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Apple iPhone 3G Dock

No Audio/Video Pass Thru

Written by KD from New York

Jan 4, 2009

OK, you know going into this ridiculous purchase that you are paying $30 for nothing more than a plastic stand without cables or a charger, but you at least expect that when you do spend your money buying the necessary cables, they will work.

Not so. This dock does not pass video from the iPhone to your $50 Apple AV cable. It also will only pass audio through another cable connected to the line out port.

Just like buying a docking station for your laptop computer, it would be nice to be able to have all cables connected to the dock that provides a simple way to get power, audio and video. Unfortunately with this dock, you need to have multiple cables, and you will need to switch out the cables based on the intended function . . . oh, and you still won't get video through the dock.

Only other comments would be that if the dock were deeper, I would be less concerned about snapping off the connector . . . there is no support for the iPhone other than the little connector, and that BLACK should be an option since the phones are black.

81 of 91 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Excellent

Written by TC from Taunton

Dec 31, 2008

a little overpriced for what it actually is, however works well nice and stable.
received it within 2 days, thanks apple

16 of 26 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

works just as explained

Written by KS from Broadview Heights

Dec 26, 2008

works like any other dock and makes life a little easier, the cons about it, is that it does not come with a cable and the price of this is a little bit then i would like this is worth but in the end its exactly what i wanted and works great

22 of 29 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Great Product - Almost

Written by RE from Portslade

Dec 26, 2008

Dock looks great, nice seamless connection and with the exception of being white, (iPhone 3G is black/chrome), everything looks good.

Apart from the fact that it does not work with the AV cable so now I have to buy a Universal Dock, (I hate anything "Universal", why don't they call it, "Not designed to fit anything properly" - half arsed job if you ask me), which has 25% of the looks.

Do it properly if you're going top do anything; make the thing fully compatible, it's not that hard.

19 of 23 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

What's up Dock? Wheres the Cable Steve?

Written by RG from arizona city

Dec 20, 2008

I really like the looks of this dock and the way my 3G sits in it. When I bought this I didn't realize I still had to use the cable that came with my iPhone.

I had planned on using this with my iMac in the house and using the cable that came with my iPhone in my car with it's built in AC port so I wouldn't have to take the cable from house to car every time.

I would think being a desk top accessory it would have a cable hard-wired into it, especially for $29, I feel kinda let down Steve that it looks as if I still have to buy an additional $19 cable. If I had known this I would have just bought a 2nd cable instead of the dock.

107 of 113 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

You need two hands for this...

Written by SD from LEWIS CENTER

Dec 12, 2008

When you pick up the phone, the dock remains attached. You must hold down the dock and pry off the iPhone. Also the dock is too light and is easy to knock over. With no USB wire included, this product is overpriced.

Apple needs to work harder on this one...

97 of 112 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Does what it says on the tin - almost

Written by IM from MILTON KEYNES

Dec 12, 2008

Dock is fine, nice as always if a bit overpriced. I think the lack of cable is no real hardship if you already own 3 iPods :)
The fact the bluetooth headset wont charge when it's cable is connected to the dock is a pain in the rear though and means extra desk clutter.
Roll on the combined 3g / bluetooth dock.

40 of 48 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Very nice

Written by WS from wheaton

Dec 8, 2008

By far the best accessory I have boughten for my iPhone 3G. I have the white 16Gb model and I have to say that it looks very nice. As I pass my desk I just slide it right into the dock no need to look around for the cable, a perfect angle for viewing and calls using the phones loud speaker. 5/5 stars.

20 of 32 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Functional: one drawback though

Written by SP from New York

Dec 8, 2008

The line-out on the back is a nice touch, but isn't supported for phone calls! This vitiates one of the huge advantages of the Phone and iPod integration on iPhone - the way music fades out and the ringer sounds in your earbuds when you take a call. Your only option when using the Dock is to take the call on the speakerphone.

14 of 18 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

elegant and functional

Written by DB from Red Deer

Dec 4, 2008

i hated having my phone lying flat on my night stand it looked horrible not to mention the cable left there when it was not plugged in, the dock looks great, works great, and is not that expencive when you look at docks, of any kind. my only complaint is that the system audio is always at max through the audio out on the back, not paired up to the phone level. but still worth every cent!

16 of 20 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Dock? or More?

Written by CJ from Clearfield

Nov 15, 2008

I love this dock, other people have said it isn't that good, but no complaints here. It works fantastic and may I add looks fantastic with my iPhone in it on my desk. A+ Product!

48 of 74 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Nothing but charging and syncing

Written by NP from London

Nov 13, 2008

I've had this dock since I bought the iPhone 3G. It's been great. It keeps the iPhone looking neat on my desk whilst it synchronizes and charges.

