@clarinetbob Hey Bob, there’s a lot to address here. More than one of us bought/tested these without issue other than what @snapster mentioned above (in what I thought was a really helpful post). That doesn’t mean that people aren’t having issues with them but @snapster offered multiple solutions for people that are (including contacting us for a refund). We’ve had a higher than normal amount of contacts in the past week or so and it’s taking us a little bit longer than we’d like to get caught up and write back to everyone, I just ask that you’re a little patient with us. We’re running a small operation here and we can’t have 24/7 support, so it might take a few days to get an answer.
Regardless of the snarky write-ups, anti-selling points, and (admittedly sometimes brutal) honest reviews of products, we really do care about what we sell. The amount of time spent and effort put into every sale by a lot of different people is huge. We actually don’t want to sell things that don’t work. That really doesn’t make any sense. Could we make an extremely paltry profit by suckering a ton of people into buying $10 cables that don’t work every day? Maybe…but probably not. It’s much better for us to sell the best products we can at the best price we can and get people coming back every day. We want the people that come to our site to love it here for a lot of reasons, one of the big ones being they want to buy the things we sell because it’s not only a great deal, but a decent product.
Oh, and just so this serious post has some snark: it’s Kool-Aid.
GEEK ok..what gauge is the wire? Some numbers to compare would be an OEM sized 4' cable vs an aftermarket 10'. I'm using voltage drop in my examples, showing the end of line voltage. 5v @ 1A
28ga 10' = 3.7v 28ga 3' = 4.61v
24ga 10' = 4.49v 24ga 3' = 4.85v
so..depending on the wire size..you are going to get some pretty heavy loss.
Do we know if the is 28/28 gauge or 28/24 gauge wire size Meh? /GEEK
@TheDagda I ordered a micro USB set. I will do a teardown and let you know. It won't help for this sale, but if they offer it again at least one SmartPost shipping delay from now. I have a spiffy little USB power meter.
If the two data leads are shorted together, the tablet interprets that as a charging device that can provide up to 1.5 amps. Although, the most I've seen mine draw is around 1.3 amps. If the two data leads aren't connected, or they are connected to a computer for actual data, then the tablet or phone should draw at most 500 milliAmps. [Note that the 2.1Amp output on the PowerNow uses a voltage divider to tell the device that it can provide up to 2.1 Amps. That message is in the Apple language. This sometimes confuses the Nexus's. They reliably draw more than an Amp from the 1 Amp outlet. Sometimes they go to the 500 milliAmp mode on the 2.1 Amp outlet.]
The app reports just the current going to the battery, so when background apps start up, the amount of power left over for the battery would change. I did have the display on bright and wifi, bluetooth, and a lot of crap running. I tried to get the same mix for each test. The app reported that only around 120ma was going to the battery with a two wire USB cord. The meter showed 470ma coming out of the charger. So it was as if the device was using about 350 milliAmps (ignoring little details like the slightly differing voltages). With the best cable, it drew 1.3 Amps from the charger, approximately 950 milliAmps went to the battery. Other cables provided 1.1 Amps, or 1.0 Amps.
Each Nexus device measures the voltage coming in, and if it is high enough, it increases the power draw a notch. It repeats this process until the voltage droops, it has as much power as it can use, or it hits the limit for that kind of power source (I believe the Nexus only knows two limits 500mA and 1500 mA. Other devices use other techniques and have more thresholds.)
I don't have a 10 foot 28 gauge cable for testing. My guess is the Nexus will draw less than an Amp. I will report back when I get my units.
These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
I've gotta hand it to TOCCS customer service and Imelda. Initially, I was just going to chalk up my bad cables as a loss since I didn't want to deal with customer service. After their presence in the forums however I decided to shoot them an email. Extremely responsive and helpful. Full replacement for all cables free of charge. Great stuff! Thanks @TOCCSREP
@jsh139 As I understand it, these are exactly the same as their "Apple Certified" cords, the only difference being they weren't shipped to Apple for certification. We tested with an iPhone 5s and it charged and synced.
@mediobarkre I have one of these and they work MOST of the time. Sometimes it gives a message that they are uncertified and I have to unplug ang plug back in.
@jsh139 I've been burned by the non certified ones too. They usually work for a few charges then go out. Not worth the ten bucks for maybe a dozen charges. meh!
@akpuggy that worked for a while for me, but finally stopped altogether. Had to get an MFI one that worked much better. It has started giving my wife problems the last few days though. She has to turn her phone off and back on to get it to charge.
Once I was able to load the page I was excited for a second but then saw that the lightning cables aren't MFI certified. And they're ten frickin’ feet long. Who (aside from horseosaur wranglers) needs cables that long? I've never come to the product forum thread to say meh, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.
@SSteve 10' cables would come in handy if you are anywhere outside your home where an outlet might not be in a convenient spot - the coffee shop, airport, mall...
@MsELizardBeth Which city and team? Are you a ref or nso? It's been so long since I played I'm not sure who handles the stopwatch now. sigh I miss derby.
While travelling with co-workers, we were waiting in the Atlanta airport playing Words-With-Friends with one another. My charging cable was only about 2ft long, so I was sitting tilted slightly. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept seeing this girl (late teens or early twenties) giving me the stink eye. I ignored her. After about 5 minutes she got up in a hump and walked away staring at me. It wasn't until about 10 minutes later that it hit me. The angle in which I was forced to hold my phone, probably made it look like I was videoing her legs or something. With these 10' cables, that situation won't happen again! Well unless I am being creepy and doing something like that.
Hey everybody, it looks like there was a backend tracking system issue that caused tracking numbers to not show up. All of these have been shipped and you should get them soon.
@JonT, Thanks to you, and to @hollboll for the quick response. Package is now in Phoenix, taking an R&R interlude on its way to Washington. Anticipated delivery: 11/21.
Pics to match up from my above comment - amperage drop from stock apple lightning cable to the butTOCCs one. Note that this particular cable charges fine (both are shown charging my iPhone 6 here). My guess is that some cables may be below a cutoff or some devices may be more sensitive even within apples lineup.
I didn't get a pic of it but the butTOCCs Snap Cable was wavering at essentially the same amperage as the apple 3 footer, which leads me to believe it's the cable quality and length causing the amperage drop (not the lightning connector itself). @gato good call to shorten up the cable as a further test.
Oh, another cable I had to test but didn't picture was a 15 foot Amazon Basics USB extender cable. It feels thicker gauge than the butTTOCs and it performs better even at that length + the length of the standard apple cable I plugged into it. Amperage wavered around .7 to .8 on the meter.
Originally ordered 12 of these crappy ones. They hooked me up with 24 5ft ones (length was thought to be the issue in some of these comments). They came in better packaging and are silver like my JUICES+ that I have. They seem to be working better. States "Apple certified 5ft stealth cable" on the packing slip and has the made for Apple logos on the box saying that it is actually certified. Whether that's true or not I have no idea.
I rarely sync outside of wifi syncing so I'll give an update on that later. I'm a lot happier with these that's for sure :) and if these do turn out to be just fine TOCCS has redeemed themselves.
Good afternoon everyone. I hope you are all well. If you are experiencing any issue with your cables please email Imelda@toccs.com so we can get replacements shipped. Best wishes to you all.
@Dickbutt How does yours not fit? I'm curious b/c in my Nexus5, the plug is longer than the port. About a cm of metal gap between the phone and the plastic when it's plugged in. I've been trying to decide if that is the reason it charges extremly slow, or just b/c of the length of the cord.
Got a couple of these from a different site. 1 out of 2 actually worked. Second one lasted 2 weeks. They sent replacements. Those were just as bad. Save your money and click meh.
In for three, er, twelve. Why? Even if they suck, I'll be far less grumpy if the kids destroy these, than I was when they destroyed the MFi Monoprice cables.
So, just replying, and confirming some things. These aren't really that great for syncing. And the 8.1.1 update that just came out? Do NOT try it with one of these (no, I didn't brick my phone, but it didn't complete the update - use an MFi cable for updates, is the lesson learned). However, they are perfectly fine for charging. My iPhone 5S is perfectly happy to charge on this, and if I use the higher-powered iPad wall wart, I can even charge my iPad mini 2 with this. Just don't expect it to sync well. Which is fine, I need, like, 1 good cable for syncing, it's in my office, the kids aren't allowed to play with it, etc. etc., so it's all good.
Load: 96% charged Nexus 7. Charger: BK Precision DC Power Supply model 1610. Adjusted for 5.0 volts at the USB port, data pins shorted for "Fast Charge" mode. This power supply is only capable of supplying 1 amp. Shortened buTTOCs cable: > 1 Amp Full length buTTOCs cable: 0.28 Amps
Adjusted for 5.3 volts at the USB port: Shortened buTTOCs cable: > 1 amp Full length buTTOCs cable: 0.45 Amps
Using a Scosche 4 Amp 4 port charger and a 43% charged Nexus 5 (Had to switch devices, I left the Nexus 7 on the short cable too long. It got to 100% charge, so it stopped being hungry.) Shortened buTTOCs cable: 1.10 Amps, @ 5.09 volts Full length buTTOCs cable: 0.33 Amps @ 5.15 volts
I plan on doing some better tests later. There are some issues with my current test setup. The tester sells for $3.08, with free shipping. It draws power from the USB port under test. It adds an unknown resistance to the circuit. This variable voltage power supply is too wimpy. I need better USB connectors.
@DJP519 I think that Meh has learned a lot about USB stuff from this, so I am hoping to see some long USB cables that really work. Reasonable testing tools would be cool too.
I have extra-long 30-pin cables for my old iPhone and iPad. People laughed, until I went to a convention and had to sit away from a power outlet. I just stretched the cable along the table until the charger reached the outlet. They are also handy in hotels, when the only available power is on the other side of the bed. Also in the car, when someone in the back seat needs a charge but also wants to keep using their device (no outlets in the back seat).
Got my four TOCC-branded (aw) micro USB cables today. Threw them what I thought was a worst-case scenario: Charging a Dell Venue 8 tablet at 0% battery using the PowerNow 10K charger from the Kickstarter Fuku. All worked fine. Mehrci! And thanks again to @JonT and @hollboll for the assist.
I backed a cool usb "Legion Meter" off of Kickstarter and it arrived yesterday. Was able to test amperage draw from a variety of chargers. A Lightning one I have at home is pulling in only .6 amps regardless of charger I use. That cable hasn't given me any trouble so I was surprised to see it low.
I continue to think the length and thin guage of these make them crappier than we'd like. I don't have data but my suspicion is it has nothing to do with the connector itself. I think TOCCs is coming by our office soon so hopefully we can get some more technical info or guidance.
@snapster have you tried shortening the length of any of the lightening cables? if not, i have one that doesn't work at all, so i might try cutting it up tomorrow and shortening the cable to see if the length is the issue.
@snapster Please keep us in the loop. I've had increasingly inconsistent experience with these. Some now only work with the connector facing a particular way. Two are now effectively non-functioning.
Thought I was ordering one set of four,but got the "oops let's try this again" message or something similar, as the bar kept filling up- then would stop. Well apparently I ordered three sets- realized it about 2 days later when looking at another order. Contacted meh, who nicely told me I could refuse two of the packages and all would be well. I then read lots of comments on these and realized some people were saying they weren't all reliable. I decided to test all before deciding which to return. Only one was DOA- hopefully the rest will work for mere than 10 minutes as some people indicate they found to be the case. I've decided to keep them all and put in stockings or as small gifts attached to larger gifts.
In your photo of the Micro-USB cable the phone says that is charging. In the photo of your lightning cable, the iPhone is not displaying that it is charging. Are these really going to work with my 6+?
