The Gomadic Double Chargers With Tip Exchange Technology Review

Over the last year I have grown incredibly spoiled when I travel because I no longer need to pack a tangle of “spaghetti”; instead, I bring along a set of Gomadic Charging Cables. The same single cable charges my PDA, mobile phone and digital music player. It can charge Sarah’s phone and Sarah’s digital music player, too; all it takes is the proper tip for each particular device.

For those unfamiliar with Gomadic, I’ll state the premise in a nutshell: They sell cables with plugs on their ends which will accept their specially made tips; these tips fit many of today’s popular consumer mobile devices. Gomadic’s “Tip Exchange Technology” means that the same cable can be used for years – and as devices are added to the user’s collection, new tips can be purchased to swap out with the old.

At first glance swappable tips may not seem like that big of a deal, unless you have been buying mobile devices for a few years. If that’s the case, then you’ve noticed how even though some manufacturers have started using a standard mini USB, there are still many others using proprietary charging connections. Therefore different devices can’t share the same charging cables…which leads to multiple chargers needed when traveling, or multiple chargers lying on the desktop. 😛

Recently, Gomadic announced a new twist to their already clever cable design, they are now offering double-headed chargers, which means twice the charging power from a single outlet. A good thing just got even better!

There are two versions available, one for wall charging and one for car (or airplane) charging. Let’s take a look…

The Double Wall Charger is dual-voltage, so it works with both foreign and domestic outlets (100-240 Volts AC). According to Gomadic, “Advanced internal circuitry prevents [the] device from power surges, overcharging, and short-circuiting” which is good because they also say that while “most wall chargers are rated at 5 vdc @ 500 mA of power, Gomadic’s new Dual Chargers are rated at 5 vdc @ 2000 mAh delivering safe surge-free power to two devices in less than half the time.”

Two benefits immediately stand out about this particular charger. The first is that it plugs in vertically so it won’t take up more than its allotted? inch on a power strip – unlike those fat horizontal strip-hogs; the second is that the cables are a generous five feet long, so that there is plenty of length for running the cable from the floor up to a desktop.

According to the website, “the Dual Wall Charger was meant to be a permanent fixture in your home or workspace,” but I guarantee I’ll be bringing it along on trips. It’s rare that I travel anywhere with less than one device, and being able to charge them both at the same time will be awesome!

For car trips, the Double Car Charger will come in very handy. How often have you been on the road, needing to charge both yours and the spouse’s mobile phone? Well, now you can – with the same charger. I’ll also use this on long flights when I need to recharge both my PDA and mobile phone at the same time; I wish I had had it on my recent trip to Thailand!

Each of the car charger’s tightly coiled cables measures approximately 17″ when retracted and roughly double when stretched. It has a red LED located at the charger base base to indicate power. The car charger adapter fits the cigar lighter or power port in both foreign and domestic vehicles (12-24VDC), and according to the Gomadic site, “advanced internal circuitry prevents device from power surges overcharging and short-circuiting.”

The way to place an order is to select a tip that will fit the first device; which in my case would be the i-mate JasJar. Once the first device’s tip has been selected, a page comes up showing the choices for a second device. My Mobile phone is a Samsung A900 (Blade), so if I select that tip I’ll have my set. Sarah’s Phone is the LG Fusic and she still has an iPod, so I’ll need tips for those; once my Zune comes in, I’ll need yet another tip for that. But the same cables will work with every one of our electronic items.

Now here’s where it gets even better: they also offer USB sync and charge cables that use the same “Tip Exchange Technology”.

I call that brilliant.

The Gomadic Double Chargers are available directly from the manufacturer.
MSRP: $34.95 for the double wall charger, and $29.95 for the double car charger. Each charger comes with two user specified tips. Additional tips can be ordered for $4.95 each.
What I Like: One set of cables with tips to fit almost every portable electronic device, additional tips may be purchased separately, and Gomadic offers a Lifetime warranty on all parts, and you should take a look at this page.
What Needs Improvement: Nothing

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About the Author

Judie Lipsett Stanford
Judie is the co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Gear Diary, which she founded in September 2006. She started in 1999 writing software reviews at the now-defunct smaller.com; from mid-2000 through 2006, she wrote hardware reviews for and co-edited at The Gadgeteer. A recipient of the Sigma Kappa Colby Award for Technology, Judie is best known for her device-agnostic approach, deep-dive reviews, and enjoyment of exploring the latest tech, gadgets, and gear.

9 Comments on "The Gomadic Double Chargers With Tip Exchange Technology Review"

  1. Less cables to mess with on a long trip is welcomed news. Way to go, Gomadic! What a great idea. I’ll be checking these out myself. Thanks for the review, Judie!

    P.S. – I received the Roadwired Pod bag in the mail. Great gear bag! Thanks for the contest.

  2. Glad you got the Pod and definitely do check out these cables! 😀

  3. I use an iGo system for my devices. The problem with this system is that the tips have circuitry in them to handle the voltage/current fluctuations from one device to the next, so iGO has, for example, several miniUSB tips for several miniUSB-based devices. Does the Gomadic system suffer from this, or can you use one tip in any device that will physically accept it?

  4. ct – I have used the same mini USB tip on every item that will accept it without any problems. In other words, the Moto Q, the Hermes and the JasJar will all accept and charge perfectly from the same mini USB tip. 🙂

  5. Tikitikitoze | January 17, 2012 at 10:29 am |

    Do they have a Nook Color charger tip?

  6. I believe the nook uses a microusb. If that is the case… Yes

    Sent from my Windows Phone
    ——————————

  7. Bear in mind NOOKcolors charge faster with their own charger than with a generic microUSB. I believe there are extra pins in the NOOKcolor charger (that’s what I read somewhere, and my own experience is that a generic charger will slowly trickle charge a NOOKcolor but the official charger will work faster)

  8. I recently contacted Gomadic related to a faulty cell phone charger, the second time it had broken. After waiting one week I emailed them again–at THAT TIME they responded that they HAD responded—(with a computer generated response.) Because I complained about the poor communication and response time, they said they would ship a new charger AFTER they received my broken one–go like three weeks without a charger, I don’t think so. I responded that they could keep their crappy charger. Buyer beware. Give a lifetime warranty= charge a lot initially AND make it difficult to utilize the warranty. I WILL NEVER BUY FROM THEM AGAIN, and I advise you to do the same. check out monoprice

  9. I understand your frustration, but why would you expect them to ship you a new charger without you having returned the broken one? To me, a warranty implies that if I have something that is broken, it will need to returned to the manufacturer to be fixed or replaced. I’ve never thought a warranty or guarantee implied that the company should just ship me a replacement product because I told them the item is broken; how would they even know that it was really broken unless it was returned to them?

    Help me understand your logic here.

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