Hi All,

I'm new to this forum. Just bought my iphone last week, 16GB with 1.1.4.

Not a bad phone, still finding my way around it.

Quick question - is it at all possible to get a car charger for the iphone in Australia?

I've been told that the iphone cannot handle the power from ipod chargers (9 volts for ipods compared to 5 volts for iphones, or something like that).

Being that car chargers are about 12 volts, is it possible to get a car charger that will not cook my iphone?

Thanks in advance

USB only puts out 5V and I happily use an iPod mini cable to sync + charge my touch every day.


Go nuts. You can't blow shit up (else they woulda keyed the socket differently)

I have a Monster iCarCharger which works fine.

Just stick with something decent (not a $5 job from eBay/China) and you'll be right.

If you search the internet, there are heaps of people who have screwed up their iPhones by plugging them into car chargers. Personally I wouldn't do it unless the car charger in question is made specifically for the iPhone.

I have a Philips branded one that works fine for me. Even sends some signal to pause the music if I turn the radio off.

meh.


works fine....

although i am interested in that philips one jerrah...

what brand is featured in your picture zmit?

I bought it from a WOW store in Coffs Harbour on my way to Brisbane. It cost about $30.

The Belkin Auto Kit for iPod I bought today seems to work okay for me with the iPhone...

it was just a random picture that i found. the fact that it is generic is effectively what i was going for.
im not sure what brand my one is either.... it just works.

samuelowens. i have been looking at the belkin auto kit... but just dont really want to spend the money...

i think i need to fix the power to the cigarette lighters in my car first though...

I paid $29.95 for it in Hardly Normal yesterday.

A sticker on the packaging indicated it was rated as okay to use with the iPod 5G and Nano too, both USB-only models (for syncing at any rate).

The main reasons I chose it over other models were:

1. It had a 3.5mm audio output jack so I could use the dock for audio (which is needed for my iPod 3G); and
2. It did not come with an FM transmitter in the package. I have an AUX jack in my car so there's no point shelling out the extra $50 or so unnecessarily.

It does bring up the airplane mode error message on the phone, but, once that's dismissed, it works okay with none of overheating that others have reported (I suspect Apple must've improved the power management in newer firmwares to enable charging over higher voltages offered by Firewire).

EDIT Apple - Support - Discussions - STOP USING YOUR IPOD CHARGERS AND IPOD ... has an interesting discussion on iPod charger voltages. The general feeling is that the iPod/iPhone adjusts to the correct voltage.

i found this car charger for the iphone - looks really good

InCharge Auto™ for iPod and iPhone: Power and charge your iPhone or iPod in any vehicle

only probelm is trying to find it in australia

the distributors webpage says that heaps of stores stock it, even the next byte website say they have it, but no store actually stocks it

found it in the us on ebay but they want $80 to ship it

Many Apple resellers in Australia stock XtremeMac stuff - I'd be surprised if they can't order this item in for you.

I don't have an iPhone, but I recently bought an inverter to charge my iBook. The advantage is that I can use 240v plugs in the car. Don't need a car charger for anything now.