@bxm83 ... I'll be right behind you for sure. Meh sold two for 3 bills not too long ago so their sale for one would probably be half that but even if they knocked off 25 bucks from that half price I'd wait in line all day for it.. One bill would put me up as the first of three in line (it would be first but then I'd have to somehow get past you and knowing how I'm not as spry as I once was, being #3 would suit me fine because as we all know; making second place is actually the first loser.. I wanna be first but not in that direction (☺)
Agreeded. I get a warning on my kindle that its a low charge. I emailed meh and they say to contact the manufacture. I just figured it wasn't worth the trouble of contacting multiple people for a 10$ cord.
@aj The cord itself has nothing to do with how fast it'll charge. That's all up to the charging brick itself. I have this exact cable and have never experienced slower than normal charge times.
@TBoneZeOriginal Completely not true. Charging cords are just like battery jumper cables. They come in different gauges. The higher the number, the smaller the gauge and the less ability it has to carry amperage. Cheap cords are almost likely to be a higher number and will take longer to charge your device.
@Cinoclav You are absolutely wrong. The wire being smaller could cause it to get hotter and possibly break easier, but it will NOT charge slower. I just verified this with my brother who is an electrical engineer.
@TBoneZeOriginal Your brother is absolutely wrong and needs to go back to school or you need to better explain the question to him. Yes, a smaller gauge (higher number) will get hotter. But it also will carry less amperage over it's distance. With less amperage, the charging time will be extended. Here's a quick primer: http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/Wire-gauge.php
@Cinoclav I am the brother. For clarification, I am still IN school for engineering, but I've been working with electronics for 15+ years. I'm fully aware of wire gauge and its resistance, but as you can see from the circuit above, the resistance of the wire is pretty insignificant in comparison to the resistance of the phone. Assuming a phone pulls 1 A, the charging circuit is about 5 ohms. Any wire is under an ohm. So yes, is does make a difference, although small. Also what I'm not sure about is the phone's ability to measure its current draw. I know newer iPhones can do fast charging with an iPad (2.1 A) charger. Is this "communicated" through the data pins? I believe they have a reference voltage but I'm not sure if it's different between chargers.
@chrismusaf Look at you with the math! (Really, I'm bad at it.) For me it matters. My main charging cable is 3 feet and fast. I count on that. If I needed the length for overnight charging, I'd consider it.
@TBoneZeOriginal well, at least for the 1st gen Nexus 7, it was charging at a rate of 1-2% an hour. this was using the same OEM 2A charger that I use with my shorter cable. that said, i know that the 2012 N7 does have some weird issues when charging with non-stock chargers
@chrismusaf My amp meter shows me that the charging circuit in this 2013 Nexus 7 cuts off entirely when the input voltage drops below 3.8 volts. It doesn't behave like a resistor.
@hamjudo Where are you measuring the voltage? At the charger it should be a constant ~5V. There will be a small voltage drop at the phone, which is due to the resistance of the cord. Then the phone has a thevenin resistance that adds (in series) to the cord resistance. So the voltage is constant, but the current depends on the total resistance.
@chrismusaf Yup, my low voltage cut out test set up appears to have been bogus. I did some more tests with a bench power supply. The devices stop drawing current at a higher voltage, there was some parasitic load in my test setup that drew power down to 3.8 volts. Once I'm not busy at work, I will take some pictures and do a better write up.
I got a few of the microUSB cables in your bundle a couple weeks back. It makes it convenient to keep my tablet plugged in to watch Netflix or Hulu when I have forgotten to charge it prior to a binge.
I purchased a 2-pack (...all eyes on me...) a while back from Groupon. Great price and a seemingly high quality cable. They work great with my iPhone 6, but won't charge my iPad air... Other than the device conflict, these appear to be a good buy.
WARNING These DO NOT work. I recently purchased one of these on LivingSocial and it quit working after about 3 days. TOCC's sent me a replacement and it did the SAME THING. For any additional return/exchanges they want $7 S&H. I asked if they could just send me one that works ....nothing.. This company is a scam being facilitated by online deal sites
@MattinFla we've sold the TOCCs snap cable in the 10k+ volume and not had any issues. Similar quantity of lightning cables here so we'll be sure to see the reports in the forums. Reports are out there like yours for sure; not saying you didn't experience trouble.
@MattinFla Just opened my lightning cables. Same results: my iPhone 5 will charge with them but my iPad Air will not, generally speaking. I did find a single USB port in the house that the iPad will take a charge from. Neither device will sync using these cables.
meh... you rascals! the meh brand on this genuine bonafide "lightning cable" brought a tear to my eye. so far so good, performing iOS update via said genuine meh cable without any problems. will report back if any of the other cables have issues.
I'm sorry that I don't have time to read the whole thread right now. I probably will later. I bought two packs. From my preliminary testing, one was DOA. I've been regularly using three and they seem to be fine. A fourth has had moderate use and is fine so far. My wife has been using one for a few days and it stopped working last night. BTW, we both have the iPhone 5s.
My thought was that, given the price, I out of 8 DOA isn't horrible, and I'm willing to accept that these cables won't last forever, but a few days of use is a little too meh. And it brings my dead cables up to 2, with a little anxiety for the future of those still standing (and, fuck, these little bastards are so rigid, they actually do stand; just btw; and I don't hate that about them).
That being said, as long as the rest hold up, I'm almost happy even with the loss rate. But, yeah, a little bummed too. I like that they're meh branded. And the crazy length has come in handy. If the rest survive, that's a little over $3 each for not horrible cables that have a couple of really cool features I'd probably have paid more for. And I appreciate that y'all offered these in the first place.
So I guess I'm debating whether to make any kind of stink about it (aside, obviously, from this mixed review here). I think if there's no more loss any time soon, I'd give them a 3 out of 5 stars (because of the fail rate, which that ratio almost matches).
I have to say that I love the fact that y'all engage these discussions honestly and seem to appreciate honesty in return and that I feel that I can come here and be truthful and not have to either 1) try to be obsequiously diplomatic or 2) make a big fuss just to get some attention. It kinda feels like that's the norm if you wanna get help at other sites.
I'm gonna tag @hollboll and @Mehcus, 'cause they'd get my cry for halp anyway. And @JonT, just 'cause he's a swell guy. But not the octopus, 'cause he's surely got more important shit to do, being the boss and whatnot.
@TOCCSREP I just wanted to say that we got the replacements and everyone we've tried so far is working great. They're shorter, but still good for us. We're down to maybe two of the long ones (out of 8) that still work, but I appreciate the replacements and just wanted to say thanks. Thanks! :-)
@snapster At the hardware level, the Nexus's have the same slow charge or no charge issues, but the default Android 5.0 Lollipop software doesn't refuse to try to charge, and it doesn't warn the user of problems. Although you get a hint, in that it doesn't tell how long until it will finish charging.
At 77% charge my Nexus 5 needs at least 4.18 volts to think it can charge. At 86%, it needs 4.29 volts, at 95% charge it needs 4.38 volts. By "think it can charge", I mean it says "Charging on AC", but it isn't drawing significant current (less than 10mA), so it obviously isn't actually charging the battery. This is confirmed, because the battery gauge is going down not up.
If the phone is turned on, it will be using power. Even when the phone is off, the charging controller needs some power. To charge the battery, there must be enough power to run the charger and whatever else is running on the phone, plus something left over for the battery. Based on the behavior, the charge controller inside the phone must be a based on a "buck mode" DC-DC converter. That style of converter can lower the voltage from the USB port, but not increase it.
It appears that the charge controller doesn't try to charge until the voltage at the USB port is at least 0.2 volts above the battery voltage (offset voltage estimated, that phone doesn't have the app that reports current battery voltage).
Lithium ion batteries have relatively complex rules for charging. In order to get current to flow into the battery, the charging voltage has to be above the battery voltage. But not too far above the battery voltage, or too much current will flow and damage the battery. The charge controllers in the devices start with a low charging voltage and ramp it up until either the battery starts drawing the maximum amperage for its current state of charge, the battery is fully charged, or it reaches the limits of the power source.
Results will vary due to differences in chargers. The chargers that charge the fastest, have relatively high output voltages. One of my PowerNow portable batteries put out 5.35 volts no load. Some of the other chargers put out a rock steady 5.0 volts until they get close to their current limit. One of the chargers that came with the PowerNow puts out 4.87 volts.
@Airjer reported that his Air 2 got to 80% charge, and then stopped charging. I got similar results with a Nexus 5, a 10 foot butTOCCs cable, and the charger that put out 4.87 volts. The Nexus 5 is at 82%, and it hasn't changed in the last 20 minutes. The Nexus 5 obviously isn't charging either, the only difference is that it doesn't let me know that.
@hamjudo For whatever it's worth, using one of the cables in my pack on an iPhone 6, it will without fail get to 90ish percent and then I will get an error telling me it's not supported.
@hamjudo I left the Nexus 5 connected over night. It did make it to 100% charge. It looks like it went into a lower power mode. So it wasn't being hopelessly optimistic. It really did have a way to get fully charged.
These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
@hamjudo I finally took the cables apart and there are 16 strands in each of the power wires.
Measured 5V at the end of the cable.
The cable is surprisingly only 0.2 ohms. It's a lot less than I expected with such thin gauge wires.
So then the big problem. When trying to charge a tablet with a 2.1A charger, I only get 280 mA to the tablet. Completely useless and the tablet sometimes doesn't even detect it and the tablet goes into charge mode then out then back in. It turns on then off then on and goes into an infinite loop. The battery charge actually goes down instead of up when using the cable because it's on and not charging most of the time.
@cengland0 In the final image you are measuring the short circuit current of your power supply. Power supplies limit the short circuit current to prevent starting fires. To measure the current, you need to put the meter in series with a real load.
My bad, sorry about that @cengland0. Also, thanks for counting the wires. @hamjudo, my excuse is that the edit window is so small, both in terms of size on the screen, and number of minutes to fix stuff.
@hamjudo Believe it or not, I had 3 years of electronics training so I know exactly how to measure current. I have it in series on the red wire after I cut the red wire. I'm not touching the black wire at all. I had a tablet that is capable of charging at 2.1A with a 2.1A supply as the load.
@cengland0 I mentored a high school robotics team for four years. I saw a lot of meters get blown up. I guess now I'm seeing it even when it isn't there. Flash backs.
@magnuspraeda MFi certification is Apples "Made for i-devices" certification. "Apple Certified". This would lead me to guess they are not compatible with iOS 7 and up.
@ruouttaurmind They'll work for charging, even if IOS rejects them for synching. And with a 10 foot cable that's the main function (for me, at least). I have a a bunch of cheap cables scattered about the house so I can plug in when I need to. And most of them work for synching too.
pretentious-rad-volcano Just what I was thinking as I tried for 26 minutes to finally get these. But then I get here to see some negative feedback from people. Oh well, meh's the season.
Very sad. Tried to buy the lightning version of this last night, but it wouldn't work. Spin spin spin. Then come back today when I have time and boom, gonzo. I WANT YOU TO TAKE MY MONEY MEH! WHY WON'T YOU TAKE MY MONEY??? sad face
We got our set of 4 10-ft lightning cables today. Each cable came in meh.com-branded packaging, which was weird. The description should really say "4 10(ish)-ft lightning cables" as there is a noticeable difference between each individual cord as far as length goes. The longest cord was about 11.5" longer than the shortest cord.
One of the cables would not charge my wife's iPad minis, but the other three worked flawlessly. We eventually figured out that one side of the lightning connector on the bad cable was dead or whatever. Flipping it over to the other side allowed it to charge fine.
Charging time for her 4 minis seems to be pretty much on par with what we got with the OEM lightning cables.
@TOCCSREP I got my replacements and two more crapped out on me. One just stopped charging on either side. The other, the connector somehow fell apart and one of the silver flaps has separated, making it impossible to plug in. At this point, I think I'm just going to learn my lesson, cut my losses, and spend the extra money for a certified cord that's only 3ft long.
I totally agree it's frustrating when these don't work. We managed to sell quite a few of these suckers, so even if 1% of them are having issues we'll probably hear from a few more of you.
