Power your iPad from underpowered USB ports

The new iXP1-500 Dongle claims to eliminate the "Not charging" issue that some iPad owners experience when connecting to older machines. We haven't tested one, but our initial instinct is dubious at best.

Shortly after the iPad was released in the US, users noticed a "charging issue." Specifically, the iPad would report "Not charging" when connected to an older MacBook Pro, Macbook, iMac or non-Apple machine. We later confirmed that the iPad actually does charge in that scenario, just very slowly.

Honestly, we're skeptical about this thing. Click below to find out why.

[Via Cult Of Mac]

At first glance, the iXP1-500 seems like a tidy solution. For only US$5, you get a tiny doohicky that acts as a bridge between the iPad and the under-powered computer. Once connected, it will eliminate the "Not charging" message and power up your iPad. So what's the problem?

First of all, their website isn't entirely correct in saying that "users of non Apple computer and some Apple computers cannot charge the iPad unless they use an electrical wallplate," as we've demonstrated. Additionally, NASA Electrical I&T Engineer Frederick Maxwell notes on the Cult of Mac blog: "The battery in an iPad is a dual-cell, parallel-wired, Lithium-Polymer that weighs a whopping 148 grams (5.5ozs) and provides 24.8 watt-hours of capacity. The dongle in the article has a total weight of 0.1 ounce, including connector, casing, and all internal parts. It can't work. Period."

As John Brownlee notes at CoM, this thing is probably tricking the iPad into believing it's receiving 10w of power, there by eliminating the "Not charging" message. Eliminating the message could convince some shoppers that their $15 ($5 for the dongle + shipping) was well spent. But it's just a workaround, and you didn't need to spend the $15 in the first place.

The moral of the story is twofold. First, buyer beware. Secondly, you can charge your iPad from an underpowered USB port -- just slowly -- as it is.

View Tags

Source: http://www.xmultiple.com/xwebsite-iXP1-500-xpower1.htm

Categories

iPad

The new iXP1-500 Dongle claims to eliminate the "Not charging" issue that some iPad owners experience when connecting to older machines. We...

Add a Comment

Sign in »

15 Comments

Filter by:

bobm

What's most interesting is you make the point that it can't work because it's lighter than the battery. That's just weird.

I agree that it won't do anything but would have used the reasoning that there isn't a way to get more power from the usb port. Note that I even went so far as to purchase one of those dual usb cables that some external hard drives use to see if that makes the message go away and it doesn't.

August 18 2010 at 7:32 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jeff Harris

Interesting concept.

Has anyone heard of a USB hub that provides "high-power" for iPads?
I've been looking, find nothing.

August 18 2010 at 9:01 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

L.M. Wong

If the retail price of this dongle is US$1 instead of US$5, then you guys might have different comments.

The dongle just contains a few passive components inside, to fool the Apple device that a real charger is plugged.

The charging time is subject to the supply current rating of the USB host port you plug this dongle into, which is 500mA in most notebook or desktop computers.

Some desktop motherboards come with a "High Current" USB port for charging purpose.

August 18 2010 at 6:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Benjamin

What kind of journalism is this? If I see a review on a webpage, I expect the reviewer to buy the product and test it. I can speculate all by myself thank you.

August 18 2010 at 12:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jason

FWIW, I get the "Not Charging" message when I plug my iPad into my 23" Apple Cinema Display (which is connected to my Mac Pro). I can still sync with this configuration, fyi.

August 17 2010 at 11:15 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

MRCUR

Did you read the post? That's exactly what was posted...

August 17 2010 at 10:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Alex Whittemore

At the risk of sounding like blog spam, here's the unabridged how-this-thing works:
http://www.alexwhittemore.com/?p=482
It was just too long to comment here.

August 17 2010 at 10:33 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

waut

Maybe it's about minimum voltage and not about current? Ever thought of that?

"We haven't tested one"

For not having tested it you seem to know a lot about it.

August 17 2010 at 7:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Dale

The issue is that the energy required to power the screen, while active, is effectively negating the effects of charging on low powered USB ports. Turn the screen off, leave the iPad alone, and it does charge.

That being said, I found a driver for my home PC (self-built with a Gigabyte board) and the ASUS AI Charger application for my work PC:

http://event.asus.com/mb/2010/ai_charger/

Both resulted in increased power to the USB ports.

August 17 2010 at 7:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Dale's comment

Dale

Wow, I need a proof reader for my posts. But anyway: AI Charger.

August 17 2010 at 7:25 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

LGgeek

The "not charging " issue is bogus , you don't need to buy anything.
Prove it to yourself, look at the percentage (assume under 100) on your ipad.
now plug it into an iphone charger and leave it alone for about two hours.
At the end of two hours look at your percentage again , it has increased.
The iphone charger is slower than the ipad charger but it does work. On my JB iPad I changed the "not charging" message to "charging slowly".

August 17 2010 at 6:57 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply