Hi all! i just picked up a storm and i have noticed that i love it so much that i am using it all the time. Well now i need a car charger and i was wondering if i were to get a knock off brand like the ones i would find on ebay. or would it hurt my phone. Or should i just play it safe and get one of the verizon chargers. thanks!
There have been a lot of reported problems with using cheap adapters. Personally, I would get a proper adapter or at least one that is a good brand. FWIW, I have an AC and DC set made by Griffin that works fine with the Storm and the iPhone. But, it was $30. You can find them at Wal-Mart and the like or the Apple store sells them. Folks have also reported that the Motorola chargers work with the Storm. I think the problem is the cheapo ones just don't regulate the current well enough or something. Not worth the risk, IMO to go cheap with this phone.
I didn't want to risk getting a car charger that might mess up the phone so I picked up one from verizon and it works fine. I haven't noticed any problems with it.
We purchased three for our Storms from the Verizon vendor only to find out from Verizon that since we transitioned from Unicel to Verizon Wireless we were entitled to free car chargers. Since we have eight vehicles between four drivers I guess we'll just add the free ones rather than having to switch them from vehicle to vehicle (we bought a fourth phone at the same time but not it wasn't a Storm).
Even though the cheapo chargers workout of the box you have to see what happens down the line. It will probably crap out in a few months or could burn out your phone. The phone is still too new to hear the horror stories.
If your going to spend time here on crackberry then you support their online store. The prices are reasonable. I got the motorola one for $15. The couple extra bucks is worth it for an expensive phone like this.
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No problem with my ebay cheap-o one. I don't recall seeing posts from people who were having problems with the ebay car chargers here. Several (myself inclded) experienced problems with the early ebay wall chargers. Typical problem was that they were causing the Storm's buttons to become unresponsive, necessitating a battery pull. I emailed the supplier and he replaced my cheap-o with a new cheap-o that has given me no problems. I respect the contrary opinion, but I have saved hundreds of dollars over the years on after market chargers, batteries, cables and other accessories with virtually no problems other than the minor one I just mentioned.
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I also purchased a cheap-o wall and car charger on ebay... I'm yet to use them yet but I've always bought chargers on ebay for previous phones and rarely had an issue... hoping for the same here
I am using my old Motorola Charger (mini USB) with a mini to micro USB adapter - works great with my storm. So if you have a mini USB car charger, just get a micro USB adapter for like $10
I purchsed the Motorola car charger for $6 with our company discount from CDW. Works fine and I figure this would be a safe alternative to the generic ebay items.
Without discount, the Motorola charger is still around $10.
I have been using the iGo products for a couple of years now with no issues. I find it much easier to just by replacement ends made for my new phones then buying all new chargers each time. I have one for 110vac that I leave in my computer bag and leave the one that came with the phone at home. I also have the car charger version as well.
I bought on eBay a BlackBerry brand car charger, home charger, and silicone case for $30 and no s/h charges. Verizon sells their own brand...where I now have BlackBerry brand chargers...
Most car chargers do not have a limiter in them. What I mean by this is that it does not know when the battery is full. Your home charger on the other hand has a limiter so you can leave it on there all day and night without harming the phone. In most cases any car charger will do whether it is an aftermarket one or a VZW one. Just know that it is designed to charger your phone faster than your home charger so when you use them don't leave it on there for more than 30-45 minutes and you will avoid overcharing your battery and harming it.
I bought a combination car/home charger from Verizon that is a little more expensive but works well with the added flexibility to pull it out of the car on trips and charge indoors. That way I can leave my home charger alone and attached to the Storm charging pod.