For all the people complaining about the "Not Charging" notification coming up on iOS when you try using the Lightning connector version, that's normally Apple's fault. They want you to buy their cables. But you can probably get a refund, so Meh.
To anyone that grabbed the lightning cables and is jailbroken. Use the repo http://cydia.angelxwind.net/ and install mikoto. She has a tweak in there for supporting unsupported cables.
Only opened one and it's charging my Air 2 just fine right now, but I also have the aforementioned tweak installed on all of my devices.
Well the Air 2 got to about 80% and the cable seems to no longer charge it and keeps getting the "Not Charging" issue. So even with a hack to get around the non supported issue, they're still crap. What kind of refunds are being given on these wastes of $$$?
@airjer These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
@TOCCSREP I bought 12 and they're all the same. All my devices are the latest models. 1 Air 2, 2 6+'s, and a 5s. They all pretty much act the same way.
I bought a cheap amp-meter from Amazon, and tested out one of my lightning cables. It only registered about 0.3 amp, when plugged into a 1.0 amp official apple charge block. Confirming what others have reported. With a 6-foot Monoprice lightning cable, I got about 0.7 amp, using the same charger and phone.
@antmangaka I finally took my cable apart to see what was wrong in the defective section. It actually looks okay. The nick in the red wire was caused by me when I was stripping the outer insulation.
I will have to get out the multimeter next to see amp loads and voltages.
@cengland0 Since you've already cut up the cable, go the next step, and strip the wires. You will notice that the power wires, colored red and black, are thin. The green and white wires for data are even thinner. The red and black wires have 16 strands each (someone with good eyesight please check my counting). The green and white wires have only 7 strands.
Did you find the fault in the cable with a wire tracker, a TDR, or by inspection? Wire trackers are also called tone sets, wire tracers, and a bunch of other terms. Harbor Freight sells one with a list price of $24.99. HF inflates their list prices and frequently puts stuff on sale for less. http://www.harborfreight.com/cable-tracker-94181.html
TDRs are Time-Domain Reflectometers, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-domain_reflectometer . They have the advantage that they will report where all of the defects are in the cable up to the first break. Ones that can report issues to the nearest centimeter cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Alas, I don't own one.
I only bought the USB cables, since I have no iDevices. Did anyone have a USB cable fail after a few days, or was it just the Lightning cables that did that? The Lightning cables have a chip in them. That complex circuitry provides a whole lot of potential failure modes. I myself have designed circuits that only worked for a day before failing. If I can do it, it must be easy. On the other hand, I don't see how to make something like the micro USB version of the cable work for a few days before failing.
@hamjudo the cables I bought are the USB Micro cables. It did seem to work initially but failed soon after. I have not had a chance to test the volts or amps in the cable with a standard 5v 2.1A adapter. I will post my findings as soon as I get a chance. Sorry for the delay.
@maderagirl Out of the 6 I got altogether (4 original, 2 replacements), only 1 is still working (1 of the originals). Just drop $8 on a real cord and live happier. :)
@maderagirl@TOCCSREP We received 5-foot replacements (we didn't need the monster length for every application), which have mostly been working well. One has started to get a little flaky and not work all of the time. Honestly, I'd have to say that I'm happy. In total, we've gotten what we bargained for and--indeed--at a bargain. I think one or two of our originals are still mostly working too.
These really sucked for me, like many people. Issues charging with a BRAND NEW iPhone 6, an iPhone 5, and an iPhone 5s at work, at home, at a friend's house. Meh.com you really lost my credibility on this one.
I LOOOOOOVE Meh, but these cords lacked some to be desired. They worked great at first and I thought I wasn't going to be tethered to my usual 3 ft away from my phone charger.... However after a few months use they quit working, I'm not sure what the issue was? But over all they were so cheap that the time I did use them, they were well worth the money!
Jeez, 15 minutes to load the page?? Anywho, these are of mild interest to me, but I seem to recall some folks mentioning that they had issues with data dropouts due to the 10' length. Thoughts?
At first I thought, "I don't need these; every charger I have came with a cable," buuut then I realized many of them are only 3 or 4 feet long, making the devices difficult to use while plugged into the wall. In for 1, also because VMP.
Pass. When I reach for a charging cord during the day, I need it to charge quickly. The only time this would work for me is at night, but my charger is already set up in our headboard shelves. If they came with a horse/dino to lasso, I'd reconsider.
The price is good but I only buy iPad chargers now. iPad chargers can charge an iPhone from 10% to full in, like, 20 minutes. Crazy! Unfortunately, I don't believe these will charge an iPad at all and the charge on the iPhone is too slow.
@cengland0 As far as I know. I tried a few different iterations, but nothing worked. It's not like it's a complicated address. Unless it's something like they have the full 9 digit zip code or something. That's being awful particular compared to anywhere else.
I'm trying to order, but I keep getting a card declined message. I've tried 3 different cards and 2 different addresses. I've also emailed support, and no response...
@heli0s yeah, mine is, too. I'm not too worried yet, but if it hasn't changed by Monday night I'll probably contact Support. If you get antsy and contact them sooner, let me know their answer?
@derpandabar I'm also in the "label created" stage. I assume the warehouse team was working the fire extinguishers during the server meltdowns last week... hopefully there'll be some movement today. (I got micro USB... looks like the reviews so far are for the Apple cables so maybe that made a difference. Or not.)
@heli0s meh is not known for speed. First you get a FED EX mailing label. Eventually it goes there and goes some of it;s journey that way. Then it gets transferred to the UPSP and then if you are very lucky, the stars align just so, and you don't piss off the gods your stuff eventually shows up at your doorstep. Actually the few things I have ordered have shown up well packed and in good shape. It just has taken several weeks. Speed is not their forte.
Just tried out our set of 4 cables. none would sync, but they would charge (just not through the Mac USB port). but since I bought them primarily for charging at work .... they should work out well.
@oppodude Yeah, same experience here. I'll just keep my precious (preciousssssss) MFi and original Apple cables safe for syncing and sprinkle these around the house and cars for charging. Easy peasy.
@cestrate Are you using the higher-powered iPad charger? I know my iPad mini said "Not Charging" when it was plugged into a USB port on my iMac, but when I used the specific charger it worked fine. Don't expect them to actually sync though. Something goes wrong with that.
@ytrozs Even when using the oem iPad charger it says "not charging". With my phone it works for a few minutes and then there is an error message and it stops charging.
@cestrate Weird. I tried some of the other cables in my bundle, and some work with the iPad, and some are giving me the same "Not Charging" message, regardless of source. However, in most cases, that means that it's just charging veeeerrrrrryyy slooooowwwwwwlllllllyyyy. But if there's a full on error message, that's pretty clearly bad news. Maybe iPhone 6 is trying to draw more whatevers than my 5S?
@cestrate These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
These have been hit and miss. The micro USB cords seem fine, but all the apple cords have stopped working. Sometimes I can get one to charge my iPad mini if I hold the cord just so, but a light breeze will make it show he error message and stop charging.
@KDemo and @Thumperchick. Mine hasn't shipped either. Meh says, "Shipped." Fedex says: "Shipping label has been created. The status will be updated when shipment begins to travel." USPS says, "Not Found."
@NickC360 try with a 2amp charger to see if it's line length reducing below minimum amperage. Also for grins try flipping the connector around to see if that changes anything.
I received mine and have tried all four in the usb port of my mac laptop which works for other cables. Not a single one of them works. I get pulsing on and off in about 1/2 second intervals or no charging at all. My first purchase from Meh.com and I'm not very happy with it. Hopefully I can arrange a refund.
@curtwitt None of mine work properly. One of them is broken near the USB plug and has exposed wiring. My phone was at 50% battery about two hours ago; when I plugged it in, my battery widget estimated it would take 8 and and a half hours to charge to full. I left it in for two hours out of curiosity, and yeah, six and a half hours left now. I'm gonna contact them now and get a refund because this is ridiculous. Selling things for cheap doesn't excuse selling them broken.
@curtwitt I am revising my assessment. For some reason none of these cables work in either of the USB ports of my MacBook Air but they do work in my 15" MacBook Pro running all the same software. I get not just a charging connection but a data connection. Furthermore, they work in my car audio system for both charging and audio. Perhaps expectedly, they work in my charging block. So, I do have a use for them, it is just device specific. Also, so you know, Meh.com did offer a refund.
@curtwitt These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
2 out of 4 micro USB don't charge my phone, haven't tested the other 2 so they are probably the same. Lightning don't seem to charge that great either. Has anybody had success on getting a refund? I haven't tried yet but I'm planning on it.
@Derock These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
Eh, I never expected them to sync. Thought they might charge OK, though.
The two-meter Apple Lightning cable had a peak draw of about 19 watts charging my iPad Air 1, the meh cables drew a max of 7 watts. I think the Air expects at least 10 watts to not show the "Not Charging" message.
If you have 100% charge and are running your Air on the lowest brightness in airplane mode, it seems to consume around 2.5 watts when not processing anything. So, I'll keep my cables for possible use in complete darkness. They ARE nice cables. Haven't tested the microUSB yet.
Bought 4...lightning cables; came today. NONE of them work. All give me the "not charging" indication. WTF Meh...all clever and everything...but the shit you sell should work...at least for a day or two. What a POS PITA. Guess I'll stick to drink cups from now on...I mean, you can't ruin those, can you?! CAN YOU?!?!
@clarinetbob almost certainly (given same with all four) this is the cable length + power draw issue using a 1 amp USB port. If you have a 2 amp / 10 watt output type charger (iPad for instance) then it would solve the issue. Basically in pushing the envelope with the 10 foot length and not a higher quality gauge, this seems to be the result. Power is getting through but some iPhones are saying meh to the available watts after friction reduces them below a minimum.
if that answer sucks, and I'm sure it does at least a bit, contact our support for refund as clearly other units aren't going to help. TOCCs also has some support options if you want to see what they say.
@snapster That's what sucks about Meh. You are lone staffer said they were working for him. Maybe some people think it's funny..eft out to swing on your own if the crap you buy doesn't work. Read the TOCC?! Really?! Great customer support. I mean, you guys are all funny and culty and have some swagger...but when it gets right down to it, you fully sell stuff you know doesn't work - or at least you could care less if it doesn't. Didn't you try these with an ipad? I remember reading the comments before I bought them, and the staffer said they worked. Some people may think it's funny or cool...oh well, bought something cheap and it didn't work. ha ha. Well, I think that's beyond Meh...it's downright fraud in some cases (in MY opinion). I'm sure I'll get some snarky comments from the coolaid-drinking Mehians. Bring it on...
@clarinetbob Wow. Maybe you shouldn't buy things here anymore. @snapster is the CEO and told you why he thought they didn't work. He also said you would have your money refunded so you don't have to worry about that. Also he didn't say "read the tocc" he said you could contact TOCC as in the company who made the cables if you wanted a different solution than just having your money returned. Sheesh.
@clarinetbob Aww come on, you can find a better gif than that, you have the whole internet. Also, you don't need img tags, just post the images direct link.
@Thumperchick Seriously!? I thought it was an excellent find, given the text of my message. Oh well. And thanks for the tip on posting pics. You're AWESOME. (you see what I did there with the CAP LOCK?).
@bradenthomas These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
Haven't' tested mine yet though I will. Still not sure what I was thinking when I hit the button on ..... well never mind how many or what I'm planing (christmas Scarves) I found this when I looked up the company www.resellerratings.com/store/TOCCs
TL;DR I'm awesome and TOCCs is only 0.01 out of 10
@Foxborn We joined the ratingsellers community last month and have address the few negative reviews on there. As you can see the majority of our recent reviews have been positive. If you have any questions please contact me at Imelda@toccs.com
Got my micro USB pack on Friday and have tested 3 of 4 so far... These things work for charging but are EXTREMELY slow. 2 of the cables I've tried seem to only sustain the current battery level, but don't add additional charge. I plugged my phone in when it was at 22% charge, and continued using it to play games, browse, etc. When it was still at 22% by the time I went to bed I thought maybe I was just using too much power for it to charge up. Woke up the next morning to see it STILL at 22% (with the charging icon rolling.) I tried two more yesterday with slightly better results. Plugged the phone in at 54% last night and woke up this morning (after 9 hours of charging) to find it at 92%. I'll try the fourth cable today, but am expecting more meh. These may be good for emergency use but definitely wont do for everyday use...
