Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging Station Review

I've been using my Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging Station for a few months now and I thought that now was the perfect time to write my review about it.

The major selling points for the product is that it allows for the charging of up to 4 devices at a time (USB charging) and it automatically shuts down to prevent overcharging and eliminates standby charging.

I've used the device to charge my GPS unit (TomTom Go 930), my iPhone 3GS, my Blackberry Bold 9700, and my Samsung Nexus-S at the same time using the device. According to the documentation, if the electronic device requires too much power to charge, the Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging station won't be able to charge as many devices at the same time. I have not used my Belkin charging station to charge my HP TouchPad nor did I use it to charge the Blackberry Playbook that I had evaluated when it first came out since I am sure that the Belkin station wouldn't be able to charge either of these tablets because of the amount of power they require in order to charge.

The only device that I've had problems charging from my devices listed above is my Blackberry Bold 9700. For some reason, it will only charge from one of the USB ports and using the shortest (included) USB cable. Moving/Using the exact same cable in a different USB port on the Belkin USB charging station produces an error message on my Blackberry informing me that the device is incapable of being charged from the unit.

Another thing that I noticed when my Blackberry Bold 9700 is plugged into the Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging station is that even though all my devices plugged into the unit are fully charged, the charging station would continually charge them for up to a few hours before turning off. However, when my Blackberry Bold 9700 is not plugged into the Belkin charging station but my other devices (iPhone 3GS and/or Samsung Nexus-S) is plugged into the unit, the Belkin charging station powers off within a reasonable amount of time after the devices are fully charged.

Because the Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging station powers off once it detects that all devices connected to it are charged, this can present problems. For example, if you decide to charge your smartphone too early (prior to you taking it), it might no longer be fully charged when you remove it from the charging unit such as if you decide to charge it when you come home after work and then you forget to "recharge it" before you go to bed, by the time you wake up the following day, your smartphone will no longer be fully charged and might not even have enough power to last the entire day.

Other than the shortcomings that I've already mentioned above, there isn't much that I don't like about the Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging Station and I have no problems recommending this unit.

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