yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[HD2 Windows Phone 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting an] samson291:
Really now =\ *sigh* that makes my blood boil.

Also this is a really bad open letter come on do some research, they HAVE tested it its been ready since DECEMBER but the mobile operators are BLOCKING it Microsoft can't help that, its the mobile operators fault so write a "open letter" to them and do some research.

Peace and love =)
[Nook Color Accessories] Contra1971:
anyone found an alternative car charger, I dont mean using the wall charger with an inverter

but a charger that plugs into the lighter plug?
[Nook Color Accessories] Cheese Masterj:
I used this on my Palm Pre. It charges my Epic 4g, and I tried it out on the Nook Color this AM.

It worked just fine.

http://cgi.ebay.com/OEM-SPRINT-CAR-...Accessories&hash=item45f6ea76fc#ht_1484wt_905
[Nook Color Accessories] Jgrimoldy:
There's qutie a number of cigarette lighter adapters available that offer a standard USB port. You'd supply your own cable. Here's an example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-Car-Cigare...053289?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item2a0eed35e9

No, AFAIK, none of these will charge as fast as the standard NC charger. For that, you'd need to go thru the hassle of getting an inverter.
[Nook Color Accessories] JimSP:
Monoprice has cigarette lighter to female usb chargers for $1.16 that you can use your usb cable with.
[Nook Color Accessories] Contra1971:
well I bought 1 from Wally World and it has a dual USB output abd says it is .5v and 1.5amp but when I plug in my NC it doesnt say charging

does the sprint charger?
[Nook Color Accessories] d.v:
Why is that any more of a hassle than getting a car charger?
[Nook Color Accessories] Cheese Masterj:
Yes, the Sprint charger says 'charging' As the others stated, it's not fast, but it works just fine...
[Nook Color Accessories] Contra1971:
it isnt more of a hassle, I have 4 inverters, but they all have fans and make noise I wanted to use a NO noise charger thats all
[Nook Color Accessories] Jgrimoldy:
Larger, heavier, more cords, much more expensive (when compared to a $1 cig-to-usb)...
[Nook Color Accessories] FrayAdjacent:
Just has to be able to push out the current needed. Otherwise it may not charge, or it will charge very slowly.
[Nook Color Accessories] jsw31:
The Scosche reVIVE II Dual USB Car Charger for iPad has 2.1 and 1.0 amp usb outlets, I use this for plugging in my evo and nc. It definitely charges them both even while having all the wireless radios going and tethering with gps and both screens full bright.
[Nook Color Accessories] projektdotnet:
Same issue here, I have a road-trip coming up this summer and I'd love to load up my NC with music and dash-mount it but it'll be a 14-20 hour drive (depending on the number of whiz breaks the wife and kids need) and I don't think I could push the battery quite that long and the inverter when wired to the radio creates quite a buzzing.
[Nook Color Accessories] Divine_Madcat:
Are you using the Nooks specific cable on the 2.1A connection? I too am going on a trip soon, and would love a car charger that can actually CHARGE the nook while using it..
[Nook Color Accessories] vizographic:
www.amazon.com/Scosche-reVIVE-Dual-Charger-iPad/dp/B003N7NO4Q

Is this the one you have? It looks nice and the price looks okay. Nice find. I also saw a wall plug dual usb version by same company on the same page, do you have any info on that one too? It would be nice to stream line travel chargers to a minimum, thanks.
[Nook Color Accessories] jsw31:
It definitely charges both. Like I said in my previous post, I usually have both my Evo runniong and the Nook full bright display on for 50 minute commute, using TetherGPS, wifi hotspot, torque and bluetooth, google navigation pulling satellite imagery, and playing mp3s. Granted, it is slower to charge than without all that stuff running but my previous car charger would lose charge with my evo running just gps and no wifi hotspot previously.

I am using stock blackberry usb cables that I ordered from Amazon as well for $1.25 for a pair (google 'B001UC9NOQ', can't post links yet.) These are nice, thick cables that handle the charger great. I leave them plugged in inside the truck at all times. I have not used that Scosche wall charger, I use the stock chargers for travel that remain in my backpack, and I have other usb cables I use to charge at home. I would imagine it works just as well though.
[Nook Color Accessories] projektdotnet:
http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-reVIVE-Dual-Charger-iPad/dp/B003N7NO4Q

Luckily I'm used to carrying extra USB cables around but the noise my inverter generated while charging was super annoying, went ahead and ordered this to try it out. Hoping it works for what I need, thanks for the tip :D
[Nook Color Accessories] borntochill:
Let us know if it works for you. An Amazon reviewer just reported that the Scosche reVIVE II didn't work on their Nook Color:

However, the reviewer may not know what they're talking about. A charger cannot put out "too much amperage." Too much voltage perhaps, but not too much amperage (current). A device draws only the current it needs.
[Nook Color Accessories] cybrdmn:
An iPad needs an amperage around 2 A also. I got the Belkin Charge 2.1 made for the ipod/ipad and it DOES charge the nook color. It has a 12V plug with one USB outlet at 2.1A. I used the cable from the nook color obviously...
[Nook Color Accessories] Divine_Madcat:
See, part of my worry is not the current output, but if the nook can actually communicate with these chargers and get a full 1.9A draw, instead of the detault 500mA over non B&N chargers...
[Nook Color Accessories] mrmark93:
I bought the same Belkin iPad charger from Best Buy. Rated at 2.1A. I used it with the B & N USB cable that came with my Nook Color. I used the 'Battery Monitor' software mentioned earlier here or on another post to compare charge current readings against the stock B&N wall charger/cable. The Belkin was charging right at 500 mA (NC was using ~450 mA, software showing +36 mA current). So somewhere the B & N cable & charger must have a unique way of determining that it is a B&N charger / cable and to allow the full 2.1A charge. I used the Belkin 12V charger on my TomTom and it allowed just over 1A charge, so I know the Belkin iPad charger is fine.

Yes, it does charge the Nook Color, if you are at 800 Mhz and minimum brightness running non-intensive applications--and it barely charges at that ~50 mA. It does turn the charge indicator on the B&N cable orange, and the status indicates battery charge on the screen.
[Nook Color Accessories] bled82:
here is the car charger by B&N so match the specs and you should be good . http://gifts.barnesandnoble.com/Car-Charging-Kit/e/9781616813895/?cds2Pid=35719

Matte plastic charger with LED indicator

Includes separate cables for NOOKcolor and NOOK Wi-Fi/NOOK 3G + Wi-Fi

Cable length: 5 ft.

Power supply: 2.1 amps; Input: 12V DC; Output: 5V DC, 2.1A

Includes USB car adaptor and instruction guide

Imported
[Nook Color Accessories] BeADroid:
I use a generic USB charger I bought for my D2, it works great, and was only $10.00.
[Nook Color Accessories] RDI:
I work for a computer hardware distributor in Tampa, Fl. We have a USB High Power Car Charger that we sell to our Dealers. It is used for Running & Charging at the same time. So far, my dealers have used it for Apple Ipads and Samsung Galaxy Tablets. It is 2100ma. there are several XDA developers who use this High Power Car Charger, I will ask if any of them have tested it with the Color Nook.

Edit: I have been told that "it charged up pretty fast" in answer to my inquiry of XDA Developers who use our High Power USB Car Charger (2100mA) with the Color Nook.
[Nook Color Accessories] mdleal:
http://www.buy.com/prod/chargeblock-car-adapter-for-ipad-ultra-small-usb-car-charger-fast/q/loc/101/220051690.html
[Nook Color Accessories] Buckybuck:
I have one of the Buy.com ChargeBlock Car Chargers. It works, albeit not as fast as the B&N wall wart. I haven't timed it precisely, or used it when the Nook is really low, but it seems to charge at a rate of around 20 percent increase an hour.
[Nook Color Accessories] Chasmodai:
This would be less annoying if two different BN stores hadn't told me that the car chargers were out of stock and that they had been directed not to order any more :mad:

