By Andy Mason (Warthog)
Reviewer

Product: Gomadic Quad Charger

Developer/Vendor: Gomadic
Price: US $49.95
Rating 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Have you seen the TV commercial touting IBM's™ Bladeservers? It's the one that begins with some IT guy peering out an office window through a pair of binoculars spying a Godzilla-sized orb overtaking the skyline of his city. "What is it?" he wonders out loud?  "It looks like a giant ball of cables!" someone says of the rapidly expanding sphere.  "Save us from all the cables!"� [Cut from the screaming IT masses to the IBM Bladeserver; end of commercial.]

Well, if you live in a household with 4 kids ranging in age from 12-19, like I do, or you are a gadget freak in a league of your own then you know one of the biggest drawbacks of owning multiple gadgets is the aggravation of trying to keep all of the proprietary chargers organized for easy access and usage.  I have to admit that I am a bit intimidated by the rat's nest of cables that confronts me each time I open my desk drawer looking for a particular charger.  "Please, someone save me from all the cables!"� [Cut from the frantic reviewer to Gomadic's Quad charger; end of frustration.]

Gomadic touts the Quad charger as a smart and flexible solution to powering all of your rechargeable devices.

Fight Wall Warts And Tangleweed One Cord At A Time

No more wondering where you left your Treo or iPod. No more unattractive wall warts and tangleweed polluting your power strips and outlets. Gomadic's brand new Charging Station  was created to bridge the gap between technological efficiency and stunning home design. Compatible with Gomadic's innovative TipExchange Technology that works with thousands of mobile devices, the Charging Station gives you limitless options, providing a safe and tangle-free command center to charge 4 of your family's devices at once.

Not a power strip in disguise like other universal charging solutions, the Gomadic Charging Station offers a clean streamlined solution unseen in either the technology or home design markets. While other charging solutions simply hide your AC adapters in a fire-risky environment, Gomadic's uses one outgoing cord, offering a fire safe and ecologically sustainable solution to everyone from the chicest urbanite to the circuit salivating gadget aficionados we all know and love.

"Tangleweed" . . . I like that!

Package Contents:

My review sample arrived in a non-descript brown box. The Quad charger also came with the four tips that I had selected for my particular devices.

Testing Environment:

I have tips to allowing charging for the following devices using the Quad charger:

· iPod Video

· iPod Nano (3)

· Zune 30 and 80 (3)

· Dell Axim x51v

· Verizon LG VX8300 (2)

· HTC Mogul

· Dell Axim x30h

· Creative Zen 8GB

It's Charging Time:

Now we all know that in an ideal world all manufacturers would make their devices USB compatible and we would only need one cord to charge/sync every device we own. Or, if we wanted to charge multiple devices at once, we would only have to invest in a small and inexpensive powered USB hub and be set. (Okay, I'm not holding my breath for that to happen anytime soon — but a guy can dream, can't he?) In the meantime, multiple-device charging solutions that I have seen charge up to 6 devices at once, but require a significant amount of precious space on a desk or table top. Other manufacturers offer A/C or car chargers to accommodate powering two devices at a time. In my opinion, Gomadic has found the right balance in offering a quad charger with a relatively compact footprint.

The Quad Charger measures 14" x 8" x 3" and is made of a black plastic. There isn't much heft to this product.  In fact, The plastic on bottom and side panels is thin and feels somewhat brittle. There are four anti-skid rubber feet underneath the unit to prevent it from moving on smooth surfaces. I have had no issues with my Quad Charger moving from the desktop where I placed it, but I imagine if it were to accidentally be pulled from its perch or dropped in transit, it might survive a 3 foot fall onto carpet unscathed. However, a fall onto tile or another hard surface would almost certainly produce a Mosaic Quad Charger! Gomadic applied a non-slip foam pad to the tabletop area where your devices rest while charging. It has an A/C wall plug that can reach outlets up to 48 inches away when fully extended. When not fully extended, the extra cable is easily tucked away in the bottom of the unit.

Set-up was a snap, literally! Simply remove the Quad charger from its box, snap the device-specific Gomadic tip into the four charging ports, snap your four devices onto their powered charging tips and you are good to go. You can rejoice that in one fell swoop you have reclaimed 3 wall outlets in your home and you have eliminated 4 tangled strands from that "Tangleweed" in your desk drawer.

Conclusion:

Gomadic's Quad Charger provides a nice blend of form and function in a multi-charging device. It gives your desk or table top a more professional and organized look. The flexibility of the Quad Charger is one of its most compelling assets. Gomadic offers thousands of tips ensuring compatibility with almost any device on the market. Additionally, every tip used with the Quad Charger can also be mated to an optional Gomadic wall or car charger which means that you need only a handful of tips and a single power cord to charge your portable devices on your next road trip!

The Quad Charger is a versatile product at a decent price, with impeccable customer service and a lifetime guarantee. In my book that means Gomadic’s Quad Charger garners a 4.5/5 star recommendation!  I highly recommend this product.

Pros:

• Space-saving, outlet-freeing, and Tangleweed-reducing design
• Safety: less of a fire-risk than a concealed power-strip type charger
• Thousands of tips available to charge almost any device
• Backed by Gomadic's Lifetime warranty
• Money-saving: $6.00 for two tips vs. $20.00 or more (!) for a replacement proprietary cable.
• Portability: use tips with optional wall and car chargers, too.

Cons:

• If use more than 4 tips, there is a chance you could misplace one when it is not in use.
• I would love to see a storage drawer added to the unit to keep additional tips from being misplaced.
• The plastic bottom and side panels need to be sturdier
• It would be nice to see the Quad Charger offered in more colors than just the basic black.

Last Word:

Gomadic offers same day shipping on all their order. I always receive my orders within two days (shipping from VA to FL). 

Many thanks to our friends at Gomadic for supplying the review unit!