It has been far too long since I have posted anything there. It has been a crazy several months. Things are settling down a bit (even with the holidays upon us) and I am getting back into my blogging. If you aren’t a subscriber to Computerized Investing, you are missing out on a wealth of information. If you are looking to buy a new computer this holiday season, I gave my recommendations in the November CI On-Line Exclusive. I have also been posting monthly reviews of tech products and accessories, which are accessible by CI subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Some of my recent reviews include the Incase Convertible Book Jacket for the iPad, Das Keyboard Model S (the best computer keyboard I have ever used) and the Powermat 2x Wireless Charging Mat.

I am a little less than a week into my Apple iPad 3G experience and I am, for the most part, very impressed with this little piece of technology. One this I have noticed, however, is whenever I attach it to a computer via USB, the screen says that it is not charging. The same goes for when I attempt to charge it using my new Powermat 2x Charging Mat (reviews of this will be coming soon). The funny thing is, eventually it DOES charge. Today I found an article on this topic from Gizmodo, that seems to explain what’s going on.

According to the article, Consumer Reports was told by Apple support that the device is designed to charge using the included wall plug (I don’t remember getting one of those…). It goes on to cite an “anonymous Apple employee”, who told them that the iPad won’t charge using most USB ports because it requires 10W of power to charge it. If my math is correct, a standard USB port provides 2.5W of power so, yes, that would be a problem.

My experience, as well as some others I have run across on the blogosphere, it that the iPad will charge plugged into a USB port once the screen shuts off. It just takes longer.