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External Battery Charger

robrecht

robrecht

Android Enthusiast
Hi, all.

I bought 2 back-up batteries: a 2nd standard size battery and the bulky extended life battery (which does not look so bad in person).

Now I really need a couple of external battery chargers so I can keep the back-ups charged and ready to go. Anybody seen these yet?

I do have a Seidio Multi-Function Charger, but they don't yet have model specific part for the Thunderbolt.

I've also seen some of the super cheap things on eBay, oftentimes budled with 2 or 3 batteries for like $12. Obviously total junk. Since the batteries are 1500 mAh, I think most (if not all) of these are actually for the Sprint EVO 4G and won't even fit, even if I wanted to buy junk, which I don't.

Thanks, Robrecht
 
robrecht said:
Hi, all.

I bought 2 back-up batteries: a 2nd standard size battery and the bulky extended life battery (which does not look so bad in person).

Now I really need a couple of external battery chargers so I can keep the back-ups charged and ready to go. Anybody seen these yet?

I do have a Seidio Multi-Function Charger, but they don't yet have model specific part for the Thunderbolt.

I've also seen some of the super cheap things on eBay, oftentimes budled with 2 or 3 batteries for like $12. Obviously total junk. Since the batteries are 1500 mAh, I think most (if not all) of these are actually for the Sprint EVO 4G and won't even fit, even if I wanted to buy junk, which I don't.

Thanks, Robrecht
Click to expand...

ChiTownJim has the $12 ebay charger , pm him and ask him if it is any good.
 
In my experience those cheap chargers on eBay are just fine. I have gotten at least a year out of them, which for the price is more than worth it. Plus, they charge the battery fully to 100% capacity so you don't have to mess with th stupid bump charging issue. I never use my wall charger. I've owned at least 10 of those chargers and they've all worked fine...
 
Best thing u can buy for your phone IMO. The batteries fit and work well to but I can't see them being over 1100mah
 
Seidio is now shipping a Thunderbolt version of one of their larger 2-piece multi-chargers for $30:
http://www.seidioonline.com/product-p/bd3-bcsi3htmec-bk.htm

If you already have one from an older phone, you can order just the ThunderBolt version of the charging plate with a microUSB cable for $13:
http://www.seidioonline.com/product-p/bd2-bcscbu-htmec.htm

Seidio's shipping is on the high side, so consider ordering additional accessories at the same time. Note also they have a -15% promotion on their home page.

For the really cheap (and daring) you can now get the super-cheap compact chargers without the ultraworthless batteries for $4.98 and free shipping from city_out or others for slightly more. I've used one of these before, but can't really vouch for their quality.
1
Desktop Dock Battery Charger For HTC my touch 4G/Merge - eBay (item 320670446018 end time Apr-11-11 19:55:52 PDT)

There's also a US reseller of these who jacks up the price on the same charger, with one of the ultra-worthless batteries for $25 with free shipping:
1
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-Verizon-Thunderbolt-Battery-Charger-Pack-NEW-USA-/280633966879?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item415716811f
 
robrecht said:
Seidio is now shipping a Thunderbolt version of one of their larger 2-piece multi-chargers for $30:
http://www.seidioonline.com/product-p/bd3-bcsi3htmec-bk.htm

If you already have one from an older phone, you can order just the ThunderBolt version of the charging plate with a microUSB cable for $13:
http://www.seidioonline.com/product-p/bd2-bcscbu-htmec.htm

Seidio's shipping is on the high side, so consider ordering additional accessories at the same time. Note also they have a -15% promotion on their home page.

For the really cheap (and daring) you can now get the super-cheap compact chargers without the ultraworthless batteries for $4.98 and free shipping from city_out or others for slightly more. I've used one of these before, but can't really vouch for their quality.
1
Desktop Dock Battery Charger For HTC my touch 4G/Merge - eBay (item 320670446018 end time Apr-11-11 19:55:52 PDT)

There's also a US reseller of these who jacks up the price on the same charger, with one of the ultra-worthless batteries for $25 with free shipping:
1
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-Verizon-Thunderbolt-Battery-Charger-Pack-NEW-USA-/280633966879?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item415716811f
Click to expand...


I love the cheap knock off charger it's been awesome I"ve had for my Incredible and have ordered them for others and I now have one for my Thunderbolt they're an awesome value .... I got 2 shitty batteries with it one of them BLOWS I'm talking 3hrs and it's dying ( I also notice while the other 2 take about 4 hrs to charge the bum one charges in a little over an hour meaning it's probably a 400mah batter yhaha) the other outperforms the stock battery
 
ChiTownJim said:
I love the cheap knock off charger it's been awesome I"ve had for my Incredible and have ordered them for others and I now have one for my Thunderbolt they're an awesome value .... I got 2 shitty batteries with it one of them BLOWS I'm talking 3hrs and it's dying ( I also notice while the other 2 take about 4 hrs to charge the bum one charges in a little over an hour meaning it's probably a 400mah batter yhaha) the other outperforms the stock battery
Click to expand...
I have both a Seidio multi-charger as well as a compact Chinese cheapy. As far as I can tell they're of equal quality, but there's really no way that I can tell. I have had Seidio batteries pretty much crap out after 8 months. Was it because the Seidio batteries are of fairly crappy quality or their charger or the Chinese charger? Or pick any two or three of the above. No way of knowing unless some Electrical Engineer type geek wants to test them perhaps? But the cheap Chinese charger is smaller and has a cool purple and blue light. Seems OK to me. But I wouldn't put one of their batteries in my phone.
 