@heli0s These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
@antmangaka Same thing happened to me and I think one of the wires inside fried. There was some external cable damage so the wire probably exploded and some of the filling (which looks like cotton) came out of the bungee insulation. I plan on carefully taking it apart at that exact point to see exactly what happened.
These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
@hcbaldy the @TOCCSREP might be able to help: Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
I think the question is, "Is it a lightning cable or isn't it?" Having been advertised as a lightning cable, it certainly feels like unfair and deceptive business practices by the seller of the cable to have it become useless after an OS upgrade.
All four of mine worked great for the first week or so. Now none of them will charge my iphone. I dont even need them to sync, but I cannot even charge with the cables anymore :(
This came out even better than I imagined.
@JonT I had high hopes, and this surpassed them tenfold.
@JonT Let's give some credit. Who created this?
@SSteve @kylewood
A hearty handshake for a job well done, @kylewood!
@JonT I think its photoshopped. I can see a line between the head & the body. Meh, you totally had me fooled.
@brianmc1975 Nah it's not photoshopped, the dinosaur is just wearing a horse mask. Duh.
@JonT Crazy dinosaur! Know why the T-Rex cant clap its hands?
@JonT - Reminds me of this squirrel feeder:
I would totally buy these, if i could just get the page to load...
@studerc glad to hear I'm not the only one. I guess I'll see if I can buy them in the morning.
@studerc Seems to be working--if slowly--now.
@studerc I accidentally bought two when I thought my first order timed out.
@studerc Indeed. I think it took 7 minutes from my attempt to buy until I received my confirmation.
@studerc It was going so slow I was sure there was a fukubukuro.
@studerc I think i got em, but can't get my orders page to load. I may never know.
@studerc I know, it took me almost 20 minutes!
@studerc took awhile, but one tab finally made it and the buy screen got hung up for 10 minutes. Yay.
@studerc They are practicing for their first sale of crap bundles
@studerc Got both android and apple cables. using one now and love that I don't have to bend into weird shapes to use phone while charging
@studerc too many simultaneous clicks on the "meh" button'll crash the servers
@alacrity Just like the early days of woot, lol.
@jqubed There was a secret one for the first couple people and then they switched to the cords.
@clarinetbob Hey Bob, there’s a lot to address here. More than one of us bought/tested these without issue other than what @snapster mentioned above (in what I thought was a really helpful post). That doesn’t mean that people aren’t having issues with them but @snapster offered multiple solutions for people that are (including contacting us for a refund). We’ve had a higher than normal amount of contacts in the past week or so and it’s taking us a little bit longer than we’d like to get caught up and write back to everyone, I just ask that you’re a little patient with us. We’re running a small operation here and we can’t have 24/7 support, so it might take a few days to get an answer.
Regardless of the snarky write-ups, anti-selling points, and (admittedly sometimes brutal) honest reviews of products, we really do care about what we sell. The amount of time spent and effort put into every sale by a lot of different people is huge. We actually don’t want to sell things that don’t work. That really doesn’t make any sense. Could we make an extremely paltry profit by suckering a ton of people into buying $10 cables that don’t work every day? Maybe…but probably not. It’s much better for us to sell the best products we can at the best price we can and get people coming back every day. We want the people that come to our site to love it here for a lot of reasons, one of the big ones being they want to buy the things we sell because it’s not only a great deal, but a decent product.
Oh, and just so this serious post has some snark: it’s Kool-Aid.
@JonT Appreciate the honest post. Thanks.
@JonT And this post is perfect example of why @JonT is AWESOME @Snapster your lucky to have a man like working for you (all honesty no sarcasm)
@JonT Thank you. That "coolaid" thing was really bugging me.
How am I gonna plug these into the walls all over the house without a cube? Tomorrow will you sell USB enabled outlets? Hmmmm? Please?
@mamawoot you'd have to buy usb wall chargers separately. there are lots of options on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=iphone+wall+usb - or, just plug into your computer
GEEK
ok..what gauge is the wire? Some numbers to compare would be an OEM sized 4' cable vs an aftermarket 10'. I'm using voltage drop in my examples, showing the end of line voltage. 5v @ 1A
28ga 10' = 3.7v
28ga 3' = 4.61v
24ga 10' = 4.49v
24ga 3' = 4.85v
so..depending on the wire size..you are going to get some pretty heavy loss.
Do we know if the is 28/28 gauge or 28/24 gauge wire size Meh?
/GEEK
@TheDagda I ordered a micro USB set. I will do a teardown and let you know. It won't help for this sale, but if they offer it again at least one SmartPost shipping delay from now. I have a spiffy little USB power meter.
@TheDagda I replied to a post up higher asking the same question. Still no answer I see. @hollboll can you get us some info?
@TheDagda @hamjudo @chellemonkey Just got confirmation that they are 28/28. Today I learned something about wires, so thanks!
@Moose @hamjudo @hollboll @chellemonkey Thanks for the update Moose. Would you like to elaborate on how you got confirmation?
TL;DR Myth Confirmed, USB Cables make a huge difference in charging rate.
I measured it. Cables really do change the charging speed on my phone and tablet. The phone is a Nexus 5, the tablet is a Nexus 7 (2013). I used this meter http://www.tinydeal.com/usb-av-usb-power-current-voltage-tester-blue-p-117578.html to measure the current drawn and the app "Charging Report" as a second opinion.
If the two data leads are shorted together, the tablet interprets that as a charging device that can provide up to 1.5 amps. Although, the most I've seen mine draw is around 1.3 amps. If the two data leads aren't connected, or they are connected to a computer for actual data, then the tablet or phone should draw at most 500 milliAmps. [Note that the 2.1Amp output on the PowerNow uses a voltage divider to tell the device that it can provide up to 2.1 Amps. That message is in the Apple language. This sometimes confuses the Nexus's. They reliably draw more than an Amp from the 1 Amp outlet. Sometimes they go to the 500 milliAmp mode on the 2.1 Amp outlet.]
The app reports just the current going to the battery, so when background apps start up, the amount of power left over for the battery would change. I did have the display on bright and wifi, bluetooth, and a lot of crap running. I tried to get the same mix for each test. The app reported that only around 120ma was going to the battery with a two wire USB cord. The meter showed 470ma coming out of the charger. So it was as if the device was using about 350 milliAmps (ignoring little details like the slightly differing voltages). With the best cable, it drew 1.3 Amps from the charger, approximately 950 milliAmps went to the battery. Other cables provided 1.1 Amps, or 1.0 Amps.
Each Nexus device measures the voltage coming in, and if it is high enough, it increases the power draw a notch. It repeats this process until the voltage droops, it has as much power as it can use, or it hits the limit for that kind of power source (I believe the Nexus only knows two limits 500mA and 1500 mA. Other devices use other techniques and have more thresholds.)
I don't have a 10 foot 28 gauge cable for testing. My guess is the Nexus will draw less than an Amp. I will report back when I get my units.
@hamjudo I'm interested in the results. Please make a new forum topic when you test the others or at least tag me. Thanks
These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
I've gotta hand it to TOCCS customer service and Imelda. Initially, I was just going to chalk up my bad cables as a loss since I didn't want to deal with customer service. After their presence in the forums however I decided to shoot them an email. Extremely responsive and helpful. Full replacement for all cables free of charge. Great stuff! Thanks @TOCCSREP
Are the lightning cables "apple certified"? Some of those cheapo lightning cables won't work on iOS 7+.
@jsh139 I was wondering the same thing. The comments on this video scared me off. Many of them had bad luck with them and iOS devices.
@jsh139 That was a concern of mine too. I've been burned by the non apple certified ones. The price makes me think they are not...
@jsh139 As I understand it, these are exactly the same as their "Apple Certified" cords, the only difference being they weren't shipped to Apple for certification. We tested with an iPhone 5s and it charged and synced.
@mediobarkre I have one of these and they work MOST of the time. Sometimes it gives a message that they are uncertified and I have to unplug ang plug back in.
@crapstick Yikes - tons of complaints in the comments of that video - I'll pass!
@Moose I actually had one of these I got from Bed, Bath, and Beyond a while back and it charges fine. Haven't tried syncing yet, though.
@jsh139 I've been burned by the non certified ones too. They usually work for a few charges then go out. Not worth the ten bucks for maybe a dozen charges. meh!
@akpuggy that worked for a while for me, but finally stopped altogether. Had to get an MFI one that worked much better. It has started giving my wife problems the last few days though. She has to turn her phone off and back on to get it to charge.
@Moose Do the lighting cables come with the meh logo on the USB plug like in the photo? That alone is worth 10 bucks.
@crapstick Lol! It only scared me for about 10 minutes I still bought a set. If 2 work, its still a good deal.
@heartny They are meh branded :)
@JonT REALLY?! I just bought a few cords from amazon because I was low. Do you happen to know if these are 28/24? I assume they are 28/28 but if these are 28/24 I might buy some anyway. http://lifehacker.com/cables-can-significantly-impact-the-charging-speed-of-y-1532784722
@chellemonkey According to @Moose they're 28/28.
@JonT @chellemonkey @Moose The micro USB version looks to be 30/28.
$316 list price? WHAAAAT? Oh please. For that insult to my intelligence alone... meh meh meh meh (one for each cable)
@ruouttaurmind I know, right? List prices are stupid.
@ruouttaurmind they were made by Monster..
Once I was able to load the page I was excited for a second but then saw that the lightning cables aren't MFI certified. And they're ten frickin’ feet long. Who (aside from horseosaur wranglers) needs cables that long? I've never come to the product forum thread to say meh, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.
Meh
@SSteve I use my 10 ft cord to use the stopwatch at roller derby...
@SSteve I plan to use my cord to charge my phone while I'm taking a dump in the bathroom.
@SSteve and/or tablet
@SSteve 10' cables would come in handy if you are anywhere outside your home where an outlet might not be in a convenient spot - the coffee shop, airport, mall...
@DeuceSevin Hotels is where I use mine the most. Outlets are scarce is most rooms.
@MsELizardBeth Which city and team? Are you a ref or nso? It's been so long since I played I'm not sure who handles the stopwatch now. sigh I miss derby.
While travelling with co-workers, we were waiting in the Atlanta airport playing Words-With-Friends with one another. My charging cable was only about 2ft long, so I was sitting tilted slightly. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept seeing this girl (late teens or early twenties) giving me the stink eye. I ignored her. After about 5 minutes she got up in a hump and walked away staring at me. It wasn't until about 10 minutes later that it hit me. The angle in which I was forced to hold my phone, probably made it look like I was videoing her legs or something. With these 10' cables, that situation won't happen again! Well unless I am being creepy and doing something like that.
@KDemo @cengland0 @krystophv @editorkid @hort
Hey everybody, it looks like there was a backend tracking system issue that caused tracking numbers to not show up. All of these have been shipped and you should get them soon.
@JonT Excellent. The sooner I get them, the faster I can add them to the other box of junk I bought and still haven't opened and used.
@JonT, Thanks to you, and to @hollboll for the quick response. Package is now in Phoenix, taking an R&R interlude on its way to Washington. Anticipated delivery: 11/21.
Pics to match up from my above comment - amperage drop from stock apple lightning cable to the butTOCCs one. Note that this particular cable charges fine (both are shown charging my iPhone 6 here). My guess is that some cables may be below a cutoff or some devices may be more sensitive even within apples lineup.
I didn't get a pic of it but the butTOCCs Snap Cable was wavering at essentially the same amperage as the apple 3 footer, which leads me to believe it's the cable quality and length causing the amperage drop (not the lightning connector itself). @gato good call to shorten up the cable as a further test.
