Observations:

Advertising claims aside, sync cradles are as decorative as motel ashtrays. This one is more attractive than many, with good-quality moldings, cables and connectors. Clean lines, good fit and finish, little cushiony feet, reasonably solid build, cables all exit toward the rear -- a nice package. Mine rocks just a fraction on the desktop; equally easy to fix or to ignore.

All the external wires unplug for decent travel-worthiness, but the unit is plainly meant to stay in one place. The base is a bit larger than absolutely necessary. The included AC wall adapter is required to charge a spare battery, but the phone itself will charge off the USB data cable alone (as usual).

Button lovers: there is no hard button for hot-syncing. Cellet saved itself the trouble and expense of adding one to its generic base design. Use the Centro's keyboard and/or touchscreen to kick off a sync session. High-speed USB transfers (480 Mbit/s) are supported. Though the Centro itself will not sync at anything like that rate, this can pay off in other applications.

My standard Centro battery from Palm sits snugly in the charging well. Any rechargeable Li-ion battery that works in the phone should work in this cradle, but I can't say exactly what the experience is with an extended-life battery (I haven't got one to test).

The AC adapter puts out a full 1,000 milliamps at 5 DC volts, so charging is reasonably rapid: a little over 2 hours from very low to ready-to-go, for both phone and spare battery. The cradle is evidently smart enough not to overcharge the spare, which means it should be fine to leave a battery in the charger until needed.

That brings up an important point: others have reported that their Cellet cradles put less than a full charge on the spare battery. My Cellet seems to stop at 90% as measured by the phone. When asked, Cellet's customer service checked one of their own units, and found that theirs, too, charged to 90%. Above that range, charging needs to slow down to a trickle, to avoid stressing the battery and shortening its life (possibly overheating it unsafely). This leads me to suspect that this Cellet cradle doesn't trickle-charge. If so, it's the only significant demerit for the product.

How much does that matter? I look at it this way: charging the phone and a spare battery simultaneously saves me time and effort. Not anguishing about *the last ten percent* is the whole reason I have a spare battery, so while I might prefer to get every last milliamp-second of charge, in reality I don't feel very worried about it. If you can't be happy with that level of performance, check into one of the alternatives mentioned at the end of this review.

But back to the smartphone side of the Cellet cradle. The phone seats with firm pressure at the correct angle, something you soon get the feel of. Fit for the Centro itself is snug, as it should be to protect the somewhat vulnerable connectors. That means you pretty much have to dock the Centro naked. There's ample room for a skinny lanyard to snake out the bottom, and polyester sticker-skins are obviously OK; but even a silcone rubber skin is too thick to work.

Forget about using the Cellet with an Air Case, unless you enjoy shucking the phone like an oyster every time you charge. To speak practically, if you need this particular cradle, it's because you swap batteries regularly -- and that kind of implies that it's easy for you to get the phone into its natural state.

Reflections:

I was happy to find that the Centro docks securely at a handy angle and height to use with my Bluetooth keyboard. Bonus!

The fingertip notch for levering a battery out of the charging well is a little too shallow, unless you have fingers like a gecko -- then it's perfect. It's not a major issue. Glue in one end of a thin nylon ribbon to use as a lifter, if this condition pains you in any way.

LED fans will appreciate the complete array of status lights -- blue for power on, red/green for battery charging/charged. Even the AC adapter for my cradle sports a red power indicator.

The blue LED at left front has the familiar piercing intensity, which you'll either like or loathe. I can plainly see mine through a piece of paper in bright daylight.

When AC power is connected with no battery in the well, the charging light flashes frantically 4x per second. I'm sure this is meant to warn you that there are exposed terminals down there with a (tiny) voltage present. Cellet is concerned about your safe use of electricity, as witnessed by the sternly-worded package insert warning me not to do anything stupid with their cradle.

Fair enough, you'll want to disconnect the AC power when there's nothing charging -- or just strongly avoid getting anything into the rear well to short-circuit those bare contacts. That would tend to ruin the charger's internals if nothing else, so keep the perimeter free of beverages, tiny bits of metal, experimentally-minded youngsters... 'nuff said.

Notes:

Similar to Mobi Products' Battery Cradle for Centro, which has its USB cable permanently attached and lacks any status LEDs.

Differs from Palm 3401WW desktop cradle and Seidio INNODock Jr. Neither of those has a charging well for a second battery. The USB-only Seidio features a hardware sync button, a hands-free microphone, and permits docking with a (very) slim case installed. The Palm cradle has an AC power option.

Palm now sells a USB-powered combination case/charger for standard Centro batteries, which is scarcely bigger than the batteries themselves.

Seidio also offers a "Multi-Function Battery Charger for Centro." It looks less like a cradle and more like the contents of a parts bin strung together with cable. No reflection on its actual performance in use!

Ratings

4 Stars - ****

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Hugely convenient.
• Charges from AC power with or without a connected computer.
• Well designed and well made from good components.
• Priced like cradles that offer less.

Cons:

• No hardware sync button.
• No spare room for your phone's case.
• Charging stops short of 100% on the spare battery.

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