Hi. Visiting Japan and for some reason my bundled USB cable wasn't charging my reader from my macbook.

Visited some electronics stores and was told a proper AC charger would have to be ordered.

I found a USB charger that connects to the USB port on the reader but ALSO the power connector. It was for the PSP, but I gave it a try. Worked perfectly and charged the Reader astonishingly fast.

Here's a link to a site that has them available. Much better alternative than the regular USB cable for when you need to charge your Reader.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-bg-49-en-70-kuc.html

This post was specifically about the Sony Reader but got moved where people it might help won't get to see it.

Interesting forum policies.

vampmiller, your post got wrongly moved based on the title you chose for your thread. It's back where it belongs and I slightly edited the title to indicate that we are talking about the Reader.

Points taken, lesson learned, and a big bouquet of flowers sent to you.

Hi vampmiller,

Yes, all the PSP power gadgets work fine with the Reader - the wall charger, car charger, etc. A number of us have been using them for a while, but a reminder such as yours is always helpful to newcomers!

Thanks for this tip!:)

My Reader is failing to charge from USB and the power adapter I got with my Reader is American, of course, so I can't use it here in the UK.

I've ordered one of these 2in1 cables, let's hope it works.:shy:

Thanks for this tip!:)

My Reader is failing to charge from USB and the power adapter I got with my Reader is American, of course, so I can't use it here in the UK.

It has an American plug on it, to be sure, but the charger itself is a universal one - read the "small print" on it and you'll see. The power cable is a standard "figure 8" one so you can replace it with one with a UK plug on it very easily - I'm sure you must have something in the house with a figure-8 type power cable?

I've ordered one of these 2in1 cables, let's hope it works.:shy:

It will work, but I'm sure that you don't really need one. I only bought mine as a spare, so that I could have a charger at work as well as at home.

BTW - are you sure it's not recharging via USB? Is the red light above the power switch not coming on? You need to charge via USB on a machine with the "Connect" software installed - it won't charge from a "dumb" USB power supply. The only circumstance in which it will fail to charge via USB is if you let the battery get completely flat.

BTW - are you sure it's not recharging via USB? Is the red light above the power switch not coming on? You need to charge via USB on a machine with the "Connect" software installed - it won't charge from a "dumb" USB power supply. The only circumstance in which it will fail to charge via USB is if you let the battery get completely flat.

Is that the secret? I'm charging it on a Mac via USB and it wasn't working. Sure enough, fire up Connect under VMWare and the light comes on. How twisted is that?

Sony supplies a power brick for the reader. How hard is it to use to charge the reader when you don't have a USB port connected to a machine running Connect or Libprs500? And using the power brick takes less time to charge the reader and can charge from a fully discharged battery. Using the USB port still need to have enough power left to deal with the USB port. Besides, I have an iGO power adaptor to charge our cell phones in the car and all I did was buy a tip for the PSP and now I can also charge the Sony in the car.

You're right of course, but I live on a narrowboat and for the last week I've been stuck in the middle of the flooded Thames at Oxford with no mains power. I have a car charger that has a USB plug on the end, and my computer of course, but couldn't figure out how to make the Reader charge from USB, even though the manual says it can.

Thanks to this thread I now know the secret of getting USB charging to work and that if I get a proper PSP car charger I can charge the reader off the boat's supply.

Thanks everyone. You guys are great.

Ok, just to satisfy my confused state of mind... I use Linux. I can't even get the connect software to install in a virtualized Windows install. Is libprs500 "good enough" for the reader to charge by USB? I've all but stopped plugging my reader in via USB because it seems to *drain* power from it instead of charge it.

Yes, libprs500 will work to charge the reader via USB under Windows. I would think it would also work under Linux as well.

Maybe something like this:
http://www.fye.com/Psp-Retractable-Charger-Front-Page_stcVVproductId5702707VVcatId455366VVviewprod. htm

It will charge and sync from a computer, or a USB wall wart, since it connects through the mini-USB and the power port.

I picked up one from CompUSA with just the USB cable, and I have one of the small Apple iPod chargers. It is great for travel (the apple charger is good from 110-240V, if you're outside the US), plus I have cables to charge my PDA & iPod, so it definitely minimizes the carry-on weight.