OK, I have to ask 'cause I can’t test it right now.
Will the Clip continue to charge (via PC USB cable) when it is turned off?
I am hoping that it does, as it should charge faster without the screen being on.
Thanks
kev
Yes it will charge when “OFF” but the rate of charge is not dependant on the display being ON, or not. The charge circuit is built into the SOC and will route the necessary current to the battery regardless of how much overall power the device is drawing from the USB port (or USB charger).
Click wrote:
“Yes it will charge when “OFF” but the rate of charge is not dependant on the display being ON, or not. The charge circuit is built into the SOC and will route the necessary current to the battery regardless of how much overall power the device is drawing from the USB port (or USB charger).”
Is this true when using the Clip while charging from AC? Other devices, that I own, caution that charge times are increased if the unit is operated during charging. I want to believe that this is not true with the Clip.
Thanks
kev
Bugeyed, I think you’re talking about two different situations. In your first post, you specifically mention charging through your PC’s USB port. In that case the Clip will automagically turn on when you connect it to your computer, and the display will always be on as long as the Clip is connected to your computer. As you would expect, this is no good for the life of the pixels. For this reason it is not advisable to leave the Clip connected to your computer any longer than necessary to transfer songs and charge the battery.
To me, the preferred way to charge the battery is with an AC adapter (a wall adapter) with a mini USB plug. This is what I do. If my Clip is powered down when I connect it to the AC adapter, the Clip will automagically turn on. But the display will turn off after the time-out period that I have set in Settings, while the battery continues to charge. I’ve gotten into the habit of recharging my Clip overnight this way. Works great, and in the morning I have a fully-charged Clip, ready to face another day.
Hope this helps some.
I forget what happens when I leave it on the charger (came with Motorola V3xx), but it will definately not charge if I turn it off after plugging it into the wall charger.
What I do now is set a song on repeat after I plug it in so I know it’ll be on and charging. But, perhaps just plugging it in and leaving it alone is enough for it to stay charging, without having to put it on repeat so it doesn’t auto power down.
Have a great week!
Yue, that should work. When charging with the AC wall charger, even though my display goes blank after the time-out period I’ve defined in settings, the Clip is still “ON.” If I click the center button, the display comes right back on.
There’s no need to keep the Clip playing while you charge, though you certainly can if you want to listen to it while it’s charging off the wall charger. In fact, looking years down the road when the Clip’s battery gives up the ghost, this will be the way to keep listening to the Clip. Of course, the Clip won’t be very portable while tethered to an AC adapter, and by then we’ll probably be able to get a new 32GB or 64GB Clip for about $60. 
Message Edited by BigJohnL on 01-21-2008 01:05 PM
BigJohnL wrote:
“Bugeyed, I think you’re talking about two different situations. In your first post, you specifically mention charging through your PC’s USB port. In that case the Clip will automagically turn on when you connect it to your computer, and the display will always be on as long as the Clip is connected to your computer.”
Yeah, I specifically indicated that I was talking about 2 charging scenarios in my follow up question! In both configurations I was wondering if the Clip continued to charge when powered off. If so, there is no need to leave the display on when charging from a PC-USB cable or for that matter having the unit ON, with the display off, when using an AC charger unless you want to listen to it.
I assume that the use of a modified (non data) USB cable to PC would act identicle to an AC charger. This is not a huge deal for me, it’s just nice to understand how things work!
Thanks all
kev
In fact, it appears that the player’s screen can be shut off when charging, when connected to a computer via USB as well. When connected, hold the on button in the up position for 5-6 seconds. The player then seems to shut off, although charging seems to continue (my player was nearly fully charged, but seemed to top off). This worked for me in MSC mode; it seems to apply in MTP mode as well (the same process worked for me in MTP mode, but my player already was charged).
Just curious: is it verified that the player has to be on to charge via AC/DC?
Interesting idea, Miikerman. I just hooked up my Clip to my computer. I always use MTP mode. Computer recognized the Clip as usual and showed the charge at 75%. When I held the on/off switch up for 5-6 seconds, the display went blank and the computer no longer saw the Clip (the Clip icon disappeared from the Windows Explorer directory tree) just as if I had disconnected the Clip from the computer.