At least I can maintain a charge with a relatively normal USB car charger and cable.
[Nook Color Accessories] mrmark93:
Tech spec's are one thing; however there is some technology that is in the B & N chargers that has yet to be identified that 'detects' some unknown parameter before it will allow the Nook Color to use the 'higher rate' of charging available. I have an 5V 2.1A IPAD charging adapter and using the Nook Color USB cable, my NC does NOT charge at the high rate.
[Nook Color Accessories] AZImmortal:
Which car charger do you have, and have you verified what charging mode you get when you plug the Nook Color in? Some car chargers don't internally short the data pins (which is stupid), so unless you use a USB cable that has the pins shorted (which the Nook Color cable does not have obviously), then you only charge in USB mode instead of AC mode. To verify the charging mode, you can download Battery Monitor Widget, which also reports the charging/discharging current. I plan to run some tests on my own car charger soon.
[Nook Color Accessories] mrmark93:
I have the Belkin I-Pad Micro-Charger. I used it connected to a bench power supply as well as using Battery Monitor Widget (set to update every 10 seconds instead of default 1 min.). It was obvious comparing the Belkin to the B&N wall charger; using Battery Monitor Widget, that the Belkin was providing enough power to run the NC at some times, but was mostly in slight discharge even though the B&N NC cable had Orange indication and the battery indicator in the tray on the screen was showing an arrow rising (indicating battery charge taking place). It functioned exactly like the $3.00 units I have from Harbor Freight Tools--although the Belkin unit was slightly more efficient on the supply use of current, the NC (Battery monitor widget) showed identical charge from both units.

I like the tiny nature of the Belkin charger and have other uses for it, and I bought an open package unit for $15-it works fine with the vehicle GPS and phone charging. It looks like it will break into pieces if I try to open the thing up, so I'm not sure if I want to destroy it for the purpose of learning (I'm an electronics tech, know the drill about 'magic smoke').
[Nook Color Accessories] AZImmortal:
Did you check to see if the Belkin was charging the NC in USB or AC mode? Battery Monitor Widget tells you the mode in the upper right of the same screen as the graph like this. If the Belkin was only charging in USB mode (meaning the charger's own internal data pins aren't shorted), then it might still be possible to get 2A out of it if you use a USB extension cable with the data pins shorted between the Belkin and the Nook Color cable (thereby enabling charging in AC mode).
[Nook Color Accessories] mrmark93:
So, your post pushed me over the edge. I knew I needed to just cut a cable apart, break open a few chargers and get the gear out and measure stuff--so after your push, I jumped :D

First thing to measure was the resistance across the data pins (the center two conductors on normal USB connectors) of the three chargers I have:

Stock B&N Nook COLOR wall charger: 0 Ohms

Belkin 12V I-Pad USB Vehicle Charger: 53 Ohms

Harbor Freight 12V USB Charger: 53 Ohms

I had read in the 'is the wall charger special' thread that shorting the data pins is what tells the NC that it is connected to a high-output charger-and indeed, shorting the data pins and THEN plugging the NC into the two 12V chargers makes the NC believe it is plugged into the NC wall charger (reports 'AC Plugged' in the battery widget).

My NC was almost fully charged so the current draw wasn't the full available from none of the three, but was easily able to get both the Belkin and Harbor freight to put out 'normal' of ~400mA; then unplug, short the pins, plug in and both chargers put out over 1000mA as needed by the NC--the same as the wall charger when plugged into that. I definitely got the feeling that the NC was controlling charge current level. The Belkin unit had no problem supplying the higher current, while the Harbor Freight unit (advertised for only 500mA) started to get hot and started to smell like burnt--probably would have a short life used this way, but never failed though.

I don't have the B&N 12V vehicle charger to test so I'm not 100% sure there are only the two modes as reported by Battery Widget (USB Plugged or AC Plugged).

Short version: Charger needs to have data pins shorted to get the NC to change to high rate charge mode.

I'll add more when I have discharged the NC.
[Nook Color Accessories] AZImmortal:
Awesome, glad I could inspire you to do great things. :) I'm eager to see what your findings are. My own brief test with an Ipad car charger wasn't as successful are yours seems to have been. I'll try to run a few more tests before I jump to any conclusions.
[Nook Color Accessories] Buckybuck:
Sorry for what is probably a stupid question, but when people talk about "shorting the data pins," what does this mean? I've seen instructions for modifying a USB extension cable that involves carefully stripping the insulation from the cable and then clipping the green and white wires--is that the same thing?
[Nook Color Accessories] FRSP:
I was given a "Kill-o-watt" meter at Christams, and curious about the nook charging I finally dug it out and plugged in a variety of chargers through it.

Two aftermarket cell chargers, one labeled 500ma and the other 750 ma, both registered in the vicinity of 3-4 watts input, regardless if I use the B&N cable or a generic one, and regardless if the screen is on or off. That could be 500ma USB spec at 5V plus charger losses, or it could be pulling a bit more than spec.