Oh, another cable I had to test but didn't picture was a 15 foot Amazon Basics USB extender cable. It feels thicker gauge than the butTTOCs and it performs better even at that length + the length of the standard apple cable I plugged into it. Amperage wavered around .7 to .8 on the meter.
@snapster I'll give an update if I have a chance to test shortening the cable tomorrow. (side comment) That Legion meter is awesome!
@snapster -buTTOCs says it all. Well, most of it. I think you'd make a great boss.
@snapster I am sorry to hear your order is not working properly. Feel free to contact me at Imelda@toccs.com so we can arrange a free replacement.
Originally ordered 12 of these crappy ones. They hooked me up with 24 5ft ones (length was thought to be the issue in some of these comments). They came in better packaging and are silver like my JUICES+ that I have. They seem to be working better. States "Apple certified 5ft stealth cable" on the packing slip and has the made for Apple logos on the box saying that it is actually certified. Whether that's true or not I have no idea.
I rarely sync outside of wifi syncing so I'll give an update on that later. I'm a lot happier with these that's for sure :) and if these do turn out to be just fine TOCCS has redeemed themselves.
@airjer Those 5 foot versions sound awesome. @TOCCSREP Any chance of you guys selling that version through Meh?
Good afternoon everyone. I hope you are all well. If you are experiencing any issue with your cables please email Imelda@toccs.com so we can get replacements shipped. Best wishes to you all.
@TOCCSREP
Meh. I got these on the two for Tuesday phone accessory bundle and the micro usb doesn't fit my Lumia 1020. Very sad 😢
@Dickbutt How does yours not fit? I'm curious b/c in my Nexus5, the plug is longer than the port. About a cm of metal gap between the phone and the plastic when it's plugged in. I've been trying to decide if that is the reason it charges extremly slow, or just b/c of the length of the cord.
@daver The S5 has a USB 3.0 Cable that will charge it faster. It still fits 2.0 micro plugs but will leave the gap you observed.
@Dickbutt thanks for contributing this. lumia owner here and i almost bit.
i was about to buy 8, but
'regular' 10 foot USB cable is $1.27 at monoprice.
TOCCS need to be less greedy and discount their merch wholesale.
@username Thanks for reminding me about monoprice. It's like meh but all the time.
@username Or DailySteals has them 3 for $8 with free shipping. r=1">http://www.dailysteals.com/p/36489/3-Pack-TOCCs-10ft-Bungee-Charge---Sync-Cable-for-Micro-USB-Devices-with-Tangle-Free-Design-and-Durable-Reinforced-Nylon-Construction?_r=1
@username how much would shipping cost at monoprice and are they the bungee style cables or the standard cheap ones?
@katbyter thanks, 3 for $8 is better than 4 for. $15.
@jusdef You are a VMP member so the correct statement should be 4 for $10 is better than 3 for $8.
@cengland0 True, I realized that once I saw the VMP next to my name.
@username Couldn't find the $1.27 one at monoprice but i got in on the 3 for 8 at DailySteals. Thanks so much for telling us about those sites!!
@daiquiri it's no bungee but still http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=5139&seq=1&format=2
Got a couple of these from a different site. 1 out of 2 actually worked. Second one lasted 2 weeks. They sent replacements. Those were just as bad. Save your money and click meh.
@sixfootgeek I always click meh. has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not I buy something.
Decided to take a flyer on them, but I'm anticipating them being crap... I'm not sure if my order number is an omen or not:
perilous-worthwhile-knot
In for three, er, twelve. Why? Even if they suck, I'll be far less grumpy if the kids destroy these, than I was when they destroyed the MFi Monoprice cables.
So, just replying, and confirming some things. These aren't really that great for syncing. And the 8.1.1 update that just came out? Do NOT try it with one of these (no, I didn't brick my phone, but it didn't complete the update - use an MFi cable for updates, is the lesson learned). However, they are perfectly fine for charging. My iPhone 5S is perfectly happy to charge on this, and if I use the higher-powered iPad wall wart, I can even charge my iPad mini 2 with this. Just don't expect it to sync well. Which is fine, I need, like, 1 good cable for syncing, it's in my office, the kids aren't allowed to play with it, etc. etc., so it's all good.
Preliminary measurements with a shortened micro USB cable vs a full length cable. All measurements with a "Charger Doctor" from tinydeal.com http://www.tinydeal.com/usb-av-usb-power-current-voltage-tester-blue-p-117578.html
Load: 96% charged Nexus 7.
Charger: BK Precision DC Power Supply model 1610. Adjusted for 5.0 volts at the USB port, data pins shorted for "Fast Charge" mode. This power supply is only capable of supplying 1 amp.
Shortened buTTOCs cable: > 1 Amp
Full length buTTOCs cable: 0.28 Amps
Adjusted for 5.3 volts at the USB port:
Shortened buTTOCs cable: > 1 amp
Full length buTTOCs cable: 0.45 Amps
Using a Scosche 4 Amp 4 port charger and a 43% charged Nexus 5 (Had to switch devices, I left the Nexus 7 on the short cable too long. It got to 100% charge, so it stopped being hungry.)
Shortened buTTOCs cable: 1.10 Amps, @ 5.09 volts
Full length buTTOCs cable: 0.33 Amps @ 5.15 volts
I plan on doing some better tests later. There are some issues with my current test setup. The tester sells for $3.08, with free shipping. It draws power from the USB port under test. It adds an unknown resistance to the circuit. This variable voltage power supply is too wimpy. I need better USB connectors.
@hamjudo awesome work - so it appears confirmed to me that the problem is the thinness and length of our butTOCCs. :)
You'd think the same issues would occur on the microUSB; perhaps device tolerances are wider and the low amperage goes undetected.
@hamjudo I am sorry to hear your order is not working properly. Feel free to email me at Imelda@toccs.com so we can arrange a free replacement.
@snapster After reading these last few posts, now I want Meh to sell a USB amperage/voltage meter. Hint hint.
@DJP519 I think that Meh has learned a lot about USB stuff from this, so I am hoping to see some long USB cables that really work. Reasonable testing tools would be cool too.
@DJP519 @hamjudo Maybe a bundle with some cables, a voltmeter, and earmuffs.
I feel like you offered these just for me. Thanks, meh. :-)
pungent-husky-rat
Was there a secret fuku sale? USB cables just don't quite seem that special...
@editorkid You missed it!
Fuzzy-Wicked-Spice - The Spice Girl they kept hidden?
got both lighting and micro. sweet deal, ignore the haters.
I have extra-long 30-pin cables for my old iPhone and iPad. People laughed, until I went to a convention and had to sit away from a power outlet. I just stretched the cable along the table until the charger reached the outlet. They are also handy in hotels, when the only available power is on the other side of the bed. Also in the car, when someone in the back seat needs a charge but also wants to keep using their device (no outlets in the back seat).
These charge devices that have pagination. In for 8. mental-patronizing-egg
The perfect "meh"! Everyone in the office loses their lightning cables... now they get these! These are going on the next expense report! Huzzah!!!
Got my four TOCC-branded (aw) micro USB cables today. Threw them what I thought was a worst-case scenario: Charging a Dell Venue 8 tablet at 0% battery using the PowerNow 10K charger from the Kickstarter Fuku. All worked fine. Mehrci! And thanks again to @JonT and @hollboll for the assist.
@editorkid That's quite the test!
@hollboll I still feel unclean from touching the Dell tablet after so long -- the only part of that test that wasn't even mediocre.
I backed a cool usb "Legion Meter" off of Kickstarter and it arrived yesterday. Was able to test amperage draw from a variety of chargers. A Lightning one I have at home is pulling in only .6 amps regardless of charger I use. That cable hasn't given me any trouble so I was surprised to see it low.
I continue to think the length and thin guage of these make them crappier than we'd like. I don't have data but my suspicion is it has nothing to do with the connector itself. I think TOCCs is coming by our office soon so hopefully we can get some more technical info or guidance.
@snapster have you tried shortening the length of any of the lightening cables? if not, i have one that doesn't work at all, so i might try cutting it up tomorrow and shortening the cable to see if the length is the issue.
@snapster Please keep us in the loop. I've had increasingly inconsistent experience with these. Some now only work with the connector facing a particular way. Two are now effectively non-functioning.
Thought I was ordering one set of four,but got the "oops let's try this again" message or something similar, as the bar kept filling up- then would stop. Well apparently I ordered three sets- realized it about 2 days later when looking at another order. Contacted meh, who nicely told me I could refuse two of the packages and all would be well. I then read lots of comments on these and realized some people were saying they weren't all reliable. I decided to test all before deciding which to return. Only one was DOA- hopefully the rest will work for mere than 10 minutes as some people indicate they found to be the case. I've decided to keep them all and put in stockings or as small gifts attached to larger gifts.
@donna For future reference, if you open it, you can't just refuse delivery anymore. The package has to remain unopened.
@donna Hey Donna sorry to hear all bungees are not working. Feel free to email me at Imelda@toccs.com so we can get a free replacement set up for you.
@bkobkobko In similar situations, @TOCCSREP said "Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue..."
There are issues, but the manufacturer is trying to make things right. Give it a try, and see what they can do for you.
When you reach out to us please have your complete shipping address typed in along with the type of bungee(s) it is. Thanks everyone!
@TOCCSREP how are replacements different? is it a different gauge wire?
20 minutes past midnight and I still cannot buy. Site is running very slow.
@cengland0 It's your fault, of course.
@cengland0 but who can you blame?
@joelmw false alarm. It finally worked two minutes later.
@cengland0 Whom to blame... whom to blame ...
@cengland0 You have nobody but yourself to blame. Again.
@cengland0 I had to turn off my computer and flip my hard drive plug over.
In your photo of the Micro-USB cable the phone says that is charging. In the photo of your lightning cable, the iPhone is not displaying that it is charging. Are these really going to work with my 6+?
@bxm83 Wow, you are observant. Yes, they will. If not, you have 90 days to tell us. Don't try to ride a dino-horse with them though...
Ten pounds of meh in a five pound potato sack. Where are those cheaper than dirt 32" LED/LCD TV's, huh? Huh? Huh..?
@unkabob Thats what I am looking for. Sell one for $100 and I'll buy it in a heartbeat.
@bxm83 ... I'll be right behind you for sure. Meh sold two for 3 bills not too long ago so their sale for one would probably be half that but even if they knocked off 25 bucks from that half price I'd wait in line all day for it.. One bill would put me up as the first of three in line (it would be first but then I'd have to somehow get past you and knowing how I'm not as spry as I once was, being #3 would suit me fine because as we all know; making second place is actually the first loser.. I wanna be first but not in that direction (☺)
these are totally great because they're long, but charging anything through them takes forever
@aj
Agreeded. I get a warning on my kindle that its a low charge. I emailed meh and they say to contact the manufacture. I just figured it wasn't worth the trouble of contacting multiple people for a 10$ cord.
@aj The cord itself has nothing to do with how fast it'll charge. That's all up to the charging brick itself. I have this exact cable and have never experienced slower than normal charge times.
@TBoneZeOriginal Completely not true. Charging cords are just like battery jumper cables. They come in different gauges. The higher the number, the smaller the gauge and the less ability it has to carry amperage. Cheap cords are almost likely to be a higher number and will take longer to charge your device.
@Cinoclav You are absolutely wrong. The wire being smaller could cause it to get hotter and possibly break easier, but it will NOT charge slower. I just verified this with my brother who is an electrical engineer.
@TBoneZeOriginal The longer the cord, the higher the resistance, the slower the charge.
@Thumperchick Just got this from my brother. So I guess you're right, but it's hardly something to care about. Doubt you'd even notice.
