Siemens Car Power Charger for Siemens M46 & S46 Series Phone

Rating:
Summary: Quality Accessory, Poorly Designed Power Jack on Phone
Review: Quality Accessory, Poorly Designed Power Jack on Phone - Requires ANOTHER Adapter to Use with Headset

While there is typically little to say about an auto power adapter, an annoying design flaw in the Siemens S46 makes use of this adapter cumbersome. Any attachment, whether it be a headset, power supply, or data cable connects through a single proprietary 12 pin jack, unlike those that connect to other phones having a circular power jack and separate headset jack.

In order to use both the auto power supply with your headset, the customer has to purchase a bulky y-adapter that allows the user to branch off. This creates a annoying mess of wires, which could be a distraction while driving.

It seems like Siemens is a bit more aggressive than other cell phone manufacturers in maximizing "switching costs". Not only is the power/data jack different from those on other cell phones, there are at least two instances where two accessories are required where, on other phones, one would suffice. In addition to the power jack issue, the desk charger, which allows the phone to remain upright while charging a second battery, has no power supply! Basically, it is a plastic shell with a power jack for the user to supply another power supply. So, if you want to have two separate chargers if you travel frequently, you would need to acquire a second power supply with the desk charger. These minor annoyances are in addition to the grossly inflated prices. An owner of a Chicago area cell phone store told me that he only pays $... for the car power charger, while the retail is $....

To give some credit to Siemens, the physical quality of the phone and the car power charger is far higher than those by other manufacturers'. It is probably the second most durable phone next to the Panasonic Duramax. The power charger is very, very durable and it appears to use either silicone or a higher quality PVC for the insulating material. Of course, this is probably moot as the phone will be obsolete long before these accessories wear out.

Rating:
Summary: Quality Accessory, Poorly Designed Power Jack on Phone
Review: Quality Accessory, Poorly Designed Power Jack on Phone - Requires ANOTHER Adapter to Use with Headset

While there is typically little to say about an auto power adapter, an annoying design flaw in the Siemens S46 makes use of this adapter cumbersome. Any attachment, whether it be a headset, power supply, or data cable connects through a single proprietary 12 pin jack, unlike those that connect to other phones having a circular power jack and separate headset jack.

In order to use both the auto power supply with your headset, the customer has to purchase a bulky y-adapter that allows the user to branch off. This creates a annoying mess of wires, which could be a distraction while driving.

It seems like Siemens is a bit more aggressive than other cell phone manufacturers in maximizing "switching costs". Not only is the power/data jack different from those on other cell phones, there are at least two instances where two accessories are required where, on other phones, one would suffice. In addition to the power jack issue, the desk charger, which allows the phone to remain upright while charging a second battery, has no power supply! Basically, it is a plastic shell with a power jack for the user to supply another power supply. So, if you want to have two separate chargers if you travel frequently, you would need to acquire a second power supply with the desk charger. These minor annoyances are in addition to the grossly inflated prices. An owner of a Chicago area cell phone store told me that he only pays $... for the car power charger, while the retail is $....

To give some credit to Siemens, the physical quality of the phone and the car power charger is far higher than those by other manufacturers'. It is probably the second most durable phone next to the Panasonic Duramax. The power charger is very, very durable and it appears to use either silicone or a higher quality PVC for the insulating material. Of course, this is probably moot as the phone will be obsolete long before these accessories wear out.