Customer Reviews

USB ActiveSync Charge Cable

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Amazon sent me this questionnaire to review the cable I bought. ITS A CABLE!!!!
It works very well, it was very reasonably priced and the shipping was relatively fast.
I have now fulfilled my role to society in general.

A buddy showed me his new (old) iPAQ. Being the geek I am, and he not, I offered to update the BIOS and drivers for him. He gave me the parts he had for it, which did not include a sync cable or cradle.

Never having had a Mobile PC product, I downloaded the latest BIOS from HP and put it on an SD card, as we do on the PalmOS. Tried to flash from the SD card. Oops. Locked up the unit. Turns out you can only update the BIOS using ActiveSync.

Fortunately, if you take the battery out of the unit and let it sit for a while, it recovers, reverting back to a base BIOS. But how to update drivers on this thing? Desperate, I tried Amazon. To my amazement, SF Planet sells a sync cable for these things. And how can you beat the price?

See my funny story in the seller ratings about getting this in the mail but not knowing I had received it. But once I discovered I had it, after I jumped through all of Microsoft's hoops to load ActiveSync, the unit flashed perfectly. I didn't put the cable through its paces, but it charged up the two internal batteries just fine using my PC's USB ports.

While reviewing this cable on-line, I came across something that said the USB ports on a computer didn't give off enough power to charge an iPAQ PDA. They were right. The cable works. But, what you can use it for is limited. It's advertised as being able to sync with your computer. I was able to get it to sync but not until I turned off the Wi-Fi and 'then' plugged in the USB. It synced for about 5 or 10 seconds until it lost the connection. I then hooked it into a USB/power adapter (a power adapter with a USB port in it). With the iPAQ turned on and the Wi-Fi on, the charging became intermittent. I turned off the Wi-Fi and the charging worked a little better. It does charge the iPAQ. But, how well it does compared to the cradle I'm not quite sure. If I was to suggest this, I would suggest it as an "overnight" recharge cable. USB's power capabilities are good only for powering "small" devices, such as flash drives. If your cradle is still good for syncing up with your computer, keep it.

As always, you can find anything on Amazon.com great prices and fast service. I thought I wouldn't find this usb cable for my pocketpc.

If you're on the go with an old iPAQ, this is a nice way to get a charge from your laptop.

the connectors fit. It works. Seems to be made well. What else is there to say?

I did not receive the cable I ordered. IT did not match the picture of the cable I ordered either. I have to conclude that this company is not reliable.