Review: Nokia CA-100 Charger Via USB Port

March 13th, 2008 • Mark Guim • Filed Under •

I have the Nokia CA-100 charger for review. This charger lets you charge your Nokia phone, device or accessory from the USB port on your laptop or computer. For a plain and simple review, it works the way it should. Now let me explain who or why you would buy this accessory.

First, thanks to our sponsor Wireless Ground for providing the accessory for testing and review.

Nokia CA-100

Usage

Pack light. If you carry your laptop to work or school daily like me, charging your Nokia phone can’t be any easier. I’ll just pack the charger in my backpack and know that I can charge my phone when I need to. Even if you don’t bring your laptop to school or work daily, any computers with USB ports are not hard to find these days.

Universal Plug. Frequent travelers know that certain regions have different power outlets. Bringing your US power adapter will not fit into European outlets unless you have an adapter. The USB charger will fit into any computer around the world that has a USB port.

Necessary Power. I just moved into a new place and the broadband connection has not been set up yet. In the meantime, my roommates and I have been using the Nokia N95 NAM as a Wifi hotspot providing us 3G internet speed from AT&T. Continuous 3G access can be a power drain, so to ensure I don’t leave the house with an empty battery, the Nokia CA-100 stay connected to my laptop while using it.

Final Thoughts

Think of the Nokia CA-100 charger as a tool in your mobile first-aid kit. It is not an absolute necessity, but it’s good to have around.

Gallery

Nokia CA-100 Nokia CA-100 Nokia CA-100 Nokia CA-100 Nokia CA-100 Nokia CA-100 Nokia CA-100 Nokia CA-100

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  • How long does a full charge take?
  • Priscilla
    Can I take pictures off my phone with it and transfer music?
  • Frank White
    It is nice to have and does work well. Only problem is the price. At $35 @ the Nokia store in Manhattan a bit over priced for what it is.
  • I have one of the cheap knock-off versions of this from http://cellphoneshop.net. I also have the car ac adapter/cigarette lighter plug to USB plug, so I have a USB plug even in my car. However, you have to have a powered USB port for this to work. Often the USB ports on laptops and the front ports on a dell desktop aren't powered, so you have to sue the ports around the back.
  • @peter i haven't tried a proper test charging from empty battery, but it seems to charge the amount of time as the regular power cord.
  • @priscilla yes you can charge your phone and take pictures/transfer music at the same time just like a computer
  • Awesome review Mark. I'll have to scoop one of these up soon. Thanks.
  • brian
    yeah 35 bucks is a bit pricey.
    i got a cord from ebay for like 6.95 shipped. http://cgi.ebay.com/CA-100-USB-Charger-Cable-No...
    and the one i got was this one.
    http://cgi.ebay.com/Retractable-USB-Charger-Cab...
    and it works perfectly fine for me
  • milK
    I think Prescilla means if you can use it as a datacable and transfer files from your phone to your laptop, which I don't think it can.
    Wouldn't it be easier though if all phones had mini USB so you wouldn't even need this rather expensive cable (no matter how practical it may be)?
  • Priscilla
    I just received my cord today...After hocking it up to my phone and pc it shows no signs of being capable of data transfer. Its a good charger but thats all it is. This is so frustrating..Does anyone know of a data cable that will work with Nokia?
  • answer
    @priscilla

    what model phone do you have? my n73 came with a usb data cable, and you should be able to get one directly off of nokias website
  • I have tried this charger, its amazing because it can save your electric bill :)
  • scrunge
    There appears to be a lot of confusions on what purpose this gadget serves. As far as I know, none of the recent Nokia phones, despite having USB ports, can be charged through the USB ports. The USB port is only used for data transfer purposes, and I believe the cables are included. I got my E71 a few days ago and it came with a USB-to-microUSB cable.

    This blog entry explain well on why you'd want this. The convenience alone is enough to tempt me into spend $$$ on this puppy.
  • Obvious
    Scrunge
    Have a look at the picture, yes correct none of the N series can charge through the PC usb to Ph mini usb. But in the picture above the charger goes from USB to Ph Power input not Ph mini USB.
  • krazykush
    Ive ordered 1 from dealextreme and have recieved it, seems to work fine.. just wanted 2 know how do i distinguish whether its genuine or fake???
  • Jax
    I brought this cable when I purchased the Nokia E71. Bottom line: It works, is too short and too expensive!! Other thoughts: Nokia way behind the competition when it comes to charging mechanism as most brands of phones have been chargeable via STANDARD USB ports for years now. Nokia continues to insist on PROPRIETARY cables for charging purposes, which means 1)Yet another cable to carry around and risk losing 2)Extra $$ for Nokia at customers expense as these are not included with the phones. Shame on you Nokia!!
    Jax
  • Paul
    I brought this cable, it doesn't charge my phone from laptop(lenovo t61), but works fine from my home computer. I guess - that there are not enoth power on laptop's USB, how I can increase it?
  • Hi, quite unrelated, but I was wondering what would happen if you had a Nokia cigarette plug charger and cut the end off and attached it directly to a permanent or ignition live in your car? Obviously you'd want to have some sort of fuse in between, but would it work? Thanks.
  • glen
    If the issue is that your cig lighter is not powered on when ignition is off, you could always just change where it is powered from. You can't just hook up the charger to power though because your phone does not charge on straight 12 volt. The part that plugs into the cig lighter changes the power to what your phone wants. Another option would be to buy a cig lighter from bone zone and just hook it up under the dash and run your charger cable from it to a place that you want to use it.
  • Joe The Plumber
    Hi,
    I can confirm that my Nokia N95 will not charge via USB from my laptops (ie. many), regardless of the port I use.

    If I use the AC-3 charger, it charges ok.
    if I use any of the 5 USB chargers I bought off eBay, none of them work (all different brands and types)
    If I plug any of the 5 USB chargers into an adapter that goes into the mains, then the USB chargers all work.

    Joe The Plumber
  • soasp
    you probably dont have powered usb-ports (not all are, less often on laptops)
  • Nice.. I got that beat though... I can charge my cigarette via USB. Beat that! :P
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