PRS-350 Sony PRS350 charger

[gudrun45]

I have a charging thingy that goes with my bluetooth cell phone headset. Will that work for charging the Reader? It has one of those tiny USB plugs on one end.

Gudrun

[Ripplinger]

I use the charger from my LG Rumor Touch phone and it works fine. The USB cable from the phone worked, so I figured I'd try the charger and haven't had any problems.

I don't think it can harm anything to try it, someone correct me if I'm wrong and I just got lucky with my setup though.

[Pomtroll]

I use the charger from my Verizon LG phone

[anabolina]

I've charger mine with the ac adapter from both my motorola bluetooth headset and samsung behold 2. I haven't had any problems with the usb cable to the computer either.

[FizzyWater]

It's hit and miss with the various USB chargers. Unless someone here specifically has the same charger, about all you can do is give it a try and see if it works!

[delphin]

The 'micro-usb' plug is standardized voltage and pin arrangement wise, so it shouldn't hurt anything to try.

Most modern cellphone style chargers should work. Since a charger is not a computer, most of these newer chargers short together the unused 'data' pins as a simple way to tell the device that it is a charger not a computer.

This is what the Sony PRS-x50 style readers expect.

Some older chargers designed for Apple devices used a different arrangement to signal that the usb device was a charger, and these are not detected correctly by the Sony. Doesn't hurt anything to try, it though, if the charger isn't detected properly, the Sony will simply display a text message to tell you that it can't find a proper charger.

The only other issue is that some very small devices may have low current chargers that don't fully meet the spec. Micro-USB charger devices should put out at least 1000ma or 1 Amp of peak charging current at 5 volts (some as high as 1.5 Amps). The Sony should be happy with a charger rated at 750 Ma. or higher, but I wouldn't go lower than that.

I am guessing that the charger you have should be just fine, but if not, you can find a fully Sony Compatible aftermarket charger from Amazon for less than 10 dollars total shipping included.

[Fortissimo]

Originally Posted by delphin

The Sony should be happy with a charger rated at 750 Ma. or higher, but I wouldn't go lower than that.

Why not? I've seen a lot of recommendations for blackberry chargers. If I'm not mistaken, they are rated at 700mA. Also, I believe I read somewhere that when charging via a PC, the PC only supplies about 500mA.

[delphin]

Originally Posted by Fortissimo

Why not? I've seen a lot of recommendations for blackberry chargers. If I'm not mistaken, they are rated at 700mA. Also, I believe I read somewhere that when charging via a PC, the PC only supplies about 500mA.

PC ports are indeed limited to 500mA, that's why the new charger spec has the data leads shorted, as this tells the device that it is connected to a dedicated charging device and can safely draw more charging current than the standard 500mA allowed by the USB device spec.

Based on the time to full charge, the current being drawn by the PRS-350 and PRS-650 are probably below the 700mA blackberry chargers limit, but I wouldn't go below that with something like a 500mA charger, because devices that signal that they are chargers instead of PC ports need to support higher charge rates.

This was a compromise to allow faster charge times for cell phones without having to up the current spec on all PC side data ports (which would not have been compatible with older PCs).

This is one of the reasons that the Sony is so fussy about seeing the proper signal that it is connected to either a dedicated USB charger or a PC port.

It will charge at 500mA or less on a PC port and a little more on a dedicated charger, but if it can't tell what it's hooked to (as is the case for some older Apple chargers) then it will give up and pop up a message saying that it can't charge.

[Fortissimo]

I guess that's why my charger get's slightly warm during use. It must be working at full capacity.
But delphin, say you charge your reader with a 500mA cellphone charger, is there any risk of damage to your reader? Or perhaps to the battery?

[delphin]

Originally Posted by Fortissimo

I guess that's why my charger get's slightly warm during use. It must be working at full capacity.
But delphin, say you charge your reader with a 500mA cellphone charger, is there any risk of damage to your reader? Or perhaps to the battery?

Lot's of folks using 700mA to 750mA Cell Phone chargers so those are probably fine.

On a lower current rated charger, chances are that you would have at least some warning that the Sony was not charging properly, and was not happy, but possibly not, so no point in taking chances when you and get a full 1000mA to 1500mA charger on Amazon for about $10

An overloaded charger could do lots of unpredictable things -

1) It could just fail right away.

2) It could work perfectly for some time then fail.

3) It could trigger a safety shutdown circuit and turn off.

4) It could shutdown, reset and work , shutdown, reset and work, shutdown, reset . . .

5) It could just continue to work but produce a very poorly regulated voltage.


The last two possibilities are the main ones you would have to worry about.

Presumably the Sony also has some kind of voltage monitoring and shutdown if it doesn't like what it's seeing, but their are no guarantees that this is the case, so it doesn't pay to take chances.

[Coops]

If you travel frequently. i recommend this kind of universal plug with built in USB charger outlets (it auto transforms the voltage down to the standard USB output).

Charges my Sony 350 fine, my phone and Sennheiser headphone battery also.... and now I only need the one micro USB cable for all of them.

http://www.lifetrons.ch/EN/Products/...s-LT2103E1.htm

[RSaunders]

You might find problems with USB chargers when the battery level gets low. It's a known problem, but not an issue if you keep the battery full or use the round charger hole. It's easy to get chargers for this port, it's the same as the Sony PSP. If you go with the great graphic above, you can use a cable like this (http://www.amazon.com/Sony-PSP-Data-...ref=pd_cp_vg_1 ) to go from the brick's USB jack to the Sony round plug.

[gudrun45]

Originally Posted by RSaunders

You might find problems with USB chargers when the battery level gets low. It's a known problem, but not an issue if you keep the battery full or use the round charger hole. It's easy to get chargers for this port, it's the same as the Sony PSP. If you go with the great graphic above, you can use a cable like this (http://www.amazon.com/Sony-PSP-Data-...ref=pd_cp_vg_1 ) to go from the brick's USB jack to the Sony round plug.

You've totally lost me. What round charger hole, what Sony round plug? And what brick?

[Fortissimo]

Originally Posted by gudrun45

You've totally lost me. What round charger hole, what Sony round plug? And what brick?

I think it's in reference to the earlier models.

[elcreative]

Forget it... no independent charger port on any x50 reader, only relevant for pre-x50s... poster didn't notice thread title...

Originally Posted by gudrun45

You've totally lost me. What round charger hole, what Sony round plug? And what brick?