Wiicharger

Reric

Has anybody had a chance to try out the battery pack/recharger for wiimotes from Niko? I preordered it from Niko, but when i was out shopping the other day saw some in Circuit City so was wondering if anyone had picked it up and tried it out?

slash000

I haven't, but I can only imagine that they're great. I mean, it's just a NIMH charger in the form of a Wiimote dock.

Simple, brilliant, and elegant.

Woodroez

Hrmm.

I don't know what to think of this. I bought no less than two packs of rechargeable AA's, pretty much specifically for the Wii. I still kinda want one of these though....D:

quovadis13

I too bought a pack of AA's for use with the Wii, but since I just picked up a third controller, I am definitely looking at getting one of those chargers myself. I imagine they cant all be that different, as long as you get a battery that lasts a decently long time.

mntorankusu

Woodroez wrote: »

Hrmm.

I don't know what to think of this. I bought no less than two packs of rechargeable AA's, pretty much specifically for the Wii. I still kinda want one of these though....D:

Well, it's not like those batteries won't be useful for a ton of other things if you buy this.

Mmmm... Cocks...

mntorankusu wrote: »

Woodroez wrote: »

Hrmm.

I don't know what to think of this. I bought no less than two packs of rechargeable AA's, pretty much specifically for the Wii. I still kinda want one of these though....D:

Well, it's not like those batteries won't be useful for a ton of other things if you buy this.

Yea, I know a few people that use rechargables for a majority of their household stuffs.

tony_important

MateriaMaster wrote: »

mntorankusu wrote: »

Woodroez wrote: »

Hrmm.

I don't know what to think of this. I bought no less than two packs of rechargeable AA's, pretty much specifically for the Wii. I still kinda want one of these though....D:

Well, it's not like those batteries won't be useful for a ton of other things if you buy this.

Yea, I know a few people that use rechargables for a majority of their household stuffs.

Yes. I used my camera batteries for my wireless mouse. That is until I lost the USB receiver dongle today. AAAAAARRRRGH.

I'm getting these the second I can find them locally.

BushidoGamer

Buying something so specialized seems strange to me. Sure it'll probably make your wiimotes look cool but it's likely that you won't be able to use it for much else.

Spanky The Dolphin

BushidoGamer wrote: »

Buying something so specialized seems strange to me. Sure it'll probably make your wiimotes look cool but it's likely that you won't be able to use it for much else.

You mean besides recharging the remotes, right?

AbsoluteZero

The only downside to the charging stations out there that I see is that the battery packs come the form of a paltry 1800 mAh rating.

But the upside of never having to pop your batteries out for recharging might just make up for it.

BushidoGamer

Spanky The Dolphin wrote: »

BushidoGamer wrote: »

Buying something so specialized seems strange to me. Sure it'll probably make your wiimotes look cool but it's likely that you won't be able to use it for much else.

You mean besides recharging the remotes, right?

Yep, of course. I should have been more clear on that. Let's say you wanna recharge batteries to use in another device while traveling. You'd bring your Nyko charger and wiimotes. If you were staying at a close friend or relative's home, it's not that much of a problem. At a hotel or some other place though, with the fact that the Wii is in fairly high demand you can see where I'm going with this. That's what I meant, should have been more clear.

Spanky The Dolphin

If something like that was such an issue, I'd just get a separate set of rechargeable batteries and a charger. But having something specifically dedicated for the Wii remotes would be convenient.

Plus I haven't used rechargeable cell batteries since the early 1990s. :P

Kewop Decam

or spend your money on a 10 minute battery charger

slash000

Zero to full capacity, in ten minutes?

MJ

IGN did a great review on it. I wanted to pick one up but I can't find one anywhere.

AbsoluteZero

Don't trust those fast chargers.

Lemmy

MJ wrote: »

IGN did a great review on it. I wanted to pick one up but I can't find one anywhere.

That's because it hasn't been released yet.

BahamutZERO

AbsoluteZero wrote: »

Don't trust those fast chargers.

We don't take kindly to their types around these parts.

ZackSchilling

That and they only charge about 70% to 80%. Unacceptable.

agoaj

BahamutZERO wrote: »

AbsoluteZero wrote: »

Don't trust those fast chargers.

We don't take kindly to their types around these parts.

Leeroy Jenkins reference in 2..1...

BahamutZERO

... Leeroy Jenkins? What?

Stregone

AbsoluteZero wrote: »

The only downside to the charging stations out there that I see is that the battery packs come the form of a paltry 1800 mAh rating.

But the upside of never having to pop your batteries out for recharging might just make up for it.

Its not difficult to pop in a new set of charged batteries. I wish logitech made a version of the MX1000 mouse that used AAs. It really sucks when I forget to put the mouse on the charger. Sure it lasts a few days between charges, but I think it'd be so much more handy to just be able to pop in a set of freshly charged AAs than wait a few hours with no mouse when that happens.