A while back I also bought myself an a/v cable so I could watch videos from my iPhone 3G on my tv. What I really wanted was to plug the cable in to the back of the dock so that next to the tv my iPhone would still look as neat and tidy as it did on my desk. To my annoyance I discovered that the dock will not allow this. There is no capability of providing the video to the cable for some reason.

And today I bought myself the iPhone Bluetooth Headset, which of course comes with a special cable that lets you charge the headset and the iPhone at the same time.
Well what would be ideal would be a dock like you could get for the iPhone which accepts both phone and headset, but we STILL can't get that for the iPhone 3G.

So, I decided I could just plug the cable that came with the headset in to the back of the iPhone 3G Dock and succeed in charging/syncing both at the same time that way.
No such luck. Do this and the headset stops charging - the iPhone doesn't even recognise that it's connected.

Why has Apple done this? Why isn't the dock just a straight one-to-one pin connection. Why have they limited its capabilities?

So to sum up:
The dock is fine if you ONLY need to charge or sync your iPhone 3G.
But if you wish to use any other cable that you could plug directly in the port of the phone; forget it. The Dock just won't let it work.
So you can't keep your desk looking neat if you want to be clever!

101 of 128 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Too-steep docking angle, premium price

Written by NN from Houston

Oct 22, 2008

Performancewise, it works just as it should: it syncs and charges my iPhone 3G in a space-saving position on the desk.

I believe my desk surface is close to ergonomically correct, where my forearms are parallel to the desk surface and the floor. But the angle of the iPhone 3G in the dock is like 70-80 degrees from horizontal, so it practically appears to be sitting straight up and down. To adjust for this, I either hunch to see everything on the screen or push it farther back on the desk. Neither is a great option. I guess I might place it on some sort of pedestal...

The dock has a nice heft to it, plus a grippy rubber base. Frankly, I'm glad I didn't pay for it and the additional USB cable myself (I keep the USB cable that came with the iPhone at home), because I do find the cost of both combined is a bit high. If, however, you just have one computer you use your iPhone 3G with, you only need to buy the dock; then it kinda makes sense why the dock didn't have another USB cable packaged with it. I tell myself that, anyway...

69 of 90 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Why not in the package?

Written by JT from Calgary

Oct 8, 2008

The first iPhone came with the charging cable AND this dock. Now they don't include it and that really hurts. The dock is alright, it does the job but is still overpriced for being essentially a stand for your iphone that looks neat. I've gone back to just using the cable direction because the base of the dock is not big enough to stop the iphone from falling over from time to time when you try to use the phone while it is in it's dock.

175 of 186 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Works fine.

Written by DC from Santa Barbara

Oct 2, 2008

Works well enough. Go for one of the universal docks if you use a case though.

77 of 94 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Finally a dock for cheap!

Written by JP from Sainte-Julienne

Sep 30, 2008

I have to say KUDO's to Apple for FINALLY having released a dock for cheaper: Used to be around $50 WITH cable before If I am correct. I simply love the fact of not having to dish-out $50 for a dock + cable when I already have a cable...

Although I find it still pricy considering there is about $3 worth of parts packaging and labor, but hey, all Apple accessories sport a quite hefty price tag...

I still welcome the idea of selling the dock and the cable separately, they should do this for a lot of accessories that come in multi-parts - sell them in parts as well.

Too bad some reviewers seem dismayed by the fact they don't have a cable included, I guess they were not aware that the price of the dock use to be almost double when it came with the cable.

34 of 63 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

It's a dock

Written by TB from Covington

Sep 26, 2008

There is nothing great about it, but it's a nice thing to have for the safety of your iPhone. I recommend it!!

16 of 27 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

It is exactly what it says it is: a Dock

Written by PC from Jacksonville

Sep 20, 2008

Some people like to gripe too much. The box says it's an iPhone 3G dock. That's what you get. Nothing less, nothing more. It does exactly what it's supposed to do. If you were expecting a cable, an AC adapter, or a Macbook Air to be included with it, it's your own fault for not reading the side of the box. It clearly states that just a dock is included. The cable & AC adapter came with your iPhone. If that's not enough, just buy more cables and adapters. Problem solved. If you don't like that policy, tough, because that's how Apple works.

I will ding Apple 1 star because it is a shame that Apple decided not to include a dock with the 3G, when it was included with the first iPhone. They also continue to supply the 'Dock-specific' USB cable (small connector) with the 3G iPhone rather than the normal 'dockless' cable (with it's larger connector that clips in). It seems that this was intentional to force people to buy a dock.

43 of 60 people found this useful