In my house, we have a lot of gadgets: cell phones, smartphones, iPods, GPS devices, and more. One of these gadgets always needs to be charged, and more often than not, I have a tangle of gadgets, chargers, and power cords near my electrical outlets.
There has to be an easier way to charge my devices. Right? Enter the Chargepod. This handy little device can charge up to six of your gadgets at once, all while eliminating the rat's nest of cords and chargers that you'd ordinarily encounter.
Simple Setup
The main part of the Chargepod system is the $40 base station, which is a silver disc, about the size of a cookie. It comes with a cord that you plug into any electrical outlet. To set up the Chargepod, you plug its cord into an outlet and attach the other end to the base station. It's truly simple.
After that, all you need to do is connect the necessary adapters to your devices, and plug them into the Chargepod base station. The base station features blue lights that illuminate to tell you when your devices are successfully connected and charging.
Most Smartphones Supported
Callpod's Chargepod
Photo courtesy CallpodCallpod, the company that makes the Chargepod, offers adapters for almost any device you can think of.
The adapters are about 2 to 3 inches long, and they hold your gadgets close to the Chargepod, which keeps the whole system looking neat and tidy.
Supported devices include:
The list goes on from there. Callpod says it continues to work on developing adapters that work with new phones and gadgets as they appear.
Put to the Test
I tested the Chargepod by connecting an iPhone, an iPod, a BlackBerry 8820 smartphone, a Sidekick Slide; a BlackBerry 8330 smartphone; and a Nokia 3555 cell phone. Each of the necessary adapters (supplied by Callpod for the purposes of this review) worked easily.
The only issue I had in my testing was with the Sidekick Slide phone, which is actually manufactured my Motorola. The Sidekick adapter didn't work with it, but when I swapped it out for a Motorola adapter, I was in business.
Pretty Pricey
My only complaint about this system is the price, which can be steep, depending on how many gadgets you want to charge. The $40 base station includes one adapter; each additional adapter is $10. If you purchase five additional adapters, that will run your $90. That's a little steep.
Callpod does offer an $80 starter pack, which includes the base station and six of the company's most popular adapters (ones that support devices from Apple, Motorola, BlackBerry, Nokia, Palm, and Sony). This package also includes the car charger for the base station, which costs $20 on its own.
In my profession, my desk is always stacked with gadgets and phones that I'm reviewing, so the Chargepod is especially handy. But you don't need to be a cell phone reviewer to appreciate this device. Any family with a couple of phones, MP3 players, and a GPS device will like the way the Chargepod cuts out the cable clutter.