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Apple iPhone 3G Dock

For the complainers!

Written by DL from Antioch

Nov 24, 2009

Read what comes in the box before your purchase! There is no cable included, but at this point you should ALREADY have one from your iPhone purchase!

Pros:
Looks cool, charges well.

Cons:
Base isn't sturdy enough, can't use with an iPhone case on.

What do I say:
Get the universal dock instead of this one. Much better quality, and it comes with a remote.

19 of 22 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Looks Great Works Horribly

Written by JL from Indian Trail

Nov 3, 2009

It is not even close to snug enough a little bump to my desk and the iphone disconnects .It looks good thats the only reason it gets 2 stars.

14 of 16 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Doesn't work with the HD cable

Written by SY from Edmonton

Oct 5, 2009

Either I wasted my money or I have to send it back. Does NOT work with the HD component cable.

18 of 27 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Bad Dock!

Written by RS from WINSTON SALEM

Aug 11, 2009

The compatibility is hit or miss. Sometimes when I connect my 3G(s) this charges as it should. Other times I get an error messgage that says this is not compatible with the iPhone.
Wait, isn't this sold as an iPhone 3G dock???
Not the usual Apple quality.

50 of 60 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Battery drains!

Written by WH from FREEPORT

May 22, 2009

I agree with the previous review. You would expect this to charge your Iphone over night but instead it drains the battery. Caught me on a bad day with this and a dead phone. If you leave it in the dock and your computer goes to sleep, the battery steadily drains. Very annoying.

109 of 206 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

No Passive Power Charging

Written by BM from Lizton

May 11, 2009

I had this plugged into the USB ports of my IMac keyboard. The keyboard ports stay active even after the computer goes into sleep mode so the IPhone should charge. The sync cable works fine to charge my IPhone overnight. With my dock the IPhone charges fine until the IMac goes into sleep mode. Then my battery starts to drain.

The dock is great for everything except charging. If I can't charge my phone overnight then it's pretty pointless.

41 of 59 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

What!? The dock cancels volume control via phone?

Written by JB from Teaneck

Feb 6, 2009

Dock is fine in every respect, accept that volume can only be controlled using volume knob on the powered speakers connected to the dock.

What's up with that?

I bought the dock for looks and convenience for my desk at work.

I have the universal dock at home, which comes with a remote and outputs video. I believe I have the option of controlling volume on the phone or with the remote.

I am very surprised that it appears that the volume control on the phone is disengaged when the phone is in the dock and the dock is connected to powered speakers via the audio out port on the dock.

That's not the case with the universal dock (but who wants to spend $50 even a first time much less a second time for a dock); or when the phone is in the dock but the speakers are connected via the phone's headphone port (which set-up is pretty ugly-looking).

Hopefully, there is a correction for what i am experiencing or I suspect I will be taking the dock back.

44 of 69 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

No cable, too tight

Written by CC from Boischatel

Jan 21, 2009

The dock looks cool, but without cable is useless...

Also do not forget that you have to remove most protector (sleeve type) to use this one.

52 of 68 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Limited function - why waste your $30?

Written by CV from San Francisco

Jan 15, 2009

I picked up the 3G dock thinking I could charge my phone in the dock and plug in the "travel cable" that also charges the iPhone Bluetooth Headset. Same connector on the cable that goes to the back of the dock which holds the phone. But alas no, in order to charge the Apple BT headset, it has to be plugged into the travel cable which has to be plugged directly into the iPhone. Adding the dock into the mix severs and pairing/charging capabilities of the travel cable.

In my mind, that makes the dock useless for my purposes. It is now disconnected and collecting dust. If you want to charge your iPhone vertically and have an extra cable, I still don't think this dock is worth the time/money.

36 of 46 people found this useful

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

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

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

No Cable, very dissapointed

Written by OK from Saint-Bruno

Sep 15, 2008

For $30, Apple should have included a cable. Now I'm no more advanced than I already was before. I don't care if iPod docks never included cables before, I feel ripped off. Fail.

46 of 67 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Penny Pinching Apple

Written by JS from Wolverhampton

Sep 11, 2008

What is there to say? I picked this up in an Apple Store. I'm fairly new to Apple and completely new to the iPhone (bought one only last week). There is is no mention on the packaging or anywhere else that there is NO CABLE WITH THE DOCK!

Come on, this is ridiculous... I love Apple but can't stand there penny pinching tactics. The Dock SHOULD have come with the iPhone 3G, and the cable should DEFINATELY have come with the dock. I guess it's my fault for not checking these reviews first...

The dock itself does exactly what it says on the tin. Unfortunately, the tin didn't tell me that I need to spend another £10 for a cable to actually use it.

77 of 95 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Nice but doesn't work with my case

Written by JS from Burbank

Aug 26, 2008

The dock is a dock. Not much to say other than with my INCASE case the dock does not work. Thats too bad. Apple might want to consider a dock with a bit more tolerance.

32 of 47 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Works fine but should've come with the cable!!!

Written by MP from Folsom

Aug 4, 2008

Works just fine. I was obviously willing to pay extra for the dock, but come on - Apple could have provided the cable with this accessory!!! Instead, whenever I want to undock my phone and take it with me as I travel for business, I've got to also unplug the USB cable. This being my first Apple product (yes, go figure), I'm a little disappointed in Apple's obvious tactics to sucker their devoted consumers to shell out even more money. More phone for half the price? Sure it is.....

73 of 88 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

No Plug, No Cable, No Firewire Charging, but Pretty.

Written by JB from Saint Charles

Jul 22, 2008

I bought one of these because it wouldn't fit in the original iPhone's dock. I travel a lot, and keep the iPhone's cable & plug in my suitcase, so I like to have a dock as a charger while at home. Things to keep in mind if considering buying this...

1) It does NOT come with a cable or plug, so you will need to purchase those separately.

2) I had many previous iPod models, and have been using the Firewire cable from those to run from the wall plug to the dock. (Power only, not using it to sync.) This worked great for iPhone, ver.1. iPhone 3G will NOT charge from a firewire cable!

3) Does not support the Apple Remote like the Universal Dock does, so if you connect the line-out port to the dock, you cannot use a remote.

So just a word of caution, if you use the included plug for travel and would like a separate desk/home charger you will need to purchase a separate USB iPhone cable and USB power plug. This dock does not come with them, nor does it support previous iPod/dock firewire power.

125 of 137 people found this useful

Apple iPhone 3G Dock

Works great, until you buy a case

Written by RH from Atsubetsu-ku

Jul 19, 2008

In a strange oversight that I can't really explain, Apple engineers seem to have created a dock that can't be used by a large number of owners without considerable inconvenience. Since a lot of people are likely to buy a case for their phone, it's worth pointing out, that in the majority of cases you're either going to need to remove your phone from its case every time you want to dock it, or buy the more expensive universal dock which can hold a phone inside its case (albeit only when you remove the small plastic adapter).

For those with slide-in cases, this might be fine, but if you buy something like a silicon rubber jacket (which a lot of people use for its anti-shock potential), it's basically not worth the hassle (or the wear and tear) to keep removing it and putting it back on.

99 of 113 people found this useful