PhotoFast iPADock - Hands on review

John Pashley - macgear.com.au

In our household, we have one iPad, three iPhones, an iPod Touch, and an iPod Nano. Most of these devices sync to the one computer which hosts the main iTunes Library. Needless to say, things can get a little crowded and complicated with all those USB cables and it’s a situation that’s becoming more common as Apple’s devices continue to grow in popularity.

Enter the PhotoFast iPADock - a very flexible docking system capable of docking any of the following combinations:

2 iPads

4 iPhones (or iPod Touch, Classic)

6 iPod Nanos (6th Gen)

I set up our iPADock to hold 1 iPad, and two iPhones (or iPods). Once loaded up, the iPADock felt sturdy, though I would prefer a little more weight in the dock to prevent it lifting up when undocking your iPad or iPhone. While testing the unit, we found our iPad and iPhone fit in the unit perfectly, however we could not get the iPad or iPhone to fit correctly in the dock while in a case (we tested phone with an iSkin Solo, iPAd with a iSkin Vu).

Purchase the PhotoFast iPADock on our online store...

You can set your iPADock up in any combination by inserting the provided USB dock connector cables through any of the 6 slots provided. PhotoFast provide three short dock connector cables (just the right length for the iPADock), but Apple’s cables also fit fine in the docking slots. Once the dock connector is positioned properly, you can connect the USB cable to the included USB hub (for syncing with the computer), or the the power only USB ports for charging.

On the back of the iPADock, you’ll find a mini-USB connection to connect to a computer, a 3 port USB hub (which means you can dock 3 devices to sync, or use for other USB devices), as well as a 4 port USB power only output. The power-only USB ports provide 2A max power compared to the USB hub 500mA maximum.

The three USB port hubs are used for syncing your devices, and also provide enough charge for the iPhone and iPods, however they don’t provide enough power for the iPad. It is a little inconvenient that the high powered ports cannot also be used for syncing, limiting you to three syncing ports. If you needed to sync more than three devices, you could do so by connecting the ports to a separate USB hub.

Many people won’t be overly concerned about the limited or underpowered syncing ports, just wanting one convenient place to charge all their iDevices. The iPADock certainly does this job nicely.

But wait, there’s more! Also on the back of the unit is a multi-card reader for SD, MemoryStick, and Compact Flash cards. If you intend to use the iPADock connected to your computer, this makes for a super handy addition. There are also two slots on the top of the device to store your iPad Camera Connection Kit adapters, which otherwise would certainly get lost.

Purchase the PhotoFast iPADock on our online store...