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my 2011 iMac charges it exactly the same as a wall plug.

Weird. I remember back when the original iPad came out that was the case. Guess something changed from then to now( either on the iPad or Macs).

EDIT: Ah I see.... If it is a standard USB port it will only charge when in sleep mode.

The fastest way to charge your iPad is with the included 10W USB Power Adapter. iPad will also charge, although more slowly, when attached to a computer with a high-power USB port (many recent Mac computers) or with an iPhone Power Adapter. When attached to a computer via a standard USB port (most PCs or older Mac computers) iPad will charge, but only when it's in sleep mode. Make sure your computer is on while charging iPad via USB. If iPad is connected to a computer that’s turned off or is in sleep or standby mode, the iPad battery will continue to drain.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4060
 
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Thanks. What brand charger are you using? I just bought a Rocketfish for my phone and in two months it bit the dust?

Rocketfish! 2.0 amp
You will still have to carry the wire that came with the iPad, there's a micro usb to charge regular cell phones, and then there's a usb port, you plug the iPad via the usb port and voila!
 
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my yellow tinted ipad's battery hasn't died yet... it has been 34 hours and I used it more than 10 hours already... came 94 % out of the box , now it is 15 %
 
Took mine down to 0. Its been charging for exactly 1hr with no use and shows 20% charged. In theory 5hrs to get to full. Not bad imo.

Edit: using the wall charger
 
I bought mine in store and the guy told me not to charge it with any other charger other than the one in the box as it is a more powerful charger which is needed for the bigger battery. Is this true I take it? If so then people who are suffering problems are you using an old iPhone charger for instance??

I'm using the charger the iPad comes with, and yes, it takes significantly longer to charge, and yes, that's plugging it into the wall. The plus side is, it drains slower too. Seems like I could easily get 12 to 13 hours or more out of it.

With the larger battery, it's not surprising. A little disappointing, but not surprising.
 
Finally ran mine down to 1% since receiving yesterday morning.

Did a test and put it on charge and after exactly 1 hour it was up to 24%

Looked exactly 2 hours later and it was up to 46%


So really at this current rate it should take no longer than about 4 hours an maybe 15-30 minutes to fully charge.

Just as good as my last iPad.

Not sure why so many are taking so long to charge.

I will look after
 
So really at this current rate it should take no longer than about 4 hours an maybe 15-30 minutes to fully charge.

Lithium-polymer batteries have an energy density that exceedes TNT. They can be fast charged up to 80% but beyond that they need to trickle charge to prevent getting all splody and such. You're probably looking at 6ish hours to get to 100%.
 
8 hours to get from 3% to 77% - not good. Using the provided charger but an aftermarket cable. That shouldn't make a difference should it?
 
8 hours to get from 3% to 77% - not good. Using the provided charger but an aftermarket cable. That shouldn't make a difference should it?

Yeah, it definitely could if it's a poor quality construction (thin guage wire) especially if it's an extra long cable.
 
I finally drained mine to about 2% from the 86% it came with last night. Plugged it in about 1am when I woke up here about 8 am it was 100%. For me that is expected and acceptable charge time for a device like this. I did use the provided charger.
 
Hi Guys,

I am not a tech person and I hope this is not a dumb question but could restoring from an iPad 2 backup rather than setting up as a new iPad be an issue? Would the restore make the iPad 3 think it is an iPad 2 when recharging? OR am I way off base here?

Joe
 
Yeah, it definitely could if it's a poor quality construction (thin guage wire) especially if it's an extra long cable.

95% spot on.

The cable likely is not poor quality construction, it was constructed for 500ma of current - per the standard. So if you used it with a standard USB device, you'd likely have no problems. But the iPad uses 4 times that current with it's 10W wall adapter - this is outside of the USB specification, and manufacturers build things to comply with it. They would be wasting their $$$ if they used heavier gauge wires that would support 2000ma. If you want a classic example of this, look at extension cords at your local home improvement / tool shop. Cords that use 18awg wires are a LOT cheaper than cords using 14 or 12awg.

With the above stated, quite sure you can locate a USB cable made for this application - just search for one specifically for iPad. In my case, I made my own using some old Cat5e and a jack/plug.

Edit: As for charge times (ignoring the cable) assuming a 85% charging efficiency, it should take 4.9 hours to charge that battery. But as someone else mentioned above, the charging profile for this battery chemistry - you cannot hit it hard, you have to taper currents off at the final stages (also during the beginning, if the battery is completely dead). So with that profile, I'd expect a 6 hour charge cycle, assuming you're not using the iPad, and are using the OEM USB cable...
 
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Hi Guys,

I am not a tech person and I hope this is not a dumb question but could restoring from an iPad 2 backup rather than setting up as a new iPad be an issue? Would the restore make the iPad 3 think it is an iPad 2 when recharging? OR am I way off base here?

Joe

A friend of mine has noticed faster battery drain post his restore. One of the reasons I am not going to do it.
 
