5 ms·

All of which is covered by having a dock as the act of picking it up breaks connection. With the added advantage they were cheaper than wireless, and unlike Ai

All of which is covered by having a dock as the act of picking it up breaks connection. With the added advantage they were cheaper than wireless, and unlike AirPower actually available.

lugg 8y ago
Your buying Apple. Price as an argument is long gone. This whole thread is really asinine. Wireless charging is a seamless, elegant solution to a problem. It is not the only solution. It is not a perfect solution. It is not the cheapest solution. It is not the most cost effective solution. It is likely not the best solution for your battery life. Docks and wires are not an elegant solution. That's all the argument is. One is old, painful and requires though, the other, does not. It doesn't need to be a perfect argument, you don't have to buy into it. But unless you've tried it, please keep your opinions to yourself, because there is unlikely a chance you'll really "get it" and your single sided perspective is really not that useful.
- arvinsim 8y ago
  You need to take your own advice. Cables were never old, painful nor requires thought. I see the cable, I plug. Your side is just that, an opinion.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    Nope, his side is pretty solid. Just place on a mat is much less effort compared to plug cable.
  - rzzzt 8y ago
    MagSafe was in the sweet spot IMO. Doesn't require too much alignment, symmetrical pinout, disconnects quickly and safely, low mechanical wear from use.
    - james-skemp 8y ago
      I've taken to buying magnetic USB cables for this reason. Plug a connector into the bottom of phone/tablet, put a cable at work, in car, and next to the bed, and it's super easy to connect and disconnect, with no worry that the Micro-B connection is getting bent (with cats and a child we've gone through way more USB Micro-B cables than I would have expected).
      - rkeene2 8y ago
        There are also magnetic USB-C adapters that do USB, power, and HDMI. I use one to dock my laptop.
  - zaphar 8y ago
    I can see one significant improvement for the wireless mats. The number one part of my phone to fail first has always been the charging port. The mat reduced the wear and tear on that port which could extend the life of my phone.
oe 8y ago
I had a dock and replaced it with wireless charger as soon as they were available. The ease of just placing your phone on a surface vs. lining up your phone with the dock is well worth it.
- mcguire 8y ago
  You mean lining it up precisely on the surface? That's why I stopped using a wireless charger.
  - zachberger 8y ago
    The two Qi chargers I've used don't really require much lining up. With the Pixel Stand the alignment is obvious, I've never missed the alignment on that. I also have used Samsung's round, flat charger. Its a circle. Its hard to miss the center of the circle.
    - gargravarr 8y ago
      The Qi wireless charger for my Galaxy S5 has a noticeable precision requirement for placing the phone - it doesn't charge at full speed unless the phone is accurately placed, which is infuriating and makes me cut back my use of wireless charging; I've confirmed this by having a USB power meter attached and watching the current draw change as I move the phone around the pad.
  - koiz 8y ago
    Might be using the wrong wireless charger, I've heard this complaint and its all it could be. If it isn't what your really telling us is you couldn't learn how to place a phone on a small surface.
jaclaz 8y ago
Yep, and curiously enough it is exactly the way cordless phones have been designed for years. For someone "on the move" the dock or the wireless chargers are equally unsuitable, for those (most of users I believe) that simply plugin their (smart)phone placing it on their night table when they go to sleep they are pretty much the same, the "you can lay it down in every orientation" doesn't seem to me such a needed feature.
azinman2 8y ago
You can’t use the phone while it’s in the dock, and putting it in and taking it out is actually quite annoying. I’ve had several docks in the past, I wouldn’t go back.

All of which is covered by having a dock as the act of picking it up breaks connection. With the added advantage they were cheaper than wireless, and unlike AirPower actually available.

lugg 8y ago

Your buying Apple. Price as an argument is long gone. This whole thread is really asinine. Wireless charging is a seamless, elegant solution to a problem. It is not the only solution. It is not a perfect solution. It is not the cheapest solution. It is not the most cost effective solution. It is likely not the best solution for your battery life. Docks and wires are not an elegant solution. That's all the argument is. One is old, painful and requires though, the other, does not. It doesn't need to be a perfect argument, you don't have to buy into it. But unless you've tried it, please keep your opinions to yourself, because there is unlikely a chance you'll really "get it" and your single sided perspective is really not that useful.

arvinsim 8y ago
You need to take your own advice. Cables were never old, painful nor requires thought. I see the cable, I plug. Your side is just that, an opinion.
- coldtea 8y ago
  Nope, his side is pretty solid. Just place on a mat is much less effort compared to plug cable.
- rzzzt 8y ago
  MagSafe was in the sweet spot IMO. Doesn't require too much alignment, symmetrical pinout, disconnects quickly and safely, low mechanical wear from use.
  - james-skemp 8y ago
    I've taken to buying magnetic USB cables for this reason. Plug a connector into the bottom of phone/tablet, put a cable at work, in car, and next to the bed, and it's super easy to connect and disconnect, with no worry that the Micro-B connection is getting bent (with cats and a child we've gone through way more USB Micro-B cables than I would have expected).
    - rkeene2 8y ago
      There are also magnetic USB-C adapters that do USB, power, and HDMI. I use one to dock my laptop.
- zaphar 8y ago
  I can see one significant improvement for the wireless mats. The number one part of my phone to fail first has always been the charging port. The mat reduced the wear and tear on that port which could extend the life of my phone.

oe 8y ago

I had a dock and replaced it with wireless charger as soon as they were available. The ease of just placing your phone on a surface vs. lining up your phone with the dock is well worth it.

mcguire 8y ago
You mean lining it up precisely on the surface? That's why I stopped using a wireless charger.
- zachberger 8y ago
  The two Qi chargers I've used don't really require much lining up. With the Pixel Stand the alignment is obvious, I've never missed the alignment on that. I also have used Samsung's round, flat charger. Its a circle. Its hard to miss the center of the circle.
  - gargravarr 8y ago
    The Qi wireless charger for my Galaxy S5 has a noticeable precision requirement for placing the phone - it doesn't charge at full speed unless the phone is accurately placed, which is infuriating and makes me cut back my use of wireless charging; I've confirmed this by having a USB power meter attached and watching the current draw change as I move the phone around the pad.
- koiz 8y ago
  Might be using the wrong wireless charger, I've heard this complaint and its all it could be. If it isn't what your really telling us is you couldn't learn how to place a phone on a small surface.

jaclaz 8y ago

Yep, and curiously enough it is exactly the way cordless phones have been designed for years. For someone "on the move" the dock or the wireless chargers are equally unsuitable, for those (most of users I believe) that simply plugin their (smart)phone placing it on their night table when they go to sleep they are pretty much the same, the "you can lay it down in every orientation" doesn't seem to me such a needed feature.

azinman2 8y ago

You can’t use the phone while it’s in the dock, and putting it in and taking it out is actually quite annoying. I’ve had several docks in the past, I wouldn’t go back.