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EC wrote: snip A question about whether Mains Powered USB Chargers for MP3 players existed. I am sure I saw this question asked a while ago and the answer was it couldn't be done because the beast was getting more than just volts down the line. However having had a quick Google I can't find those posts now. I have seen that some MP3 players come with mains chargers. Also these sites ..... http://www.mp3players.co.uk/site/uk/...s_charger.html http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...78&GroupID=378 List products which seem to be what the OP is looking for. However there isn't much detail. Maybe someone else has the definitive answer. |
#3
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"EC" wrote in message oups.com... Hi All I have an MP3 Player with an internal battery. To charge it up I remove the end cover from the MP3 Player and plug it into a USB port on my PC. It is not always convenient to get to a PC to charge the thing up so I was wondering does anyone make a mains powered charger like you have for a mobile phone but with a USB port on the end? It would make life simpler! Does this look like what you want? http://www.mp3players.co.uk/site/uk/...s_charger.html WM |
#4
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Thanks both, but they seem to be for particular models. Why I dont know
as surely a USB port is a USB port? |
#5
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"EC" wrote in message oups.com... Hi All I have an MP3 Player with an internal battery. To charge it up I remove the end cover from the MP3 Player and plug it into a USB port on my PC. It is not always convenient to get to a PC to charge the thing up so I was wondering does anyone make a mains powered charger like you have for a mobile phone but with a USB port on the end? It would make life simpler! Or even http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/5901.htm WM |
#6
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Ahh, now that looks worth a go at =A312.95!
Cheers wattie |
#7
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EC wrote: Ahh, now that looks worth a go at =A312.95! Cheers wattie There is also someone on ebay selling usb mains chargers for i-pods at =A39.99. Didn't check out the shipping charges though. |
#8
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On 28 Jun 2005 00:48:02 -0700, "EC"
wrote: Hi All I have an MP3 Player with an internal battery. To charge it up I remove the end cover from the MP3 Player and plug it into a USB port on my PC. It is not always convenient to get to a PC to charge the thing up so I was wondering does anyone make a mains powered charger like you have for a mobile phone but with a USB port on the end? It would make life simpler! Hi, Try a USB hub with a power supply but not connected to the host PC. If it OK charges then any powered USB hub will do, though a 2.0 hub should cost about £10-£12 and the hub itself could come in handy sometime. cheers, Pete. |
#9
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In article , Pete C
writes On 28 Jun 2005 00:48:02 -0700, "EC" wrote: Hi All I have an MP3 Player with an internal battery. To charge it up I remove the end cover from the MP3 Player and plug it into a USB port on my PC. It is not always convenient to get to a PC to charge the thing up so I was wondering does anyone make a mains powered charger like you have for a mobile phone but with a USB port on the end? It would make life simpler! Hi, Try a USB hub with a power supply but not connected to the host PC. If it OK charges then any powered USB hub will do, though a 2.0 hub should cost about £10-£12 and the hub itself could come in handy sometime. I don't think that would work if not connected through to the PC, USB hosts are not supposed to supply power unless the slave device asks for it. -- Tim Mitchell |
#10
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Tim said, "USB hosts are not supposed to supply power unless the slave
device asks for it." As most usb devices are powered off the host, they would need power first before being able to request it ! The powered hub idea should work fine. You can also get a device that plugs into a car lighter socket which has a usb plug on the back which is meant for charging pda's. -- Pete Cross "Tim Mitchell" wrote in message ... In article , Pete C writes On 28 Jun 2005 00:48:02 -0700, "EC" wrote: Hi All I have an MP3 Player with an internal battery. To charge it up I remove the end cover from the MP3 Player and plug it into a USB port on my PC. It is not always convenient to get to a PC to charge the thing up so I was wondering does anyone make a mains powered charger like you have for a mobile phone but with a USB port on the end? It would make life simpler! Hi, Try a USB hub with a power supply but not connected to the host PC. If it OK charges then any powered USB hub will do, though a 2.0 hub should cost about £10-£12 and the hub itself could come in handy sometime. I don't think that would work if not connected through to the PC, USB hosts are not supposed to supply power unless the slave device asks for it. -- Tim Mitchell |
#11
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In article , Pete Cross writes
Tim said, "USB hosts are not supposed to supply power unless the slave device asks for it." As most usb devices are powered off the host, they would need power first before being able to request it ! The powered hub idea should work fine. You can also get a device that plugs into a car lighter socket which has a usb plug on the back which is meant for charging pda's. Yes that's true... I'm sure I've read it in the USB spec somewhere... -- Tim Mitchell |
#12
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Tim Mitchell wrote:
In article , Pete Cross writes Tim said, "USB hosts are not supposed to supply power unless the slave device asks for it." As most usb devices are powered off the host, they would need power first before being able to request it ! The powered hub idea should work fine. You can also get a device that plugs into a car lighter socket which has a usb plug on the back which is meant for charging pda's. Yes that's true... I'm sure I've read it in the USB spec somewhere... You can get (IIRC - it could well be less) 50mA until you enumerate. Then (if you ask for it) you can get 500mA. HOWEVER many PCs aren't this strict and will give a lot more. Laptops are normally more strict to conserve battery life. Hubs vary in their behaviour IME. Chris -- Spamtrap in use To email replace 127.0.0.1 with blueyonder dot co dot uk |
#13
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Chris Hodges wrote:
Tim Mitchell wrote: In article , Pete Cross writes Tim said, "USB hosts are not supposed to supply power unless the slave device asks for it." As most usb devices are powered off the host, they would need power first before being able to request it ! The powered hub idea should work fine. You snip Yes that's true... I'm sure I've read it in the USB spec somewhere... You can get (IIRC - it could well be less) 50mA until you enumerate. I thought it was 5mA, anyway... Then (if you ask for it) you can get 500mA. HOWEVER many PCs aren't this strict and will give a lot more. Laptops are normally more strict to conserve battery life. Hubs vary in their behaviour IME. Some devices are even conservative, and won't simply charge from a USB port, without an active host controller to tell them that they can use 'high power' mode. Which practically means it needs connected to a PC. |
#14
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Hi,
This is the kind of thing: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67869&item=6781283 513&rd=1 The spare ports could be used for a phone charger etc. There are smaller hubs that are not much bigger than a large postage stamp. cheers, Pete. |
#15
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Pete C wrote:
Hi, This is the kind of thing: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67869&item=6781283 513&rd=1 The spare ports could be used for a phone charger etc. There are smaller hubs that are not much bigger than a large postage stamp. AIUI, the power control is done from the root hub, not the leafs. So, some very conservative devices won't work from a standalone hub. IIRC it was a sony camera that wouldn't charge from a USB port not connected to a PC. http://www.ebuyer.com/ has powered hubs cheaply too, IIRC a fiver+2.95 postage. |
#16
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On 29 Jun 2005 11:00:51 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote: AIUI, the power control is done from the root hub, not the leafs. So, some very conservative devices won't work from a standalone hub. IIRC it was a sony camera that wouldn't charge from a USB port not connected to a PC. Hehe, that's sony for you, either their love of non standard ways or get you to use their pricier kit. Just cos' it's not charging doesn't mean it's not powered. AFAIK a USB port can't deny power unless it's overloaded, to do otherwise would complicate things with no benefit. cheers, Pete. |
#17
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Pete C wrote:
On 29 Jun 2005 11:00:51 GMT, Ian Stirling wrote: AIUI, the power control is done from the root hub, not the leafs. So, some very conservative devices won't work from a standalone hub. IIRC it was a sony camera that wouldn't charge from a USB port not connected to a PC. Hehe, that's sony for you, either their love of non standard ways or get you to use their pricier kit. Just cos' it's not charging doesn't mean it's not powered. Actually, their kit is doing the right thing, it's just it'd be nice to be able to switch it to doing the wrong thing. AFAIK a USB port can't deny power unless it's overloaded, to do otherwise would complicate things with no benefit. Not quite true. Plugging in a 'dumb' peripheral that draws 0.5A, without bothering to enumerate, while doing a backup to a USB HD, or doing a long sound recording, would both be bad. |
#18
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On 30 Jun 2005 11:29:25 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote: Hehe, that's sony for you, either their love of non standard ways or get you to use their pricier kit. Just cos' it's not charging doesn't mean it's not powered. Actually, their kit is doing the right thing, it's just it'd be nice to be able to switch it to doing the wrong thing. I don't see how needing a connected PC for the charger to work benefits the user in any way. AFAIK a USB port can't deny power unless it's overloaded, to do otherwise would complicate things with no benefit. Not quite true. Plugging in a 'dumb' peripheral that draws 0.5A, without bothering to enumerate, while doing a backup to a USB HD, or doing a long sound recording, would both be bad. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one cheers, Pete. |
#19
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Pete C wrote:
On 30 Jun 2005 11:29:25 GMT, Ian Stirling wrote: Hehe, that's sony for you, either their love of non standard ways or get you to use their pricier kit. Just cos' it's not charging doesn't mean it's not powered. Actually, their kit is doing the right thing, it's just it'd be nice to be able to switch it to doing the wrong thing. I don't see how needing a connected PC for the charger to work benefits the user in any way. It's intended to plug into a USB port, not a portable charger. It's not unreasonable in that case to comply with all of the specifications for that port, and indeed is good practice. AFAIK a USB port can't deny power unless it's overloaded, to do otherwise would complicate things with no benefit. Not quite true. Plugging in a 'dumb' peripheral that draws 0.5A, without bothering to enumerate, while doing a backup to a USB HD, or doing a long sound recording, would both be bad. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one |
#20
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EC wrote:
Hi All I have an MP3 Player with an internal battery. To charge it up I remove the end cover from the MP3 Player and plug it into a USB port on my PC. It is not always convenient to get to a PC to charge the thing up so I was wondering does anyone make a mains powered charger like you have for a mobile phone but with a USB port on the end? It would make life simpler! Use a cheap & portable mains powered USB Hub perhaps? I have a tiny 4 port one I bought in Singapore 18 months ago. Very handy. H |
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