Customer Reviews

Cingular Dual Desktop Charger

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As far as I'm concerned, this is a must have accessory for anyone who needs to charge batteries for other family members or wants to keep spare batteries charged. For many years, I have needed to go without my cell phone while it has been plugged in charging batteries. This is not necessary any more with this unit.

I can't say that the instructions are "for dummies", but it shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the important parts. It comes with three battery adapters that are not labeled and the instructions say nothing more than "Attach the proper battery adapter..." Well, if the battery doesn't fit snugly into one of the adapters, or doesn't fit at all, obviously, it's the wrong adapter. Make sure that the contacts on the battery align with and make contact with the contacts in the adapter.

The battery gets charged in the adapter in the back of the unit. There is a green LED that blinks while the battery is being charged. When the LED becomes solid green, the battery is greater than 90% charged. Leaving the battery in the charger longer than that does not provide an indication that the battery is 100% charged (I left mine in the charger for another two or three hours). Other LED indications (colors, etc.) are provided on the back of the unit.

I also charged my Motorola E815 phone in the front of the unit. When I first did that, the backlight stayed on so I could easily monitor the charging status. During subsequent charges, the backlight did not stay on, so I must have changed something without knowing it. However, the charger does hold the phone in such a manner that the screen is more readily visible for monitoring charging status. The LED indications do not function for phone charging. Use the status on your phone's screen for that.

The product's description says that the battery charging base can be detached and used in conjunction with a power supply as a battery only charger. I haven't been able to figure out how to detach the battery charging base and I'm not going to force anything and possibly break the unit just to see how that works. I'm taking the entire unit when I travel anyway. The dimensions are about 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 x 1 1/4, so it doesn't take that much space.

One other small FYI - the base that the phone plugs into is adjustable back and forth to accommodate different phone sizes (thicknesses).