BlackBerry® Storm™

[rayl]

When I use the wall charger, my Storm charges fine.

But if I connect it with the included sync cable to my laptop -- the laptop is on with the BB Desktop software running (and I can confirm that I can do a backup from the BB Desktop software so the drivers appear to be working), the Storm is either charging very very very slowly or not at all.

Is it supposed to charge OK via the laptop's USB power?  How might I go about troubleshooting this?

[Craterz · Accepted solution]

Your issue is not an issue, but normal and the answer as to "why" is simple. The wall charger simply puts out more power than your laptop's USB port is allowed to (or can). Typically, any single USB port puts out 100-150mA (and may be lower if your running on batteries, and the system is allowed to control the ports), whereas the wall charger is putting out quite a bit more (700mA)... constantly.

Not to mention that when you are connected to the laptop there is communication happening between the device and the computer, especially if you're running the Desktop Manager, thus making you device "work" and attempt to charge at the same time. Occasionally, the "work" load may be greater than the charging rate, hence why it doesn't seem to charge at all.

IMHO, charge your device with the supplied charger. Only use your computer to charge your device in an emergency. If you insist on charging the device with your laptop... plug in your laptop, close the Desktop Manager and the Device Manager and it should charge a little quicker.

[rayl]

Thanks.  Now I am more worried about is whether using the BB as a wireless internet access device may not work bec it may run down in power!  I guess I will need to test.

[Craterz]

I would think it would last long enough to be able to get done what you need to get done. I personally haven't used my Storm to access the internet from my laptop... yet (I'm sure I will someday, just haven't since I recieved it). For me, when I do use it for this, it will be to access my corporate email. Everything else I would need to do on the internet, I can do from my Storm itself . So the little time it would take me to access my corporate email, reply to any if needed, and disconnect, would not take all that long.

Message Edited by Craterz on 12-14-2008 07:13 PM