Griffin PowerDock 4 Four-Position Charging Station for iPod and iPhone (Aluminum)

by Griffin Technology

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 7.4 x 2.5 inches ; 1.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 39 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00152OB4I
• Item model number: 9805-MLTDCK4
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)

Product Description

Mp3, power dock 4 for ipod & iphone,

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice travel charger with integrated power supply, August 9, 2008

By 

A. KIMBALL "Alvino" (Salt Lake City, Utah USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Griffin PowerDock 4 Four-Position Charging Station for iPod and iPhone (Aluminum) (Electronics)

I love this product. When we travel, we have 2 iphones, an ipod touch, an ipod video classic, all that need charging. Going in and out of hotel rooms, we have always had to set up a laptop computer with USB cables and juggle charging phones and ipods. No More.

This beauty sits by the bedside when we are not traveling and keeps everything powered and ready. GREAT FEATURE: There is no walwart dongle with this unit... the power supply is built in, so the AC cord is simple and easy to wind, making this charger very portable.

It does not currently come with iphone 3G charging adapters, and we had to buy a package of 3 of these from Apple directly for an additional $9, plus shipping, plus state tax. (13.50 total).

I like the metal feel and the look of this unit too. Very sturdy. This is not for playing and syncing your ipod, charging only. I saw somebody else review this product, giving it only 1 star because it wouldn't sync... um, sounds like someone didn't read the clear description. Very unfair to give a product a low rating because you're too lazy to read carefully. I give this 5 out of 5 stars because it fits out needs so well.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but could be better, August 18, 2008

By 

Dhalver Xeno (Canada) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Griffin PowerDock 4 Four-Position Charging Station for iPod and iPhone (Aluminum) (Electronics)

Pros:

1. Does exactly as advertised. It charges 4 iPods/iPhones at the same time with a minimal amount of space and cabling.

2. Has a universal power supply built in making it good for international travel. Also, without a bulky external power adapter the setup essentially consists of the dock and the power cable.

3. You can pretty much plug ipods/iphones into the Powerdock without bothering to use the included dock adapters. Silicon gel type cases can remain on the ipod/iphone while docked, but I had to remove a hard shell case like the Contour Showcase in order to get it to fit into the slot.

Cons:

1. Questionable out of the box quality control. My unit works fine, but something is wrong with the top finish. It seems like something "splashed" onto it in the factory and there are "blotches" on the top finish. It's not a huge stain. It's more akin to taking a wet paint brush and carelessly "flicking" some paint residue onto the finish. Except in my case it's more like some sort of corrosive agent that caused the actual top case to have "stains" in certain scattered spots.

2. It's hard to tell when your ipod/iphone is done charging because there are no "charge" indicators. When my devices are docked all I see are 4 devices with black screens. There's no way of telling what is charged without "touching" a device to wake up the screen to see the charge indicator on the device itself. This unit would be better if there were individual indicator lights showing the charge status of each item connected to a dock. Granted, I could leave the backlighting on while charging, but it's such a pain to have to turn backlighting to "always on" just to see when it is done charging. Not to mention the fact that you will probably have to reset the backlighting after charging so that it isn't always on when you are using the device.

3. This is not necessarily a con, but more of a disclaimer. The picture that you see on the Amazon page for this product doesn't exactly match the actual color of the product. The picture gave me the impression that the dock was almost "Macbook white" in appearance. The griffin website gives a better impression of what it actually looks like ... but even the picture on the Griffin product page makes it look "brighter" than it actually is. In reality the top of the case has more of a dull, matte, gun powder grey finish. Griffin might have been trying to go for a "MacPro" kind of a look, but the MacPro has an ever so slight shine in the finish. Like I said this isn't necessarily a con, but it certainly didn't look like what I was expecting from all the pictures.

4. As has been already mentioned, it doesn't sync. I didn't take away points for this. But this product would certainly be better if it also synced with my Mac. Maybe syncing can't be engineered into the product at this price point, but I'd be willing to pay more for a product that gave me desktop charging and syncing all in the same footprint and I bet that there are others out there who would be willing to pay more too.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Product- Incorrect Weight, Inserts are poor, July 25, 2008

By 

Alan H. Hora "Hayes" (Collierville, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Griffin PowerDock 4 Four-Position Charging Station for iPod and iPhone (Aluminum) (Electronics)

I was thrilled when Griffin introduced this dock. I have 2 iPods and an iPhone 3G, and I juggle charging them all. I needed a dock for the new iPhone 3G since one doesn't come in the box, and Apple only sells the Universal Dock now for $49. BUT, you have to buy cables too! HA! Let me go pick some leaves on my MONEY TREE in the back yard.. So the Powerdock completely settles the need to charge multiple items, and it does also charge the new iPhone 3G. The inserts that pop in to fit each type of iPod are a good theory, but they prevent a strong connection to the iPhone/iPods. When you dock the iPhone, it makes a noise to let you know it's charging now. Every few minutes, it beeps again, and again, and I find that the connection isn't tight enough. So it disconnects and reconnects while it just sits in the dock. I found that if I pop out all the inserts, the connection into the iPod/iPhone serial ports is deeper in the device and a stronger connection, and there are no issues. The inserts seem to prevent a strong connection. Amazon says the dock is 30+ pounds! It's not more than 1 pound. This makes you have to choose FREE Super Saver Shipping, because if you buy overnight, it's like $100. Add it to your cart with overnight shipping and see. Amazon needs to correct the weight information- it is also incorrect on the PowerDock 2 as well. But this is a good product. I needed it and it charges all 4 items at once, and it's heavy enough that it won't fly off your nightstand when you pull out your iPhone or iPod. Good idea-- all they need now are stable inserts, and maybe a chargeable headphone jack to charge an iPod Shuffle too!