Dual USB Car Charger compatible with future devices

[ikissfutebol]

I'm looking to get a dual USB car charger so my wife and I can charge our phones at the same time (she currently has an iPhone 4 and will be up for a new phone a year from now). I know my Lumia 710 doesn't require much juice to get charged, but what are expectations for a top-of-the-line WP8 phone? For the record, my car only has one outlet and no USB ports.

I know the iPad 2 and I guess 3 as well require 2.1 A, which is pretty close to max of what most dual chargers see capable of doing. I also realize a tablet requires more power than a smartphone. That said, will it be usable while charging if both ports are only getting 1 A?

Thanks!

 

[palandri]

I would think that 1amp per phone would be enough, but I haven't seen the specifications yet.

Something you need to be careful of, is there area a lot of wall and car charger on the market that don't give an accurate output rating. Back when I was over at Treo Central, the Treo Pro required 500mA to charge. We had a list of wall chargers and car chargers that worked and didn't work with the Treo Pro. They were rated at 500mA and higher, but some just didn't charge the Treo Pro.

 

[Guzzler3]

As you said, find one that's compatible with the iPad 3. They require the most amps to charge, so if it can charge one iPad, you should be able charge multiple smaller devices easily.

 

[ninjaap]

A dual charger sounds like a recipe to blow a fuse.

 

[palandri]

A dual charger sounds like a recipe to blow a fuse.

LOL! I think they're rated at 15amps.

 

[ninjaap]

LOL! I think they're rated at 15amps.

True. But back in my car stereo installer days, some of those accessories were often the source of constant blown fuses. Just stay away from the cheap immitation stuff. LOL

 

[ikissfutebol]

Thanks for the warning My father-in-law is a car guy so he'd be able to fix it if I could figure out which fuse blew.

I saw a Rayovac 2 A charger (1 A each port) at Walmart the other day for I think $6 or 7. Checking on Amazon, it looks like there are only one or two options for dual chargers with one 2 A port and a 1 A port and they are twice as much. The problem is plugging a non-Apple product into the 2 A port drops it to .5 A on that port and it sounds like an Apple product in the 2 A port makes the other .5 A, which I'm thinking is probably either too low to let me use my phone or it won't even be charging. I think two 1 A ports that always get 1 A is fine for now. I'm hopeful (it's a huge long shot) my wife will get a WP8 phone when her contract ends. The integrated song finder smoked her soundhound on her iPhone today though...she was kind of pissed- she had a big head start and I don't even think her iPhone ever even found the song. And she's told me my phone is faster than hers (and she doesn't even know how to use my phone).

I think I'll just get a Rayovac or Energizer dual port charger for now since it isn't exactly a big investment. I was just hoping someone was going to let me know if it was either going to be a short-lived investment or to get a particular charger. I don't see a reason to pay close to double for a 2 A port that our current phones won't need and potentially(?) kill the option for charging two phones at once.

 

[johnmcd348]

You might also want to consider getting a converter to plug into your lighter/outlet and using the electrical cord power charger do the trick. I saw a Stanley made unit in Lowe's the other day with 2 electrical outlets on it that converted the 12vDc into 120v AC. I also believe(not certain) it was a sine wave converter and not one that would be more likely to fry your devices with dirty current flow.