# iPad Charging & Syncing



## HDJulie (Aug 10, 2008)

So, I got an iPad for Christmas & am happy with it but I'm bummed that my brand new PC won't charge it through the USB connection. I'd like to be able to charge & sync at the same time. I've been looking at docks hoping to find one that's powered & has a separate usb connector but so far I can't find one. Any of you other iPad owners have a dock that can charge & sync at the same time?


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

Many computers will actually charge it some, even though it says Not Charging. Check your battery then sync it and come back after 20-30 minutes an see. It will not charge it fast, but it may be enough.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

HDJulie said:


> So, I got an iPad for Christmas & am happy with it but I'm bummed that my brand new PC won't charge it through the USB connection. I'd like to be able to charge & sync at the same time. I've been looking at docks hoping to find one that's powered & has a separate usb connector but so far I can't find one. Any of you other iPad owners have a dock that can charge & sync at the same time?


The problem is that the iPad needs a high power USB connection to charge. Most new Macs and Macbooks have high power USB connections.

If you want it to charge on your PC, you need to make sure the PC is turned on and the iPad is in sleep mode. The charging will be much slower but it will charge.

The quickest way to charge the iPad is to use the included 10 watt charger. Currently I am not aware of any docks that provide a high power USB connection to sync and charge at the same time.


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## HDJulie (Aug 10, 2008)

I never thought to check that. However, I have found that my motherboard supports USB3 & USB Power 3X (Gigabyte) so I changed a setting in the bios & now the iPad shows to be charging. It is still slow, though.

What is sleep mode on the iPad -- does that mean powered off?


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

HDJulie said:


> I never thought to check that. However, I have found that my motherboard supports USB3 & USB Power 3X (Gigabyte) so I changed a setting in the bios & now the iPad shows to be charging. It is still slow, though.
> 
> What is sleep mode on the iPad -- does that mean powered off?


It means the display is not drawing power, and it's similar to a-at least in the Mac world-computer being put to sleep.

If you powered off at night, put it on its wall charger, do you not have enough juice for the daytime use?


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## HDJulie (Aug 10, 2008)

Laxguy said:


> It means the display is not drawing power, and it's similar to a-at least in the Mac world-computer being put to sleep.
> 
> If you powered off at night, put it on its wall charger, do you not have enough juice for the daytime use?


So as long as the screen is not activated, that is sleep mode?

Oh, yeah, I have plenty of power -- can go days without recharging. I just prefer to charge & sync at the same time if possible.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

HDJulie said:


> I never thought to check that. However, I have found that my motherboard supports USB3 & USB Power 3X (Gigabyte) so I changed a setting in the bios & now the iPad shows to be charging. It is still slow, though.
> 
> What is sleep mode on the iPad -- does that mean powered off?


That will work. The high power USB connection "switched on" on your PC will work fine. It will still be a bit slow however (it's also slow on the mac). That is why the best way to charge is the charger that came with the iPad.

Sleep mode is simply with the screen off. If you power down the iPad, that would work better.


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## HDJulie (Aug 10, 2008)

Chris Blount said:


> That will work. The high power USB connection "switched on" on your PC will work fine. It will still be a bit slow however (it's also slow on the mac). That is why the best way to charge is the charger that came with the iPad.
> 
> Sleep mode is simply with the screen off. If you power down the iPad, that would work better.


Yes, it is charging & not even that slowly with the screen off but the iPad itself not off. So, for normal charging & syncing I can use the PC but if I need a fast charge, I can use the wall plug. I'm a happy camper now .


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## klang (Oct 14, 2003)

This will allow the iPad to charge even while it is awake. Still not as fast as the wall charger.


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## HDJulie (Aug 10, 2008)

klang said:


> This will allow the iPad to charge even while it is awake. Still not as fast as the wall charger.


Wow, that looks pretty cool & cheap, too. I might get one for my mom -- she's also going to hate having to charge the iPad separately from syncing it.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I haven't tried on my PC... but I only synch with my iMac anyway. I can charge the iPad directly connected to my iMac, but not through the USB hub I got, even though the USB hub is a powered hub.

Fortunately, the iPad holds its charge pretty well... so I've been ok just running it mostly down and then plugging into the wall outlet at that point.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

HDJulie said:


> Wow, that looks pretty cool & cheap, too. I might get one for my mom -- she's also going to hate having to charge the iPad separately from syncing it.


I would be wary of that. A regular USB connection (not high power) can only put out so much power no matter what adapter you use.

This is a guess but it simply looks to me like the adapter simply tricks the iPad into thinking it's connected to a high power USB port.


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## HDJulie (Aug 10, 2008)

Chris Blount said:


> I would be wary of that. A regular USB connection (not high power) can only put out so much power no matter what adapter you use.
> 
> This is a guess but it simply looks to me like the adapter simply tricks the iPad into thinking it's connected to a high power USB port.


Right & so it charges it just like *Lee L* says only it actually shows that it is charging.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Thinking out loud .... has anyone tried adapting one of those cords that has two connections to your computer's USB ports - the cords that are used for drives that don't have their own power supply and are designed to get more power into the drive? Might it help the iPad charge a little faster on a PC?


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

We've had the iPad since the first Saturday delivery in April and I find that we synch much less frequently than our phones and charge it about every other day.

While I charge our phones from the computer usb, I keep the 10 watt charger and cord hidden by the end table that is the usual unused place for the iPad.

Unlike a lot of cube power supplies, it doesn't use any electricity when nothing's plugged in, so I leave it powered all the time.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

phrelin said:


> Thinking out loud .... has anyone tried adapting one of those cords that has two connections to your computer's USB ports - the cords that are used for drives that don't have their own power supply and are designed to get more power into the drive? Might it help the iPad charge a little faster on a PC?


Tried that at my father's house with his iPad... He had one of those because of a portable hard drive that needed the extra power from a laptop.

When using the two-pronged USB connection to connect to the computer, the computer no longer recognized the iPad at all... So it would appear the iPad "saw" two connections and shut itself down for linking.


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## funhouse69 (Mar 26, 2007)

I found this out as well... My laptop does not charge it officially but if I sync it and leave it connected it does charge albeit slowly as mentioned but at least it doesn't seem to loose any power. 

This was important when I had my sync taking 6 to 8+ Hours due to a corrupted app. Thankfully now that I upgraded to IOS 4.x it is syncing in only seconds. 

I have access to a lot of PC's and Laptops both new and old and none of them yet have charged my iPad officially (where the iPad says it is charging).


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