AC Adapter for Charging Sansa Clip w/o Connecting to Computer

Both a USB car charger and AC supply (very portable, with fold-down plugs–has good reviews) each for $3 including shipping.  Although the AC supply is low amperage, it seems to be enough for the Clip (needs to be verified).

http://www.meritline.com/universal-car-charger-302.html

Now that’s inflation for you! I paid a penny (plus shipping) for mine 5 months ago. Less than $10 in total for the car charger plus the wall charger and both are working great today.

@bigjohnl wrote:
Now that’s inflation for you! I paid a penny (plus shipping) for mine 5 months ago. Less than $10 in total for the car charger plus the wall charger and both are working great today.

That’s crazy.  How can anybody sell anything for a penny?

The answer to that is easy…they get their money in the inflated shipping.  I had one Ebay vendor explain this to me.  Their fees are based on the selling price, so the fees they pay based on a penny are v…e…r…y small, but they profit in the shipping charge.

Well, go to the above site and get your wall charger and a car charger for a total of $6 shipped …

:wink:

@melodyh40 wrote:
The answer to that is easy…they get their money in the inflated shipping.  I had one Ebay vendor explain this to me.  Their fees are based on the selling price, so the fees they pay based on a penny are v…e…r…y small, but they profit in the shipping charge.

I ordered the car charger and it’s $3.78 shipped.  I still don’t see how a profit can be made.

The old joke is “they make up for it in volume.” Maybe they bought a crate of them for a dime apiece. Shipping costs less than a buck apiece including materials. They’re still making a couple of bucks. Not much, but if it’s some guy running a business out of his dorm room, it’s extra beer money. Or it could just be someone who’s bad at math.

Perhaps they pay their labour, like, $0.20/hr and use cheap components, I don’t know.  If it works, I think that’s great!  Incidentally, I ordered a PDA case for $10 shipped and got a piece of cr&p.  Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes it gets you…

I use the Motorola 5V 550mA charger which came with my phone. It accepts full range input (for world use) and is compact with foldable plugs. It is great being able to use the same mini-USB chargers and cables. It also made choosing a car charger easy since I could just get one intended for the same phone -plus they are very cheap and can be found everywhere.

is it possible to use a 800ma 5v output charger ?

 (i dont get how u can tell whether an adapter is compatible or not, could anyone please explain ?)

That likely is fine (although without having tested it, no guarantee can be made).

As I understand it, USB power is a “standard,” at 5V.  The amperage can vary, not supplying enough juice to the device.  However, as the Clip is a small device, that typically isn’t an issue; I have a 500 mAh AC charger that works just fine with the Clip.  (Higher amperage simply means that the charger will allow the device to draw more power, as needed; a higher amperage rating doesn’t necessarily supply more power.  Therefore, a higher amperage rating (as distinct from voltage) is fine.)

That likely is fine (although without having tested it, no guarantee can be made).

As I understand it, USB power is a “standard,” at 5V.  The amperage can vary, not supplying enough juice to the device.  However, as the Clip is a small device, that typically isn’t an issue; I have a 500 mAh AC charger that works just fine with the Clip.  (A higher amperage rating simply means that the charger will allow the device to draw more power, as needed; a higher amperage rating doesn’t necessarily supply more power.  Therefore, a higher amperage rating (as distinct from voltage) is fine.)

Here’s a question that I cannot find an answer to.  I am wondering if when plugged into an ac adapter, such as the adapter for the Motorola Razr, the Sansa Clip turns itslef on and starts charging.  Can I turn the clip off with the power button on the unit and have it still charge, or does it need to be on and playing a song or radio station or whatever?  Please someone let me know.  Also, did anyone get any software with their clip, I just got the 2gb model for my birthday and it didn’t have any software in the box.

Thanks,

Kevin 

Yes, the Clip turns itself on when connected to power and needs to be on to charge; but it doesn’t need to be playing (it can be on pause) and the display can go dark (as in regular play mode).  No special software is needed for the Clip, it generally uses the computer’s operating system for file transfer (or Windows Media Player)–one of its many virtues.  (Best Buy versions of the Clip came with a CD, containing Rhapsody software for that service (also available online) and Best Buy music store software–neither of which is needed to operate the Clip (unless you sign up for Rhapsody).)

A slightly out-of-date Clip User Guide (without information on certain of the Clip’s feature updates) is available from SanDisk online–the link can be found at the player information sticky thread at the top of the forum.

Message Edited by Miikerman on 06-22-2008 04:24 AM

i also have a motorola ac charger that i am using on my Sansa clip MP3 player. when connected to AC, it shows the flashing bar across the battery icon and stops when it is fully charged. however, when connected to my HP laptop computer it also shows the flashing icon but, charges at a slower rate. The charger shows an output of 5.0 volts =550mA

So that I don’t retype the same data for a third time :womanvery-happy: see my posting in this thread:

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=clip&thread.id=7668

just  to clarify …,i hav a

wall charger = 5.7 v / 800 ma

car charger  = 5.22v / 550 ma

will these charge my clip properly ??

PS- my clip stopped working when i tried charging it thru the car charger …it bcame very hot n never charged again neither can the PC charge or recognise it nymore…so its dead :frowning:

I have a BlackBerry RIM AC/Adapter output: 5V .75A[750mA] and seems to charge just fine…who knows if the extra A will have a negative effect on battery life? I sure don’t know that much about…physics? or whatever that subject is. It works just fine for now, though. I have a refurb anyway. Looking forward to using this one out to buy a newer gen/model that has expandable microSD :slight_smile:

p.s I don’t leave it charged overnight…or for that much longer than it takes to charge.

A higher amperage (but not voltage) is fine–the Clip just will take what it needs.