Database Users

Review of a nice, inexpensive audio adapter

I was originally going to buy this...
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But I didn't like how dangly looking it was. Plus it doesn't have a universal audio plug, just the HTC proprietary one. So I held off.
Then I saw this on Amazon:
... and I had to have it! It has a standard 3.5mm audio jack for NORMAL headphones, and a normal mini-USB socket for charging. It says you can do both at the same time, but I was skeptical. However the price was so great, I had to try it out.
It's only $4.35 + $1.19 shipping from Semsons
Here's the link to the item if you want to buy it (pick the new and used, it lists for more on the Amazon main link):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000UHY6XU/ref=dp_olp_2
second link if the above one doesn't work:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UHY6XU
So it came a week and a half after I bought it... not the fastest ship, but not unacceptable either. What I like about it: The headphone jack is SOLID, doesn't wiggle, neither does a headphone plug when inserted into it. It has a solid *CLICK* when you push it all the way in.
The sound on my Seinhauser premium earbuds is AMAZING on WMP. But the real test was to plug in the charger and see if while it charges if it will still play sound out the audio jack. It does!
I had to trim mine because I have a crystal hardshell, and it wouldn't seat all the way in until I used an xacto knife to trim some of the soft plastic. Worked perfectly. I'm very happy!
I use the "Tweak" Media Player 10 Pocket PC skin... and I gotta tell ya, this thing is so easy to use as a media center... total iPod Touch killer with my Manila 2D and this. I just need a 16GB card and I'm set.
SO, I highly recommend this audio adapter to anyone. It sounds great (loud as hell, and REALLY clear, too!), it's small, and you can indeed charge it at the same time. I have also verified that you can connect through Activesync while audio plays clearly out to headphones or an output cable to whatever else you want (car stereo, home theater system, etc.).
Edit: Added a video demo of the adapter so you can see how it looks on the phone. I also wiggled the adapter while it was inserted so you can observe the usual play with HTC mini-USB ports and most mini-USB plugs.
It looks like it's difficult to push into the phone's mini-USB port, but it's just because I'm doing it with one hand (the other holding the video recorder). It actually goes in without difficulty, but once it is all the way in, it's not loose in terms of falling out, not by a longshot. There is some side to side wiggle play however. The wiggle is minimal, like I said it's about the same as most other cords and whatnot that you would plug in; this is due to the proprietary HTC D-style socket... it's not as snug as a standard mini-USB socket would be.
You wouldn't want to leave this in the phone all the time. It would probably be part of your choice of headphones, only carried when you need them, or left in your car for when you want to hook to your car stereo's aux. input.

Thanks mightily for the review -- I think I'm gonna get this too.
Is this something you would leave in all the time if you could? If my phone with this attached would fit in my case, or if I could get a slightly larger case, I might consider leaving it in to save wear and tear on the device's USB connector.

I wouldn't want to leave it in all the time, no... it's not huge, but it's not tiny either. Also, our HTC mini-USB ports on our phones tend to be loose with most mini-USB plugs, and this is no different. I didn't mention that in the review because that's the case with most connectors, not just this audio adapter. Anyways, even if it was more snug, you can damage and even break off the mini-USB socket on the inside of the phone. It happened with my 8125, and with a friend's Motorola RAZR.
This is something to keep with your favorite headphones, or in your car (if you want to hook into your car stereo's auxillary if it has that). You wouldn't leave headphones connected to the phone at all times, so consider this more on the side of the headphones than the phone.
Here's a picture for a size reference.
This picture shows the angle I had to cut to make it work with hardshell covers... I also had to cut a small notch on the output side:
I'm adding a video to my original post on here, it shows the adapter and lets you get a feel for how it fits on the phone itself.

Thanks for the vid -- yes, I can see that it would be all to easy to snag or bend the adapter and potentially break the device's USB connector.
So, I'll get one, but I won't leave it in all the time

Thanks for the review, I bought one... Can't beat that price!

Works just fine
I've been using this adaptor for a few months, and I can vouch for its ease of use and quality. I actually use this every day at my desk to play audio through a clock radio. The only issue I've had is that I can't use the adapter and plug in the charge cable when it is in my car mount. The cable has to come out to the side and the mount is too thick for the cable to fit. Other than that, I'm quite happy with it.

Here is what you need:
http://www.aftermarketcellular.com/cart/images/thumb/SKN6182.gif
Edit: Nevermind, I noticed the USB port points it the wrong direction. Still, it will work for just charging without the audio adapter. I use it with a charge cable when holding the phone in landscape, keeps the cord from sticking outward into my palm.

xconradx said:
Thanks for the review, I bought one... Can't beat that price!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got mine in the mail today! Very fast shipping, took two days to get!
I am really impressed, I think I may sell my iPod. The sound quality is excellent though my cars stock Bose stereo and though my generic headphones. Goes really loud as well.
Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the tip and the review. I had a different adapter, but I just ordered the one you raved about...

Thanks for the rev iew, just ordered one, hell w/ expedited shipping its still only 10 bucks, says new slim-er model is shipping now also. I use industrial strength velcro to mount my Tilt in my Merc. Sable. Dont laugh i know it sounds white trash but going thru all the possibilities it is the easiest and cheapest way yet to secure the phone. The thing im stoked for is i use a bodyglove carrying case really nice protective rubber case but while at work using stereo bluetooth a real pain to keep the phone protected and plugged in. With this i sh9ould be able to cut one small hole in my case and the adapter will ride out side the case to plugin to fm/transmitter or my power cord. Thanks again for the heads up on this device! Cant wait to get the live bob marley i got on my bluetooth, pumping out of my car stereo too.
This is the one thing that the iphone has on us IMO. The fact that there are 3 billion places to buy ipod/iphone accesories. At&t seems to refuse to carry anything of the sort, even in downtown boston at the stores where they have everything. And forget radio shack, the kids in there only know how to sign you up for a contract, gone are the days of the geeks at radio shack knowing what their talking about.

freekquency said:
I use industrial strength velcro to mount my Tilt in my Merc. Sable. Dont laugh i know it sounds white trash but going thru all the possibilities it is the easiest and cheapest way yet to secure the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use industrial Velcro to mount my iPod on that dash of my Acura TL. It works out really nice, looks seamless. People have laughed at me until they see how clean it looks with the wires running under the dash.

Yup, I've been using this for a long time now in my car with my AUX adapter and it's great that I can charge it while I'm listening to music. Also, if I have my Jawbone in my ear, the calls get routed right to the bluetooth while I'm listening and does not come over the car speakers. As soon as I hang up the call, my audio starts playing again. It's great.

BTW got this item in the other day, and its working perfectly. All of the above are true. Great links and heads up! thnx.

Bought this for my Tilt and it works great. Thanks for the review.

I bought one of these awhile back and it works great! Thanks for the review and the info.

Just bought one. Another Amazon vendor is selling them at $4.50 with .99 shipping. Good deal, except that Amazon must have seen me coming - their auto recommendations worked big time. Ended up also buying a 1600 mAh battery, 8gig SD card, and '3 Pieces Replacement Stylus with Ballpoint Pen'. What's that saying about a fool and his money?

New Light Leak Area

hey guys, developed a new light leak area. Wanted to know what you guys thought. Should i just forget about it, or ***** and moan and try to figure out a way to fix this. My light leak isnt the usual place around the screen, its actually coming from below the bezel and above the battery cover. There is a THIN space, but the light leak is VERY visible during dark places and when the keyboard is light up. Thoughts?
to the people that had light leaks, did you get over it and forget about it or did you go through countless returns?
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I have had a light leak from that same side ever since I got the phone, it leaks much more than yours.
kinda shoddy, it's as if the frame isn't even straight

Aiasib said:
I have had a light leak from that same side ever since I got the phone, it leaks much more than yours.
kinda shoddy, it's as if the frame isn't even straight
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
driving you crazy or accepting it?
damn, i feel bad that yours is alot more than mine. i thought mine was bad...

btw, does you back get somewhat warm when your charging the phone?

I'm accepting it, but only because it's one of the lesser of a number of peeves I have with the phone.
Yes indeed the phone becomes warm when charging, or whenever I use 3G/WiFi/HSPA/GPS, that is perfectly normal though.
That being said, keep your lawyer and lawsuit handy for when the the battery explodes

If you are talking about the light leak in the USB area, than that's a VERY GOOD THING. I mean, it depends on who you are. Because when the lights are out, I rely on the lighted area at the USB, so I know where to plugin the charger to the USB.
If you have had phones that didn't leak light into the USB area, you would understand how I feel about this. I owned a Nokia N95 once, and it was difficult to charge the phone because I couldn't see where the charging port was.

Hahahaha,
Nice to see conflicting opinions )
Btw poetryrocksalot, why not try turning on the light before trying to charge your phone?

stormlv said:
Hahahaha,
Nice to see conflicting opinions )
Btw poetryrocksalot, why not try turning on the light before trying to charge your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because the light goes straight out of the screen, not enough light is refracted and reflected to the usb port.
By having light "outline" the shape of the USB port, I know which way to orient the usb charger into the cord. There is no need to hit and miss.
The best way for using the screen to see the usb port is to have light reflected from a white wall.
Anyways, this shouldn't be even funny, I am right, and you are wrong.
Try this: without opening the keyboard, turn on the screen and aim the light on a white wall in pitch black, to get as much light reflected onto the usb port. You will notice that the light can't be reflected to the usb port because the usb port is perpindicular to the the light.
Now try this: open the keyboard, this will turn on the light that is found nearest to the usb port. Now close they keyboard and you will notice an outline of light on your usb port. This time you can tell which way is the top of the usb port and which way is the bottom of the port, and there will be less of a hit and miss to connect the port and the charger.
I notice that I use to rarely use the keyboard, so I would use the screen light to get enough reflection to connect to my usb port. But I notice that I always miss by like 1/8 of an inch, or sometimes the port is upside down with the charger, so it doesn't fit at all.
But when I got used to using the keyboard at night, and when I got tired on my bed and closed the keyboard I notice that there was light leakage in the usb area. So I connected the charger (I always run out of battery, because back then I had the crappy 1500 mah battery), and I noticed that it was so much easier to connect the charger.
You guys don't feel the empathy, and lack the appreciation of this leakage probably because you guys don't use your phone at 1-3 pm, there fore you rarely come into this situation. Or is it because you guys have night lights?
Also, I think mine is worth than all of yours. Perhaps the brightness made it so convenient for me than it should usually be. Anyways, this leakage was, (prior to this topic) one of the reasons why I wished that they had a phone that had a physical/virtual button to light up all ports when there is no assistance light to plug things in.

