REVIEW: Penguin United Remote Dual Charger (2nd Generation)
• Dual Wii Remote Charge Station
• (2) High Capacity 900 mA-h NiMH Rechargeable battery packs for 20+ hours of playing experience.
• USB Connection Cable.
• Blue LED Charge Indicators.
• (2) Recharge enabled battery cover.
I have been looking for a way to keep my wiimotes charged with my family of Wii enthusiasts constantly playing and chewing up my batteries. We go through them way too fast for my taste. They get pretty expensive, so there’s got to be alternatives right? I had started looking for chargers when the opportunity to get the Penguin United Remote Dual Charger came.
It comes in a simple plastic packaging, which would definately fit right on those peg shelves in the stores, and is easy enough to spot.
After opening, I immediately took off the backs of my Wiimotes and put in the batteries. Now, you need to look at the batteries. They only fit one way. There is an arrow on the pack itself , and that needs to point at the RF part of the Wiimote.
After installing the batteries, I put on the new battery covers on, which have the contacts for the charging system. The system itself plugs into the USB ports on the back of the Wii.
The instructions say that the Wii needs to be on to charge, but If you have it in sleep mode (yellow indicator light), the USB connection is still live, and the charger works just fine.
The instructions that come with the package do not indicate the first charge time (it took about 6 hours), but say that recharge time is 4-6 hours. So far i’ve worn the batteries down all the way twice, and it takes more on the 6 hour time. This may be from the fact i put the Wii in sleep mode, but most likely it’s just the actual charge time.
One thing I have noticed, is even though the lights on the charger are blinking, the Wiimotes only report 3 bars. It’s odd, but they still last longer than 2 AA batteries. With AA batteries, I seem to get 20 hours or so, while with the rechargables from Penguin have so far netted close to 30 hours. I’m sure they would go further, but even though I try to tell the kids not to charge them at night until they die completely, they sneak them into the charger when they get into the red zone, so as to not have to wait for them to charge when they do die.
Two things do bother me about the design, one is the backs of the Wiimotes have the charging plates, instead of the bottoms. This could cause issues as stick hands might gum them up, and I wonder how long they will hold up under the sweatiest of Mario Party 8 tournaments. So far, they have not had any issues, and I usually make the kids clean their hands before game time.
The other issue that I have is also nothing major, but should be noted: They charge vertically. This means you either have no strap attached at charge time, or you have to let the straps hang out of the front of the charger. You cannot put the straps up the backs for asthetics, as the contacts are on the back of the Wiimote to charge with. Many other chargers I have looked at charge vertically, and there seems to be no mention of a channel for the straps either, so maybe i’m just being picky.
The blue lights on the front, and blue plastic trim go nicely with the Wii, especially if you have the blue light on around the disc slot. They are a slightly different hue, but it still looks nice. The lights, 2 under each slot for a total of 4, indicate power and charge. When the Wii is on or in sleep mode, the left light stays solid. When the Wii is turned all the way off, they go out. The right light on each slot is the charging indicator, solid when charging and blinking when finished. I would have liked to see blinking to charge, but that’s just a preference thing.
The fact that it’s a USB charger opens up another charging possibility, if you can’t keep it near the Wii, you can use the USB on your PC to charge the Wiimotes (I tried it once). It works just as quickly on a PC.
The Penguin United Wii Remote Dual Charger is a recommended item. With kids, or just serious gamers in the house, rechargables are the way to go, and the convience of in-Wiimote charging is just an added bonus. I like that I don’t have to remove the batteries to charge, and that also saves wear on the contacts inside the Wiimotes. The batteries are 2.4volt vs. the 3v of 2 AA batteries, but I didn’t notice any performance difference with the Wiimote, and they still last longer. They last longer than the stated 20+ hours of gameplay listed in the bulletpoints from the site, but they may be estimating a lifetime recharge capacity. If you have a need (and who doesn’t?), this unit should be on the top of the list for you to consider.
PROS: 25-30 hours on a charge
Save money on batteries
Fits into Wii “look”
USB charging
CONS: No place for strap while charging
Contacts on back of Wiimote may get gummed up
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars (of 5)
Tags: Peripherals, Reviews, Wii
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