Griffin Technology PowerDock 4

If you are a lover of all things Apple, you no doubt have at least two gadgets that use the Apple connector. Two is pretty manageable but what if you have four? Most of the time the gadgets don’t need to be synced to a computer so instead you end up plugging up four AC outlets. If this seems unweildy, check out the PowerDock 4 from Griffin Technology.

The PowerDock 4’s name says it all. It’s a docking station that can power 4 devices simultaneously as long as they use Apple’s connector

Setup of the PowerDock 4 is very straightforward. You unpack the dock and then plug it into an AC outlet. The PowerDock 4 ships with 8 Universal Dock inserts including ones for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPod nano, and others. In my case I charged up a first generation iPhone, first generation iPod touch, iPhone 3G and iPod nano. I only needed to use the insert for the nano and then all four were charging with ease.

The nicest part of the PowerDock 4 is how easy it is to use. The other nice part is how cool it looks. Instead of dangling four different cables, I can easily insert my four devices into the PowerDock 4 when they’re not in use, knowing that they will be charged and ready when I need them.

If four charging ports seems excessive, there’s also the PowerDock 2, which as its name suggests, will charge two devices simultaneously.

The only negative I found with the PowerDock 4 is in its packaging. It comes with 8 Universal Dock inserts that are each numbered. The problem is that the information on which number goes with which insert is on the box and not in a manual or piece of paper of any sort, so you have to hang onto a piece of the box if you want to reference which insert works for which device. Otherwise, the device itself is solid and something that’s very welcome in my office. If Griffin would add a reference sheet in the package and / or a reference page on its website, I would not have any issues with the PowerDock 4