@TBoneZeOriginal Your brother is absolutely wrong and needs to go back to school or you need to better explain the question to him. Yes, a smaller gauge (higher number) will get hotter. But it also will carry less amperage over it's distance. With less amperage, the charging time will be extended. Here's a quick primer: http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/Wire-gauge.php
@Cinoclav I am the brother. For clarification, I am still IN school for engineering, but I've been working with electronics for 15+ years. I'm fully aware of wire gauge and its resistance, but as you can see from the circuit above, the resistance of the wire is pretty insignificant in comparison to the resistance of the phone. Assuming a phone pulls 1 A, the charging circuit is about 5 ohms. Any wire is under an ohm. So yes, is does make a difference, although small. Also what I'm not sure about is the phone's ability to measure its current draw. I know newer iPhones can do fast charging with an iPad (2.1 A) charger. Is this "communicated" through the data pins? I believe they have a reference voltage but I'm not sure if it's different between chargers.
@chrismusaf Look at you with the math! (Really, I'm bad at it.) For me it matters. My main charging cable is 3 feet and fast. I count on that. If I needed the length for overnight charging, I'd consider it.
@TBoneZeOriginal well, at least for the 1st gen Nexus 7, it was charging at a rate of 1-2% an hour. this was using the same OEM 2A charger that I use with my shorter cable. that said, i know that the 2012 N7 does have some weird issues when charging with non-stock chargers
@aj Yeah, that seems pretty insane. This same cable charges my iPhone 6+ in less than an hour, it seems. It's very fast.
@chrismusaf My amp meter shows me that the charging circuit in this 2013 Nexus 7 cuts off entirely when the input voltage drops below 3.8 volts. It doesn't behave like a resistor.
@hamjudo Where are you measuring the voltage? At the charger it should be a constant ~5V. There will be a small voltage drop at the phone, which is due to the resistance of the cord. Then the phone has a thevenin resistance that adds (in series) to the cord resistance. So the voltage is constant, but the current depends on the total resistance.
@chrismusaf Yup, my low voltage cut out test set up appears to have been bogus. I did some more tests with a bench power supply. The devices stop drawing current at a higher voltage, there was some parasitic load in my test setup that drew power down to 3.8 volts. Once I'm not busy at work, I will take some pictures and do a better write up.
I got a few of the microUSB cables in your bundle a couple weeks back. It makes it convenient to keep my tablet plugged in to watch Netflix or Hulu when I have forgotten to charge it prior to a binge.
I purchased a 2-pack (...all eyes on me...) a while back from Groupon. Great price and a seemingly high quality cable. They work great with my iPhone 6, but won't charge my iPad air... Other than the device conflict, these appear to be a good buy.
My gosh I wish I could split this to two lightning cords and two usb. Who needs 4 lightning cords?
@rockxprophet Thats exactly what I requested of Meh. Their response, buy one of each. MEH!
WARNING These DO NOT work. I recently purchased one of these on LivingSocial and it quit working after about 3 days. TOCC's sent me a replacement and it did the SAME THING. For any additional return/exchanges they want $7 S&H. I asked if they could just send me one that works ....nothing.. This company is a scam being facilitated by online deal sites
@MattinFla was your experience with the Lightning cable or the MicroUSB?
@gspitman Lightning Cables
@MattinFla we've sold the TOCCs snap cable in the 10k+ volume and not had any issues. Similar quantity of lightning cables here so we'll be sure to see the reports in the forums. Reports are out there like yours for sure; not saying you didn't experience trouble.
@snapster I just bought these and they don't work with my iphone 5
@MattinFla Just opened my lightning cables. Same results: my iPhone 5 will charge with them but my iPad Air will not, generally speaking. I did find a single USB port in the house that the iPad will take a charge from. Neither device will sync using these cables.
All 48 states on the map have joined in. It's an epidemic!
@KDemo Wait, we have BOTH Dakotas?
@Thumperchick - Dakota 1 and Dakota 2. AND there's at least one more mehtizen in my county. Finally!!
No Georgia Red. . . for that alone, meh.
I love purple.
Cool... the plugs are branded with the Meh logo! I hope that they work with my new iPhone 6 that's on order.
meh... you rascals! the meh brand on this genuine bonafide "lightning cable" brought a tear to my eye. so far so good, performing iOS update via said genuine meh cable without any problems. will report back if any of the other cables have issues.
In following the idea of image search results from order numbers:
I'm sorry that I don't have time to read the whole thread right now. I probably will later. I bought two packs. From my preliminary testing, one was DOA. I've been regularly using three and they seem to be fine. A fourth has had moderate use and is fine so far. My wife has been using one for a few days and it stopped working last night. BTW, we both have the iPhone 5s.
My thought was that, given the price, I out of 8 DOA isn't horrible, and I'm willing to accept that these cables won't last forever, but a few days of use is a little too meh. And it brings my dead cables up to 2, with a little anxiety for the future of those still standing (and, fuck, these little bastards are so rigid, they actually do stand; just btw; and I don't hate that about them).
That being said, as long as the rest hold up, I'm almost happy even with the loss rate. But, yeah, a little bummed too. I like that they're meh branded. And the crazy length has come in handy. If the rest survive, that's a little over $3 each for not horrible cables that have a couple of really cool features I'd probably have paid more for. And I appreciate that y'all offered these in the first place.
So I guess I'm debating whether to make any kind of stink about it (aside, obviously, from this mixed review here). I think if there's no more loss any time soon, I'd give them a 3 out of 5 stars (because of the fail rate, which that ratio almost matches).
I have to say that I love the fact that y'all engage these discussions honestly and seem to appreciate honesty in return and that I feel that I can come here and be truthful and not have to either 1) try to be obsequiously diplomatic or 2) make a big fuss just to get some attention. It kinda feels like that's the norm if you wanna get help at other sites.
I'm gonna tag @hollboll and @Mehcus, 'cause they'd get my cry for halp anyway. And @JonT, just 'cause he's a swell guy. But not the octopus, 'cause he's surely got more important shit to do, being the boss and whatnot.
TL;DR @joelmw is happily unhappy...ish
@joelmw I am sorry to hear your order is not working properly. Feel free to contact me at Imelda@toccs.com so we can arrange a free replacement.
@TOCCSREP I just wanted to say that we got the replacements and everyone we've tried so far is working great. They're shorter, but still good for us. We're down to maybe two of the long ones (out of 8) that still work, but I appreciate the replacements and just wanted to say thanks. Thanks! :-)
@snapster At the hardware level, the Nexus's have the same slow charge or no charge issues, but the default Android 5.0 Lollipop software doesn't refuse to try to charge, and it doesn't warn the user of problems. Although you get a hint, in that it doesn't tell how long until it will finish charging.
At 77% charge my Nexus 5 needs at least 4.18 volts to think it can charge. At 86%, it needs 4.29 volts, at 95% charge it needs 4.38 volts. By "think it can charge", I mean it says "Charging on AC", but it isn't drawing significant current (less than 10mA), so it obviously isn't actually charging the battery. This is confirmed, because the battery gauge is going down not up.
If the phone is turned on, it will be using power. Even when the phone is off, the charging controller needs some power. To charge the battery, there must be enough power to run the charger and whatever else is running on the phone, plus something left over for the battery. Based on the behavior, the charge controller inside the phone must be a based on a "buck mode" DC-DC converter. That style of converter can lower the voltage from the USB port, but not increase it.
It appears that the charge controller doesn't try to charge until the voltage at the USB port is at least 0.2 volts above the battery voltage (offset voltage estimated, that phone doesn't have the app that reports current battery voltage).
Lithium ion batteries have relatively complex rules for charging. In order to get current to flow into the battery, the charging voltage has to be above the battery voltage. But not too far above the battery voltage, or too much current will flow and damage the battery. The charge controllers in the devices start with a low charging voltage and ramp it up until either the battery starts drawing the maximum amperage for its current state of charge, the battery is fully charged, or it reaches the limits of the power source.
Results will vary due to differences in chargers. The chargers that charge the fastest, have relatively high output voltages. One of my PowerNow portable batteries put out 5.35 volts no load. Some of the other chargers put out a rock steady 5.0 volts until they get close to their current limit. One of the chargers that came with the PowerNow puts out 4.87 volts.
@Airjer reported that his Air 2 got to 80% charge, and then stopped charging. I got similar results with a Nexus 5, a 10 foot butTOCCs cable, and the charger that put out 4.87 volts. The Nexus 5 is at 82%, and it hasn't changed in the last 20 minutes. The Nexus 5 obviously isn't charging either, the only difference is that it doesn't let me know that.
@hamjudo For whatever it's worth, using one of the cables in my pack on an iPhone 6, it will without fail get to 90ish percent and then I will get an error telling me it's not supported.
@hamjudo I left the Nexus 5 connected over night. It did make it to 100% charge. It looks like it went into a lower power mode. So it wasn't being hopelessly optimistic. It really did have a way to get fully charged.
These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
@hamjudo I finally took the cables apart and there are 16 strands in each of the power wires.
Measured 5V at the end of the cable.
The cable is surprisingly only 0.2 ohms. It's a lot less than I expected with such thin gauge wires.
So then the big problem. When trying to charge a tablet with a 2.1A charger, I only get 280 mA to the tablet. Completely useless and the tablet sometimes doesn't even detect it and the tablet goes into charge mode then out then back in. It turns on then off then on and goes into an infinite loop. The battery charge actually goes down instead of up when using the cable because it's on and not charging most of the time.
@cengland0 In the final image you are measuring the short circuit current of your power supply. Power supplies limit the short circuit current to prevent starting fires. To measure the current, you need to put the meter in series with a real load.
@cengland0 Two wire meters can't reliably measure resistances that low. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-terminal_sensing
@hamjudo Wow Hamjudo, those were unnecessarily rude. You didn't even thank @cengland0 for the cool pictures.
My bad, sorry about that @cengland0. Also, thanks for counting the wires. @hamjudo, my excuse is that the edit window is so small, both in terms of size on the screen, and number of minutes to fix stuff.
@hamjudo Believe it or not, I had 3 years of electronics training so I know exactly how to measure current. I have it in series on the red wire after I cut the red wire. I'm not touching the black wire at all. I had a tablet that is capable of charging at 2.1A with a 2.1A supply as the load.
@cengland0 I mentored a high school robotics team for four years. I saw a lot of meters get blown up. I guess now I'm seeing it even when it isn't there. Flash backs.
Can the micro-usb cords handle 2A charger?
@ankur88 no problem on amps- i have 2 of these to charge speakers w/a 2.1 amp port.
Meh~~~Wireless charging is the beast!
@Aquido i have a wireless charger, but can't really use the phone while it's charging.
The site feels like woot used to! :D
@clonetek I'm waiting for the Grand Wootarian. He was my favorite.
Got one of each. Can't pass up really cheap cables.
@wdq ditto!
Took me 10 minutes to load everything to actually make my purchase.. leaves me nostalgic for the days of dial up.
The lightning cables aren't MFI-certified. Definite meh.
@magnuspraeda MFi certification is Apples "Made for i-devices" certification. "Apple Certified". This would lead me to guess they are not compatible with iOS 7 and up.
@ruouttaurmind They'll work for charging, even if IOS rejects them for synching. And with a 10 foot cable that's the main function (for me, at least). I have a a bunch of cheap cables scattered about the house so I can plug in when I need to. And most of them work for synching too.
@ParadisePete Except these DON'T work for charging. What a waste of money. My first (and probably last) purchase from Meh.
patronizing-laborious-drug
Wise observation, Meh. That IS what technology is to me.
Can't wait for this to show up in a Bag of Meh
pretentious-rad-volcano
Just what I was thinking as I tried for 26 minutes to finally get these. But then I get here to see some negative feedback from people. Oh well, meh's the season.
10'? I need one for my truck but don't need it to reach from the bed!
@redsurfsnow Cut off any excess length you don't need. Problem solved.
@redsurfsnow what about people riding in the truck bed who want to charge their phones?
Appreciative-classy-rhinoceros, pretty much says it all. 4 is more than I need but what the Meh?
