Headphone Review
  • Sendstation Smartcharge 1
  • SendStation SmartCharge_2
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SendStation smartCharge

A cigarette lighter adaptor to power your iPod.
The Good

smartCharge can power almost every iPod (except 3G). It’s designed to hold the Shuffle in its docking bay, and powers the rest by USB cable. It tilts a full 72º and has an eighth-inch line out on the side.

The Bad

No problems as of yet.

Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarEmpty Star The Verdict

The smartCharge is a good alternative to the iGo, Kensington, Griffin and the many other iPod car chargers available. The main difference is the signal output, so you don’t have to meddle with any audio when disconnecting the iPod from your car.

smartCharge, smartChoice. Zinger!!

The smartCharge is a good alternative to the iGo, Kensington, Griffin and the many other iPod car chargers available

The SendStation smartCharge is one-in-many iPod car chargers.  It has four main advantages over the rest.

First, an iPod Shuffle docks into the bay of the smartCharge.  This eliminates wires and houses your Shuffle near your cigarette lighter.  The second advantage is its swivel feature.  The smartCharge has one elbow joint, allowing you to tilt the Shuffle’s dock up or down for a total of up to 72º.  Third, there is a fuse in the nose of the smartCharge.  Should your car battery surge or be struck by lightning, your iPod is safe.

Lastly, there is a 1/8” jack on the side of the unit, enabling you to connect the smartCharge’s audio output to your car’s accessory jack (if it has one).  The signal path would then start from your iPod, go through the audio-enabled PowerCord USB iPod cable into the smartCharge then out the smartCharge and into your car stereo.  As we all know, audio signals love taking the long way home.

SmartCharge’s blasé design leaves a lot to the imagination.  The flat-grey plastic shell isn’t very flattering, and doesn’t at all match my mango-orange seat covers.  Also, the tilt feature doesn’t feel very secure.  It feels like that Transformer that never transformed very well.

I used the smartCharge with the iPod U2 Edition.  The smartCharge performs exactly how it’s described.  There was no noticeable signal distortion, no grounding issues (as I’ve had with the iGo), and it was not in my way.

All petty complaints aside, the SendStation smartCharge works very well.  For $25, it gives fair rivalry to its competitors for basic function, and in the end pulls ahead with features.

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