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Old 11-28-2011, 02:05 PM   #1
taming
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Very nice power/charger option

I found this Fastmac-Usocket USB Wall Outlet on the BestBuy Canada site after seeing that the same thing has been sold out (forever it seems) on ThinkGeek. Each of the USB plugins is 2.1 Amps, which means that Vox does very nicely in it. http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/.../10170546.aspx



I am using an Apple IPAD USB Power Adapter when I am not near this, for example, at work. This power adapter has a really long extension cord and you just use a micro USB cord in place of the iOS end in the USB port on the adapter.

I find that the USB cord that comes with the Vox is just too short.
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Old 11-28-2011, 03:11 PM   #2
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Hi Taming.

I just wanted to double-check that you've actually used the Apple IPAD USB Power Adapter with your Kobo Vox and you've successfully charged it (recognizing that the Vox won't report charging status except under battery properties, etc. etc.).

Reason I'm asking is that I've tried 3 different wall chargers that are supposed to be 2.1a, and none of them charge the Kobo Vox at all. I've powered off the Vox and left it plugged in for ~12 hours, and nothing.

I've tried an iGo, a Belkin and the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet wall chargers.

In fact, based on trying to charge my Android phone, the iGo and Belkin chargers putting out less than 500mA (battery status on my phone lists as charging via USB instead of charging via AC).

So, needless to say, before I go out and buy *another* wall charger, I'd like to be sure that someone has actually successfully charged their Vox, and it's not just an assertion that "it's 2.1A, so it'll work" (which is how I ended up purchasing the iGo and Belkin in the first place).

Thanks very much in advance,

-cactustak
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Old 11-28-2011, 03:28 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by cactustak View Post
Hi Taming.

I just wanted to double-check that you've actually used the Apple IPAD USB Power Adapter with your Kobo Vox and you've successfully charged it (recognizing that the Vox won't report charging status except under battery properties, etc. etc.).

Reason I'm asking is that I've tried 3 different wall chargers that are supposed to be 2.1a, and none of them charge the Kobo Vox at all. I've powered off the Vox and left it plugged in for ~12 hours, and nothing.

I've tried an iGo, a Belkin and the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet wall chargers.

In fact, based on trying to charge my Android phone, the iGo and Belkin chargers putting out less than 500mA (battery status on my phone lists as charging via USB instead of charging via AC).

So, needless to say, before I go out and buy *another* wall charger, I'd like to be sure that someone has actually successfully charged their Vox, and it's not just an assertion that "it's 2.1A, so it'll work" (which is how I ended up purchasing the iGo and Belkin in the first place).

Thanks very much in advance,

-cactustak
I'm using a generic 2.1a charger as well and while the batter indicator doesn't show any charging happening and the battery indicator says discharging, I've used my vox all day to listen to music without the battery level moving. My guess is that the battery is charging fine but the OS doesn't reflect that.

I had an idea but I don't have my official vox charger with me at work to try it. My guess is that since these non-official chargers don't have the data pin contact like the official charger, the Android OS doesn't know its charging.

Try charging the vox on the non-official charger for a while with the power off. Then unplug and turn it on. Insert the official charger until the unit "sees" it charging, then unplug. Does the battery now reflect a full charge?

Does the vox just need the official charger to tell it that it is charged?
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Old 11-28-2011, 03:42 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by cactustak View Post
Hi Taming.

I just wanted to double-check that you've actually used the Apple IPAD USB Power Adapter with your Kobo Vox and you've successfully charged it (recognizing that the Vox won't report charging status except under battery properties, etc. etc.).
-cactustak
Yes, I have used it. And yes, it does charge it. Like other folks have reported here, I have had to do the open the case press reset button to get the charge level to actually show up, but it definitely charges it to 100%.

I am not always good about turning the Vox off before I charge, and that might be the reason the level isn't accurate. At least that is what other people have been reporting. I will need to play with it more to be sure about this.
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Old 11-28-2011, 04:01 PM   #5
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Well, I've never worried about charging while it's 'on', but usually do it when it's 'off' after I've finished reading.