@spectra242 you say that until you lose three
@spectra242 you say that until 2 of them stop working
My Meh button doesn't stop spinning for 10 mins now!! Now maybe I'm still in my dream... mmmm.... unconscious-me-pushed meh.
Being skeptical... Bought it with VMP. I hope the lightning one work well with 6+.
Not a bad stocking stuffer right here. But what is the deal with TOCCs list price? $70 for 2? Are these cables made out of gold and platinum?
@PanicSwitch hand threaded by tiny t rex hands
Only US shipping? Meh.
@ttwo time to move.
Decided to make my first meh purchase, tried to log in, had to reset password, got password reset.... and the Lightning cables are sold out.
Meh.
I bought one of these from TOCCs and it worked well for a couple days. Then NO. Unreliable even at this price. Lightning connection.
These things probably work great for PS4 Controllers!
Very sad. Tried to buy the lightning version of this last night, but it wouldn't work. Spin spin spin. Then come back today when I have time and boom, gonzo. I WANT YOU TO TAKE MY MONEY MEH! WHY WON'T YOU TAKE MY MONEY??? sad face
We got our set of 4 10-ft lightning cables today. Each cable came in meh.com-branded packaging, which was weird. The description should really say "4 10(ish)-ft lightning cables" as there is a noticeable difference between each individual cord as far as length goes. The longest cord was about 11.5" longer than the shortest cord.
One of the cables would not charge my wife's iPad minis, but the other three worked flawlessly. We eventually figured out that one side of the lightning connector on the bad cable was dead or whatever. Flipping it over to the other side allowed it to charge fine.
Charging time for her 4 minis seems to be pretty much on par with what we got with the OEM lightning cables.
@mikey Any luck syncing? I had none, with two iPad mini 2s, two iPhone 5Ss and an iPod touch (er, 5? 6? has a lightning connector anyway).
@ytrozs We've never synced the iPads with anything. We've only ever used lightning cables for charging.
@mikey Gotcha. Seems like these are charge cables and shouldn't be used for much else.
@mikey I am sorry to hear one cable is not working properly. Feel free to email me at Imelda@toccs.com so we can arrange a free replacement.
@TOCCSREP I got my replacements and two more crapped out on me. One just stopped charging on either side. The other, the connector somehow fell apart and one of the silver flaps has separated, making it impossible to plug in. At this point, I think I'm just going to learn my lesson, cut my losses, and spend the extra money for a certified cord that's only 3ft long.
Just got mine! They are not branded by TOCCs, but rather by Meh themselves! Love it.
I totally agree it's frustrating when these don't work. We managed to sell quite a few of these suckers, so even if 1% of them are having issues we'll probably hear from a few more of you.
For what it's worth I'm happy with mine, and if they give me and trouble I can always use them to hang delicious jerky within mouth's reach.
Still, if you're having issues give us a shout through https://meh.com/support.
@JonT i did submit through there, you just don't reply
@michaelg04 we're a little bit behind on our normal 24 hour response time, but make sure you check your spam filter just in case we did try to reply.
@JonT ok no problem will give some time, thanks
For all the people complaining about the "Not Charging" notification coming up on iOS when you try using the Lightning connector version, that's normally Apple's fault. They want you to buy their cables. But you can probably get a refund, so Meh.
@ThorsBanHammer Also I got my 4 Micro USB cables in today and they all work for all my devices. Money well spent.
To anyone that grabbed the lightning cables and is jailbroken. Use the repo http://cydia.angelxwind.net/ and install mikoto. She has a tweak in there for supporting unsupported cables.
Only opened one and it's charging my Air 2 just fine right now, but I also have the aforementioned tweak installed on all of my devices.
Well the Air 2 got to about 80% and the cable seems to no longer charge it and keeps getting the "Not Charging" issue. So even with a hack to get around the non supported issue, they're still crap. What kind of refunds are being given on these wastes of $$$?
@airjer These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
@TOCCSREP I bought 12 and they're all the same. All my devices are the latest models. 1 Air 2, 2 6+'s, and a 5s. They all pretty much act the same way.
I bought a cheap amp-meter from Amazon, and tested out one of my lightning cables. It only registered about 0.3 amp, when plugged into a 1.0 amp official apple charge block. Confirming what others have reported. With a 6-foot Monoprice lightning cable, I got about 0.7 amp, using the same charger and phone.
@antmangaka I finally took my cable apart to see what was wrong in the defective section. It actually looks okay. The nick in the red wire was caused by me when I was stripping the outer insulation.
I will have to get out the multimeter next to see amp loads and voltages.
@cengland0 Since you've already cut up the cable, go the next step, and strip the wires. You will notice that the power wires, colored red and black, are thin. The green and white wires for data are even thinner. The red and black wires have 16 strands each (someone with good eyesight please check my counting). The green and white wires have only 7 strands.
Did you find the fault in the cable with a wire tracker, a TDR, or by inspection? Wire trackers are also called tone sets, wire tracers, and a bunch of other terms. Harbor Freight sells one with a list price of $24.99. HF inflates their list prices and frequently puts stuff on sale for less. http://www.harborfreight.com/cable-tracker-94181.html
TDRs are Time-Domain Reflectometers, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-domain_reflectometer . They have the advantage that they will report where all of the defects are in the cable up to the first break. Ones that can report issues to the nearest centimeter cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Alas, I don't own one.
I only bought the USB cables, since I have no iDevices. Did anyone have a USB cable fail after a few days, or was it just the Lightning cables that did that? The Lightning cables have a chip in them. That complex circuitry provides a whole lot of potential failure modes. I myself have designed circuits that only worked for a day before failing. If I can do it, it must be easy. On the other hand, I don't see how to make something like the micro USB version of the cable work for a few days before failing.
@hamjudo the cables I bought are the USB Micro cables. It did seem to work initially but failed soon after. I have not had a chance to test the volts or amps in the cable with a standard 5v 2.1A adapter. I will post my findings as soon as I get a chance. Sorry for the delay.
Has anyone got replacements that work?
@maderagirl Out of the 6 I got altogether (4 original, 2 replacements), only 1 is still working (1 of the originals). Just drop $8 on a real cord and live happier. :)
@maderagirl @TOCCSREP We received 5-foot replacements (we didn't need the monster length for every application), which have mostly been working well. One has started to get a little flaky and not work all of the time. Honestly, I'd have to say that I'm happy. In total, we've gotten what we bargained for and--indeed--at a bargain. I think one or two of our originals are still mostly working too.
These really sucked for me, like many people. Issues charging with a BRAND NEW iPhone 6, an iPhone 5, and an iPhone 5s at work, at home, at a friend's house. Meh.com you really lost my credibility on this one.
@brucecolbert Did you contact support or page @toccsrep about these? You probably don't have them now, but if you do, it's worth a try.
I LOOOOOOVE Meh, but these cords lacked some to be desired. They worked great at first and I thought I wasn't going to be tethered to my usual 3 ft away from my phone charger.... However after a few months use they quit working, I'm not sure what the issue was? But over all they were so cheap that the time I did use them, they were well worth the money!
Specs
Condition - New
Warranty - 90 Day Meh
Ships Via - FedEx SmartPost
What’s in the Box?
4x TOCCs 10ft Bungee micro USB cables
or
4x TOCCs 10ft Bungee 8-pin Lightning cables
Pictures
Micro USB cables
8-pin Lightning cables
Retail boxes
Charges Androids
…and anything with a Lightning port
Howdy from Carrollton, Texas
Price Check
$138 at TOCCs (For 4)
Warranty
90 days
Kinda meh that they aren't MFi certified, but if they work for charging I'll be happy. At 10ft they'll reach any seat in the living room.
@mediocrebot
Do not want
@thatchris got mine. Won't charge any iOS device I own. Useless waste of money.
@thatchris They don't work for charging. They are completely worthless
@jasonbecker Mine charge just fine when connected to an A/C adapter. They don't charge for shit via USB.
@mediocrebot Had one work for a couple hours, and then stop. Bummer. But then, I paid $2.50 per...
Meh, you really suck at taking my money tonight. I'm trying to spend money here and you won't take it. What's up with that?
@PurplePawprints They are charging the servers with these cords.
weird
Jeez, 15 minutes to load the page?? Anywho, these are of mild interest to me, but I seem to recall some folks mentioning that they had issues with data dropouts due to the 10' length. Thoughts?
At first I thought, "I don't need these; every charger I have came with a cable," buuut then I realized many of them are only 3 or 4 feet long, making the devices difficult to use while plugged into the wall. In for 1, also because VMP.
All my electronics are outdated, I need 30-pin and mini USB Chargers. But I do know others who can use these. unhelpful-whipped-governor
If I could get two of each I'd probably bite - but I don't need four of one kind.
@ilovereality Sell the rest on Craigslist
Does not come in purple. Pass.
@killdevil purple and georgia red have already been taken, you need to pick a different color.
@killdevil I recommend fuscia.
I love purple.
@Ignorant purple is the poor man's Georgia Red
I love purple
Check your "meh" face. Something went terribly wrong and mine disappeared. But I clicked again later and got it back.
this thread saved me from buying crap. thank you.........meh
Pity the rest of the world is not recognised in the shipping details. meh.
Ooh, do we have a new speaker dock contender? These seem to be selling well.
Pass. When I reach for a charging cord during the day, I need it to charge quickly. The only time this would work for me is at night, but my charger is already set up in our headboard shelves.
If they came with a horse/dino to lasso, I'd reconsider.
Ugh. Really want to jump on these, but I've had significant issue with quality on off-brand Lightning cables. Hate to do it, but meh and pass. Foo.
futile-rushing-copper
I guess they are trying to tell me something...
But, I have the 6 footers, and they work fine, a little stiff is all.
imperfect-mechanical-owl
@djjedi Hootie hoo, Bubo!
What Huxley said.
Meh Meh Meh!
Meh. Sketchy Lightning Cables are Sketchy.
Aren't the lightnings sold out anyway?
I got a couple of these from a groupon deal, $15 for 2 lightning cables. Neither are liked for charging by my iPhone 6, not certified. Definite MEH
Are 8-pin Lighting Cables sold out? I can't choose the option from the checkout modal...
I always need more micro USB cables. These are handy for charging the Xbone/PS4 controllers.
The price is good but I only buy iPad chargers now. iPad chargers can charge an iPhone from 10% to full in, like, 20 minutes. Crazy! Unfortunately, I don't believe these will charge an iPad at all and the charge on the iPhone is too slow.
If they were MFI, that would be a good deal. Since they aren't, though, you can buy the same crappy thing on Ebay for half the price.
Are 8-pin lighting Cables sold out?
Can't select the Lightning cables... are they sold out? That would be good to tell people.
@Skidmark Yes, it is sold out since the option is gone. Dailysteals.com may have some lightning cables.
Trying to order, but getting an address verification error. Anyone know what I can do?
@sflesch Type in your address exactly the same way your credit card company has it in their records.
@cengland0 As far as I know. I tried a few different iterations, but nothing worked. It's not like it's a complicated address. Unless it's something like they have the full 9 digit zip code or something. That's being awful particular compared to anywhere else.
@cengland0 And I did call the bank and read them what I had on the screen.
@sflesch Sorry. At least you don't have to feel alone with this problem. There are other threads specific to this issue. Like this one: https://meh.com/forum/topics/anyone-else-cant-put-in-their-billing-address
deadpan-mighty-puffin
Lightning at 3:38AM Central
In for two so that's eight. Some for me, some for stockings for family with a disclaimer "These might be crappy. Blame meh."
Damn-lightning connector cables are sold out ?
I'm trying to order, but I keep getting a card declined message. I've tried 3 different cards and 2 different addresses. I've also emailed support, and no response...
Too bad not MFI (and OOS lol)
My first Meh, & im a VMP too. Meh.
This was my first meh buy so not sure what to expect for shipping speed. My tracking is still in the 'label created' phase,.. Anyone else?
@heli0s Got mine via USPS today.