95% spot on.

The cable likely is not poor quality construction, it was constructed for 500ma of current - per the standard. So if you used it with a standard USB device, you'd likely have no problems. But the iPad uses 4 times that current with it's 10W wall adapter - this is outside of the USB specification, and manufacturers build things to comply with it. They would be wasting their $$$ if they used heavier gauge wires that would support 2000ma. If you want a classic example of this, look at extension cords at your local home improvement / tool shop. Cords that use 18awg wires are a LOT cheaper than cords using 14 or 12awg.

With the above stated, quite sure you can locate a USB cable made for this application - just search for one specifically for iPad. In my case, I made my own using some old Cat5e and a jack/plug.

Edit: As for charge times (ignoring the cable) assuming a 85% charging efficiency, it should take 4.9 hours to charge that battery. But as someone else mentioned above, the charging profile for this battery chemistry - you cannot hit it hard, you have to taper currents off at the final stages (also during the beginning, if the battery is completely dead). So with that profile, I'd expect a 6 hour charge cycle, assuming you're not using the iPad, and are using the OEM USB cable...

I've used and drained mine a couple of times to calibrate the battery. Your speculation on a 6 hour charge time is spot on for me. Much longer than my iPad 2. On top of that I seem to be getting a bit worse battery life. Looks like its going to be around 8 hours or so. And that's just surfing and a few games of Suduko. I'm hoping it just needed to be calibrated but I fear that's not the case.

Now I have to decide if I'm going to keep it. I use it on long plane flights and Not being able to charge and use concurrently could end up being an issue for me. Sigh....
 
I've used and drained mine a couple of times to calibrate the battery. Your speculation on a 6 hour charge time is spot on for me. Much longer than my iPad 2. On top of that I seem to be getting a bit worse battery life. Looks like its going to be around 8 hours or so. And that's just surfing and a few games of Suduko. I'm hoping it just needed to be calibrated but I fear that's not the case.

Now I have to decide if I'm going to keep it. I use it on long plane flights and Not being able to charge and use concurrently could end up being an issue for me. Sigh....

What's your screen brightness do you use it at?
 
What's your screen brightness do you use it at?

About 60%. I usually used 50% or so with my iPad 2 but this screen is a bit dimmer and so I had to bump it. I'm going to run some more tests as to how much power it takes to watch a movie on and off the charger.

My issue is that my flights are usually 8-10 hours for the first leg and not enough time to recharge before the next one. I'm curious how it will charge on the plane but won't have a chance to test that for a couple of weeks. A week or so after my 14 day return window. I don't know, if it doesn't charge on the plane I may keep it for shorter trips and also keep my iPad 2 for the longer hauls.

Hmmm, I think I'll go try it in the car!
 
About 60%. I usually used 50% or so with my iPad 2 but this screen is a bit dimmer and so I had to bump it. I'm going to run some more tests as to how much power it takes to watch a movie on and off the charger.

My issue is that my flights are usually 8-10 hours for the first leg and not enough time to recharge before the next one. I'm curious how it will charge on the plane but won't have a chance to test that for a couple of weeks. A week or so after my 14 day return window. I don't know, if it doesn't charge on the plane I may keep it for shorter trips and also keep my iPad 2 for the longer hauls.

Hmmm, I think I'll go try it in the car!

How often do you actually take 8-10 hour flights?
 
Not sure how long it took to charge since I just charged it at night while I slept. As long as it's fully charged when I wake up it's all that really matters.
 
How often do you actually take 8-10 hour flights?

Every couple of months. My husband works overseas so sometimes he comes home and sometimes I fly over there. Usually Istanbul but sometimes Dubai. He's a petroleum engineer so the mid-east is where the jobs are. At least the jobs that pay what he makes. #

We have a couple more years before he retires but I suspect we'll be traveling even more then. The flights to Dubai are 26 hours or so flight time with a copule of changes and short layovers ( if I can ge the good flights). Istanbul isn't quite so bad. One stop in the US and one in London.
 
I ran mine down to 5% and plugged it in overnight. It was 100% when I woke up. Looks like charging won't be a problem.
 
Every couple of months. My husband works overseas so sometimes he comes home and sometimes I fly over there. Usually Istanbul but sometimes Dubai. He's a petroleum engineer so the mid-east is where the jobs are. At least the jobs that pay what he makes. ��

We have a couple more years before he retires but I suspect we'll be traveling even more then. The flights to Dubai are 26 hours or so flight time with a copule of changes and short layovers ( if I can ge the good flights). Istanbul isn't quite so bad. One stop in the US and one in London.
Get a decent sized external battery. There are plenty of them to choose from.

Here is one for $50 that should be able to charge the iPad 3 completely--twice--and probably an iPhone too:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...T6C2KYnViAKAuOGjDw&ved=0CHEQ8wIwAA#ps-sellers




Michael
 
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