poetryrocksalot said:
Because the light goes straight out of the screen, not enough light is refracted and reflected to the usb port.
By having light "outline" the shape of the USB port, I know which way to orient the usb charger into the cord. There is no need to hit and miss.
The best way for using the screen to see the usb port is to have light reflected from a white wall.
Anyways, this shouldn't be even funny, I am right, and you are wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HAHAHAHAHA,
YOU ARE FUNNY!
I MEAN THE LIGHT IN THE ROOM! DUH
JEEZ

stormlv said:
HAHAHAHAHA,
YOU ARE FUNNY!
I MEAN THE LIGHT IN THE ROOM! DUH
JEEZ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I guess I am the only one too lazy to turn on the light.

so is there anyone else that has a light leak on the keyboard???
but also, is this normal? When i turn off my phone the time does not continue.
for some reason when i turned off my phone, and turned it on in the morning (10:16am), the clock read 10.25pm and it read 5/17/2009.

damn there seems to be a spot on the screen when i try to take a picture. its must be the camera lens. but the weird part is, i dont see anything on the camera lens.

IpodLover77 said:
so is there anyone else that has a light leak on the keyboard???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have that light leak on my xperia, since always...
Is the keyboard light.
(sorry my english)

just one more question. I was using this aftermarket charger (phihong, 100-240V~200mA 50-60Hz 13-20VA) to charge my phone and as a result, my phones back would get very warm when plugged in.
yesterday i made a change to the apple usb charger, where i plugged the apple charger in the wall and instead of the white usb cord, i used the xperia cord, and i charged it like that. when i woke up, the phone wasnt warm or whatnot and it was still charged. what do you the think the difference was?

IpodLover77 said:
hey Leica, thanks for the quick reply!
just one more question. I was using this aftermarket charger (phihong, 100-240V~200mA 50-60Hz 13-20VA) to charge my phone and as a result, my phones back would get very warm when plugged in.
yesterday i made a change to the apple usb charger, where i plugged the apple charger in the wall and instead of the white usb cord, i used the xperia cord, and i charged it like that. when i woke up, the phone wasnt warm or whatnot and it was still charged. what do you the think the difference was?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you use an aftermarket charger? Why not just use the standard SE charger?
Anyway probably the apple charger wasn't supplying as many amps as the aftermarket charger (hence it didn't get worm, but it probably charged in more time).
Also, the excessive heating of the phone might also be due improper charging voltages. What you need to look in a charger is not what input it takes (100-240V~200mA 50-60Hz 13-20VA) but the output it gives.
The normal SE charger gives 5.0V DC current @ 700mA. See what the output voltage is for your aftermarket charger (and for the iphone charge for that matter).

stormlv said:
Why would you use an aftermarket charger? Why not just use the standard SE charger?
Anyway probably the apple charger wasn't supplying as many amps as the aftermarket charger (hence it didn't get worm, but it probably charged in more time).
Also, the excessive heating of the phone might also be due improper charging voltages. What you need to look in a charger is not what input it takes (100-240V~200mA 50-60Hz 13-20VA) but the output it gives.
The normal SE charger gives 5.0V DC current @ 700mA. See what the output voltage is for your aftermarket charger (and for the iphone charge for that matter).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply man!
the reason is, i kind of lost my charger hahah. so i cheaped out and bought an aftermarket one.
on the charger it says phihong, 100-240V~200mA 50-60Hz 13-20VA.
hopefully that one charge i did (it wasnt a full though, i took it off after 1 hour because it got hot) did not mess up my phone.
your thoughts?

the output is
5V=1A LPS

Evo 4g Touchstone wireless induction charging mod.

I recently got a HP Touchpad bundle and while the Touchpad is pretty darned decent and definitely worth a hundred bucks, what really impressed me was the touchstone charging dock. Its brilliant.
I looked into it and found the the palm pre also had this and some chap on the net had figured out how to shoehorn the unit into an evo.
I did the mod to mine and its amazing. No more charging cables. Yay!
This is my take on it - tutorial with pictures: http://asmd.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/evo-4g-wireless-induction-charging-modification/
This should come standard in all wireless devices!

Nice mod! Looks better and I'm sure doesn't fail as bad as the powermat charger.
Sent from my Gruesomes Rom using Tapatalk

Nice mod. Thanks for sharing.
via EVO.

Hi, this is a great mod!
Noob question: I noticed the charging light but the charging icon does not change on your screen. Just curious if once that the battery is completely charged, the icon will turn green. If so I wonder if the charging unit from the Pixi will stop charging the battery once it's full.
Also, compared to charging it directly from the AC Adapter, how long does it take to get a full charge? Is it the same aprox?
I'm planning on taking a look at my Inspire and see if the back cover allows me to put the charging unit there.
Thanks in advance

I did this about a week after launch. Very cool...but over time the novelty wore off.
I got sick of the bulge and ripped it out.

