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View Full Version : A Road Warriors Dream come true


WyattEarp
06-04-2003, 08:25 AM
The dream of sychronizing your Pocket PC and then plugging it into a wall outlet to charge without carrying an extra cable is now a reality. Thanks to the people at Pocket PC Techs for the Lil' Sync cable (http://www.pocketpctechs.com/lilsync.asp) and Proporta.com for the AC Power Supply with USB socket (http://www.proporta.com/detail.asp?id=317).

Pocket PC Tech's Lil Sync cable is an extendable/retractable USB synchronization/power cable in one small package. The first thing you notice out of the box is how thin the cable is compared to a standard USB cable. I have noticed no drawbacks to the thinness of the cable. It synchronizes and charges through the USB port without a problem and in the same amount of time compared to the standard USB cable.
Lil' Sync extends from its carrying size of about 4.5 inches to a reasonable 36 inches which is decent for most users. All you do is pull on both ends to make it extend to the desired length. Then once your done, a light tug on one or both ends causes it to retract into itself. That's it,then pack it up and go.

Now Proporta.com's AC Power Supply with USB socket is simply a small AC power supply with a built-in USB port. It's not only less than half the size and weight of the standard AC power supply that comes with the Pocket PC, but once plugged into any USB cable it becomes a standard AC power supply with cord. It charges in the same amount of time as compared to the standard AC power supply that ships with the Pocket PC. This makes me wonder why the standard power supply is so big and bulky.

Now you can see how using these two accessories together gives you everything you need to charge and synchronize your Pocket PC. All in a package almost 75% smaller in size and weight than if you carried your supplied AC power supply and a standard USB cable together. If you need to synchronize you Pocket PC in one place and charge it later somewhere else and you will just synchronize as usual then pack the Lil' Sync and AC Power Supply with USB socket and go. Once you reach your destination just plug the USB end of the the Lil' Sync in the USB port of the AC Power supply and plug it into any wall outlet and you now have a standard AC power supply charging your Pocket PC. It's nice and simple without the bulk. As a bonusl you now have more room in that tech bag for more great accessories.

davidspalding
06-04-2003, 02:04 PM
This makes me wonder why the standard power supply is so big and bulky.


Transformer(s). Your household current is AC, and has to be converted to DC to charge a PPC. The power line on USB is probably already stepped down to an adequate DC voltage, so a conversion transformer isn't needed. ... Basic electrical stuff.

WyattEarp
06-04-2003, 03:44 PM
This makes me wonder why the standard power supply is so big and bulky.


Transformer(s). Your household current is AC, and has to be converted to DC to charge a PPC. The power line on USB is probably already stepped down to an adequate DC voltage, so a conversion transformer isn't needed. ... Basic electrical stuff.

I know. It was meant to be a joke, I should have stated that.

davidspalding
06-05-2003, 03:11 AM
Oh, okay, I'll grant you that. Ha-ha, and all that. ;)

Sven Johannsen
06-06-2003, 02:06 AM
Hmm, so it didn't occur to you guys that both the AC adapters have to rectify the AC to DC and step it down from 110 (or 220) to 5 volts, and it is a legitimate question on why one is so much bigger than the other. You are plugging them both into the same AC outlet and charging the same PPC after all. The only difference is the DC connector happens to be a USB format to alow the use of a USB Sync/charge cable on one.

It is likely that one does use a transformer which is fairly bulky but a cheap implementation (plus the rectifier and regulator circuitry), the other could be a switching power supply which does not require the transformer, and is considerably smaller, and a bit more expensive to produce. They also tend to whine more and have more componenets that can fail.

Just different technologies.

davidspalding
06-06-2003, 04:08 AM
I guess I was confyoozed. I thought the idea was that a syncing cable also charged ... and it had no bulky adapter ... well duh, if it's not an AC/DC converter,... Maybe I don't understand whch product has the smaller adapter....