The B&N charger with its own cable pulls a bit over 12 watts input. That would be over 2 amps, but there's probably some loss in the charger.

But the B&N charger with a generic USB cable only pulls a bit over 3 watts - same as the generic chargers. So there seems to be an ID pin in the special cable.

The B&N charger with its own cable plugged into the nook, but a a convenient USB AF-AM extension cable inserted in between pulls around 8 watts - suggesting that charging is being limited by voltage drop in the cable's resistance.

Finally, my B&N connector is loose, such that if I don't support the cable, the light will go green even while charging. HOWEVER, the power draw does not change. This suggests to me that the colored light is driven by feedback from the nook on some of the extra pins, and is not some kind of current monitor circuit in the connector.
[Nook Color Accessories] AZImmortal:
It's very similar except that you also need to connect the green and white wires together on the device end, so on a USB extension cable, that would be the female end. You just leave the green and white wires disconnected on the male end. Connecting the data pins tells USB devices that they're connected to a dedicated charging port and that it's ok to draw more current.
[Nook Color Accessories] mrmark93:
I forgot to come back and reports the results I got the other day...

Nothing majorly different happened when using the 3 chargers on my NC with a 30% available charge. I turned the NC on and using Beautiful Widgets flashlight (turns brightness up to full and displays 100% white on the screen--pretty much the biggest draw you'll ever get on your NC)... all three- the OE B&N wall charger, the Belkin I-Pad unit and Harbor Freight unit (both 12V units had data pins shorted) charged at ~1350mA. Charge rate dropped as NC began to charge--this is a normal relationship with a battery; as the battery charges, the rate of charge drops with a constant voltage. I'm not sure why I never drew the max 1800+ mA I was expecting, especially out of the B&N wall charger, I suspect the short male-female USB jumper cable that I cut into to make my measurements probably had a voltage drop with it and because of that, the maximum charge rate was reduced.

As an aside, because I never mentioned it, all my testing was done with the OE NC USB cable (there was no point to using a standard micro-USB cable as we all know there's extra pins on the micro- side of the NC cable). I had a 6" USB 'extension' cable that I cut the +DC wire and connected my multi-meter to measure the actual current on the USB cable. My power was supplied by a regulated DC bench supply set to 13.2V (normal vehicle voltage). I had taken both of the 12V chargers circuit boards out of their plastic housings so that I could experiment with shorting the data pins live (which had no effect- data pins must be shorted prior to plugging in the NC for it to set it's fast charge mode).

I pretty much satisfied my curiosity about the what the NC 'looks' for in a charger to set which charging mode it uses. I'm pretty dang sure that the Orange to Green led change on the OE NC cable is simply either a low current charge rate or a voltage sense to show full charge, not any kind of software in the NC controlling it--no direct evidence, just a slightly educated guess.

Sorry about the rambling, sometimes information is given without the background to explain how it was obtained or what it means exactly, leading to more conjecture.
[Nook Color Accessories] AZImmortal:
So I haven't been able to run more more tests on my own charger yet (and even if I could, Battery Monitor Widget [BMW] is going apesh!t on me, reporting charging/discharging in the thousands of amps), but I wanted to share a little bit of my own experiences as well as a clue into maybe unlocking the charging secrets of the Nook Color.

Back when BMW was working for me, I drained my Nook Color down to about 50% and I hooked it up to my 2.1A car charger with the OEM Nook Color cable. Without an extension with the data pins shorted, the Nook Color reported as "USB plugged", and with the extension, it reported as "AC plugged" (as expected). However, even though the Nook Color knew when the data pins were shorted, during the whole time that I was driving, the charging current as reported by BMW hovered near zero (+/- ~30mA) with either charging port, and by the time I was done driving (about an hour), the battery level pretty much didn't change (it might have even dropped a percent or two). This means that the charger was only supplying as much current as the Nook Color was draining, and considering most of this time was spent in standby, that's not good.