Nice! I wonder if I do the same with the Powermat case...
I have the Powermat, but the only caveat is that it requires a bridge connector between the case and micro-usb port.

haroldgv said:
Hi, this is a great mod!
Noob question: I noticed the charging light but the charging icon does not change on your screen. Just curious if once that the battery is completely charged, the icon will turn green. If so I wonder if the charging unit from the Pixi will stop charging the battery once it's full.
Also, compared to charging it directly from the AC Adapter, how long does it take to get a full charge? Is it the same aprox?
I'm planning on taking a look at my Inspire and see if the back cover allows me to put the charging unit there.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im running MikG v2.5 Rom and the charging icon flashes between the lighting bolt charging icon and % so you can see at what % the battery is at while charging. When i took the picture, it was showing %, but rest assured it flashes between the two just as if it was plugged in the usb cable.
The Induction charging puck is dumb, it only supplies power much like a usb cable. The charging circuit in the Evo decides when the battery is fully charged and stops charging. The Evo for all intensive purposes acts and behaves exactly as if the usb cable was plugged in. It cant tell if power is coming from the puck or the usb cable. I wouldnt plug in the cable while its on the puck though. Although the voltage will remain the same, about 5 volts, the amperage will increase, a doubling in amperage shouldnt break anything but i havent found out the hard way.
The puck takes the same amount of time to charge as the usb cable. I havent seen any significant difference between the two.
There really isnt much of a bulge of the back case with using 30 awg wire. Just seat it flat and make sure nothing from the cover crimps on it, and its pretty much neat and tidy.
Ive seen this mod done with flat ribbon cable which would work just as well, although in not sure how it was routed through the phone.
regards,
asmd.

uniquenameevo said:
I did this about a week after launch. Very cool...but over time the novelty wore off.
I got sick of the bulge and ripped it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
30 awg wire or flat ribbon cable solves the bulge problem. Ive got pucks everywhere, several at home, several at work... and its great not to have to plug it in.
It serves as my phone holder and charging unit. i've set the phone screen not to go to sleep while charging, so it makes for a nice display as well. With the screen left on, it does take longer to charge though.
regards,
asmd.

Yeah,
I did this a Loooooong Time ago using the Palm Pixi touchstone cover.
http://doesitpew.blogspot.com/2011/03/htc-evo-4g-mods-beyond-stock-and-one-of.html
Here is what it looks like with a custom clear back cover.
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The Pixi cover is substantially thinner than the Pre cover and can be fit easily without bulge.
It actually held my phone up hovering in the car while driving.

jdgiotta said:
Nice! I wonder if I do the same with the Powermat case...
I have the Powermat, but the only caveat is that it requires a bridge connector between the case and micro-usb port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its been done. Apparently its quite easy to replace the powermat induction unit with the pixi unit. and the cover fits perfectly.
I opted not to get the powermat case as i wasnt keen on the bridge with the usb dongle sticking out the bottom.
Ive havent heard many good things about it, pretty much nothing but complaints about the powermat induction charging unit which is why i decided on this mod and i can tell you it works, it simply works, perfectly every time.
[/URL]
Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]
regards,
asmd.

What about adding a diode to prevent damage from accidentally plugging in USB while charging on the puck? I really like this mod great stuff...

Childofthehorn said:
Yeah,
I did this a Loooooong Time ago using the Palm Pixi touchstone cover.
http://doesitpew.blogspot.com/2011/03/htc-evo-4g-mods-beyond-stock-and-one-of.html
Here is what it looks like with a custom clear back cover.
The Pixi cover is substantially thinner than the Pre cover and can be fit easily without bulge.
It actually held my phone up hovering in the car while driving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice work!!
I would love to know hwere you wired the pixi induction charger to?
Im really curious about what you said "Inductive charging back was wired into the test points for the USB power as opposed to attaching directly to the resistors as it is safer and easier to remove if there is an issue with the phone otherwise and needs servicing."

Well, this post finally got me moving on modding my Nexus S to charge via induction. I just got my HP Touchpad with the touchstone charging dock and it is very very cool. Can't wait to get my Nexus S that way too. And the Palm Pre/Pixi covers are pretty cheap. The Touchstone dock is only $8 too. I can have multiple units for work, home, relatives and will probably mod it to be in my Car phone holder. The possibilities are endless. Wish me luck.

Ok this power thingy(name doesnt come to mind) uses a cord to power it right so doesnt it defeat the purpose of being wirless if you know were im coming from. But hey I maybe wrong its probably battery powered? So dont sun me.

Awesome mod and comes in handy for me since my USB chord is lost most of the time lol

I have mine fitted with this case. It's a TPU plus hard plastic back. I have great phone protection and touchstone charging.... It's no more bulkier than any case out there.

