Saturday 10 September 2011

Palm Pre Charger


I purchased this cable and wall adapter to use with an additional Touchstone for my Palm Pre. It's a little more expensive than some of the USB cables out there, but there are so many mixed reviews on them working with the Touchstone that I figured it was a safer bet. I was pleased when it arrived that the cable is not like the one pictured, but it is identical to the cable included with the Pre (minus the attached rubber cable tie). It fits right into the Touchstone with no alterations needed (I've read some reviews where the plastic had to be shaved off to fit). After plugging into the wall adapter it was good to go and charging perfectly! Palm Pre Original Smart Phone AC USB Wall Adapter + Original Palm PRE Charging USB 2.0 Data Cable

I just wanted to make it clear to people that this is an identical item (both the usb cable AND the wall charger piece) to the one that comes with the Pre.

It has the same distinctive palm branded circle, heavy duty cable, and even the little plastic thing that holds the cable together.



Things to know:

- The box is OEM not retail. Which means that packaging is less than impressive. (vibe cellular vendor)

- Works and looks just like the original, and hence it's touchstone compatible.

- I tried one knock off charger, and it would randomly not charge. So I would not recommend that route, especially given the price (around $15) you can get the real one for.

- keep one at home and one at work.

I received my Palm Pre charger from the seller BTO today, only 2 business days after ordering it. Thanks to the USPS for delivering it so quickly!



It seems to be an original charger, and was well-packaged in a small plastic bag and bubble wrap. My only disappointment is that this charger isn't as small as the one that originally came with my Verizon Pre Plus. Unfortunately, this means that the adapter I bought on Amazon can't be plugged in next to another plug on my power strip. This wasn't a problem with my original charger, so it's a little annoying. Without actually timing it, it seems to be charging the phone just as quickly as my original charger (at least, it's faster than charging via USB), but I'll have to test it later with my Touchstone, in case the charger itself isn't up to its own manufacturing specs.



It sounds like the particular charger you receive will vary depending on your luck and/or which seller you buy from. Another reviewer mentioned receiving the adapter which is physically smaller. I personally would have preferred that one, but for less than eight bucks, I can't really complain too much.



After doing some looking, I found that there are 3 model numbers for the Palm Pre chargers: 157-10108-00, 157-10124-00, and 157-10130-00. According to the Palm Pre Owner's Manual from Verizon Wireless, you can use any of the three chargers with the Pre, and the rated output for all of them is 5V 1A (1000mA).



The one I received was 157-10108-00. My original (smaller) charger was 157-10124-00.

I agree with the other 1-star Review. The product is probably fine. Just don't order it from AccesoryOne because their stock is not correct. You only get the charging cable - not the wall adapter. And you can't get them to send the wall adapter separate so you have to return it and buy it somewhere else. So beware who you order it from!

Hopefully it varies by vendor, but the product I received was only half way accurate.



I ordered from "The OEM Shop" and received the wall charger adapter, branded Palm, and seems genuine.



The problem is with the cable, which is nothing like what I received with my Palm product originally and is only about 1.5 feet long. There is no rubber piece attached to manage the cable and no silver detail on the micro-usb end. So it is definitely not OEM Palm.



Also, it is basically unusable unless you charge your phone on the floor next to the plug. Now I get to look for a cable that is long enough to extend from the wall plug to a table or desk.



Thankfully this was only a hair under $4, but watch out who you buy from I guess.

While it might have been designed for a Palm, this also makes a nice quality, compact, inexpensive black charger for an iPhone. It works on our iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. Of course, you have to supply the right USB-to-iPhone cable to plug into the USB charging port - the mini USB cable that comes with this won't work with an iPhone.



SOLID POWER: It's rated for output at 5V (of course - that's the USB standard) and 1.0A (which is 1000 mA) - higher than many other chargers. It can handle 100-240V, so it works overseas.



COMPACT AND GOOD FOR TRAVEL: The prongs fold in for travel, and snap in place when folded out.



They do come in different sizes. For the first one I bought, from BTO, the size of the body (without the prongs) is 1-3/16" (30 mm) in diameter and 1-7/16" (36 mm) deep from front to back, so it's compact to carry and use - it doesn't take up more than one socket as long as you insert it the right way. (I received part number 157-10130-00 from BTO, in case that's useful - another review says there are three possible models.)



The second one I ordered is larger - 1-13/16" (35 mm) in diameter by 1-7/8" (47 mm) deep. Apparently it is the international version, which can be used with various adapters - if you twist the end with the prongs counter clockwise, the US adapter comes off. It's part number 157-10108-00. I ordered it from The OEM Shop, and it came with a cable that is clearly not original "Original Palm PRE", if that matters to you.



QUALITY: Both versions are marked as being UL listed, with the smaller one made by Flextronics and the larger one by Foxlink. Both are large manufacturers, so the quality should be better than some of the cheap, no-name chargers.



CHOOSE A GOOD VENDOR: As with all products sold by third parties (that is, not Amazon) - check the seller's feedback and choose a good vendor, even if it costs a little more. A number of the reviews here mention problems with some of the vendors. Look for one rated 96% or higher. 90% may sound good, but it's an abysmal rating on Amazon.



By the way, since it does come with a mini-USB cable, it would work with the cable for lots of other phones, like LG. And if you supply your own cable to plug into the USB charging port it would work with even more phones. For example, lots of Motorola phones use USB-to-micro-USB cables.'


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