enhanced m3 cradle

[blutarsky]

i purchased the m3 with the cradle, but once i got it and i've been using it for a while, i wonder why i did (purchase the cradle, that is).

there are warnings in the forum stating that you shouldn't have both the a/c power and the usb data cables plugged in to the unit at the same time, so what is the purpose of the cradle? if i have to keep disconnecting/connecting cables why did i buy a cradle that will be left connected on my desk at all times? seems to me that if i was going to be swapping cables around the included mini-dock would have done nicely.

currently, if i want to connect my m3 to charge battery only (i.e., i DO NOT want to transfer data), when i plug the player into the cradle it'll be detected and mounted (assuming i have both usb and a/c plugged in), and i'll have to use the "safely remove hardware" from my system tray. but even when i do that my unit still displays something like "now safe to disconnect" but never shows the "charging" screen on the remote (unless, of course, i disconnect the usb data cable). is it charging off of the usb cable or off of a/c power at this point?

it seems to me that the cradle/dock behavior is somewhat bizarre and at the very least counter-intuitive. i believe that if you offer a cradle, it should be understood that the power and usb data cable will be connected at all times -- no cable removal should ever be necessary. i purchased my cradle for the convenience of not having to mess around with cables, but i'm not sure i got that. even just to upgrade my firmware i had to move cables around to power it up and flash correctly.

if some sort of cable switching is to be necessary, i propose an "enhanced cradle", which perhaps might have a switch on it (i wouldn't mind flicking a "data-xfer/charge" switch to decide which funtionality my cradle is currently providing me -- heck you could even make the switch smart so you couldn't switch it from data if it's currently mounted and unsafe for disconnect). of course, if this could be simplified via some sort of firmware fix then i'm all for that as well, but that seems unlikely.