If there is one rule for modern life I would share with you all, it is ABC.

ABC - Always Be Charging

Whether it's you laptop, your Nintendo DS, or your mobile phone, you should take every opportunity to keep it fully charged.

As you might imagine we have a lot electronics at Cruft Manor to keep charged. I have tried many ways to keep the charging under control. I've built mini-charging stations for the girl's Nintendo devices. I tried to keep the the phone chargers straight and organized. But in the end, all became a tangle of wires.

I finally bit the bullet and invested in Chargepod from Callpod. And I choose the word invested carefully, the Chargepod is not cheap. Starting at $50, the Chargepod is a bit of a luxury item. You do not 'need' it as much as 'desire' it.

The Chargepod replaces all your chargers with a unified system. A single power supply plugs into the wall and feeds the hub. The hub splits the power to up to six different devices. You need an adapter from the hub to each different device. As you can see above, I have it charging 4 different mobile phones and a bluetooth headset.

The setup works great. Gone are the tangles. Every device has it's place. It all works smoothly. And it fits on the small table Michele bought for our phones to sleep on.

Callpod just released a new adapter for the iPhone that avoids the need for the USB cable.

The core issue is the need to purchase the adapter cables. With different connectors on devices, the number of different connectors for charging is huge. Callpod charges $10 a pop for adapter cables. That adds up quick. You can find some better deals on Amazon or eBay, but it's still expensive any way you buy it.

The only other thing is the glow. Electronics manufacturers are enamored with blue LEDs these days and find reason to stick them in everything. The Chargepod does not avoid this fate. The blue LED light up whenever a adapter is plugged in, meaning it's on all the time, filling our dining room at night with a low blue glow. I don;t think this is really necessary. Almost all devices tell you when they are being charged. We really don't need all these LED lights that don't tell me anything.

Overall, I'm happy with the Chargepod. It's a well made item that delivers on it's promise, but the price is too high for it's benefit, making it a welcome luxury, not an essential.

Posted by michael at April 27, 2008 10:28 AM