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Charge 5 iOS Devices At Once With Griffin's $100 PowerDock 5

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Griffin has started shipping its $100 PowerDock 5 iOS charging station, originally introduced at CES earlier this year.

The dock contains USB ports and organizing separators to allow easy charging of up to five devices at once. The company is aiming the solution at families with many devices or small businesses. Each USB port provides 10 watts of power, allowing for maximum charging speed on newer iPads.

griffin_powerdock_5.jpg
It doesn't take up much room, about the same as a single iPad. But it gives you a place to store and charge 5 iOS devices at one time, from a single power source. We think it's the perfect charging solution for small offices or work groups, or a family full of iPhone users.

PowerDock 5 gives each tablet its own charging port and its own clear backrest. Each charging bay is roomy enough to accommodate your iPhone, iPod or iPad in their cases. An illuminated status light tells when PowerDock 5 is powered up and ready to charge.
Click to expand...
The PowerDock 5 is available from Griffin's website for $100.

Article Link: Charge 5 iOS Devices At Once With Griffin's $100 PowerDock 5
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/16/charge-5-ios-devices-at-once-with-griffins-100-powerdock-5/
D

DotCom2

macrumors 603
Feb 22, 2009
6,165
5,435
I looked into this a while back and:
1. It's bring your own device cable and
2. It's 10 watt power where the iPad 4 comes with a 12 watt power adapter so it will charge slower on this strip.
 
nutmac

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,053
7,315
What am I missing here. A powered 5-port USB hub with plexiglass separators for $75 price premium?
 
P

PlutoPrime

macrumors regular
Oct 15, 2009
132
315
So what exactly makes this an "iOS" device charger? Couldn't I just plug in Android mini usb cables there? It doesn't even come with lightning cables..
 
macs4nw

macs4nw

macrumors 601
Sep 21, 2010
4,336
1,933
Next-door from the little old lady from Pasadena..
DotCom2 said:
I looked into this a while back and:
1. It's bring your own device cable and
2. It's 10 watt power where the iPad 4 comes with a 12 watt power adapter so it will charge slower on this strip.
Click to expand...

For this price, we might at least expect the right wattage :(

Skika said:
inb4 too expensive would buy for 50$
Click to expand...

I don't know about the $50, but you're right! TOO EXPENSIVE, for a plastic cradle with 5 USB ports, that are underpowered for the latest iPad.
 
George Zip

George Zip

macrumors member
Jan 2, 2011
73
84
nutmac said:
What am I missing here. A powered 5-port USB hub with plexiglass separators for $75 price premium?
Click to expand...

True, but I've not come across an actual 5-port USB power station in any configuration. 4 ports, yeah.

Roll your own -- use a regular power strip ("horizontal" plugs work best) and a bunch of Apple power adapters (5, 10, & 12 watt). Not as pretty but gets the job done. Free, arguably, since one'll likely have multiple power adapters and there's always an extra power strip around. You could also get one of those newer strips that (finally) include a couple of lower-power USB ports on it.
 
thefourthpope

thefourthpope

Contributor
Sep 8, 2007
1,391
738
DelMarVa
This would be great if it was (somehow) actual dock connectors and you could just drop devices in *click* but all I'm seeing is some transparent props to hold things up.
 
K

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
Hope that isn't more likely to cause this to happen.

Not a convenient design either - I like to see what my notifications are when it's charging - they should've made it circular.
 
I

i486dx2-66

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2013
359
398
thefourthpope said:
This would be great if it was (somehow) actual dock connectors and you could just drop devices in *click* but all I'm seeing is some transparent props to hold things up.
Click to expand...

Agreed - You can see the cables tucked behind the devices in the photo. In real usage, this charging stand is going to look pretty messy with all of these stray cables hanging everywhere. A real dock with actual connectors would be far more elegant.


Oldschoolers said:
Ummm No thanks!!! $100 plus and additional $20 for each cable you don't have.
Click to expand...

Even if you DO have the cables already, you're going to want to buy 5x much shorter ones for the reasons I mentioned above. So yep, agreed here too that the end cost is going to be much higher than the initial cost ($100).
 
J

joejoejoe

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2006
1,428
110
i.sound has been making these for years and they work great.

not sure if the griffin one is portable but the i.sound docks let me charge 4 devices while camping for example, and are cheaper...

why is it that only huge companies that have close relationships with apple get publicity for products that have been in the marketplace for a while now?

like tile, there have been gps trackers with apps that do exactly what tile does for a long time, but just because they have a pretty video with a pretty girl and turn to kickstarter instead of financeers they get publicity and the others don't?

sorry to vent, more curious than anything else.
 
PracticalMac

PracticalMac

macrumors 68030
Jan 22, 2009
2,857
5,242
Houston, TX
nutmac said:
What am I missing here. A powered 5-port USB hub with plexiglass separators for $75 price premium?
Click to expand...

Um, really?

I do not read anywhere it is a USB hub, just a charging port.

