E61/65 Blog

September 3, 2006

USB cradle from Brando

Filed under: Reviews — stmcgill @ 7:15 am

Last week I received a USB cradle from Brando which retails for $20. It is one of the sturdiest effeorts I have seen, indeed it looks like an old style desk accessory you would see on the criminals desk in an episode of Columbo (I know what I mean anyway:))

Brando have been clever in this case because it effectively replaces the two cables that come with the device (one for charging and one for syncing) with a standard mini USB cable that does both. If you require a quicker charge there is a socked for a 5v cable as well- for example my PSP cable works perfectly with it.

The other annoyance I have with the Nokia is the connector socket- it works fine but can be a bit fiddly when attaching the standard cable to it- again, this cradle gets around that problem by creating a very tight fit for the outer edges and the connectors are flexible enough to enable the user to simply slot it in without a second thought.

The final point of design is the fact that the E61 is slanted when in situ and thus this makes the screen a LOT easier to read when on your desk. It’s also nice to see a cradle heavy enough to cope with a device being put in and removed and not fall over countless times a day.

The point I am making is that this is a wonderfully designed accessory that adds a lot to the device itself and I only wish that cradles for all PDAs and Smart Phones had been designed with this much care and attention because some of them are awful.

2 Comments »

  1. Hi

    Does the E61 fit in this cradle if it is fitted with the crystal protection you recently reviewed?

    Thanks

    Comment by A Hakim — September 4, 2006 @ 10:57 am

  2. Yes- that’s how I use it:) Useful because the cradle can sometimes cause the voice record button to be pressed when inserting it- does not happen with the cradle on.

    Comment by stmcgill — September 4, 2006 @ 4:19 pm

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