Review: Nyko Wii Charge Station

[bandit]

Nyko Wii Charge Station
Manufacturer: Nyko
Site: Buy from ConsoleSource ( http://www.consolesource.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=123_0_3_11)
Price: $34.99


http://www.nyko.com/img/nyko/products/large/ChargeStationWii.jpg

Overview : Easily charge and store your Wii Remotes with Nyko's Charge Station for Wii. The Charge Station includes 2 NiMH batteries, exclusively designed for the Wii Remote, each providing up to 25 hours of play time. Each battery is easily recharged by placing the Wii Remote in the charging dock. The charging dock conveniently plugs into any standard wall outlet, allowing for rapid recharging of both batteries in 8 hours.

The Charge Station includes 2 custom battery covers with contact pass-through points so you can charge the batteries while they are still in the remote. Each battery cover is also rubberized for superior grip during intense gaming sessions. The Charge Station matches the décor and styling of the Wii, and is small enough to fit in any home entertainment center.

Features :

Easily store 2 Wii remotes in any home theater with the small and stylish charging dock
Dual injected rubberized and textured battery covers provide a safe and comfortable grip
2 NiMH rechargeable batteries provide up to 25 hours of play time
Easily see when batteries are done charging with 2 LED indictor lights

Quality/Usability : There has been so many rechargeable battery packs flooding the gaming market that its insane especially for the Nintendo Wii. One of today's leading 3rd party peripheral manufacturers, Nyko has joined in on the fun. During the CES 2007, Nyko first unveiled the Charge Station for the Nintendo Wii. Ever since then, its been the talk of the town as to how good this product is.

As we all know, the biggest fault with the Wiimote is the amount of alkaline batteries gamers have to go through unless you have rechargeable batteries or rechargeable battery packs from other peripheral makers. Nyko's solution to this is the Charge Station.

Included in the Charge Station package is the charging station along with two rechargeable batteries for two Wii Remotes and two replacement battery door covers with contact points to charge. The replacement battery door covers has a thin layer of silicone to allow better gripping of the Wiimote. To power the Charging Station unlike some other products on the market that uses a USB port, it plugs into an AC outlet. The Charge Station holds up to two Wiimotes at one time. When the Wiimotes are docked on the station, a LED on the Charge Station will light up blue. Once it is fully charged, the light will turn green.

Depending on what rechargeable battery you are using and if it has a dock, the Nyko Charge Station allows you to charge the Wiimote even with the wrist strap on. Only problem is that you will have to play around with the wrist strap and move it around so that it does not get in the way. If it does, the Wiimote replacement battery door cover contacts will not be able to reach the contacts on the Charge Station.

The Charge Station will not let you charge the Wiimote if it is active with a game or synced with the Wii. The Wiimote must not be communicating with the Wii in order for it to charge. Charging took approximately 1-2 hours for one battery and about 3-4 hours for both batteries to fully charge at the same time. With both batteries fully charged, I was able to get about 25 hours of gameplay.

Like any other recharging docks out there, you are still unable to charge your Wiimote with a silicone case on the Wiimote. You'll either have to remove it from the Wiimote or lift it high enough that the silicone does not get in the way.

Conclusion : Overall, the Nyko Wii Charge Station is a solid product. My only complaint is the fiddling of the wrist strap so that the Wiimote fits in the dock securely. The Charge Station stylish as well. I think there may be a tie between the Charge Station and the Penguin United Remote Charging Dock and Rechargeable Battery ( http://reviews.dcemu.co.uk/review-penguin-united-remote-charging-dock-rechargeable-battery-57148.html).

Images via comments

[ICE]

i have it and something weird happened with mine. i was played madden and my pointer went nuts so i switched wii motes and it was fine. i wanted to know why my one wiimote was screwy so i switched back and sure enough the pointer would jump around randomly and if i were shaking the remote. then i noticed that removing the nunchuck fixed it so i figured it had to be that the wiimote was didnt have enough power to run the nunchuck too but it still had 3 bars!

then i noticed that the screwy one was the wiimote that had been on slot 2 the whole time so i let it charge in slot one and guess what. it fixed it.

turns out the stupid thing doesnt seem to get enough power to properly charge 2 wiimotes at the same time lmao.

[Broonale]

I have two of these.

The contacts constantly get dirty and require cleaning so they can charge.

The contacts even turn green with corrosion at their worst.

Other than that, I love the battery life and recharging time!

[ICE]

my problem might just be with my charger lol.

[Mr_Squirt]

my problem might just be with my charger lol.

I don't think your problem of dodgy pointer has anything to do with your charger. i dont own this charger or any charger and i too have had the same problem where i have had to unplug the nunchuck and reconnect it to fix it.

i think you charging it in the other slot and the problem being corrected was pure coincidence as it only happens occasionally.

[ICE]

well yeah accept that any wiimote charged in my second slot while another is in slot one goes nuts.

[gu3]

i have it and something weird happened with mine. i was played madden and my pointer went nuts so i switched wii motes and it was fine. i wanted to know why my one wiimote was screwy so i switched back and sure enough the pointer would jump around randomly and if i were shaking the remote. then i noticed that removing the nunchuck fixed it so i figured it had to be that the wiimote was didnt have enough power to run the nunchuck too but it still had 3 bars!

then i noticed that the screwy one was the wiimote that had been on slot 2 the whole time so i let it charge in slot one and guess what. it fixed it.

turns out the stupid thing doesnt seem to get enough power to properly charge 2 wiimotes at the same time lmao.

i had that exact problem, and it wasnt with this i found that because of a small spec of dust on the game which was in my wii it caused my mote to go crazy! i wiped the disk, and sensor above my tv and all seemed to work fine after that.....

[mcdougall57]

these seem pretty decent and the batteries even have grips but theyve come out too late a few months ago i went and bought 8 3000mah double aa's

[shadowprophet]

You say the contact points turn green on these things? I had wanted to get one of these for a long time, I finely got around to it today.
Bummer though, If the contact points are corroding that cant be good for a wiimote.

[whsbeernuts]

I have had this weird problem with mine and as a result, I now cannot play my Wii.

As my buddy was playing it, I noticed on the charge station that both player one and two docks were both flashing green. He stopped playing, and we tried to put the Wiimote on the player one docking station, and it didn't change the light from flashing (player one and two lights were flashing in-sync with each other). After a couple days, after leaving the Wiimote to charge on the thing, I realized that it's not charging because right now I would be playing my Wii if it were charged. I would like to know what the flashing green light means so I can play and not have to commit suicide because i don't have my Wii to play hahahaha (totally kidding for people who take comments like that seriously.)

[shadowprophet]

The charge lasts, It seems to me anyway. longer then a normal set of double a's.
Ive saved so much money on batteries with this.

Everyone with a wii should have one of these :p

[steve520]

I have had one for about 2 months also defanently saves battery money i hated when those things died.