I have spent quite a bit of time searching on this subject tonight. But mostly I find that guys are either modifying the USB port so they can use USB to charge their N800 or they are going out and purchasing special cords that look like they simply split USB into data and power and then have a power plug that goes into the power jack in the nokia.

I'm sort of tempted to modify my mini usb in the N800 so that I can charge through it because I like the stronger connection offered by the mini-usb jack compared to the regular power jack. But I read where one fellow with the user name of "murphy" was having multiple negative side effects from doing that mod. I also purchased the OTG adapter and really want to get that working rather than mess up the USB system trying to use it for power.

So my thought is to modify the power jack (port?) maybe to another type that is beefier or it could simply be that I would extend the pos. and neg. wires out through the hole and then I could attach any kind of jack to those wires. Obviously the downside to that would be that this would then be dangling around and vulnerable to damage.

The thing is that the power jack really sucks in my opinion. It is way too loose. ( edit, OK mine is loose, I don't know what yours is like) I have read several other users here saying the same thing. That your power charging plug needs to be in just the right position to work.

I want to use my Proporta batteries to charge my internal battery while I use Pandora and do so while I am on the go. ( edit, I carry my Nokia in a chest pack while I work , so it's not that big of a deal to me that there might be wires connected to it along with the Proporta battery ) Pandora drains a regular internal battery in about a half hour in my n800 so I need to keep charging as I listen to Pandora.

Hmm. So has anybody tried anything like just modifyng the main power jack to another kind of jack?

Thanks
Neil

last edit, I don't know about you, but I love my n800. These battery issues have been the only thing I have been unhappy about. So, please don't take this as an attack on the n800. I just want this beloved devise to keep doing what I know it can do.

Wall O' Text

If your power socket is loose then that is a fault and needs to be fixed. THere is nothing wrong with the type of socket, it has been on the last 4 phones we have bought in the house and works fine. It certainly should be more robust than plugging in the USB all the time.

If the power connector seems loose, either it needs resoldering or you're using a cheap power jack that isn't quite the right shape.

I bought a cheap 12v charger for my N800 from the local market. It had to be held in just the right position to make a connection.

I personally wouldn't want to chop my Internet Tablet up and solder wires into it. It'd look a right mess, and you'd end up turning a nicely formed pocketable object into a thing with a load of wire poking out of it, or a battery box dangling off it. Not exactly easy to hold in your hand or compact.

You say you use your N800 "on the go". What's that mean, exactly? Are you simply indoors not near a PC, in a car, or walking around the street? With the first two situations just plug the device into some power when it starts to get a bit low.

With what charging plugs is this a problem for you? Do you experience this trouble with the AC power adapter that came with your N800? With other genuine Nokia adapters? With adapters from other manufacturers?

If the barrel plug from the AC adapter that came with your N800 fits into your N800 only loosely, then there may be a problem with your tablet. Ditto for other official Nokia adapters.

On the other hand, if the problem only occurs with third party adapters, then you may need to look at those adapters rather than the tablet itself. (Adapters are generally pretty well sloshed by the time they get to the third party, after all.) Boxwave, for instance, has been singled out repeatedly in these fora for selling substandard Nokia power adapters that exhibit exactly the problem you've described.

what does this mean? Sounds like a shot to me. You talk about rude people. What/who are you?

to others that took the time to write, thanks. Hey, I'll see what I can come up with to resolve the problem and share it with you if you want.

Neil

It means you neglected to break the thread starter into paragraphs, which significantly decreased its readability. For email, forum postings, and other online, informal texts, it's often recommended that one be more aggressive about breaking text into paragraphs that one would in traditional, print documents. Small, concise paragraphs help with on-screen reading.

Yes, yes, he does sometimes.

I LOLed at that.

One further point; on this forum, particularly, a lot of people are reading it on ~4" screens, 800px or narrower; so what looks like a 5-line paragraph on one monitor may be a screenful, in portrait mode especially.

The tiny plug scared me at fist. I was really worried I was going to break it, but I've been plugging and unplugging my N800 constantly for a little over a year now. There are no ill effects and the fit doesn't seem any looser than the day I bought it.

I'm pretty sure the power jack/socket are specced for more plug/unplug events than a mini-b usb jack/socket, but I could be mistaken. Just because it "feels" more solid doesn't mean it is...

-John

I read that mini-usb plugs/sockets are only rated for about 5000 connect/disconnect cycles. Micro-usb are rated for about 10,000.

If you plug a usb plug into your N800 five times a day, the socket should last about three years.

My son tripped over my charging cable for my n800 when he was goofing off near my bedstand. My n800 fell to the (carpeted) floor and probably landed on the power plug. Since then, charging plugs have fit in there loosely, but I haven't had problems with it charging.

To get the socket repaired, I'd probably have to send my n800 to nokia, right? Not looking forward to that very much.