----------
DotCom2 said:
2. It's 10 watt power where the iPad 4 comes with a 12 watt power adapter so it will charge slower on this strip.
Click to expand...

Specs say:
"10 watts (5 volts DC @ 2.1 amps) for each charging bay"
Should be 10.5 watts, or 11 with rounding.

----------
09sroyal said:
You would already have the cable that came with the device. And if you own 5 iDevices, I doubt that $100 is that much to you.
Click to expand...

I own 5 iDevices, and $100 is more then I am willing to pay.
 
BJMRamage

BJMRamage

macrumors 68030
Oct 2, 2007
2,713
1,233
I had a Griffin ipod/iphone charger and multi-card reader all in one.
it broke within the year. that was a $50 device.

no thanks on this overpriced power block. :rolleyes:
 
nutmac

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,053
7,315
PracticalMac said:
Um, really?

I do not read anywhere it is a USB hub, just a charging port.
Click to expand...


Well, it's not a hub per say, since it cannot be connected to PC or Mac for USB sync. But a good powered USB hub can be used to charge iOS devices, such as D-Link's $25 7-port powered USB hub and Plugable's $20 4-port powered USB hub.
 
W

wombat94

macrumors member
Oct 15, 2010
71
30
If anyone can show me a 5 port charger with 2.1 amps on EACH port, I'd love to see it.

The i.Sound 4-port charger that someone referred to before appears to have 2.1 amps TOTAL and their user manual specifically states that if an iPad is charged on the high-power port, none of the other ports can be used at that time.

Is this overpriced? Probably, but it does appear to fill a niche that is not currently being filled in the consumer iOS device space - single AC outlet to multiple high-power charging ports.

There are industrial/commercial solutions that can do this - but they are many times more expensive and/or begin at a higher number of ports.

Personally, I've been waiting for this to come along since it was announced in January. It has a great value for me in our home.

If you compare it to the cost of good quality 2.1 amp power adapters, it is still not that expensive as they generally cost at least $10 - 15 each. I do already have the original adapters, but this solution allows me to keep those where I'd rather - in my travel bag or on my night stand. This gives us a central charging station in the kitchen in a tidy package.


Would I like it to be cheaper? Sure, but I plan to pick one up as soon as I can.
 
S

Swytch

macrumors regular
Jan 24, 2006
150
0
It doesn't take up much room, about the same as a single iPad.
Click to expand...

really? it looks much bigger... Maybe the surface area on a table it takes up is the same surface area a ipad takes up if lying flat... but you could stack like 10 iPads before it was as tall as this thing. Additionally, an Ipad can be set on a table held upright without one of these, making it take up far less room that this charging dock...

and yes, what makes this so much more expensive than a standard powered dock? which you could easily build a stand on top of...
 
A

AFDoc

Suspended
Jun 29, 2012
2,864
629
Colorado Springs USA for now
09sroyal said:
You would already have the cable that came with the device. And if you own 5 iDevices, I doubt that $100 is that much to you.
Click to expand...

The cost of the charger is a joke and even people with a lot of money don't like to waste it.... One if the reasons they have it lol. You go buy it and support their silly priceing, seems most here so far won't so there should be plenty.
 
T

technopimp

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2009
645
219
For every person (like me) who thinks things like this are obscenely overpriced simply because they're Apple user-targeted, there's 2-3 more who "can't wait to get one", so it's a losing battle.

Actually, it's not a losing battle at all now that I think of it-the companies make money hand-over-fist, and the people who buy them think they're getting something awesome.

Just goes to show me I obviously need to start churning out i<things> on Kickstarter. It seems that in these cases, if you build it they definitely will come.
 
kurzz

kurzz

macrumors 6502
May 18, 2007
391
28
Yay more overpriced plastic simply because it's for Apple users. If this was made for Android, it would be what...$20?
 
F

fprat

macrumors newbie
May 18, 2011
5
0
New York
wombat94 said:
If anyone can show me a 5 port charger with 2.1 amps on EACH port, I'd love to see it.

The i.Sound 4-port charger that someone referred to before appears to have 2.1 amps TOTAL and their user manual specifically states that if an iPad is charged on the high-power port, none of the other ports can be used at that time.

Is this overpriced? Probably, but it does appear to fill a niche that is not currently being filled in the consumer iOS device space - single AC outlet to multiple high-power charging ports.

There are industrial/commercial solutions that can do this - but they are many times more expensive and/or begin at a higher number of ports.

Personally, I've been waiting for this to come along since it was announced in January. It has a great value for me in our home.

If you compare it to the cost of good quality 2.1 amp power adapters, it is still not that expensive as they generally cost at least $10 - 15 each. I do already have the original adapters, but this solution allows me to keep those where I'd rather - in my travel bag or on my night stand. This gives us a central charging station in the kitchen in a tidy package.


Would I like it to be cheaper? Sure, but I plan to pick one up as soon as I can.
Click to expand...

Don't you get yours free by working at Griffin?
 
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