asmd6230 said:
Nice work!!
I would love to know hwere you wired the pixi induction charger to?
Im really curious about what you said "Inductive charging back was wired into the test points for the USB power as opposed to attaching directly to the resistors as it is safer and easier to remove if there is an issue with the phone otherwise and needs servicing."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually...
This is easy to do since the screw hole surrounding areas are grounded = ground since its pretty universal in this phone, like most mobile devices.
There are a few test points next to the Micro USB port that you can directly test by simply plugging in a USB cable and "buzzing" for the connection of the 5v line.
I get your concern, but there really need not be one and these are the best spots to attach because they are the easiest and safest to remove later. Also, there is a regulator onboard with a shutoff/on ciruit within the inductive charging circuit. It will not turn on or allow voltage to pass under 4.5V (shuts off) from the outputs. Connecting the inductive charger to the 5V input line of the USB directly means that it treats it like USB charging. The onboard current and voltage regulators and charging circuitry of the Evo make it pretty darn hard to ruin it. At any rate, the inductive charger won't ever get up to 1Amp anyway because of power loss due to physics. It is pretty much 500ma in most circumstances from the Pixi receiving end.
The test points are far enough for skilled hands to hit with s solder braid or suck up after a rework airing anyway.
For those who skipped the technical mumbo jumbo, they basically made it impossible for you to screw up (unless you decided to connect your inductive charger at 5V to your Li-Ion battery at 3.7V - DO NO DO THAT!). The picture shows the wire going at the edges of the battery because that is the best place with room, they both route to the same hole at the back of the battery. Use 28AWG or 30AWG teflon-coated stranded wire for slimmest results. Great quality wire will mean that you don't have power loss (the traces are thinner than the wire is anyway so its not an issue).
If you have some detailed questions, post them up or send me a message. I will try to be prompt!

I remember last year when this mod first showed up, the addition of the Palm induction coil screwed up the evo's internal compass which then caused problems with navigation. Is this still an issue?

DroidFreek said:
Ok this power thingy(name doesnt come to mind) uses a cord to power it right so doesnt it defeat the purpose of being wirless if you know were im coming from. But hey I maybe wrong its probably battery powered? So dont sun me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha. You are totally right, simply switching one wire for another. Then, if you need to usb mount or sync or whatever, you still need a regular micro usb cable to do so...
1 cable for plug/charge/sync
or
1 Charging stone for power
1 Regular cable for das syncing/usb mount/charge.
Hmmmm

jjvw said:
I remember last year when this mod first showed up, the addition of the Palm induction coil screwed up the evo's internal compass which then caused problems with navigation. Is this still an issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the induction coil and the metal discs in the phone are not magnetic. When off the charging puck, everything works like it should. Truth be said ive never used the compass app. (im not sure if i even have one), i exclusively use gps which works just fine.

[Q] Really Desperate in Fixing my Nexus 7

Okay so, this story is going to be really long and somewhat complicated. I'm hoping that someone kind enough will really read the whole story and shed light in the situation.
It all started when I was holding my MicroUSB cable and it hit a (moving) fan. I immediately got it out though it had some scratches. I went to check if it's still working, and it is. Later on, about a few weeks after, I noticed that my Nexus 7 is no longer charging. I tried adjusting it & positioning the cable and the tablet so it will charge, and fortunately it worked. A few more charges and it stopped working. I tried all of the outlets and extension cords in our house, yet it still doesn't work. My Nexus was running low on battery so I had to switch it off. Then I tried charging it with the USB ports on my PC. It worked for a week.
It stopped working, and I was really desperate in trying to make it work cause my tablet is running out of juice and I don't want it to be dead. I immediately bought a Samsung charger in a local store. It's output power is 4.75V and 0.4A. I tried charging with it and gosh, it worked. I settled using this low-output charger because I really could not find a new microUSB cable in here or a microUSB charger. It takes centuries to charge my Nexus completely, but I had to bear with it cause it's the only one I can use. I used it for a month or so.
Until then, I was pretty much contented with it. However, I noticed that it's not charging again. Like, it's been 2 hours and the battery hasn't moved up at least a percent up. I was scared because the battery only has 10% left, and I don't know what to do. I immediately shut it down and tried to think of something. I thought of buying a microUSB cable from eBay since I had extra money on PayPal (it cost me about $4) with free shipping. Of course, it came a month and two weeks after I bought it, what do you expect from free shipping?
I immediately plugged the microUSB into my charging port, and I panicked because it didn't work. The charging indicator didn't appear like usual, so I was really crazy, wanting to do something about it. I tried opening it and I think this is where the trouble came. I used a bread knife in opening the rear of the tablet. I tried pushing some stuff near the battery in, to check if they're compact and working. I put the cover back to the tablet and tried charging again. Nope, nothing yet.
I was up until 2AM and then I saw my tablet booting up. I became really happy then. I quickly did what the websites are telling me to, press power and then volume down, bootloader and then power off. I slept and let it charge overnight. I woke up around 12PM. The first thing that I did was to check my tablet. It was charged but not full. I was pretty happy, because you know, the feels. lol.
But anyways, that microusb cable only worked for a day. I was mad when I used my tablet and then when I went to charge it, the battery wasn't moving up again. I was worried, desperate and deeply sad inside at the same time, for my tablet has a real sentimental value to me. It's always like that, I mean, I've bought like $50 worth of microusb chargers, they all work in the start, but a day or so they stop working.
Finally, I've decided to make the decision of bringing it to a mobile technician. ASUS service centers here in the Philippines are crap, they don't work on tablets. I'm gonna cut it short, he replaced my battery (with an improvised battery composed of 3x phone-size batteries), but the thingy with colored wires that you plug into the motherboard is still the same. He also replaced my charging port. He reinstalled the OS and all that good stuff, but my files were saved. Thank God.
I went home and tried some of my latest chargers. A microusb cable with the original adapter worked for a while, but it never completed charging fully. A microUSB charger from DealExtreme with an individual adapter (5V, 2A) also worked, and it's the one that I'm using right now, but it's kinda weird that it never went up 38%. And take note that it took me 6 hours to climb up from 22% to 38%. The reason why I posted all of this is that it's not charging again, and I feel like I've wasted money on replacing parts that didn't really work at all. Or maybe they malfunctioned again because of my chargers? I'm really going crazy right now, I actually have no idea what's going on in my tablet.
Also, the battery is supposed to have 4325mAh capacity right? Why is mine only 3260mAh? I've noticed this before my batteries were replaced (when I was struggling on trying to make the microusb cable work). Since the battery and charging port has been replaced, what else do I need to do? I mean, I'm really freaking desperate right now. I don't know how it will ever be able to charge properly again. Maybe with a charging dock? Man, that costs $60+, excluding shipping. And I'm not even sure if it will work.
I want to buy the Nexus 7 2013 but I really don't have any money right now to spend on buying one, and besides I'd like to have my Nexus 7 2012 fixed first. So please help me out guys, tell me how I can fix this thing.
My ideas right now :
1. Buy an original microUSB cable from Asus (if possible), or probably including the adapter.
2. Buy a charging dock. But it's so expensive.
3. Check if there's some more broken stuff in the battery. This one was taken from the old battery, so it might be the one causing the malfunction.
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Please help me, I'm begging you all. :crying:

