USB Charger electrical compatibility

acannydoitjim

I'd be grateful for accurate advice on this subject!!

I have a USB charger for a Samsung digital camera, I connect the USB 'plug' in to a standard 3 pin eletrical plug & the other end to the Samsung & hey presto. My question relates to the compatibility or otherwise of this gizmo. For instance if I were to use this to charge my new Tomtom satnav am I likely to fry the tomtom? How can I check ?

Thanks

unkel

USB=USB

You should be fine.

Lex Luthor

USB is USB...the voltage is a standard...approx 5V

L1011

Only possibility is that the charger doens't supply enough amperage for the other device to work. It won't damage it, it just won't charge/run.

I got a cheap Halfrauds 12V->USB adapter which would run a Pure Highway for about 10 seconds before the Highway turned off; whereas a cheaper eBay chinese jobbie worked perfectly.

robbie99

Interestingly, from next year USB chargers will become the standard charger for most new phones.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0629/mobilecharger.html

So a Nokia USB charger will be compatible with say a Motorola phone.

It's about time chargers became interchangeable.

coylemj

This isn't strictly about USB but is about charging gadgets...

Some intelligent devices may refuse to accept a charge from an unknown charger. My iTouch for example refuses to accept a charge from a 3rd party FM transmitter device even though an iPod Nano has no problem accepting a charge from the same device.