[TurboTauren]

So, I left my Playbook wall charger at a hotel and it is now gone. Can I use my Bold 9700 wall charger for now to charge my Playbook? Will it do any hard to the Playbook? I know it will probably take longer to charge, but I want to know if it will do any long term harm to the battery of the Playbook?

Where can I buy an OEM replacement wall charger for the playbook? I don't really want to fork out $70+ for the rapid travel charger orthe charging dock. I just want the normal Playbook wall charger. Is this available to buy on its own yet? I saw it at the Futureshop.ca website but it's pre-order...to be releasesed June 03!!! I want to buy one NOW!

[mscooley]

I read that you could but it would take much much longer to charge. The PB charger is a bit stronger than the normal chargers. Search the PB news section on the homepage. There was an article there about this.

[howarmat]

it will work but it will take a very very long time and might not even keep up with use.

not sure where to get the OEM charger yet.

[jetstreamblue]

I tried charging my PlayBook with the little cube charger that came with my Curve 3G. It was very slow in charging and also got very hot (the charger that is), but I guess it'll work in a pinch.

You can buy a replacement directly from RIM:
BlackBerryPremiumCharger

[Hup55]

I find even the usb charger that came with the playbook pretty much useless! when i use it at work it doesn't charge at all it only stays the same.

[theguz4l]

the playbook charger output is 5V @ 1.8A

the Bold charger is 5V @ 700Mh

Basically it is less than half the charge capability of the PB charger. I would recommend that you charge it while it is in sleep mode.

[HaTaX]

If you have an ipad charging cube around that will work as well, you can also get them from dealextreme for very cheap. They put out 2A @ 5v and will have no trouble charging the PB using any USB to USB-Micro cable...

[mosketerus]

dude buy a new one ! and don't leave it behind again

[mapsonburt]

yeah, you just need 1.8A or more.... there are lots of chargers out there that'll do that but don't discount the rapid charger... I love mine. The convenience of just dropping it in the holder and using the BB as a picture frame or to watch tv on is pretty cool. I've had lots of visitors stop to look at the slide show and then they notice the BlackBerry logo and say "I didn't know BlackBerry made picture frames..." you should see their jaw drop when I pick it up and start a demo of the web/emails. Too much fun.

[stengel680]

oem chargers available on staples.com for 29.99 +tax and shipping. placed it in cart to see availability and it said it would be delivered in 2 days.

i also tried using my bold charger overnight and it only brought it to 80% from 6%. oem gets it full in half the time.

if i had the $$$ id def get the rapid charger, but still recovering from just purchasing the 64GB!

[stengel680]

also available at crackberry store for 27.95 +shipping. taxed in florida only.

[mikeytunes]

The pricing for some of these cables is terrible. The dang things cant cost more than a couple of bucks and they are selling it for US$30!!!

I guess you get what you pay for in quality but I like the CSQUID cable that I bought on Amazon. it charges my playbook and blackberry as fast as the wall adapter does. Further - it does it even when my PC is asleep so I can keep it in my bag as it charges without turning it on!

It also does data so I use it for my hard drive and USB DVD drive also...

It was US$20 but the greedy buggers have raised the price to $25 now....inflation? Worth it as it is the only cable I carry around.

[HaTaX]

Here's a quick and dirty fix..

$7.24 - Universal USB/AC/Car Charger Adapters for Apple iPad (US Plug/100~240V) - Batteries & Chargers

And then something like...
$2.30 - Designer's Micro USB Data Cable for HTC G7 (120CM-Length) - Cables & Chargers

If you need an extra micro USB cable to go with the above kit.

If it can charge an ipad, it can charge a playbook no problem. As a bonus, you get a car charger. Only warning I have is it will take a little bit to get there, shipping takes a week or two.

[mikeytunes]

@HaTax

Is it really true that an apple wall adapter can charge a blackberry. My understanding is that Apple uses a resistor divider mode to determine charge current. The Blackberry looks for a D+/D- short to charge. How can one charge the other?

Also these are charging cables which means if I need to sync I then need another cable...cost may be 1/2 but the number of cables triples...

any advise?

[greggebhardt]

I would not waste your money on the OEM charger that came with it. If you find one it will cost 30-40 bucks or more. Get the $70 as it charges quickly. If you have a iPad the ac to USB charger would work better than the OEM unit

[HaTaX]

@HaTax

Is it really true that an apple wall adapter can charge a blackberry. My understanding is that Apple uses a resistor divider mode to determine charge current. The Blackberry looks for a D+/D- short to charge. How can one charge the other?

Also these are charging cables which means if I need to sync I then need another cable...cost may be 1/2 but the number of cables triples...

any advise?

You are correct! The Apple chargers use a resistor across the data lines and a "normal" charger just shorts those pins out to tell the device it can draw more power.

Using a regular data cable with an apple charger will result in no charging. Using a charging cable with an apple charger WILL work, so it would be a cable that stays with the charger and doesn't get used on the computer.

I personally use USB mini cables all over the place, then I have modified mini to micro USB motorola cables that I've shorted out to make them a charging cable.