A few minutes ago my battery symbol showed about 3/4 green, so I just plugged it into a generic 1 amp usb wall charger I have to see what would happen. When it's charging I usually see the green level in the battery symbol moving back and forth between the current level and full, but this time it wasn't doing anything, so I didn't think this charger was working for me. By the time I got my Kobo charger, the symbol was just about "empty" (white), so I plugged in the Kobo charger instead and it showed a little lightning bolt in the middle of the white battery symbol. It remained the same after turning the device off and on again. When I unplugged the charger I got a warning that my battery level was 10% and I should charge it. What happened? Did I damage the battery by trying to charge it with too little current, or break the battery monitor? I'll leave it on the Kobo charger for a couple of hours to see what happens. If I have to do a factory reset to correct this, will I lose any apps I've added and any sideloaded books?
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Old 11-28-2011, 04:10 PM   #6
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Before doing a factory reset (and you will lose anything that is not on an external SD card), try an internal reset. Turn off the Vox, carefully take off the back of the Vox and look for the round black button. Press the button using a paperclip or pen tip and the Vox will restart. See if your battery indicator is now fixed.

An underpowered wall charger will not power the Vox up, but I would think that it is no more likely to actually damage anything then attaching the Vox by USB to your computer. This is speculation on my part. Weird chargers seem to screw with the indicator .
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Old 11-28-2011, 06:14 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by taming View Post
Yes, I have used it. And yes, it does charge it. Like other folks have reported here, I have had to do the open the case press reset button to get the charge level to actually show up, but it definitely charges it to 100%.

I am not always good about turning the Vox off before I charge, and that might be the reason the level isn't accurate. At least that is what other people have been reporting. I will need to play with it more to be sure about this.

Hi Taming ... thank you very much for confirming.

Time for me to go shopping!

-cactustak
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Old 11-28-2011, 06:33 PM   #8
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I've started using a generic 2 amp charger and it seems to work perfectly fine. I've been using it for 3 or 4 day now with no issues.

I'm fairly certain that any ~2A charger will charge the Vox.
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Old 11-28-2011, 06:42 PM   #9
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Thanks Taming, that's a neat wall socket. I have been using the charger that came with my Kindle, and it works well.
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Old 11-28-2011, 07:07 PM   #10
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Old 11-28-2011, 07:14 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by taming View Post
Before doing a factory reset (and you will lose anything that is not on an external SD card), try an internal reset. Turn off the Vox, carefully take off the back of the Vox and look for the round black button. Press the button using a paperclip or pen tip and the Vox will restart. See if your battery indicator is now fixed.

An underpowered wall charger will not power the Vox up, but I would think that it is no more likely to actually damage anything then attaching the Vox by USB to your computer. This is speculation on my part. Weird chargers seem to screw with the indicator .
Well, all seems to be well. After an hour I started it up again and the battery showed almost full. Looks like the cheap charger just confused it for a while.
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Old 11-28-2011, 09:03 PM   #12
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Thanks Taming, that's a neat wall socket. I have been using the charger that came with my Kindle, and it works well.
I think that most of the tablet chargers should work.

I used the Ios one all day and it said it was at 80%. I briefly plugged it into my Kobo wall unit and it seemed to nudge the indicator without having to mess with the reset button.
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Old 11-29-2011, 02:23 AM   #13
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So it seems that if you want to use a non Vox charger you should ensure the Vox is powered off while charging. Or am I mistaken here?

I tried using a USB port from my laptop but I never turned the Vox completely off. And all it did was drain the battery more.
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Old 11-29-2011, 05:10 AM   #14
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I tried using a USB port from my laptop but I never turned the Vox completely off. And all it did was drain the battery more.
Yeah, Kobo was not kidding about not charging over USB ports in our computers, it seems. I really could not say if being powered off when using a non-Kobo charger matters or not. Other folks may have a better idea.
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Old 11-29-2011, 06:30 AM   #15
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Vox is now at 80%, is turned off and is plugged into my laptop USB/SATA 3 port. We'll see if its charged in the morning.

In my not so humble opinion not being able to charge from a regular computer USB port was a very, very poor design decision. So what if charging the Vox would take eight hours. Then at least if you were traveling and you forgot to bring the charger at least you could still use it. Or whatever other circumstance that happens where you don't have the AC charger available.

I hope this is just an OS level setting that will be fixed in an update very soon.
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