1. cur1ouscat's Avatar
    got the 5,000 mAH Powerbank external portable battery charger (equivalent to about 2-3 full charges for an iPhone/iPAD2). It charges my Android phone, my iPhone4, iPAD2, BB Bold, BB curve but not the PB.

    So be careful anyone buying an external juicer.
    06-14-11 11:13 PM
  2. blackjack93117's Avatar
    Yep thats why they give you a more powerful charger with the Playbook. It's not your Daddy's celphone. Takes a good bit more gas to charge - but obviously has a lot more power to handle.
    06-14-11 11:34 PM
  3. cur1ouscat's Avatar
    I can charge the PB with the Android, BB chargers, even the kindle chargers work. But not the external juicer
    06-14-11 11:44 PM
  4. yzf.shaun's Avatar
    Thats strange I have a PowerMonkey. It's more of an emergency phone charger but as an experiment it managed to hold a constant % whilst I was using it and charged it very slowly when the PB was in sleep. Granted it would only give an extra couple of hours at most but it did charge it.
    06-15-11 02:23 AM
  5. peterlws's Avatar
    that's the problem of the cable, after some modification to the cable, i can now charge my playbook with external battery pack
    06-15-11 03:27 AM
  6. lesarmitage's Avatar
    that's the problem of the cable, after some modification to the cable, i can now charge my playbook with external battery pack
    What's the mod please?
    06-15-11 03:43 AM
  7. peterlws's Avatar
    What's the mod please?
    mod the cable to a charge only cable, you need to cut open part of the cable's skin, cut the data +- cable inside, then short them too make it a charge only cable
    06-15-11 04:13 AM
  8. Mister-E's Avatar
    mod the cable to a charge only cable, you need to cut open part of the cable's skin, cut the data +- cable inside, then short them too make it a charge only cable
    Are you saying that a charge only cable will work or do I still have to do the mod?
    06-15-11 07:40 AM
  9. HaTaX's Avatar
    Are you saying that a charge only cable will work or do I still have to do the mod?
    A charge only cable will work, the mod is if you do not have one of those cables available.

    I use a few cheapie battery packs from Monoprice and they work great with a modified mini-usb to micro-usb adapter. (Adapter has been modified to be charge only) Actually, pretty much all of my charging cables have this mod so that the device charges as quickly as it can. (When it sees the two cables shorted, the device assumes it's a charger and can output more then 500mA)
    06-15-11 04:56 PM
  10. peterlws's Avatar
    A charge only cable will work, the mod is if you do not have one of those cables available.

    I use a few cheapie battery packs from Monoprice and they work great with a modified mini-usb to micro-usb adapter. (Adapter has been modified to be charge only) Actually, pretty much all of my charging cables have this mod so that the device charges as quickly as it can. (When it sees the two cables shorted, the device assumes it's a charger and can output more then 500mA)
    hey bro, i just found out after 1.0.5.2342 update, my pb won't charge even with the modified cables,with warning on the left top corner, can your pb still able to charge with those cable?
    06-15-11 11:15 PM
  11. Waitzar's Avatar
    I have i.Sound Portable Power Max with 16,000 mAh that can output max of 2.4A (PlayBook's charger output 1.8A) according to the specs and it doesn't charge PlayBook but it will charge iPad and phones.

    This is the one I got: Amazon.com: i.Sound Portable Power Max with 16,000 mAh for iPad, iPad2, iPod, iPhone, Droid, and Blackberry (Black/Silver): Electronics
    06-15-11 11:36 PM
  12. HaTaX's Avatar
    hey bro, i just found out after 1.0.5.2342 update, my pb won't charge even with the modified cables,with warning on the left top corner, can your pb still able to charge with those cable?
    Yup, still works with the latest update here. I'm using this charger:
    For only $11.21 each when QTY 50+ purchased - Mini USB Backup Battery Pack for Smart Phones, Cell Phones and Cameras (2800mAh) � Black | Back Up External Battery and Charger

    And the cable is just the little Motorola pigtail connector that I opened up with a hobby knife. Soldered the data lines together on the device side of the adapter, and then used some heat shrink tubing to finish it off.
    06-16-11 02:25 AM
  13. Mattman3234's Avatar
    That's awesome info on the charge only cable! I bought this charger:
    Amazon.com: ChargeBlock 8200mA 2.1amp Fast Charge Portable Battery Pack for iPad/iPad2/Xoom/iPhone/iPod/DVD/PSP/Droid/EVO/GPS: Electronics

    It works really well and has a 2.1 Amp output so it charges the playbook really fast. I tried the New Trent pack but all of them only output at 1 Amp and so they are really slow. The miccus cable came with a charge cable and adapter but I was worried if I lost it I wouldn't be able to charge the PB. I will build one of these cables to try! Awesome!
    06-16-11 06:37 AM
  14. FF22's Avatar
    While I don't have one of these stand-alone chargers, I just plugged my playbook into my computer's usb port using the AT&T CHARGING ONLY cable and my pb is charging and showing the "lightning bolt."

    I would guess as long as one can attach a CHARGING CABLE to these stand-alone charging devices they should work. Clearly, if there's an integral usb cable that cannot be detached there could be problems unless some coupler is used to join a charging cable or folks operate on the cable. At least, that's my speculation.
    06-16-11 09:12 AM
  15. wms3's Avatar
    That's awesome info on the charge only cable! I bought this charger:
    Amazon.com: ChargeBlock 8200mA 2.1amp Fast Charge Portable Battery Pack for iPad/iPad2/Xoom/iPhone/iPod/DVD/PSP/Droid/EVO/GPS: Electronics

    It works really well and has a 2.1 Amp output so it charges the playbook really fast. I tried the New Trent pack but all of them only output at 1 Amp and so they are really slow. The miccus cable came with a charge cable and adapter but I was worried if I lost it I wouldn't be able to charge the PB. I will build one of these cables to try! Awesome!
    yes, my New Trent works, but yes, it is SLOW on the PB. I mainly use it for my phone.
    06-16-11 09:52 AM
  16. FF22's Avatar
    That's awesome info on the charge only cable! I bought this charger:
    Amazon.com: ChargeBlock 8200mA 2.1amp Fast Charge Portable Battery Pack for iPad/iPad2/Xoom/iPhone/iPod/DVD/PSP/Droid/EVO/GPS: Electronics

    It works really well and has a 2.1 Amp output so it charges the playbook really fast. I tried the New Trent pack but all of them only output at 1 Amp and so they are really slow. The miccus cable came with a charge cable and adapter but I was worried if I lost it I wouldn't be able to charge the PB. I will build one of these cables to try! Awesome!
    What I can't seem to find is how long it takes to RECHARGE this device? That is how long to recharge the ChargeBlock?
    06-16-11 10:41 AM
  17. HaTaX's Avatar
    Wow, those chargeblocks are pretty expensive... I was eyeballing this one from Monoprice as well:

    For only $37.80 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 7800mAh Universal External Backup Battery for Mobile Devices, iPod, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, and more | iPhone iPod Back up External Battery and Charger

    Looks to be the same functionality with about 400mAh less capacity, and I'm not sure of size difference. But it is 50% the cost of the chargeblock!

    People say it takes about 5 hours to charge its 7800mAh pack, so I'd guess the chargeblock is in the same range...
    06-16-11 10:52 AM
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