Being you're in the Philippines I can't attest to cost, but I recently purchased a pogo dock for 18$ with shipping on eBay through newegg. It may be worth a look
But I would highly consider an oem battery, did the tech allow you to keep your old one? I don't think it had any issues just you needed to resolder in the micro USB port, which you did
And finally, I bought the 2013 nexus7 for myself and gave the 2012 one and dock to my mother, figured a great first tablet for her and an excuse to get me a new one, in truth the upgrade is not drastic, the 2013 is nice but it is not that much better so you aren't missing out.
So my advice, skip 2013, try to get oem battery and pogo dock
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Throughout all this did you ever try backing your files up to a PC and then factory resetting?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Thanks for your replies!
demkantor said:
Being you're in the Philippines I can't attest to cost, but I recently purchased a pogo dock for 18$ with shipping on eBay through newegg. It may be worth a look
But I would highly consider an oem battery, did the tech allow you to keep your old one? I don't think it had any issues just you needed to resolder in the micro USB port, which you did
And finally, I bought the 2013 nexus7 for myself and gave the 2012 one and dock to my mother, figured a great first tablet for her and an excuse to get me a new one, in truth the upgrade is not drastic, the 2013 is nice but it is not that much better so you aren't missing out.
So my advice, skip 2013, try to get oem battery and pogo dock
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. things seemed to be fine until now, that it wouldn't charge again. I am using the microUSB cable from the charger which I had bought on DealExtreme. I installed Battery Monitor Widget to check things out, and the maximum charging it had was only around ~400mA which is pretty bad for a 2A adapter (the OEM). I'll try checking the pogo dock although I don't really have any money right now.
The technician gave me the old battery, and had that thingy which you plug into the mobo removed. How exactly do you resolder this microUSB port? It seems to me that nobody knows how to do that here, lol.
Hmm..what about the sharpness of the screen in 2nd gen? I know I'm crazy for asking for more but I wanted it because I want a tablet that can outdo the iPad mini in every aspect. What about the new processing power and all that good stuff? You mean it didn't really bring any great difference? What about KitKat, is it good? I'm using SmoothRom v5.3 and it's still on 4.2, so yeah I haven't used 4.3 nor 4.4. yet.
DQEight said:
Throughout all this did you ever try backing your files up to a PC and then factory resetting?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know how to backup my files on PC, I did it on TiBu though. Yes, I think I've done that twice or thrice already (updating my custom rom).

Let me put it this way, the only improvement i care about has been the speakers. Sure it has a better screen and more processing power and a 5$ camera slapped on the back, but the 2012 is an awesome, capable device and depending how you use your tab you wont see too many differences, at least for me.
Oh and inductive charging is awesome because you can keep a case on it
Anyone familiar with fine soldering can do it, if they have to ask dont let them touch it
As for kitkat, its fine, but will be the same on 2012, remember the 2013 will probably only get one major android version then the 2012 but being a nexus youll always get the same amount of custom roms for years
So if you want the absolute best, 2013 hands down. If you want something hardly noticeably weaker stick with the 2012 for $100 less
Sent from my SGH-T699 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

