Charging Carts and Stations
What is a charging cart/station?
With more and more mobile technology available, you need a way to manage it all. Charging stations provide a place to secure and charge anything, from laptop computers, to tablets and smart phones. This lets you keep everything together, organized, and always ready for use. Gone are the days of looking for that computer or tablet, only to find that it was never charged. Touchboards carries many different charging carts and cabinets to fit anyone's classroom, office space, and budget. We carry systems for for iPads, iPhones, Android phones and tablets, Chromebook, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and many others. We will now discuss how to choose the right cart. They come in many configurations and styles....from large rolling systems, to cabinets and desktop mounted solutions.
What factors you will need to consider when buying a charging cart?
- First the obvious factor: make sure the unit physically fits into the charging bays. Take your protective cases into account too. We have charging carts with different sized slots to accommodate all different cases and models
- How many tablets/computers are you trying to charge/sync? Will your class or work force grow? Keep the future in mind. We have units which offer many different storage capacities ranging up to 40 units.
- Do you need just charging or both charge and sync functionality. To sync with a wired connection to all your devices, choose a Tablet Charging Cart with Wired Sync. To sync using your wireless network, choose a regular Tablet Charging Cart or Cabinet. If you don’t sync very often, consider a budget-friendly Sync Kit from Anthro with your Tablet Charging Cart or Cabinet; it syncs 10 devices at a time using a simple 10-port USB hub.
- Do you need any type of specialized units? We have specially designed models for travel, security, unique cabinet mounted solutions, small desktop models, and even water resistant storage. We also have kits to retrofit older and outdated carts. Simply put, you keep the "shell" and put new charging bays inside your old cart to save money.
- Budget: how much do you have to spend? We carry carts and storage devices for all budgets. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for in this industry. A $600 dollar cart simply will not have the build quality, functionality and warranty of $1300 system. We have everything from economy carts to the best systems money can buy with more advanced features such as automatic sync and charging, and timers.
- Space: make sure you see how large of a foot print the unit will take up. We have some units designed to be slender and on the "taller" side to take up less space.
- Colors: we have quite a few color options for those interested in something a little different or brighter. Here are just a few options to give you an idea of what is possible.
Who uses charging carts and what type of applications will they work with?
When you think about it, electronic devices have become an integral part of society that we almost take for granted. Education is obviously a huge market sector, and the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) campaign is becoming stronger and stronger, as almost everyone now uses a smart phone or tablet...from children to senior citizens. However, many other industries also rely heavily on these devices.
Please check out the video below demonstrating Anthro's YES cart series designed for nearly any device.
What model tablets/computers do you have charging carts for?
We carry charging carts and cabinets for almost any computer or tablet model but here is a list of popular ones on the market that we can accomodate: all iPad and ipod, macbooks and macbook air, Amazon kindle, Fire HD, Acer chromebook, Aver Iconia, amplify, Google nexus, Asus Eee, Asus nexus, Transformer pad, Vivotab smart, Barnes and Noble Nook and Nook HD, Google Chromebook Pixel, HP Elitepad, HP Chromebook, Lenovo Thinkpad, Thinkpad Chromebook, Microsoft surface RT and Surface Pro, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Tab 2, tab 3 10.1 , Samsung Chromebook, Samsung Galaxy, TKOED Speelbook 9.7.
Frequently asked questions about Charging Carts
- Can I mix mobile devices in the Tablet Carts? Generally you can and you can mix and match ipads, android tablets, ipods, and e-readers like the Kindle of Nook. The carts and cabinets are basiscally set up to use the charging cords that came with your device. This allows you to use many different models in the same cart.
- I'm using a thick protective case for my tablet. Will it fit in your cart? We do have systems designed with wider bays. The simplest way to do this is to physically measure the tablet/computer and see if it will fit inside the bay. See spec sheet for that info on each model.
- Are your carts able to work with ipad and ipad mini Lightning? Yes these connectors are fine with most systems. Since the ipad uses a regular plug and uses a regular outlet they will be compatible with most of the carts we sell.
- I have a mix of tablets and laptop/netbooks. Is there a cart that can fit both?
Two popular models that feature flexibility with laptops and notebooks:
http://www.touchboards.com/ergotron-dm40-1009-1/
http://www.touchboards.com/anthro/anthro-ltsc20wh-sm.html
- How long does it take to wire up a cart? We sell many different models and brands but generally the first time you do it would take about 30 minutes to 45 minutes. After you do it the first time it will take much less time as you get the hang of it.
Frequently asked questions about Syncing Carts
- Can you sync all devices at once? It depends on the system. For example, The Antro Tablet Charging Cart with Wired Sync provides a wired connection to all 32 devices at once, so you can sync as many as your syncing tool (i.e. iTunes or Apple Configurator) will support. With the Sync Kit, you can sync 10 at a time.
- Can you sync and charge at the same time? Like many devices, the cart is in either Sync Mode or Charge Mode. It doesn’t do both at once. They do not do it simultaneously.
- How does your Tablet Charging Cart with Wired Sync work? Here is a typical system....At set-up, route your charging cords from the front User Area to the back IT Area and plug each device into a USB port. Ports are numbered 1-32 to correspond to the storage bays in the front User Area, and they’re organized into panels. Panel A hosts bays 1-16; Panel B hosts bays 17-32. Each panel has a corresponding USB port on the Interface Panel on the outside of the cart. Connect your host computer to the cart using the two USB ports on the Interface Panel, and there you have it! A wired connection for each device!
- What if I have some devices with Lightning connectors and some with 30-pin connectors? Do I need a different cart for each? No, you can mix and match in the cart.
- How fast do devices sync using your cart? Sync speed is really a function of the number changes you’re making and the number of devices you’re syncing at once. Most USB ports in the cart are high-speed USB 2.0 Standard.