Usocket review

[hucker]

I got my usocket last week after ordering (and paying for it on March 4th). I called last Monday and they said it would ship the next day. A bit suspicious but it wasn't killing me.

It arrived on Friday. The kit is well thought out and the instructions are clear, showing how to hook it up with various wiring configurations. They even included the 6 inch hunk of wire you need to set it up for the 'mid line outlet' configuration that I needed. The Usocket is very deep. It needs a touch more space than UPB switches but in finally fit in.

I plugged in an iPhone 3 and 3s and they both started charging immediately. My blackberry and wife's LG...no joy.

After a back and forth with USocket's very responsive tech support I've come to the conclusion that they have really only tested this thing on Apple products (the name of the company is fastmac after all). They told me:

For non-Apple devices using these communication pins, the U-Socket may look like an unapproved charging device. Many of these devices will still allow charging once the device determines the correct USB voltage (4.75-5.25) is available. However, on rare occasions, some third-party products are designed that, if they do not recognize the USB charging port as an approved source, the item will not charge. Some items even will require that special software be installed to charge from the USB ports on a computer. In the case of the BlackBerry, we have heard that there may be an adapter that allows one to use "unapproved" USB charging ports, but we do not have details on this.

When I quote their literature:

U-Socket is a duplex AC receptacle with built-in USB
ports that can power any device that is capable of
being charged via USB, including iPods, iPhones &
iPads at their full charge rate.

our interactions stopped.

In all the USocket looks to be good for Apple products, but is a bit of a crap shoot for other USB devices. It also is severely constrained by the limitations of the standard wall socket. There just isn't very much room. All of my cords have xformers that block one of the USB sockets ... except the ones from Apple of course.

There are some wall warts like:

http://www.amazon.com/4-Port-Adapter-Charger-Powered-Devices/dp/B003ZTU0OO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1306198560&sr=8-6

and

http://www.amazon.com/Lenmar-ACUSB4-Adapter-Powered-Devices/dp/B001BWLA8W/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1306198642&sr=8-18

That might be more useful, though not as nice. If I were fast mac I'd make a plug that consumed the whole top half the of the outlet for 4 USB ports and look into making it work for stuff besides Apple, because the idea is quite sound, DC power in a nice form factor...

 

[electron]

Great review, thanks for sharing!