Apple's iPod Dock & Remote Review

Quick Tracks: Pros/Cons & Conclusion - Photos - Discussions

Packaging & First Impressions

Although Apple's iPod Dock & Remote are sold separately we thought they would make a good duo for our first companion review. Sure, you could have just the remote and control nothing or just use the dock for its ability to hold and sync your iPod, but those are old hat. These are two things that belong together and so here they are reviewed together.

As for packaging, both live up to Apple quality although the remote was a pain to get out of its plastic coffin. Not a lot of hoopla or stuff included, you get your remote and your dock and that is it. Plug it in and go. The battery for the remote was included and installed which is a good choice. The iPod dock does come with five adapters allowing for compatibility with a lot of iPods which is also a nice touch.

Two Trick Pony

Setting up the iPod dock really didn't take long as you just plug the cable that came with the iPod into the back of the dock. That is it, no step two. Put your iPod into the dock and watch out for all the fun. The dock also has s-video and line out to connect to a TV or stereo which makes for nice family time viewing. Ok, that is the boring part, let's fire up the remote.

The iPod Dock remote looks like the iPod shuffle with a black crew cut. It has the same circle controls (+/-, forward/back, play/pause) but to change things up, the outer ring is in white not grey like the shuffle. There is also a menu button but we never really got that to work in our labs with the iPod, so it must be for the computer.

The remote allows for you to start, stop, wake and sleep the iPod that is connected. You can also raise and lower the volume of the music you are listening to. Again, we tried hitting the menu button for hours and got nothing from the iPod. When you are in photo slideshow mode on a compatible iPod you can control the forward/backward actions of the slideshow. The remote operates over IR so has a good direct range but has to be pointed towards the dock to work.

Pros, Cons & Rating

Pros Works with a ton of iPod models Sturdy design No package deal Pricey Cons No black models for us New Yorkers Remote has limited range Menu button is inconsistent

Conclusion

Apple's iPod dock and remote while good additions to the iPod accessory family, do not show some of Apple's better design choices. We would have liked to see them come in black, have more ability to control the iPod and have greater range. We expect third party companies to fill in some of feature gaps in the near future.

Specs

• $39.99 Dock
• $29.99 Remote

Available at Apple.com and Amazon.com