BlackBerry® PlayBook™

[Mark_Cathey]

Well my charger that came with the PlayBook I now have broke the first night I got it because I was dumb and left it plugged in and sitting on a book shelf, and of course my cat had to pull on that cord plugged in the wall and leading to the top shelf where she couldn't see. Anyways I have been using the charger that came with my Bold 9780 with the USB cable detached from the base that has the prongs for the outlet, and that has worked perfectly fine. A couple nights ago I tried plugging my PlayBook into an old cheap charger that is not even a charger from RIM but it does charge my BlackBerry, however it did nothing for my PlayBook. At my office I have an older charger that came with my Curve 8520 and it works when charging my PlayBook, I assume because it is from RIM and not from a gas station or Battiers Plus like the other. I don't know if maybe that helps you.

[peter9477]

Note also there are two things involved in whether the charger will work. One is whether it has the correct kind of cable attached. I expect any charger with an integral microUSB cable does, but that could well be in correct. As I mentioned earlier, chargers with detachable cables could end up with the wrong microUSB cable and then they wouldn't work.

The other issue is simply whether the charger has the guts to supply enough power to charge. When the PlayBook is turned on, with the backlight on, it uses between 1.7W and 3.0W (see http://peterhansen.ca/blog/playbook-power-consumption.html). Many phone chargers will not supply that much and in that case you wouldn't see the lightning bolt and the battery would continue to drain, though perhaps more slowly. Putting the PlayBook into standby should, in that case, make a difference since then it uses only about 0.05W, well under what any charger would provide.

[cathyc897]

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peter9477 wrote:
First item: yes, you can now charge with the PlayBook on or off. This has been the case since one of the earlier updates (possibly 1.0.3? doesn't really matter).

Second: are you using chargers that have integral USB cables, or ones that have the USB cable detachable from the charger's base unit? There are certain differences between USB cables, with some allowing charging and others note. I confess to not having investigated the details yet, but I know this from buying the travel charging kit, which comes with two cables, only one of which works. (And the included docs warn about that, so I know this isn't just a one-off case with a bad cable.)

I can't answer about the "orange tipped" part... mine certainly has no orange on it anywhere. The bundled charger (wall socket to USB cable) for my unit has a RIM part no. HDW-34724-001.

The one that connects the PlayBook to your computer is not actually a charger, just a USB cable, but as noted above if you mixed it up with another, it may well not work.

Hope some of that helped...

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Hi, Peter9477

Thanks for answering.

The chargers I'm using came with my Playbook and phone. I'm sorry, I have no idea whether they're integral USB cables or not - computer dunce here.

The fact that the playbook charges with the phone charger means there must be something wrong with the charger, rather than the Playbook itself. I think I will invest in a new charge.

Thanks again.

[cathyc897]

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Xandrex wrote:
This is the BlackBerry Premium charger. It is shipped with the BlackBerry PlayBook, and you can buy a spare one. http://store.shopblackberry.com/Product/BlackBerryPremiumCharger/ACC-39343-301

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Thanks Xandrex.

I definitely think a spare charger is in order.

[mikeytunes]

I have been using the CSQUID that I bought on Amazon for a few months now and this thing charges my portable devices from ANY source...I had heard that you cannot for e.g. charge a playbook from an apple wall adapter. Or an iPad/Playbook from a PC....but this thing has a fast charge mode that will charge the playbook from any source - PC, car adapter, apple wall adapter etc....

Only thing is that I bought it for around $20 and it is now $30 .....supply/demand I guess....but it is as solid charger/data cable as I have seen...and since it is USB 2.0 certified, I can also sync data with the same cable...

good luck...

[mikeytunes]

Sorry

I just checked and you can still get some of the CSQUID cables around $20...guess it is only the Apple version that raised the price....here is the link

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=csquid&x=0&y=0

[peter9477]

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cathyc897 wrote:

The chargers I'm using came with my Playbook and phone. I'm sorry, I have no idea whether they're integral USB cables or not - computer dunce here.

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By "integral" I meant merely whether it was permanently attached or not.  Some chargers have the cable portion removable, and when you do you see that the charger has a standard PC-style USB port, and the cable appears to be (but seems not to be) a completely standard microUSB cable (that would connect your PC and your PlayBook if you plugged it into both).

[cathyc897]

Peter9477 wrote:

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cathyc897 wrote:

The chargers I'm using came with my Playbook and phone. I'm sorry, I have no idea whether they're integral USB cables or not - computer dunce here.

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By "integral" I meant merely whether it was permanently attached or not.  Some chargers have the cable portion removable, and when you do you see that the charger has a standard PC-style USB port, and the cable appears to be (but seems not to be) a completely standard microUSB cable (that would connect your PC and your PlayBook if you plugged it into both).

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Thanks for the explanation, Peter9477 (and for not making me feel stoopid.)

My charger is integral, but it seems a mute point at the moment. For some reason the charger has started working again. Well, the playbook to computer attachment, which allows the Playbook to charge. Once the battery runs down a bit I will try the main charger again and hope that it was just a glitch.

Definitely will invest in a spare charger, though. The CSQUID mentioned above seems a good buy.

Thanks again for the help.

[tfield99]

Is the Playbook supposed to charge while plugged into a PC via the USB?  The battery icon has a plug symbol over it, but it is not charging.  My blackberry phone does charge while connected to the PC. 

[peter9477]

tfield99, yes and no. Plugging into USB on the PC will supply about 1.5W of power to the device, but merely having the screen turned on will used between 1.6W and 1.9W, minimum (can be even higher depending on brightness) so you don't get a net positive charge (i.e. it discharges, but more slowly than if you weren't plugged in).

That means it will at least slow down the rate of discharge, but may not have enough juice to actually negate it and charge the batteries. Even with the screen off it will take over 12h to fully charge.

The lightning bolt appears only when there's a net positive charge (more or less), rather than merely indicating that you're plugged into a charger. I don't think you'll see it much when plugged into USB...

(The phone charges even with the screen on because it uses less power for its screen.)