demkantor said:
Let me put it this way, the only improvement i care about has been the speakers. Sure it has a better screen and more processing power and a 5$ camera slapped on the back, but the 2012 is an awesome, capable device and depending how you use your tab you wont see too many differences, at least for me.
Oh and inductive charging is awesome because you can keep a case on it
Anyone familiar with fine soldering can do it, if they have to ask dont let them touch it
As for kitkat, its fine, but will be the same on 2012, remember the 2013 will probably only get one major android version then the 2012 but being a nexus youll always get the same amount of custom roms for years
So if you want the absolute best, 2013 hands down. If you want something hardly noticeably weaker stick with the 2012 for $100 less
Sent from my SGH-T699 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, thank you for replying.
I'm sticking to the decision of buying a pogo dock. You know why? Well, it was all working again, but this time we went on a vacation. I plugged the charger on an old extension cord in my aunt's house. I let it stay there for a couple of minutes, then I checked back later, noticing that it has gone DOWN by 2% (well, it was only 14% back then so every single percent matters) and I immediately plugged it out and tried other outlets/extension cords.
Nope, it wouldn't charge anymore. Nothing works now, repositioning, replugging, all of those -- nope, not working. I just lost faith & hope in it :crying: so I just put it in my bag WITH THE MICROUSB CABLE STILL ATTACHED (okay, I'm crazy T_T) and it was there for 2 days, then our trip to home, then we're finally home. Goddammit, I realized that the microusb cable was still attached to the charging port and now it's all bent. I tried bending it to position, I mean to correct it but the plug itself got detached, so basically I wouldn't be able to charge using microusb again.
Do you think that buying a pogo dock can solve all of this? Well, considering that the battery was replaced with 3x 1600mAh batteries, will it charge the same way like before (~2000mA)? If not, at least probably faster because it's charging via pogo pins now?

Special MicroUSB cable(custom made) - specifically for charging(ONLY)

Hi there guys,
Although active in the rom part of the 1+1 forum, I rarely spend any time in the general section and I thought why not post something? so a little backstory on the cable.
I want the fastest way to charge my phone and what can I do to improve that?
- Get a better charger
- Get a better MicroUSB cable
Our stock charger is capable of 5v 2.1A well the actual amperage it can give is less than 2A, I can't draw more than 1.8-1.9A on my phone even with my custom cable
So I got a quickcharge 2.0 charger just to try it and have a spare one, finally it became my main charger as it's rated at 5v 2A but actually can output 2.1A!!! phone is drawing that much, ranging from 2 to 2.1A - with stock cable it's a bit less than 2A but pretty close(around 1.97A to be precise)
So how's this custom cable I've build? it's like this:
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So it's a 18AWG and it's rated for "Maximum amps for chassis wiring: 16A" and "Maximum amps for power transmission: 2.3A" ..so it's capable of sustaining 2.3A without any problem(heat or power loss), if you use a very cheap microusb cable it can take up to 6 hours to charge your phone(as you can imagine the cable can play significant part) - Cable wire is of course copper so you know

Nice work, I've also noticed I get 1.6 to 1.8 amps on stock cable and charget

evronetwork said:
So it's a 18AWG and it's rated for "Maximum amps for chassis wiring: 16A" and "Maximum amps for power transmission: 2.3A" ..so it's capable of sustaining 2.3A without any problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very nice. Maybe a photo tutorial or youtube vid on construction?

naeem76 said:
Nice work, I've also noticed I get 1.6 to 1.8 amps on stock cable and charget
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm close on stock(cable+charger)
pbergonzi said:
Very nice. Maybe a photo tutorial or youtube vid on construction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm too lazy to do that hhahaa(as a computer tech guy I do many stuff and I have record many of my actions but I'm too lazy to edit my videos and post them online), but honestly trying to fit an 18AWG cable in a usb and microusb jack is pain in the a** because the wire is quite thick but it's an one time hassle, I permanently fix the wire(can't be removed even if I wanted to, the only way to fit new microusb and usb jacks is to cut the wire) - Trimming plastic inside the jacks without doing any damage just to fit the cable can be time consuming :crying:
Something that I didn't mention is the size of the cable, its the same size as stock
P.S. At best you'll find 20AWG cables in the market and some cost quite much

evronetwork said:
I'm close on stock(cable+charger)
I'm too lazy to do that hhahaa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Really I was simply wondering to which contacts the wires went, but I'm sure the layout is on the web, and I'm probably not gonna do it anyway.

pbergonzi said:
Thanks. Really I was simply wondering to which contacts the wires went, but I'm sure the layout is on the web, and I'm probably not gonna do it anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were close to me(same town or next one) I could do it for you for a small fee but don't do it if you're not very capable with ur hands and soldering iron
P.S. soldering them wrong can actually damage the phone permanently or even make the batter explode and/or charger(it's basically a short circuit) - you've been warned
My jacks are filled so after I solder the connections they can't be removed ..there are airtight also this cable is suitable if you use public chargers as no data would be "stolen" if one of the public chargers is modified - this uses only two wires and it's for charging

evronetwork said:
If you were close to me(same town or next one) I could do it for you for a small fee but don't do it if you're not very capable with ur hands and soldering iron
P.S. soldering them wrong can actually damage the phone permanently or even make the batter explode and/or charger(it's basically a short circuit) - you've been warned
My jacks are filled so after I solder the connections they can't be removed ..there are airtight also this cable is suitable if you use public chargers as no data would be "stolen" if one of the public chargers is modified - this uses only two wires and it's for charging
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice work. Thank you. The data security is a nice feature.

