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Asus USB 2 Amp Rapid Mains Charger (for Almost Any Non-Apple Phone/Tablet) $10 at Harvey Norman

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Asus USB 2 Amp Rapid Mains Charger (for Almost Any Non-Apple Phone/Tablet) $10 at Harvey Norman
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eug on 13/02/2014 - 00:16 harveynorman.com.au (2397 clicks)
Last edited 13/02/2014 - 02:10

This is a fantastic price for a high-quality 5V 2A rapid USB charger for almost any non-Apple phone or tablet.

It follows USB specs and shorts the data pins, so all your non-Apple phones and tablets will charge at full speed as long as your USB cable is thick enough. The cable that came with your device will work just fine.

It is made by Delta Electronics, the world's largest provider of SMPSUs. It is much safer than ebay cheapies, and almost definitely has a much cleaner output as well.

It charges my Note 3 at 1.3A, Nexus 10 at 1.5A, and ThinkPad Tablet 2 at 2A as tested with my meter.

Alternate views:
http://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/9075/21038/asus-charger…
http://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/9075/21039/asus-charger…

Electrical & Electronics USB Charger

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Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman

closed Comments

  • Forfiet on 13/02/2014 - 00:49
    +2

    Got a few chargers and power adaptors made by delta I believe….came with HDD's.etc might pick one up tommorow. thanks :)

  • heathwithnoteeth on 13/02/2014 - 00:50
    +2

    why cant it be used with apple stuff?

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 00:57
      +12

      Apple devices don't follow the official USB charging specifications. They require specific resistances between the data pins to tell the device what kind of charger is connected.

      It will charge an apple device, just pretty slowly.

      • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2014 - 00:59
        +1

        +1, I was just about to make the same comment.:)

      • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2014 - 19:01

        Great deal, but came to it late. Bugger.

        For anyone with Apple gear, the likes of the following will allow you to charge at full rate. Be quick - like I wasn't for this deal. Seller only has four left: www.ebay.com.au/itm/331085630655

    • aoeueoa on 13/02/2014 - 01:35
      +38

      I've used aftermarket chargers with my ipad mini and iphone 4. They charge at the same rate. With the new iOS though, a little thing pops up and tells you you're a jerk for not using a genuine charger. I put an apple sticker on the charger and that didn't make the message go away :(

      • Forfiet on 13/02/2014 - 01:50

        try two stickers then!

      • mr fox on 13/02/2014 - 06:35
        +12

        I think we know who the jerk is in this scenario and it's not the consumer.

      • lostn on 13/02/2014 - 13:31

        Tell them you'd feel more bad about it if they didn't gouge on accessories like their cables.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2014 - 14:43

      Because apple are "different"

      • heathwithnoteeth on 13/02/2014 - 14:47

        i see what u did there :)

        • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2014 - 19:12
          +1

          I get the joke too, but as far as quality of chargers go they really ARE different.

          Aftermarket Apple chargers are almost universally appalling. They'll work, but spike levels, ripple and noise mean you really are jeopardising your device. The circuit design of genuine Apple chargers is amazing compared to the knock-offs.

          If you are going to use a non-genuine charger, use a quality brand name usb charger like this Asus, with an Apple charge adapter like the one I linked above.

  • TerryJustTerry on 13/02/2014 - 01:05

    can we get another angle of it?

    • ReAvenger on 13/02/2014 - 01:21
      +4

      Seriously google, op doesn't own the thing

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 02:12
      +1

      There were quite a few different hits on google images, so I took some photos myself. I just updated the post with them. One photo is of the label for the techies out there!

  • sev snape on 13/02/2014 - 01:13

    I tend to buy el cheapo usb cables on ebay for my devices - when you say 'thick' in terms of a usb cable, are some actually better than others? What should I be looking out for?

    • PissLUR on 13/02/2014 - 01:18
      +4

      get a tikbro usb cable. they are as good as oem cable.

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 01:22
      +10

      Ahh, it depends on length and what you're wanting to charge. A phone fast-charges at 1-1.3A, a tablet 1.5-2A.

      Wire thickness is measured in AWG - the smaller the number, the thicker the wire. Cheapo cables are usually 28AWG. Slightly better ones are 26AWG. Anything below is not very common.

      If the cable is just 1m long, a cheap one will fast-charge a phone at 1A ok. You hit phone fast-charging problems when you go over 1m. That's one of the reasons why some car chargers can't charge phones while the GPS is being used. The other reason is that some car chargers don't put out enough current, or don't short the data lines as per the USB charging specs.

