Just as a reference point for how these charge: I knocked together a USB charger tonight by cutting the tiny Nokia barrel plug off a cheap aftermarket charger I bought (does anybody have a decent source for these plugs?), and chopped the end off a USB cable (doesn't really matter which type, A-B, A-Mini A, etc), then soldered the USB red to positive on the plug, USB black to the negative of the barrel plug, and cut off the green & white from the USB side. Shrink wrap the joints, and you're done. Just be careful to note that the outside (barrel) of the nokia plug is negative, and inside (tip) is positive.
The charger seems to work from the USB port on a PC, a 4AA battery NiMH pack that I put a USB socket on, and the AC-USB and 12V-USB adapers that came with my Holux GPSSlim 236. Should be a very handy charging solution, but unlike the boxwave noted above, this is for power only, not data.
My el cheapo USB male->Nokia retractable cable purchased from ebay works perfectly. It took about a week to arrive.
It does a great job in charging. The only downside ivé found is that the USB end can get rather warm, but that could be because of the PC that its connected to.
I think all in all, it cost me less than 5 USD (see previous post for ebay link).
You'll note that it's listed as an accessory for the Nokia E62, which uses the same power and mini-USB connectors as the N800, plus (in the USA) the same Nokia AC-4U charger. So we might expect it to be compatible.
However, my miniSync is NOT working as expected. Although the N800 acknowledges the USB connection, on the other side Windows does not recognize the device. And the power tip seems defective, making and breaking contact intermittently as I wiggle it. This leaves me uncertain about whether the USB problem is a real incompatibility or just another quirk of this defective sample.
I'm waiting for BoxWave to respond to my request for an RMA number.
Just recieved mine today. The USB connection works fine on my box, windoze recognizes it and I am able to transfer files fine.
The power tip is flakey though as you described however it does work once situated properly. I can now charge it at work from my desktop PC. WooHoo
What does it mean exactly when the message area says "Not Charging?"
I plug in my BoxWave MiniSync cable and it says "Charging" and it does so for a few minutes.
And then I get a warning sound and a message "Not Charing." I haven't touched a thing. But it is most assuredly not charging because if I leave it like that the battery wears down and the unit turns itself off.
