I am extremely dissatisfied with using this product as a desktop docking station for my Droid 4. It is unnecessarily large and bulky, because it was designed to support the weight of tablet devices as well as phones. Since it is somewhat universal, there are no channels to guide the device into the dock ports. This makes docking and undocking the phone very painful, even after you carefully dial in the depth on the dock. A major shock to me was that the USB port on the back does not carry data, rendering the dock useless for syncing media with a PC, which I fully expected to be able to do. Since the docking station port-replicates a micro-USB port, why in the world would it be designed not carry the data signal as well as power? I was expecting a lot more from Motorola after being very satisfied with the official dock for my A855. I have nothing good to say about the design of this product. Unless you want an outrageously overpriced charger, this is useless for a phone.
The two connectors (mini USB/charging and mini HDMI) are on a sliding tray that can lock into position as required to fit Motorola phones including Droid 3 and Droid 4, or for motorola tablets. It also has inserts that can be removed when tablet/phone has a case. The knob on top is used to lock the sliding connector tray into place, as well as the spring loaded rear backing pad, so the device is held fairly firmly in place when locked down. HDMI cable carries video and audio out, plus there is a 3.5mm earphone jack for analog audio output. It triggers the various docking modes on my Droid 4 phone, but I haven't spent much time trying to learn or use them... they may work well, but I don't have a use for them. It's the only dock that can accept Droid 4 phone at this time.
CONS:
Will NOT charge motorola XOOM tablet since it does not have the separate charging pins that Xoom requires. Motorola Xoom tablet cannot charge through the mini USB port like most other phones and tablets. Wish they allowed a lower rate charge through this connector, but they cheaped out on the original Xoom. It might charge other tablets but I can't confirm this.
It does not rotate Droid 4 phone's home screens to portrait mode when inserted into the dock unless an HDMI cable is connected to a device that is turned on (such as a TV). However, the apps seem to rotate with the phone normally, so this is only a minor annoyance.
It's kinda tricky getting the connectors to line up when inserting a tablet or phone unless you are at eye level with the connectors.
It's a fairly large unit, so it looks pretty clunky on a bedside table. So far, it's the only dock for Droid 4, so I choose to overlook the large clunky dock on the nightstand. I wish they would come out with a small dock like they have for previous droids. I'll definitely replace this dock if a smaller one becomes available.I have had great experience with previous Motorola docks but not this one. There is a manufacturing problem. The two male plugs are not properly aligned (relative to one another) as they are placed in the plastic slide. The slide itself is adjustable to accomodate different devices (Droid, Zoom, etc) but the two plugs are fixed on the slide. One can look at the plugs and see they are not properly aligned. The two female openings in the phone are properly aligned. So the plugs on the dock do not align with the openings on the phone. At Amazon's suggestion I am returning this one and ordering another.There's an old saying "Jack of all trades but master of none". Which basically means if you try to do everything you'll end up doing nothing well. That sums up this dock.
I've had all previous droids and their docks, this one sucks compared to the others.
The dock is meant to allow use with multiple devices. I'm guessing it'll be just as crappy with any other models as it is with the Droid 4.
The first failure is the depth adjuster. Instead of having a cleanly sized 'socket' for your phone you're left trying to determine just how deep to set the dock yourself. This might be useful if you have a non-standard case on your phone. But if you're using the phone by itself it just means you're left with a loose, hard to align ledge.
The second failure is the double connectors. I don't need video out on my desk. I need USB charging. But since the dock has two connectors it's a hassle trying to line up both connectors. On other docks you just set it into the cradle and you're done. Not this one. Here you have to fiddle around trying to line it up. Scratching the side of your phone in the process.
Thirdly there's the hassle of disconnecting from the dock. The two plugs make a secure connection. This would be good except it means the dock gets pulled up when you trying to remove the phone. You have to struggle with it to get it loose. I have to imagine all this yanking around is unnecessarily hard on the connectors in the phone. So instead of being convenient it'll just end up breaking your phone earlier. Gee, thanks Moto.... NOT.
As a side note, it appears the D4 no longer uses a magnet to determine whether it's in a dock or not. This means third party docks won't be as available. Again, screw us much, moto? First you make a crappy dock and then engineer it so nobody else can make a better one?What an absolute useless piece of junk. Why would you have a USB plug that does not sync to your PC but is charger only? It don't matter what you plug in the back, they disabled the data channels. This thing is going right back. Previous docks by Motorola had no problem syncing with PC. Some genius at Motorola thought to themselves "hey people don't use docks with PC's". The funny thing is they did it with not only this dock but the more expensive dock too.
So let me see the scenario that they thought through (my tone is highly sarcastic). When you want to have a clock on your desk, or make a phone call use the dock. When you need to sync photos or something with your pc, pull the phone off the dock, get another wire and hook that into the phone and then do your syncing. Later when you are done syncing, put it back on the dock when you want it to look pretty. Seriously, duhhhhh.
If someone from Motorola reads this review, please do me a fave so I feel better: Close your eyes shake your head left to right rapidly, and start running at full speed (keep shaking that head).
Apart from that you cannot lift the phone off this dock without the dock coming right with it because the plugs are holding on so tight. On the surface the adjustable would seem genius, but what an absolute useless piece of junk.
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