It was tricky positioning the controller into the charging station. Fortunately the amber LED on the controller lights up when the contacts are touching. This is far nicer than using the usb cable to charge the controller. Even though it was more expensive I elected to purchase the official Sony charger for fear of the house burning down due to faulty electronics from 3rd party manufacturers. The chargers from the 3rd party manufacturers are cheaper, but there's a reason why they're cheap. Often they are not certified for the country they are destined for so buyer beware. Sony PlayStation is a well known brand name and I figured they would have good quality control in place. I'm pretty happy with this product.