I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab and I came across this thread regarding building a USB extension similar to what I suggested earlier but with additional resistors in order to signal to the Tab that it's not only connected to a dedicated charging port but that it's connected to a charger that can supply 2A. This charging scheme might be proprietary to the Tab, but it made me wonder if the Nook Color also has some kind of signaling of this sort going on, which would validate my own results, but mrmark93's results seem to suggest that simply shorting the pins will work. I plan to modify my USB extension with the extra resistors to see what happens, but if anyone else has done any testing, then I'd love to hear it.
[Nook Color Accessories] RASTAVIPER:
Can please someone post the typical power characteristics that a car charger can be considered as safe for use with nook??
[Nook Color Accessories] tambourineman86:
This is what I use: http://cgi.ebay.com/100D-DC-AC-Powe...078?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aab92b786. Works great, and although it's a little bulky, it charges the nook at the accelerated speed. I used it for a trip from washington state to texas. The nook went the whole way charging, 2200 miles.
[Nook Color Accessories] mrmark93:
I guess there was too much up there to read.

Spec's for the NC are 2.1A. If the charger isn't designed for the Nook Color (ie: designed for iPad/iPad2) it probably (99%) won't charge at the high rate of the Barnes & Noble chargers. All USB chargers will charge the NC at the regular 500mA USB charging rate--which may or may not keep up with your NC if you are using it at the time it is plugged in. If the NC is powered completely off it will charge.
[Nook Color Accessories] azj:
Newegg has a 2A car charger on sale for $6 with free shipping.

Newegg Charger
[Nook Color Accessories] :
So question: does a device only pull the current it needs? Seems those 2 amp chargers can charge a phone just as easy as a nook color. Anyone have a good explanation of this stuff? I'm just an ME...EE stuff is a bit beyond me.
[Nook Color Accessories] Divine_Madcat:
Yes, a device will only pull what it needs. I have charged an Ipod with my nooks brick, no ill effects. The charger CAN supply 2A, but will not FORCE 2A unless it is requested.
[Nook Color Accessories] Hosermage:
Well, I wanted to make sure my NC will charge on a long road trip, so I pull the trigger on the BN car charger. The regular nook cable looks to be a regular micro usb cable by the connector, the NC cable connector is bit taller.

View attachment 613232
[Nook Color Accessories] spdsl:
I purchased the Griffin Technology PowerDuo 2 amp Power Charger for iPad. The Powerduo comes with a 2.0 amp car charger and a 2.0 amp plug in wall charger. Using the Nook oem cable I plugged in the nook to both the Griffin car and wall charger. Battery widget and the cm7 battery app both reported USB charging only. When I plug the nook into the oem nook wall charger the battery widgets report charging / AC.. It seems that charging a nook at the rapid or high amp rate is dependent on the cable, charger and nook syncing together.
[Nook Color Accessories] DatterBoy:
I am sure it is mentioned somewhere here, but the taller NC cable is how the NC get's it higher voltage and rapid charge. Charging with a shorter cable will basically get you trickle charge.
[Nook Color Accessories] mrmark93:
Continuing on now that I finally purchased a B&N Nook Color Car Charging kit :(

Stock B&N Nook COLOR wall charger: 0 Ohms

Belkin 12V I-Pad USB Vehicle Charger: 53 Ohms

Harbor Freight 12V USB Charger: 53 Ohms

B&N Nook COLOR Car Charger 0 Ohms

0 Ohms? I thought to myself, that's what the wall charger measures. How does the Nook differentiate between the Wall (AC) charger and the Car (DC) charger. I re-installed Battery Monitor Widget (it had gone insane so it was uninstalled), fired up the bench power supply, plugged in the B&N car charger, used my ORIGINAL (& somehow fully functional) B&N Nook COLOR micro USB cable, and low and behold: Battery Monitor Widget reports:

wait for it....

building....

AC Plugged

....so there is no difference as far as the NC is concerned between the B&N wall charger and the B&N car charger. If the data pins are shorted, the NC will charge at the higher rate. Well that was slightly disappointing... but no more mystery on the chargers. 53 Ohms across the data pins = iPad charger, 0 Ohms = B&N compatible charger. Now if that spec. was posted on the package, it'd be very helpful!
[Nook Color Accessories] 2devnull:
So, I bought a small USB extension cable and shorted the data pins via a splice and solder job, and connected it to a regular USB to mUSB. The NC states 'AC Charging' however it does not seem to be increasing in %. I have a 2.1A cigarette lighter USB adapter. Will try the original NC USB cable and see if that actually charges it but the fact that the NC recognized this regular cable for AC Charging and not actually charging is disappointing.