Customer Reviews

PS3 - Charge Base

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

So if you're reading this review, you're probably debating between the this charger base and the Energizer one. You have no other choice. Those are the only two updated ones on the market. After researching both on all the forums, no one was doing a fair comparison analysis. Here are my thoughts.

So it comes down to this. Both charge the PS3s as promised which is infinitely better than that USB cord, but the difference, in my opinion, is convenience vs. looks.

NYKO PS3 Charge Base 2:

PROS:
1) External charging sensors allow you to literally just lop the controller into the slots. No aiming, no holding the charge base for leverage. You could do this if you were drunk.
2) Decent size. Contrary to the other reviews, I don't think this is obnoxiously big. It's about as big as a medium surge protector. A little thicker. Nothing to cry about.

CONS:
1) The green lights are so bright that they shine on my ceiling. I don't sleep in my living room so it's not a problem. And if you're in the market for a night light, this will definitely kill two birds with one stone. I'm not sure why the lights are so bright. But when it shines on the ceiling it reminds me of that Ghostbusters toy back in the 80s that projected ghosts on the wall with a flashlight. Other than bringing back vague nostalgic memories, this really has no advantages unless you have a very cluttered place and need a Batman signal to locate your controllers. In all seriousness though, it isn't that bad. You can cover it up very easily (mine's under my TV stand). It shouldn't be a problem unless you want to impress the ladies and have your controllers charging on your coffee table.
2) Small controller inputs. Yes, you might lose these. If you're buying this for your kids (10 or under), then it might get lost. If you're 25+ then you have bigger problems.

Energizer PS3 Charge Base

PROS:
1) Pretty stylish. Compared to the NYKO, this looks like a shimmering diamond.
2) More space efficient. Not that much though. It probably saves you a few inches. If you need that, then consider this.
3) No small inputs. Good if you lose things but could be a pain as I'll note in the cons.
4) Lights are much less annoying.

CONS:
1) Flimsy plastic junk. Though this looks cool, I feel like it could break if I stare at it too hard.
2) Not convenient. The stand isn't weighted down so when you're hanging the controllers on the PS3 Christmas Tree you have to hold it tightly. It's annoying. And if you bump the table it's on. Forget about it. Timber. It's nothing like the NYKO where you just set it in and it starts charging.

I vote for the NYKO overall. What you lose in style you gain in a well-made product that just does what it's supposed to. It's the lesser of two evils in a way. I mean, someone needs to make a product that looks good and works. Is that too much to ask for?

Playstation 3 Charge Base v2 is the new and improved over version 1. I owned both versions and and I liked them both. The only problem I had with v1 was that it was hard to get the controllers into the USB base station. But v2 one comes with two adapters that easily fit snug on the back of the PS3 controller and then all you have to do is sit the controller on the charge station. No "plugging" the controllers into the base station needed. Just attached the adapters and then sit the controllers in the base station. Simple! You can also just keep the tiny adaptors on the controller if you want do. Or just take them off. Great design.

Nykos should make a 4 controller charge station as well. This one fits two controllers.

Oh, and a nice touch is a red/green light that shines on the celling and lets you know when the controllers are charged. KInd of reminds me of xmas lights. :)

I've included photos above.

I just bought this and it works great. You just plug this little clear plastic adapter into the mini USB port on the top of the controller and it stays there all the time. Then the controller just rests on four contacts in the base station. It works very well.

My only complaint is that the red and green lights on the thing stand out too much. I find myself trying to hide them, which isn't hard. Anytime there's a controller in there, the lights can be hidden if you face it the right way. I may just open the thing up and put something in there to dim the light emitted. There are two of these lights on there that correspond with one of the charging ports. They shine red if it's charging and green if the remote corresponding with the light is charged.

This is a lot more convenient than plugging in USB cables every time. You literally just set it in the base station, there's nothing that plugs in. So charging is as easy as setting the controller down. Plus it's a nice holder for the controllers so they look nice and tidy.

An excellent device for charging the PS3 controllers. The quick contact connector adapters that allow you to drop the controllers into the charger without lining up the the USB charging ports are what make this charger a real stand-out. This design is so superior it outweights the fact that other chargers have more ports or may be more stylish. The only fault I can make (as others have pointed out) is that the status lights are pretty bright and the silver-tone plate only amplifies that and detracts from what could have been a sleek looking device. But the proof is in the functionality and this is by far the most superior charger on the market.

This charging base works really well. No more searching for the USB cables when you need to charge, just drop the controllers in the base. You leave a charging attachment on the controllers all the time, which I thought might get annoying but it turns out the attachments are pretty small and out of the way of my hands so they don't bother me.

The main negative is that the charging indicator lights are large, stay on all the time and are *crazy bright* for indicators (think cheap flashlight bright). This became annoying very quickly to me, especially when watching a movie in low light. I hid the base slightly, behind the TV and this has helped some. The indicators are the reason I rated this 3 stars, so if you enjoy having two bright green alien eyes projected on your ceiling at night you could consider this a 4 star rating.

Two other minor negatives for me - this takes up yet another AC outlet rather than using USB via the PS3, and sometimes you have to wiggle the controllers a bit to get them to make contact with the base.

Sony should just include a charging stand like this with the PS3.

If you just bought a PS3, then maybe you haven't realized what a pain it is to charge your controllers. This desktop charger means not having to leave your PS3 on. It means not having to find the USB cable. It means being able to put the stand next to your couch. And best of all, you can use the charger base to store your controllers, even when you're not charging them.

As a few other reviews have said, this charger worked very well -- at first. After 6 months the lights would not turn red and the controllers would not receive a charge from the unit. It feels like the pressure contacts just give out after awhile. So now am back to plugging controllers into the PS3. Its too bad because I liked this design.

4 1/2 stars, rather than 5, for including bright and obnoxious lights on this charger. Otherwise, it works well and doesn't use much power to charge the controllers. Kill-a-Watt meter shows 1 watt used when plugged in, 2 watts charging 1 controller and 2-3 watts charging 2 controllers.

I have to agree with all the comments about freeing up USB ports, charging 2 units, nice cradle design and yes the bright LEDS.

Only 1 major CON: It does not house the NYKO PS3 controllers. No where on the description of this product does it say - only for SONY controllers. I bought 2 of the NYKO controllers for my grand children to use, instead of my SONY controller, and this base charger. NOPE the controllers won't work with the base charger.

This charger was fantastic for the first couple of months. It fit perfectly into our entertainment center, and saved us from having wires all over the place. Then, out of the blue, it just stopped charging the controllers. No matter how much I wiggled, jiggled, and cursed at it, it just would not charge. Mind you, the lights were still green on the base, so until our controllers died mid-game, we had no idea it wasn't working. Amazon couldn't help...it was outside the return time frame (by like a week, naturally). I will be contacting the manufacturer; however, I think I'm just out $25. Buyer beware!