      More details here:
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/119662#comment-1639027

      • sev snape on 13/02/2014 - 01:37

        TIL. Cheers for the info!

      • 808State on 13/02/2014 - 09:44

        I was going to get one of those 26AWG Tikbro cables and short the wires to turn it into fast charging. Will that work ok for a 3m cable length?

        Edit - just read the linked post and not sure. I need 1.3A for my Nexus 5. I think what you're saying is it will detect as AC charging (rather than USB), but might not be able to deliver the full 1.3A.

        • eug on 13/02/2014 - 09:50
          +1

          There is no need to short the data wires if you use a proper charger. The charger shorts the pins for you.

          3m at 26AWG will charge a phone at 1A if you use a 5.3V charger, like the stock white Samsung chargers that come with newer phones like the Note 3. With a 5V charger, it'll only charge at around 650mA.

          You can find thicker cables (24AWG or more) if you search hard enough. A 3m 24AWG cable can supply 1A at 5V with a 0.51V drop, which brings it close enough to the 5V +/-10% spec.

        • eug on 13/02/2014 - 10:28

          BTW, this is a 22AWG 3m cable for $9.99.
          http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/151173661547

          I have the straight version of that cable and it really does charge my tablet at 2A.

  • oringal on 13/02/2014 - 01:17
    +3

    Also if you have a transformer tablet, this will allow it to charge it at 15V. Its pretty hard to find chargers for the transformer tablets

  • murkywater on 13/02/2014 - 01:31

    Shouldn't your Note 2 and Nexus 10 be charging at 2A?

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 01:38
      +2

      The Note 3 (and 2) will only charge at 1.3A max, by design. The Nexus 10 I did expect to charge at 2A, but it only drew 1.5A. It goes up to 1.86A when playing back a video while charging though.

      • CVonC on 13/02/2014 - 03:25
        +1

        aww the 0.7A is wasted from the supplied charger then :(

        • McFly on 13/02/2014 - 21:24
          +1

          Make sure to put a bucket under the charger to catch those unused electrons!

  • browser on 13/02/2014 - 01:33
    +4

    Thanks for providing technical background information.

  • giggles on 13/02/2014 - 01:37

    Can you plug in a 4 port USB hub and divide the current, ie charge 2 or 3 things at once?

    • DJ on 13/02/2014 - 01:40

      No. Hubs multiply data ports, they don't distribute current.

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 01:46

      I've done that before with a 4-port hub and a standard wall charger. It worked, but I didn't measure what the max charging current was. I don't have a hub here now to try it out with, unfortunately!

      No. Hubs multiply data ports, they don't distribute current.

      True, but the devices you plug in to the hub need power to run as well… so the hub does distribute the power too. It's probably only 500mA though.

  • browser on 13/02/2014 - 01:38
    +1

    Don't really need one but ordered anyway. Just thought about the $5 sign up credit, damn too late.

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 01:51
      +2

      Don't worry, the sign up credit has a minimum $25 spend.

      • browser on 13/02/2014 - 06:40

        Thanks man! Was quite upset thinking that I paid $5 more than necessary. :)

        • leonheart1 on 13/02/2014 - 06:43
          +4

          You actually paid $10 more than necessary since you didn't need it.

  • zxcvb on 13/02/2014 - 02:01
    +1

    EXPIRED! Add to cart fails to checkout!!!

    • Forfiet on 13/02/2014 - 02:03
      +1

      yep expired :(

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 02:05

      My local Harvey had about 10 in-store today. They were marked at $49, but they dropped it to $10 after I showed them the site.

      I just tried adding to cart from my local store and it didn't work either, so it's possible that there's a problem with their website at the moment. Maybe check in-store tomorrow?

  • giggles on 13/02/2014 - 02:40
    +1

    OzBargained!

    …or Brodened.

  • HRipper on 13/02/2014 - 06:00

    Thick cable? Does that also make a difference?

  • citybargainhunter on 13/02/2014 - 06:55

    all gone

  • Jackson on 13/02/2014 - 07:54

    This looks like the charger that came with my TF810c but does it come with cable? I actually am after the cable more than the charger, they go for way too much on eBay and are not standardusb

  • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2014 - 08:06

    So is it true that if you charge your phone using 2A instead of whatever the phone manufacturer gives you, there's a possibility that the life time of the battery may be shorter?

    • montorola on 13/02/2014 - 08:10

      I'm sure your phone's circuitry will only draw as much as it needs, even if it doesn't mean the full 2A

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 09:55
      +1

      Nah as montorola mentions, your phone will only draw as much as it needs.