@heli0s yeah, mine is, too. I'm not too worried yet, but if it hasn't changed by Monday night I'll probably contact Support. If you get antsy and contact them sooner, let me know their answer?
@derpandabar I'm also in the "label created" stage. I assume the warehouse team was working the fire extinguishers during the server meltdowns last week... hopefully there'll be some movement today. (I got micro USB... looks like the reviews so far are for the Apple cables so maybe that made a difference. Or not.)
@editorkid I'm in this same boat as well. Hoping to see them shipped soon. Tracking still says estimated ship date of 11/13/14
@heli0s meh is not known for speed. First you get a FED EX mailing label. Eventually it goes there and goes some of it;s journey that way. Then it gets transferred to the UPSP and then if you are very lucky, the stars align just so, and you don't piss off the gods your stuff eventually shows up at your doorstep. Actually the few things I have ordered have shown up well packed and in good shape. It just has taken several weeks. Speed is not their forte.
Just tried out our set of 4 cables. none would sync, but they would charge (just not through the Mac USB port). but since I bought them primarily for charging at work .... they should work out well.
@oppodude Yeah, same experience here. I'll just keep my precious (preciousssssss) MFi and original Apple cables safe for syncing and sprinkle these around the house and cars for charging. Easy peasy.
These won't charge my iPad mini or my iPhone 6. Awesome.
@cestrate Are you using the higher-powered iPad charger? I know my iPad mini said "Not Charging" when it was plugged into a USB port on my iMac, but when I used the specific charger it worked fine. Don't expect them to actually sync though. Something goes wrong with that.
@ytrozs Even when using the oem iPad charger it says "not charging". With my phone it works for a few minutes and then there is an error message and it stops charging.
@cestrate Weird. I tried some of the other cables in my bundle, and some work with the iPad, and some are giving me the same "Not Charging" message, regardless of source. However, in most cases, that means that it's just charging veeeerrrrrryyy slooooowwwwwwlllllllyyyy. But if there's a full on error message, that's pretty clearly bad news. Maybe iPhone 6 is trying to draw more whatevers than my 5S?
@cestrate These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
These have been hit and miss. The micro USB cords seem fine, but all the apple cords have stopped working. Sometimes I can get one to charge my iPad mini if I hold the cord just so, but a light breeze will make it show he error message and stop charging.
Mine still haven't shipped as of 11/17. FedEx page says estimated shipping 11/11/14. Wonder if they're making more?
@KDemo I think it's time to contact support via halp@meh.com
@Thumperchick -You're right, it can't hurt to ask.
@KDemo and @Thumperchick. Mine hasn't shipped either. Meh says, "Shipped." Fedex says: "Shipping label has been created. The status will be updated when shipment begins to travel." USPS says, "Not Found."
@KDemo Same for me. Same status' as @cengland0
Mine don't charge my iphone 5 at all so far. Followed instructions for uncertified cables, still didn't work. Any tips?
@NickC360 try with a 2amp charger to see if it's line length reducing below minimum amperage. Also for grins try flipping the connector around to see if that changes anything.
@NickC360 Same with mine NickC360. Flipping it around didn't work either.
@NickC360 I am sorry to hear your order is not working properly. Feel free to email me at Imelda@toccs.com so we can arrange a free replacement.
Just got my cables. They are in a Meh. Branded box. I don't need any more collectors items.
I received mine and have tried all four in the usb port of my mac laptop which works for other cables. Not a single one of them works. I get pulsing on and off in about 1/2 second intervals or no charging at all. My first purchase from Meh.com and I'm not very happy with it. Hopefully I can arrange a refund.
@curtwitt None of mine work properly. One of them is broken near the USB plug and has exposed wiring. My phone was at 50% battery about two hours ago; when I plugged it in, my battery widget estimated it would take 8 and and a half hours to charge to full. I left it in for two hours out of curiosity, and yeah, six and a half hours left now. I'm gonna contact them now and get a refund because this is ridiculous. Selling things for cheap doesn't excuse selling them broken.
@curtwitt I am revising my assessment. For some reason none of these cables work in either of the USB ports of my MacBook Air but they do work in my 15" MacBook Pro running all the same software. I get not just a charging connection but a data connection. Furthermore, they work in my car audio system for both charging and audio. Perhaps expectedly, they work in my charging block. So, I do have a use for them, it is just device specific. Also, so you know, Meh.com did offer a refund.
@curtwitt These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
Got mine. Charging and syncing seems to be working with my iPhone 5 w/8.1.1
Spoke too soon... syncing is not working.
@tonylegrone Please email me at Imelda@toccs.com so we can get a free replacement arranged.
Mine charged for about 10 seconds. Then they stopped and are not even recognized. Meh
@nacheen I am sorry to hear your order is not working properly. Feel free to contact me at Imelda@toccs.com so we can arrange a free replacement.
2 out of 4 micro USB don't charge my phone, haven't tested the other 2 so they are probably the same. Lightning don't seem to charge that great either. Has anybody had success on getting a refund? I haven't tried yet but I'm planning on it.
@Derock Yep, they will refund defective cords
@Derock These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
Eh, I never expected them to sync. Thought they might charge OK, though.
The two-meter Apple Lightning cable had a peak draw of about 19 watts charging my iPad Air 1, the meh cables drew a max of 7 watts. I think the Air expects at least 10 watts to not show the "Not Charging" message.
If you have 100% charge and are running your Air on the lowest brightness in airplane mode, it seems to consume around 2.5 watts when not processing anything. So, I'll keep my cables for possible use in complete darkness. They ARE nice cables. Haven't tested the microUSB yet.
Bought 4...lightning cables; came today. NONE of them work. All give me the "not charging" indication. WTF Meh...all clever and everything...but the shit you sell should work...at least for a day or two. What a POS PITA. Guess I'll stick to drink cups from now on...I mean, you can't ruin those, can you?! CAN YOU?!?!
@clarinetbob almost certainly (given same with all four) this is the cable length + power draw issue using a 1 amp USB port. If you have a 2 amp / 10 watt output type charger (iPad for instance) then it would solve the issue. Basically in pushing the envelope with the 10 foot length and not a higher quality gauge, this seems to be the result. Power is getting through but some iPhones are saying meh to the available watts after friction reduces them below a minimum.
if that answer sucks, and I'm sure it does at least a bit, contact our support for refund as clearly other units aren't going to help. TOCCs also has some support options if you want to see what they say.
@snapster not true, i'm using the 12W apple charger and get not charging with my ipad
@michaelg04 AGREE!! Using the STOCK Apple iPAD charger (the "big" one), NONE of the cables charge the iPad.
@snapster That's what sucks about Meh. You are lone staffer said they were working for him. Maybe some people think it's funny..eft out to swing on your own if the crap you buy doesn't work. Read the TOCC?! Really?! Great customer support. I mean, you guys are all funny and culty and have some swagger...but when it gets right down to it, you fully sell stuff you know doesn't work - or at least you could care less if it doesn't. Didn't you try these with an ipad? I remember reading the comments before I bought them, and the staffer said they worked. Some people may think it's funny or cool...oh well, bought something cheap and it didn't work. ha ha. Well, I think that's beyond Meh...it's downright fraud in some cases (in MY opinion). I'm sure I'll get some snarky comments from the coolaid-drinking Mehians. Bring it on...
@clarinetbob
@editorkid exactly...
@clarinetbob Why snark at someone who uses CAPSLOCK instead of just writing support? halp@meh.com
@Thumperchick I did...yesterday. No response. How's the COOL-AID?
@Thumperchick [IMG]
[/IMG]
@clarinetbob Wow. Maybe you shouldn't buy things here anymore. @snapster is the CEO and told you why he thought they didn't work. He also said you would have your money refunded so you don't have to worry about that. Also he didn't say "read the tocc" he said you could contact TOCC as in the company who made the cables if you wanted a different solution than just having your money returned. Sheesh.
@clarinetbob Aww come on, you can find a better gif than that, you have the whole internet. Also, you don't need img tags, just post the images direct link.
@clarinetbob *Some*thing bothers *some*one more than it should...
@Thumperchick Seriously!? I thought it was an excellent find, given the text of my message. Oh well. And thanks for the tip on posting pics. You're AWESOME. (you see what I did there with the CAP LOCK?).
@clarinetbob No problem.
@Thumperchick I'll always consider you goat emeritus. :-)
I agree with @clarinetbob . About the swagger. Not about anything else, but he's right about the swagger. Swagger.
@clarinetbob tl;dr
should've read the TOCC
@clarinetbob I am sorry to hear your order is not working properly. Feel free to email me at Imelda@toccs.com so we can arrange a free replacement.
Absolutely worthless. When I plug it in, my 5S starts buzzing non-stop, and neither charges nor syncs. I want my money back.
@bradenthomas These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
Got mine a couple of days ago, but haven't had a chance to test them yet. Hoping they work properly!
Haven't' tested mine yet though I will. Still not sure what I was thinking when I hit the button on ..... well never mind how many or what I'm planing (christmas Scarves) I found this when I looked up the company www.resellerratings.com/store/TOCCs
TL;DR I'm awesome and TOCCs is only 0.01 out of 10
@Foxborn We joined the ratingsellers community last month and have address the few negative reviews on there. As you can see the majority of our recent reviews have been positive. If you have any questions please contact me at Imelda@toccs.com
Got my micro USB pack on Friday and have tested 3 of 4 so far... These things work for charging but are EXTREMELY slow. 2 of the cables I've tried seem to only sustain the current battery level, but don't add additional charge. I plugged my phone in when it was at 22% charge, and continued using it to play games, browse, etc. When it was still at 22% by the time I went to bed I thought maybe I was just using too much power for it to charge up. Woke up the next morning to see it STILL at 22% (with the charging icon rolling.) I tried two more yesterday with slightly better results. Plugged the phone in at 54% last night and woke up this morning (after 9 hours of charging) to find it at 92%. I'll try the fourth cable today, but am expecting more meh. These may be good for emergency use but definitely wont do for everyday use...
@heli0s These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
It's been over 3 weeks and I still haven't got my cables in. I really hope they get here this year.
@clonetek uh yeah...that's not right. Head over to https://meh.com/support and we'll figure this out for you.
@JonT ok, sent another message. I doubt it'll do anything to speed up shipping tho.
Too bad this cables stopped working after 1 week, now they won't charge my Nexus 5. Oh they only gave 300-400 mA :(
@antmangaka Same thing happened to me and I think one of the wires inside fried. There was some external cable damage so the wire probably exploded and some of the filling (which looks like cotton) came out of the bungee insulation. I plan on carefully taking it apart at that exact point to see exactly what happened.
These non-charging issue can root from many factors, including the power source, the wattage of the outlet or port and the phones age. Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
All four died (or arrived DOA) in less than a month. :(
Screwed again!!!
@hcbaldy the @TOCCSREP might be able to help: Please email me at imelda@toccs.com with a brief description of your issue and we'll arrange a free replacement.
the few I have tried of my 14 are kinda Meh I think I have a not so great outlet and that's not helping but nothing that's totally DOA.......
Yet (seriously there are 14 of them I can't do that overnight)
The 4 lightning cables no longer work after the iOS update to 8.1.2. What a ripoff--I guess I should have known that it was too good to be true.
@bkobkobko I thought folks expected to be ripped off by every Apple upgrade...
@mehjohnson
@nadroj This made me lol. I have a love hate relationship with apple for his very reason.
I think the question is, "Is it a lightning cable or isn't it?" Having been advertised as a lightning cable, it certainly feels like unfair and deceptive business practices by the seller of the cable to have it become useless after an OS upgrade.
@bkobkobko s/seller/manufacturer/g
All four of mine worked great for the first week or so. Now none of them will charge my iphone. I dont even need them to sync, but I cannot even charge with the cables anymore :(
I can't wait to get my cables. I wish I hadn't screwed up my zip code on my shipping address. >.>
@clonetek don't worry. they won't work anyway