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Electronics : Kensington Entertainment Dock 500 For iPod
Rating: 
- Solid ipod dock for 30gb video
Ordered through 'esaver' (one of the amazon additional buyer options) and was delivered promptly.
Very happy with the dock. Solid build quality. The dock adapter that came with my ipod (30gb video) fits straight into the base without having to fiddle about. The ipod feels well supported when docked.
The RF remote is fine. Works through walls (although I have limited need for this functionality!). I haven't tested the 50' claim but it works from any angle within the room, which is about all I need it to do.
Sound quality through the supply cable is good. Video quality is better than I expected it would be considering it is encoded video being watched on a large screen. The bundled lead can be plugged straight into the ipod headphone jack and carry sound and video/photo, although the connection seems to be somewhat sensitive - perhaps an option for portability, but safer to plug it in through the jack at the back of the dock. I don't know if I'd ever both to use the s-video out as the combined av cable is fine.
I'd seen a review on another website saying that you can use the doc without it being plugged into the mains. However, when I tried this the sound quality becomes very distorted (it sounds like the ipod battery isn't powerful enough to power the dock). Sound quality improves if you plug directly into the headphone jack on the ipod, but then all the doc is doing is standing the thing up! In short, you have to have your ipod charging all the time it is docked - I can't see that this is an issue, unless for some reason it isn't good for battery life?
A couple of potential negatives. Unlike any other dock I've seen this one doesn't have a USB/Firewire input so you can't sync with itunes while it's in the dock. For me this isn't an issue as the dock still charges the ipod from the mains and I have no need to sync the ipod while I'm playing content.
The second point is that when using the remote, you cannot see the ipod menu on a tv screen, just on the ipod screen. Not the end of the world for simple functions, but if you're a distance from the ipod you have to select options somewhat 'blind'. Not the end of the world - some docks seem to have a menu emulator for TVs but these come at a cost!
Lastly, my ipod is black and Kensington don't appear to do a black version. Although not ideal, it doesn't look out of place in the gloss white dock.
Overall a very solid dock that does exactly what I needed.
- Solid ipod dock for 30gb videoOrdered through 'esaver' (one of the amazon additional buyer options) and was delivered promptly.
Very happy with the dock. Solid build quality. The dock adapter that came with my ipod (30gb video) fits straight into the base without having to fiddle about. The ipod feels well supported when docked.
The RF remote is fine. Works through walls (although I have limited need for this functionality!). I haven't tested the 50' claim but it works from any angle within the room, which is about all I need it to do.
Sound quality through the supply cable is good. Video quality is better than I expected it would be considering it is encoded video being watched on a large screen. The bundled lead can be plugged straight into the ipod headphone jack and carry sound and video/photo, although the connection seems to be somewhat sensitive - perhaps an option for portability, but safer to plug it in through the jack at the back of the dock. I don't know if I'd ever both to use the s-video out as the combined av cable is fine.
I'd seen a review on another website saying that you can use the doc without it being plugged into the mains. However, when I tried this the sound quality becomes very distorted (it sounds like the ipod battery isn't powerful enough to power the dock). Sound quality improves if you plug directly into the headphone jack on the ipod, but then all the doc is doing is standing the thing up! In short, you have to have your ipod charging all the time it is docked - I can't see that this is an issue, unless for some reason it isn't good for battery life?
A couple of potential negatives. Unlike any other dock I've seen this one doesn't have a USB/Firewire input so you can't sync with itunes while it's in the dock. For me this isn't an issue as the dock still charges the ipod from the mains and I have no need to sync the ipod while I'm playing content.
The second point is that when using the remote, you cannot see the ipod menu on a tv screen, just on the ipod screen. Not the end of the world for simple functions, but if you're a distance from the ipod you have to select options somewhat 'blind'. Not the end of the world - some docks seem to have a menu emulator for TVs but these come at a cost!
Lastly, my ipod is black and Kensington don't appear to do a black version. Although not ideal, it doesn't look out of place in the gloss white dock.
Overall a very solid dock that does exactly what I needed.