In the golden time of PDA’s, a so-called cradle or tabletop docking station was a standard accessory that shipped with each and every handheld. However, as time went by, manufacturers replaced cradles with sync cables(which are easier for frequent travelers) – and stopped producing them. Brando has a long history of offering good cradles for PDA’s – let’s see if their ipaq cradle can stack up!
Brando’s products ship in yellow envelopes from Hong Kong – austrian customs seem to leave them alone, and the contents have always arrived in mint state so far:
The cradle itself ships in a white box. The data cable is separate from the cradle and can be connected to the cradle via Mini USB:
Brando’s latest cradle series is rather big and bulky – here is a picture of the cradle next to the ipaq:
On the back of the cradle you find the MiniUSB port mentioned before. You also find the ‘mystery port’ – a port for a wallwart PSU that isn’t for sale anywhere in the known world.
A blue LED in the front lights up whenever power is available to the cradle:
The ipaq gets plugged into the cradle from the top. Fitting the rx4240 in is easy – but be careful not to damage the MiniUSB port. Once the ipaq is inside the cradle, it charges with a decently fast speed and stands well – it definitely won’t topple over:
Overall, Brando’s cradle is ideal for everyone who wants a docking station for his hp rx4240! Developers will like this cradle because it allows you to see your app run all the time while it’s connected to the debugger…the price of 20$ at Brando’s is more than justified!
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