pbergonzi said:
Nice work. Thank you. The data security is a nice feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the bad side, if you need to transfer data you can't with this cable ..but I rarely use cable for data(I mostly use wifi connections to transfer data, or bluetooth) - Why? unessesary small-chargings will harm your battery, so if you connect the phone to your computer to transfer data better let it charge up rather than do your job and remove it, less than 1% charge frequent uses it will shorten ur battery life significantly
Even if I wanted to make it a full fledge cable with 18 AWG wire this is impossible, also it will become heavy for a usb cable. I barely fit 18 AWG cable(but it's capable of up to 2.3A(constant use)!! our phones can't draw 2.3A(no phone can ..at least not one I know) so it's great)
I wanted a wire with 2.1A constant use so it would have nearly no power loss(or voltage drop), putting a thicker wire won't make any different but 18AWG compared to stock, there's different. Especially if you compare a cheap 1 euro Chinese microusb cable with this one
--------
Although I'm really happy with my cable and it's my first pick when in hurry and need the faster charge available, two days ago the Chinese were celebrating something so I've bought cheaply(compared to original price) a Wsken magnetic micro usb cable(original), if you don't know whats that it's a microusb cable with magnetic tip. How does it work? check the picture:
I'll measure charging rates when received but I don't expect to be as good as my cable ..but in the night when in the dark a magnetic connection seems wonderful(also great if someones trip in the cable ..it won't make ur phone fall, it will be disconnected). If you put it backwards, it still works(but only for charging) so you can safely use it on public, just connect the cable in reverse. What's bad about this? well this comes with 2 microusb adaptors and one cable, you need that specific cable so if you have lots of devices you need to carry a cable with you(and it's not cheap) - Hope it has similar thickness as our stock cable so charging won't take long, can't wait 5 hours charging(as with some very cheap microusb Chinese cables)

Very good, thank you.

pbergonzi said:
Very good, thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need, we're a community and we help each other, in the future I may need ur help and/or knowledge

I'm a big numb-nut in terms of electrics, but when you're pushing the capabilities for charging, is there also an increased risk of damage?

experience?
evronetwork said:
On the bad side, if you need to transfer data you can't with this cable ..but I rarely use cable for data(I mostly use wifi connections to transfer data, or bluetooth) - Why? unessesary small-chargings will harm your battery, so if you connect the phone to your computer to transfer data better let it charge up rather than do your job and remove it, less than 1% charge frequent uses it will shorten ur battery life significantly
Even if I wanted to make it a full fledge cable with 18 AWG wire this is impossible, also it will become heavy for a usb cable. I barely fit 18 AWG cable(but it's capable of up to 2.3A(constant use)!! our phones can't draw 2.3A(no phone can ..at least not one I know) so it's great)
I wanted a wire with 2.1A constant use so it would have nearly no power loss(or voltage drop), putting a thicker wire won't make any different but 18AWG compared to stock, there's different. Especially if you compare a cheap 1 euro Chinese microusb cable with this one
--------
Although I'm really happy with my cable and it's my first pick when in hurry and need the faster charge available, two days ago the Chinese were celebrating something so I've bought cheaply(compared to original price) a Wsken magnetic micro usb cable(original), if you don't know whats that it's a microusb cable with magnetic tip. How does it work? check the picture:
I'll measure charging rates when received but I don't expect to be as good as my cable ..but in the night when in the dark a magnetic connection seems wonderful(also great if someones trip in the cable ..it won't make ur phone fall, it will be disconnected). If you put it backwards, it still works(but only for charging) so you can safely use it on public, just connect the cable in reverse. What's bad about this? well this comes with 2 microusb adaptors and one cable, you need that specific cable so if you have lots of devices you need to carry a cable with you(and it's not cheap) - Hope it has similar thickness as our stock cable so charging won't take long, can't wait 5 hours charging(as with some very cheap microusb Chinese cables)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you recieve this cable? I'd like to know your experiences. I know for a fact that the Znap cables are experiencing a lot of delay but there are a lot of Ebay clones on the market now.
Was going to buy this one but I have no clue if it works though.........

How do you measure the current drawn by the phone while charging?

BarnOwl said:
Did you recieve this cable? I'd like to know your experiences. I know for a fact that the Znap cables are experiencing a lot of delay but there are a lot of Ebay clones on the market now.
Was going to buy this one but I have no clue if it works though.........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I receive the cable(if ur talking about the magnetic one) and charges up to 2.1A ..max amps for our phone
gyanbhartip said:
How do you measure the current drawn by the phone while charging?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too many apps in the internet but I prefer the "Charger Timer", measures from 20% until 80% ..where the phone gets the "fastest" charging because when battery is low or way to high it draws less power(so battery will last longer)

gyanbhartip said:
How do you measure the current drawn by the phone while charging?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I will give it a try for sure.
Sent from my A0001 using xda premium

gyanbhartip said:
How do you measure the current drawn by the phone while charging?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using Amphere for a while. It works quite well.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gombosdev.ampere&hl=en

evronetwork said:
Yes I receive the cable(if ur talking about the magnetic one) and charges up to 2.1A ..max amps for our phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that's what I wanted to know.....ordering one now.

Is this the magnetic one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00VVJE6QS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1453820974&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Wsken&dpPl=1&dpID=31gh8cR4W7L&ref=plSrch
I've been after a new charger since my original one plus charger broke, been using a nexus 5 one instead.

Been using it for a while now, I got this one
I like it a lot! It even transfers data from and to my PC! I just have to make sure the led faces the bottom to transfer.
I do not know if it works on ALL oneplus ones as there seems to be a lot of difference in these devices, so don't take my word on it!
It also charges fast, just as fast as the original cable. I just ordered another one to use in my car.