OrionGadgets Charging Cradle

[Fresh330]

Hey all,

Haven't really be on this forum much but I came across this dock on Amazon. It's much cheaper then the OEM one and it comes with a AC adaptor, USB cable, and supports 2nd battery. Anyone try this out? Might be worth a shot for the price. Only thing it doesn't mention is if it enables multimedia mode when seated in the cradle.

Amazon.com: Motorola Droid USB Sync & Charge Cradle (with AC Charger) (w/ 2nd battery support) (Free OrionGadgets Neckstrap): Cell Phones & Service

[leftbrain99]

Looks very similar to the OEM one. What do you do with the neckstrap, though? I don't see a place to attach it to the phone.

[Shadez]

Looks nice, but are you like supposed to stand next to the outlet with it hanging around your neck? What the functionality? Or is it just like a free promotional gift to be used with something else?

[Fresh330]

Looks very similar to the OEM one. What do you do with the neckstrap, though? I don't see a place to attach it to the phone.

It's probably just a cheap "gift" they include with your purchase. Like the lanyard's you get at freshman orientation in college... college, oh how I miss you.

[OrionGadgets]

Hey all,

Haven't really be on this forum much but I came across this dock on Amazon. It's much cheaper then the OEM one and it comes with a AC adaptor, USB cable, and supports 2nd battery. Anyone try this out? Might be worth a shot for the price. Only thing it doesn't mention is if it enables multimedia mode when seated in the cradle.

Amazon.com: Motorola Droid USB Sync & Charge Cradle (with AC Charger) (w/ 2nd battery support) (Free OrionGadgets Neckstrap): Cell Phones & Service

Hi, I appreciate your interest in OrionGadgets Droid Charging Cradle. FYI, you sure can use multimedia mode while the phone is in the cradle. I'd be happy to answer any other questions regarding OrionGadgets Droid accessories anyone might have.

[eltoddo]

I bought this cradle as a more cost effective desktop cradle than the Motorola one, and I'm very dissatisfied so far!

Firstly, it struck me as odd that the cradle plugs into the wall with an AC to Mini-USB connection (thankfully it comes with the right plugs). Unfortunately most engineers who have worked with cell phones or small-form-factor USB connectors know Mini-USB to be mechanically flawed compared to the Micro-USB like the phone itself takes. This seemed like a cost saving measure and technically still allows the dock to be used with a computer's USB port.

Secondly is a severely irritating flashing red LED. When the unit is plugged into wall AC power, the indicator light for the second battery charger shows green but very annoyingly flashes red 3 or 4 times a second. The only way to stop it is by putting an extra battery there. If there isn't a battery to charge it should just be off! Basic user interface theory says that a user interface should never get in the way or be a distraction, but compliment the use of the system its designed for.

Finally and most frustratingly, the touch screen on my phone doesn't work when the Droid X is resting normally (charging position) in the cradle! It seems that the phone's capacitive touch screen loses whatever voltage reference it needs to detect a finger on the screen when in the cradle. This is the same problem that keeps the touch screen from working in the car sometimes, or you rest it on just the wrong surface and try and interact with the screen.

*** Update: March 29, 2011 *** It's far worse than this after trying to deal with this problem the last couple months. Not only does the screen lock up, but it also suffers from phantom "touching" while in the OrionGadgets cradle. It's very strange, but sometimes I'll put the phone in the dock and I'll hear the haptic feedback periodically make a noise. Often the display won't change, but it's annoying when you're trying to sleep and randomly the haptic feedback sound kicks in the phone. On really bad nights, I'll wake up to the Winamp app playing music, or some other application open on the phone. This never happens in my Motorola car dock. Tried bringing the dock to work and it does the same strange behavior there.


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This charger was designed by people who seemed to care about delivering a quality product, but the quality suffers because the engineers don't have experience designing for touch-screen based phones and didn't do any market testing before shipping. I'd steer clear of this one if you're considering it. I regret my decision to buy it.
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*** Update: March 29, 2011 ***
Hmm, I find it interesting that the OrionGadgets user hasn't responded to this post. No matter, after dealing with the device for the last couple months, I'm sick of the problem and am chucking the dock and going with a Motorola dock. The Motorola dock in my car has been working great so I'm expecting the desktop dock to be likewise.

As an additional comment, DO NOT buy this OrionGadgets dock if you are using the extended battery for your droid X. The millimeter or so added thickness was obviously not taken into consideration into the cradle's industrial design (see my note above). It will fit if you jam the phone into the cradle, but I'm not going to risk damaging my phone's USB charging port, I've dealt with enough of that on my old Blackberry devices.

[tnronin]

Thought I would add, I purchased one of these and they shipped me the Droid2 model. I couldn't use it with my D1 with the D2 extended battery. I was lucky and a fellow teacher had a D2 and could use it. I'm just going to have to stay with my home made wooden cradle.

Regarding the touch screen issue in the cradle, I think that might have something to do with the battery. I put a stronger magnet in my homemade cradle and I don't have the problem with the touch screen.

[sicklysuite]

I own this cradle and here is my review. This cradle is... meh, ok, aside from...

1. The bright ass disco led's. I appreciate that they were trying to visually show connectivity and charge completion... but a simple green light when the second battery was fully charged would have sufficed.

2. The Mini USB connection in the back of the cradle. It maybe just the unit I got but it seemed like it never made a solid connection. Felt a little loose....

3. The USB AC Adapter. This thing is a real turd. A piece of crap. I don't know what company they bought these from, but they must have a gotten a REALLY good deal on them, if ya know what I mean. Mine failed... well it got SUPER hot so I unplugged it and haven't used it again. And again the AC Adapter had a bright ass red led on it... for what?!

Ok with all that said, here is something to take into consideration if you are looking to purchase this thing or, alternatively, if you already own this thing.

1. This is pretty much the only charger this style. I saw a couple of cradle/charge and second battery charging devices and they looked way jankier than this one, and none of them actually "docked" the phone.

2. The unit itself seems like it is actually of a more durable build. It sports a more "expensive" look than anything I've seen other than the Motorola OEM cradle... but of course the OEM doesn't offer a second battery slot, which honestly is pretty indispensable, at least to me.

3. It is inexpensive... I picked mine up from Amazon for 21 bones. Nice find considering all the negatives listed above.

So here is something I found. If you have another USB AC Adapter... use it. It will fix the touchscreen being unresponsive. I think the POS adapter they send with the unit just doesn't have the correct wiring internally or it can't handle the power draw. I used my old iPhone usb ac adatper and everything worked awesome, and I have had no problems since then. Also if you have another mini usb to standard usb hanging around, you will probably want to use that as well. It just seems like they cheaped out on those two things.

I hope this helps anyone trying to decide whether or not to purchase one and/or anyone who has one who has been trying to figure out why theirs' doesn't work.

So how would I rate this device?
- 1 Droid - Falling off a 10' ladder and going to the hospital is way better

- 2 Droid - Skinning up both knees is better

- 3 Droid - Sitting through a 3 hour time share presentation meeting is better

- 4 Droid - Not as good as seeing one of your ex's out somewhere and noticing they've gotten super fat

- 5 Droid - Only a few million real world situations could be better

I give this thing a 2.5 - Sitting through a time share presentation with skinned up knees might be better... because in the end at least you know you will get some band aids and a free vacation out of the whole thing.

Orion Gadgets. You need to chuck every single one of the ac adapters you have with these. AC Adapter FAIL.