      The main circuit breaker in your house is around 80A (~230V) while your devices draw way less. That doesn't shorten the life of your devices as they only draw as much as they need.

  • congo on 13/02/2014 - 08:58
    -1

    The Nexus 5 needs a DC 5V, 1.2A charger

  • Brianqpr on 13/02/2014 - 09:37

    would this gadget speed up the charging on my nexus 7? The only downside to the tablet is the painfully slow charge time using the included charger.

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 09:56

      Unfortunately it won't! I didn't check the charger on my Nexus 7, but I assume the manufacturer would have included a fast charger with the package. Are you using the cable that came with it?

      • Brianqpr on 13/02/2014 - 12:16

        Yes I'm using the charger and cable that came with it. Maybe I got a dud!

        • PissLUR on 13/02/2014 - 12:28
          +1

          It happened to me. The oem cable was faulty. Then, I initiated an RMA to return the cable, They arrange for pick-up and gave me a new cable and extra charger replacement.

          excellent service by asus.

    • citybargainhunter on 13/02/2014 - 10:43

      cable definitely makes a difference to the amount of time it takes to charge.

  • rattle on 13/02/2014 - 10:09
    +1

    Wife just got the last one at Watergardens (Vic).
    He had to go look for it and wasn't aware of the lower price and had to look it up.
    Thanks for the heads up.

  • firstpost bekind on 13/02/2014 - 10:38

    I've never seen a charger with variable voltage output before.how does it know how many volts to supply and does it mean it will do anything between 5 and 15v too?

    • eug on 13/02/2014 - 11:35

      I believe the charger uses a USB3 socket. The extra pins are used to tell the charger if it's a Transformer that's connected, presumably with resistors. If it's a Transformer, the charging voltage is bumped up to 15V. The charger can supply 15V 1.2A which is 80% more power than the standard 5V 2A, resulting in a much quicker charge.

      It won't do anything in between, unfortunately!

      • vee_el on 13/02/2014 - 12:27

        Excuse me for my lack of knowledge. I thought the more amps the quicker it will charge. Wouldn't 1.2A charge slower than 2A? Or does the higher 15V play a part?

        • Alzori on 13/02/2014 - 12:34
          +4

          The important thing with charging is energy transfer - voltage is a measure of how much energy each electron moving along transfers to the device, and current is a measure of how fast the electrons are travelling. Voltage times current is a measure of power, or the rate of energy transfer to the device.

          With this 5V * 2A = 10W, whereas 15V * 1.2A = 18W, which makes for a higher charging rate. To be clear - devices are built with specific input voltage requirements. Don't go hooking your phone up to a 20V laptop adapter trying to charge it faster, you'll just burn things :P

        • eug on 13/02/2014 - 12:45
          +3

          Yup, the higher 15V plays a part. It's easier to go by wattage. To get wattage, multiply volts by amps. 5V at 2A is 10 watts. 15V at 1.2A is 18 watts.

          The benefit to using higher voltage is that you can keep current lower, which means the charging cable doesn't have to be as thick. Higher current needs thicker cables, lower current can do with thinner cables.

          18 watts at 5 volts is 3.6 amps, which would require a really thick and expensive 20AWG cable for a 2m length (0.48V drop). It's more sensible to just increase the voltage and lower the current and use a thinner cable.

          That's why electricity grids use very high voltages (up to 138,000 volts) to send power over long distances. It is then gradually stepped down at various points before it reaches your house at 230V +/-10%.

          …and what Alzori said!

        • vee_el on 13/02/2014 - 14:14
          +2

          Thanks guys! It makes sense. Who would've thought you could get a bargain and learn a few things at the same time!

  • King Tightarse on 13/02/2014 - 10:39
    +2

    Great to see a really competent poster, who knows his stuff :)

  • wakkawalla on 13/02/2014 - 11:51
    +4

    +1 for the OP that knows his stuff and sharing his knowledge on the product.

  • Doy on 13/02/2014 - 14:04

    There is one more in Lismore! They just did the second last one for $10 for me.

  • Maniac au on 13/02/2014 - 14:19
    +1

    Thanks Eug,
    Picked up the last 2 @ HN Loganholme this morning.
    Great find have a few Transformer Tablets excellent as spares.

  • skegger on 13/02/2014 - 17:11
    +2

    Dang. I was after one to power my Raspberry Pi

  • tomlikesbeetroot on 17/02/2014 - 22:40

    So disappointing to miss this. Just 2 weeks ago I went searching for one of these for my asus tab at dick smith, harvey normal and JB hifi. The staff at all 3 stores told me to buy one ebay because they thought they couldn't even order one in for me!

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