Nyko Charge Base 2 (PS3)

Anybody who owns a PlayStation 3 knows that one of the irritating things about it is that you have to have your PS3 powered on in order to charge its wireless controllers. The big problem is that most people have their PS3 powered on only when they're playing with it--which is when you want to be using your wireless controller, not charging it via a USB cable that effectively turns it into a corded controller.

To help solve the whole PS3 controller charging problem, Nyko has come up with a contraption called the Nyko Charge Base 2, which sells for about $30 and is the successor to the original Charge Base. While the earlier model charged as many as four controllers, the Charge Base 2 is designed to charge two PS3 controllers at once. Depending on your design taste, you'll either find it kind of cool looking or somewhat garish.

We didn't really like the mirrored finish--it's a fingerprint magnet--and while the two glowing LED status lights are appealing, they're pretty bright, and some may find them distracting unless you hide the charger, say, behind your TV. They glow red when your controller is completely dead, solid green when your controller is fully charged, and flash between red and green when charging is nearly complete.

A small dongle needs to be attached to the controller's USB port before it can be charged.

The charging kit comes with two clear plastic USB adapters that you attach to the mini USB port on the back of your PS3 wireless controller. Once you've attached the adapters to your controllers, you can then drop them into an open slot in the charger dock where the adapters will connect with their corresponding contact points in the dock. This is a big improvement over the previous Charge Base, which required you to finesse your controllers into the dock via a direct USB connection. The adapter approach makes docking and undocking your controllers very easy. However, it is easy to lose the adapters, so you'll probably just want to leave them on your controller--or sitting in the cradle--at all times.

Other than its perhaps overly bright lights and somewhat bulky size (alas, the PS3 controllers' rechargeable batteries aren't removable, which would allow for a more compact charging station like the Xbox 360 Quick Charge Kit), we didn't really have any significant complaints about the product. The Charger Base 2 charges one or both controllers in about two hours, but we suspect most people will simply leave their controllers in the dock overnight. Also worth noting: In our tests, the Charge Base 2 worked equally well with the original Sixaxis controller as well as the follow-up rumble controller, the DualShock 3.

All in all, the Charger Base 2 is a convenient way to keep your PS3's wireless controllers charged and ready to use. Hopefully, Nyko will come out with a four-slot charger for power users, but this model should suffice for most PS3 owners--and quad-controller households could always buy two. While it might not be a must-have PS3 accessory, it's certainly one that those with PS3 charging woes will appreciate.

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