I still have the Clip connected to the USB cable, which is still connected to the USB Port. I’ll keep it this way for another half hour or so, then turn the Clip back on to see if the battery was charged while the Clip was turned off. I’ll report back with my findings.
Thanks–look forward to hearing your report. My player was close to fully charged and so the fact that it now shows as fully charged could simply reflect the gauge’s broad categories and the few minutes the player was connected before I shut it down as explained above.
Thanks–look forward to hearing your report. My player was close to fully charged and so the fact that it now shows as fully charged could simply reflect the gauge’s broad categories and the few minutes the player was connected before I shut it down as explained above.
The other interesting thing: when you turn the player back on, it rebuilds the database, even though there has been no database change. (This is not a big deal.)
Just turned the Clip back on after a bit over 30 minutes. Computer recognized it right away. Charge is still 75%. Boooooo. 
I’d give it some time; as we know, the gauge is pretty general, at best.
That was 75% from the Properties box in Windows Explorer, not the little battery-charge box on the Clip’s display. I’ve found the charge indicator in the Properties box to be pretty accurate and displays the charge in 1% increments. So, since it was 75% both before and after my little experiment leads me to conclude that the Clip is not being charged when it’s turned off.
That is what I posted originally! “Charging Clip When OFF.” My whole point in posting wat to ask if the Clip charges when turned OFF. That is by holding the switch until it turns OFF. I can understand why everyone was dancing around the question now. I thought it was common knowledge that you could turn it off while charging. Sorry for not being clear on that point. BTW the Clip does indeed time out & powers OFF when charging from AC, but the question of “charging” is still valid.
Thanks
kev
OK, I think we’ve cleared up the question of charging when you manually turn the Clip off while it’s connected to the computer. It doesn’t.
Now, as for charging off an AC charger – I think we’ve established that even though the display goes blank after the time-out period, the Clip continues to charge. Now, if you manually turn the Clip off while it’s connected to the AC charger, I don’t think it will continue to charge, though I haven’t tested that. Anyone want to run that experiment? Besides, even if it did keep charging, why would one want to manually turn the Clip off while it’s charging off the AC charger? The display goes blank in a few seconds anyhow.
bugeyed, as to your last sentence – even though the Clip does time out and the display goes blank when charging from AC, it does not power OFF. You can click the center menu button and the display comes right back on, allowing you to see if the charging is complete.
BigJohnL wrote:
Now, as for charging off an AC charger – I think we’ve established that even though the display goes blank after the time-out period, the Clip continues to charge. Now, if you manually turn the Clip off while it’s connected to the AC charger, I don’t think it will continue to charge, though I haven’t tested that. Anyone want to run that experiment?
I’m trying it now. Clip was at 1/2 charge when connected to wall charger. I’ll report in a couple of hours.
bugeyed, as to your last sentence – even though the Clip does time out and the display goes blank when charging from AC, it does not power OFF. You can click the center menu button and the display comes right back on, allowing you to see if the charging is complete.
I guess I was thinking of when the Clip times out when paused. (not charging) It will power off completely then. I guess the whole concern about charging while OFF arrises from the fact that many products say that the charge time is increased if the unit is used during charging. If this is not the case with the Clip, except for the display being ON in PC charge, I guess it’s a moot point. The power draw from the unit being ON with no display is probably not significant.
PromisedPlanet wrote:
BigJohnL wrote:
Now, as for charging off an AC charger – I think we’ve established that even though the display goes blank after the time-out period, the Clip continues to charge. Now, if you manually turn the Clip off while it’s connected to the AC charger, I don’t think it will continue to charge, though I haven’t tested that. Anyone want to run that experiment?
I’m trying it now. Clip was at 1/2 charge when connected to wall charger. I’ll report in a couple of hours.
And the answer is … no, it doesn’t appear to charge.
Promised– Was that when using the wall charger; or USB; or both? If only one, could you try the other? So promising …