I just went the knock off route and got 3 extra batteries and a charging dock for a whopping $12... even if the batteries and charger suck after 8 months.... I can buy the same deal 3 more times and still not have paid the same amount it would have cost for Seidio's products.
 
I just ordered the multi-function charger and the extended 1600 maH battery for the Thunderbolt from Seidio. I'll let you know how it works later on.
 
Just noticed an apparent difference between my cheap but compact Chinese wall charger and my more bulky and more expensive Seidio multi-charger. The Seidio seems to charge the battery more. When I charge a battery in the Chineese charger and the light turns blue. If I take the battery out and put it into the Seidio charger, the Seidio's charging light is red and it will charge it some more until it turns green. No, I'm not going to sit around and watch a charger to tell you how much longer! Just thought it was interesting. Not sure the Seidio is better. Maybe it is overcharging the batteries for all I know.
 
robrecht said:
You really want this thing sticking out of the side of your phone? We're talking about charging an extra battery or two while they are outside of your phone.
Click to expand...



But on the flip side, do you want to remove your battery every time you are low on battery power? I had the HTC Touch Pro 2, and can attest that the plastic notches that hold the battery cover in place aren't that solid. I had 3 of the 7 plastic notches on my TP2 snap off in the 1.5 years of ownership. And the back cover of the TP2 isn't nearly as snug as that of the TB. There's no telling how long before the notches on the back cover fall off so I went the same route, just a portable battery charger that I can connect if I get below a certain level without an available power source. And lets face it, there are a lot of available power sources out there unless you're out hiking or something.
 
TxGoat said:
But on the flip side, do you want to remove your battery every time you are low on battery power? I had the HTC Touch Pro 2, and can attest that the plastic notches that hold the battery cover in place aren't that solid. I had 3 of the 7 plastic notches on my TP2 snap off in the 1.5 years of ownership. And the back cover of the TP2 isn't nearly as snug as that of the TB. There's no telling how long before the notches on the back cover fall off so I went the same route, just a portable battery charger that I can connect if I get below a certain level without an available power source. And lets face it, there are a lot of available power sources out there unless you're out hiking or something.
Click to expand...
Agreed, external solutions definitely have their place, especially so with the TB, whose battery cover is so difficult to remove, but some kind of PowerSkin case or charging holster (when available) or even a battery sled would look and work a lot better than that thing sticking out of the side of the phone.
 
TxGoat said:
Here's a good example (EDIT), $5.99 shipped. The only problem I have with it right now is that my cigarette lighter in my car isn't working, hence the reason I went ahead and bought the external charger. I think I paid like $15.00 for it, which they claim it's good for 1.2 full charges before it needs its own recharge. (EDIT)
Click to expand...
I was planning on getting a much larger external charger, essentially a laptop battery, to be able to recharge a couple of back-up batteries at a time, several times over, on long trips. But this is intriguing for one reason. Take a look at the immediately following video to the one you posted:

YouTube - Duracell Instant Power Charger for USB Devices

This Albert geek from computerTV claims that the smaller version of this product is able to recharge an iPhone from zero to full in 10 minutes (see at 1:26). That's not believable. You have one of these? How long does it take to fully recharge your ThunderBolt?
 
robrecht said:
Just noticed an apparent difference between my cheap but compact Chinese wall charger and my more bulky and more expensive Seidio multi-charger. The Seidio seems to charge the battery more. When I charge a battery in the Chineese charger and the light turns blue. If I take the battery out and put it into the Seidio charger, the Seidio's charging light is red and it will charge it some more until it turns green. No, I'm not going to sit around and watch a charger to tell you how much longer! Just thought it was interesting. Not sure the Seidio is better. Maybe it is overcharging the batteries for all I know.
Click to expand...
Have you taken a battery fully charged in the seidio charger and put it in your cheap knockoff charger? I bet same thing will happen:rolleyes:
 
Dark Jedi said:
Have you taken a battery fully charged in the seidio charger and put it in your cheap knockoff charger? I bet same thing will happen:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
No, it does not. Otherwise, I would not have posted. I think it may mean that the protective circuitry has a different threshold on the two chargers.
 
robrecht said:
This Albert geek from computerTV claims that the smaller version of this product is able to recharge an iPhone from zero to full in 10 minutes (see at 1:26). That's not believable. You have one of these? How long does it take to fully recharge your ThunderBolt?
Click to expand...


10 minutes to a full charge doesn't sound right either. I charged up my old TP2 to full charge, it was about 60%, and my TB which was at about 20% charge with the device I posted up, and it did as advertised. For me the biggest benefit of this device is that when I'm on the phone and it beeps at me that it's about to die, I don't have to get my notebook or look for a computer/wall outlet to connect to, I just connect the charger to the device and I'm good until I have time to plug the phone into a wall outlet or a computer.
 
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