Belkin Conserve Valet Energy-Saving USB Charging Station, F7C008q (Black)

The Belkin Conserve purports to save both energy and clutter; however, as you will see from this video, it could do better with energy conservation and it helps with clutter only if you never remove your charging cables from the valet. In this video, I show you how it works -- and how it doesn't. Points not mentioned in the video because of file size consideration: the surface of the valet is angled, with a gripping surface and bottom lips to keep your devices from sliding off; the supplied USB cables (USB to micro and mini) are really short, which could help reduce clutter for the devices that they actually connect with; the whole unit is lightweight, although rubberized feet prevent it from being knocked off a desk or nightstand.

-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann

I really like this charger, we brought it down to a small conference and set it up in the conference office. We configured its four ports with two iPhone cables and the included mini-USB and micro-USB cables. I think it is fair to say that the device was a hit - people could put a phone of almost any stripe on the charger. Over the course of the conference, we charged maybe a dozen different types of phones (and even a MiFi) without any issues.

The one problem was the "automatic" timer. As it turns out, it's just a timed 4.5 hour switch - not some kind of smart system that detects current draw. So, if someone puts a phone on it and turns on the charger, it will go off in 4.5 hours - which is fine - unless someone else shows up two hours later and adds their phone (which will only get a 2.5 hour charge). As a result, we had a lot of phones that would not get a full charge because the device had shut off and no one had realized they needed to turn it back on. The indicator light is very, very dim (perhaps part of the energy savings?), so it's not very noticeable from a simple glance if the unit is on - you really have to look at the power light.

It's a good device, but its limitations should be resolved in the next iteration with an option to turn off the power-saving feature or to change the timer length to 8 or 16 hours.

After reading the reviews on this product the actual shipment was delayed 2 months. I should have known this was a product with issues.

The good news...it arrived and works OK for charging an iPhone 3G and a Motorola Bluetooth headset.

The bad news...It does not work for a Blackberry Bold 9700 and apparently other devices.

The really bad news and the reason for this review...Belkin's customer support is a disaster.

The unit comes with two short micro USB cables (one typical of cameras and headsets and one that matches the Blackberry adapter) but no explanation as to why. The micro usb cable works fine for the Bluetooth headset. The other cable that fits the Blackberry does not charge the Blackberry and if used requires the Blackberry to be reset by removing the battery.

Tucked into the minimal documentation is a slip of paper I originally missed that indicates a Belkin website for a special cable for the Blackberry Bold and other devices. I went to the site, ordered the free cable and in short order got an email reply from Belkin that my order was received.

A week later no cable. Multiple calls to the 24x7 customer support ended up being disconnected or routed in a circle. The chat option failed with three different Browsers. A email request for customer support required multiple tries to get past the required support description before it was accepted. Again an immediate email indicating reply with 1 business day. FIVE DAYS later an email comes indicating that the cable order was unrecognized, the issue was closed, and a recommendation that I call customer support! This smells like Belkin is still unprepared to support this product on any front.

Being a glutton for punishment I tried customer support again. After ignoring the instructions (none recognize their new Conserve line of products) and finally got a person that transferred me to another person that started to help. 30 minutes later after forwarding the email (from Belkin!) that said my cable was ordered I ended up with a promise to fix and a return call. 24 hours later , no replacement order, no call back.

Whatever Belkin was doing from the time the product was announced and the two months later they shipped; it wasn't telling their customer support organization about it nor was it testing it with common products.

BUYER BEWARE

UPDATE 3 WEEKS LATER: More calls to Customer Support and more emails back indicating no such cable order; I gave up and ordered the cable again. At this point the original packaging is long gone and it does work well on two devices. Surprise...A customer support call back after a disconnect resulted in a promise that the cable would be shipped immediately. I asked for a confirmation email. No email as promised but the free cable arrived...Good news... the cable works and the Blackberry Bold now charges.

The next day another box arrives from Belkin... I now have a bag of 10 of these cables. I can't wait to see what's on my doorstep when I return home this evening! Being a good citizen I called the Belkin RMA number to offer to return all of these extra cables...SNAFU...long time on hold..Raj tells me I called the wrong number; Don't think so but OK; Raj offers to transfer me... click click click... back to Raj! Raj suggests I wait an hour and call back after their phones are fixed...SIGH...I think not.

UPDATE 4 MONTHS LATER:
Since we use this product daily and I have had no contact with Belkin's abysmal customer support since the initial review, I've decided to revise the overall product review due to Belkin's startup woes and comment on the device itself.

We are a no land-line house and this cleans up the clutter & cable mess on the counter. With the right cables it has been happily charging ipods, iPhone, Blackberry, Motorola Bluetooth headset, and misc guest cell phones that use the universal USB adapter. The only thing to be aware of is that small devices charging on their own that draw little current and are completely empty (like the Bluetooth headset) will eventually trigger the auto-shutoff feature and not get a full charge. iPhones and Blackberrys don't have this issue.
New bottom line...buy it you'll like it...unless you need any customer support...but that's true of many companies these days!