EVO as a car GPS device and charging???

[meyerweb#CB]

Mine says for output 5VDC 1.5A - what does that mean in terms of ma? Seems to charge my phone alright but I haven't tried using GPS while charging in the car (I leave the GPS up to my Garmin...)

1 amp = 1000 ma (milliamps). It's the metric system. So yours will supply up to 1500 ma. Whether that's too much depends on how the charging circuit in the Evo works. If it's regulated so it won't draw more than the phone can handle, you're fine. If it's not, then it could conceivable draw enough current to damage the phone.

I think that's unlikely, but it's hard to know for sure. The battery gets pretty hot with a 1 amp charger. If it charges faster and gets hotter with a 1.5 amp charger, that won't be good for long term battery life.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

....

so threads like this really irk me. with a phone like the evo, htc and sprint should have dealt with all of these power issues. the evo battery should last longer and trickle charge quickly. since the htc software update i get longer battery life depending upon what i do, if i'm in my car talking, battery still dies fast. if i take a long trip and discover that using the car charger didn't make the difference, i'd be pissed if i'm on zero and need a wall charge, at the lake in the middle of no where

I'm sorry, but I'm tired of listening to people whine. There's no magic battery that's going to solve these "issues." Given current technology, the only way to get significantly more battery capacity is to use a bigger battery, but everyone wants their phones to be thinner, not thicker.

When the radio(s) are transmitting and receiving, they use power directly related to the strength of the signal from the tower. The weaker the signal, the more power the phone uses. No magic solution here, either. The software and circuitry can be tweaked to use less energy when the phone's idle, but radios are what they are.

"Trickle charge quickly" is an oxymoron. Trickle charge means low current, and low current means slower charging. That's physics, and I don't care what battery or phone or charger you use, you can't change it. The only way to charge faster is with a higher power charger, and that's not trickle charging.

As far as "lasting longer," I've got two comments: mine lasts me a good 14 to 15 hours in normal use. I've got no issues with that. I can always give it a little more charge in the car or at work. And see my comment about battery technology. More capacity means more size. Do you really want a bigger phone?

The factory chargers are 1 amp (1000 ma). If you choose to use a charger with less output, you can't blame HTC if the battery charges slowly or drains while using it as a GPS. And if you have a 1 amp charger, you can charge your phone just as fast at the lake as from a wall outlet.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Thanks guys and (gals?)
I saw one rated at 2.1a (2100ma?) made for iPad use - is that too much juice; or does the EVO regulate the power? The one cool thing is its flush to the cigarette lighter socket...
Griffin Technology: PowerJolt Micro for iPad - 2.1 amp car charger for iPad, iPhone and iPod

again thanks for the help....

John

It's way more than you need, but it shouldn't bother it.

That's not necessarily true. Read my prior post. It depends on the charging circuitry in the phone. It could allow more current than the phone can handle (bad design, but it wouldn't be the first design to assume you'll never use an out of spec component), or it could allow the battery to charge faster, and generate more heat, neither of which are really good for the battery.

I'd stick to a 1 amp charger. Since that's what HTC supplies, we know it won't damage the phone or battery.

 

[gspam1]

I had this same issue with my Palm Pre. The universal car charger that Sprint was selling when the phone was new didn't put out enough amperage to charge the Pre if Sprint Navigation was being used. They quickly came out with a higher capacity charger.

 

[npark]

Question, I'm sort of new to the Android platform (have been with an iPhone since the 1st model)

Bought an EVO last week-end - and so far its an awesome device! I do miss the higher quality apps of the iPhone BUT....

OK

my question is, and I hope it makes sense. But it appears that if I use a car USB charger to power the EVO and charge the battery, the battery never fully charges and in fact on longer drives it actually consumes battery as well? Mostly used as a GPS with Google Navigate (no other real apps in the background).

I stopped at BestBuy and the guy (nice as he was) gave me an answer I didn't agree with. As he stated since the EVO is more of a laptop then phone is can't charge and run at the same time... which makes some sense BUT I have a hard time believing the power unit in the phone draws that power?

This is sort of a deal breaker for me - as I don't want to use it as a GPS or Pandora for that matter and end up at my destination with little to no power... The Best Buy person suggeted I buy a 2nd battery - which is great and all but would i'd rather not have to charge 2 batteries and carry the spare. I would much rather have a system that worked like it did with my previous phone. Don't want to sound like a downer here at all -- I really like the EVO better then the iPhone and my wife seems to agree.

Thanks for any info on this and I'm looking forward to enjoying this site!

JOhn

That is complete BS. I think if the person working at Best Buy had an electrical engineering background, and was in a position to reverse engineer the phone and ascertain the phone "doesn't charge and work at the same time" that he would really be working at Best Buy?

Anyway, my phone charge capacity will go up even when using Google Navigation for a 45 minute drive. I went from 80% to 100% (or something like that) when I pulled the charger off. My car USB charger outputs 1amp (for a Touchstone).

The solution is to buy a charger that puts out more amperate. If you can snag a genuine palm charger (intended for a touchstone), that one is rated at 1amp.

 

[gksmithlcw]

I have no problems charging while using GPS and gaining charge. I have a cheap charger I purchased from Wal Mart nearly two years ago.