Icenode

Maybe I'm lucky, but I can play for days on the Energizer rechargable batteries I use in my wiimotes. And I can use them in other things such as my TV remote as well. The docking station sounds neat, but I just don't see the functionality.

AbsoluteZero

Icenode wrote: »

Maybe I'm lucky, but I can play for days on the Energizer rechargable batteries I use in my wiimotes. And I can use them in other things such as my TV remote as well. The docking station sounds neat, but I just don't see the functionality.

Ditto. The 2500 mAh rated energizers are niiiiiiiiiiice.

apotheos

The only rechargeable Wii kits I've seen are some other brand.

They make me really nervous.

And, it was wierd. There were sold in a 2 pack with a docking station, or as a 2 pack with a USB cable. I'm not really sure what the point of the USB cable was.

apotheos

See. This. Here.

It suggests the cable is for charging but I don't see where you plug them in.

AbsoluteZero

apotheos wrote: »

The only rechargeable Wii kits I've seen are some other brand.

They make me really nervous.

And, it was wierd. There were sold in a 2 pack with a docking station, or as a 2 pack with a USB cable. I'm not really sure what the point of the USB cable was.

Plugs into the Wii for recharging.

You were probably looking at this thing



Which IGN previews here

EDIT: Guess not. That is strange, apo... it says you run the cable from the Wii remote to your Wii's USB port and it charges the battery pack inside the controller..... I really don't think I'd trust that.

apotheos

Nope. Not that thing.

Boy Thrustmaster must be hard up for a buck. Not that it looks bad, but that sure isn't a Joystick for a super nerdy aircraft simulator which was all they made back in the day.

Spanky The Dolphin

Looks like some kind of shoe shining stand.

AbsoluteZero

Out of curiosity, I just took my Wii remote and plugged a USB cable into it.

While the plug does fit, it isn't particularly snug. I don't think that USB charging stuff would work.

apotheos

I assume you tried a microUSB connection. The cable in that kit looks like a regular cable.

Lemmy

apotheos wrote: »

See. This. Here.

It suggests the cable is for charging but I don't see where you plug them in.

The other end plugs into the hole to the left of the green LED.

Here is an eBay listing of a copy. At least I think it's a copy, it's from Hong Kong.

TroubledTom

As much as I'd like to plug my Wiimote into something that says "Thrustmaster" on it, regular recharchables are great. You can get an Energizer recharger and like 4 batteries for pretty cheap, and use them on anything.

AbsoluteZero

apotheos wrote: »

I assume you tried a microUSB connection. The cable in that kit looks like a regular cable.

I tried a regular cable... since that is what is shown in the picture.

I'll try the other two sizes right now though..

First up, the little Square kind....... nope, doesn't fit at all. Can't even get the plug to insert into the Wii remote.

Now for the tiny kind (which I assume is microUSB)..... Again, can't get the plug to insert... not without breaking the Wii remote, anyways. The center contact...thingy... is far too big for the tiny USB plug to accept.

The regular cable thus far is the best fit, though like I said it isn't snug... and doesn't actually plug all the way in.

AbsoluteZero

Lemmy wrote: »

apotheos wrote: »

See. This. Here.

It suggests the cable is for charging but I don't see where you plug them in.

The other end plugs into the hole to the left of the green LED.

Here is an eBay listing of a copy. At least I think it's a copy, it's from Hong Kong.

That makes far more sense... I wonder if you can play while it is charging?

Mr_Grinch

I use non rechargable duracell because I've thus far been too cheap to buy any rechargables (and I had these kicking around the house). I've had it since xmas and only had to change the batteries once (and they're on full at the mo).

Dodge Aspen

I would think the USB would plug into the battery, and not the Wiimote itself.

I for one have been waiting for that Nyko thing to come out. I always put my Wiimote's on my couch-side table when I'm done with them anyway, so having them on an attractive stand would be nice, and then I don't ever have to worry about things running dry, since they would be charged fresh every day.

I do wonder about the quality and longevity of those batteries, though.

Jollus

There is brand of charging dock out there that actually pulls power from one of the Wii's USB Ports. So if you don't have the spare outlets you can use that. Plus they daisy chain together, so in theory you could charge four remotes off of one USB port's power. I've heard they take forever to charge though.

Elessar Elfstone

I just bought a wall charger that came with 4AAs for like $20 during Boxing Week. One set in the Wiimote, one set in the charger. Never skip a beat.

MikeRyu

I just bought some recharchable Energizers, I haven't had enough time to test them fully yet but I hear they are good. Although they are the 1300 mAH ones.

wha???

When are these coming out, couldn't find anything other than Q1 on the series of tubes.

edit: Damn Q1 starts in july...