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Kensington Stereo Dock for iPod...
In many ways, the Kensington Stereo Dock for
iPod is an improvement on the standard Apple iPod Dock. It connects
directly to your stereo via an included 7-foot gold-plated RCA-to-stereo-mini-jack
cable (in iPod white, naturally), and comes with a small white
infrared remote that gives you wireless control over any iPod
with a dock connector. While we like the design, we found one
important thing missing: a way to sync your iPod with your PC
while it is in the dock. Still, the sound quality is very good,
and the remote works very well.
The dock is bigger than the standard Apple dock, but it maintains
a fairly small footprint, at 2 by 3 by 4 inches. It is powered
by an included AC power adapter that won't take up too much space
on your power strip and that also charges your iPod. |
The unit
is white with a chrome-plated metal bar that wraps around the
front and provides a backrest for your full-size iPod. Although
the dock accommodates the iPod mini and nano, neither of those
models will benefit from the added stability of the backrest.
A rubberized bottom keeps the dock from sliding around on smooth
surfaces.
The Kensington logo on the front is backlit in
orange, but it's not too obtrusive. We like that the buttons on
the remote control, which include volume up/down, track skip,
and play/pause, are also backlit in orange. The buttons themselves
are embedded in a wheel-style interface reminiscent of the iPod's
click wheel. The remote feels sturdy, and the buttons have a very
good feel to them, though the surface of the entire interface
is completely smooth, so you can't navigate by feel. The remote
works from as far as 30 feet away and runs on two included triple-A
batteries.
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