Callpod Chargepod
August 16th, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak
Full Review
Features and Design The Callpod Chargepod's power adapter - the one that plugs in to the electrical outlet - is about three to four times the mass of the hub itself. It's a little larger than one would expect, but it'll easily fit into laptop bags, purses, carry-on luggage, etc. Luckily, the thin charging cord is just over 6 feet long, so you can plug in the wall unit far away and forget about it. As mentioned above, the hub has six outbound charging ports, each of which accepts a proprietary mini-USB-style cable. These cables/connectors, while proprietary on one side, have the most common charging heads for today's devices on the opposite ends. You'll find universal mini-USB, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola/blackberry, LG, standard USB, and plenty of other charging connectors available through the Chargepod section of Callpod’s website. All these charging adapters mean that you'll rarely find a modern device that can't be charged from the Callpod Chargepod. Because I'm a gadget magnet, I have plenty of devices to keep charged all the time. I typically wind up with USB charging solutions, which I really like. The only downside to this is the fact that all my USB ports get taken up charging things instead of being available for external drives, printers, and more. The Callpod Chargepod frees my USB ports for actual computing use. Included with the Callopd Chargepod are a base station (the charging hub itself), power cable, carrying pouch, and user manual. You'll have to buy all the various charging adapters separately, which seems to be the only real drawback to the whole Callpod Chargepod system. The Callpod Chargepod is about $39.95 USD for the charging hub. The charging hub AND adapters start at a custom pricing of $49.95 USD. Adapters cost roughly $9.95 when purchased à la carte, though Callpod's website has some promotional offerings that allow you to get one or more adapters for free. Because we all have different gadgets to charge, it's really best for each person to custom-configure his or her Chargepod setup. In short, device and prices may vary.
The Callpod Chargepod is a thin, circular charging hub that offers six charging ports for countless variations of devices like cell phones, PDAs, portable gaming devices, MP3 players, etc…The hub itself is no thicker than a Motorola RAZR phone (roughly 3/4" thick) and can easily fit in the palm of one's hand. The Callpod Chargepod is made of shiny, silvery molded plastic and looks very fitting next to a MacBook Pro or one of the new Apple iMacs. It does not, however, connect to a PC, so anyone can use it no matter what OS they prefer.
The Callpod Chargepod in action
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by Carrie on December 31, 2007:
“Ads and the package list compatibility with several brand names. Problem is that any one of those brand names may utilize a number of different connector types. Your gadgets may NOT fit the ones included in the package. We had four of the types listed on the...” More...