The best way to avoid the usb problem is to mainly charge your battery with an external battery charger. This is better and more convenient for many reasons, and it reduces the amount you use the usb port by a huge amount.

The cost of doing this is typically way less than $20. You can find one of these chargers on eBay (a company I hate) or Amazon or just by Googling.

You also want a cheap extra battery or two. The $20 above counts the cost of a spare battery. Japod is the brand of one decent cheap battery.