Product Description

The Entertainment Dock 500 isn't just for music anymore. Using the video out ports (RCA or S-video) you can also share videos and photos from your iPod through your TV. With a touch of the wireless RF remote you can listen to music through your stereo or play a soundtrack while you view your favorite photos. Simultaneously charges iPod in the cradle.

Product Details

• Brand: Kensington
• Model: 33350
• Format: CD
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 23.62" h x 82.28" w x 87.80" l, 1.59 pounds

Features

• Lets you listen to your iPod's music through your home stereo, and view your favorite photos or play your favorite videos over your home entertainment system
• Comes with a wireless RF remote control that lets you operate your iPod from up to 50 feet away
• Simultaneously charges your iPod while in its cradle, and lets you play your music and videos
• Compatible with iPod Nano (Gen 1,2); iPod (Gen 1,2,4)
• With built-in audio/video out and S-video connections, this system is simple plug-and-play, requiring no settings changes or new software

Amazon.com Product Description
With the Kensington 33350 Entertainment Dock 500 for iPods you can enjoy all your favorite music, video and photos in your home with a touch of a remote control. The Entertainment Dock 500 lets you also display your videos and photos from your iPod through your TV.

The Kensington 33350 entertainment dock lets you listen to music through your home stereo, as well as play a soundtrack while you view your favorite photos or play your favorite videos over your home entertainment system. What's more, this handy unit comes with a wireless RF remote control that lets you operate your iPod from up to 50 feet away, and simultaneously charges your iPod in its cradle. Constructed with both an audio/video out, as well as S-video, this system is simple plug-and-play, without requiring you to change any settings or download any new software.

This unit has a built-in Universal Dock that allows it to work with the iPod or iPod mini with dock connector, as well as the new iPod nano and video--including the iPod 3G, iPod 4G (Click Wheel), iPod color, and iPod 5G/5.5G Video--and is backed by Kensington's 2-year warranty.

What's in the Box
Kensington 33350 Entertainment Dock 500, an audio/video cable, a wireless radio frequency remote, an AC power adapter, a user's guide and warranty information.

Customer Reviews

Awesome quality dock for iPod
This docking station exceeded my expectations. I am using this dock with my 30GB Video iPod and the sound quality is great. I earlier tried hooking the iPod directly to my Denon receiver using iPod's mini-jack with composite audio cables but the output wasn't right. It was on the low side. After I hooked the audio out from Kensignton Dock to my receiver, the sound quality is very crisp and awesome.

The S-Video out from Dock is connected to the receiver as well and the video quality on 50 inch widescreen TV is great. I converted some home videos to MP4 format at 512 kbps and the video looks good on big screen.

Pros:
- Sleek and compact dock
- Amazing sound quality. No distortion noticed
- Charges iPod while playing
- S-Video Out provides nice video and photo display on TV
- Remote is RF based so you can operate it from any direction. Remote has good range. The ability to press and hold 'Select' button to move up the menus is very nice
- Docks nicely even with iPod skin on
- Comes with world charger (100 to 240 volts) so you can carry it outside U.S

Cons:
- Menus don't display on TV so it limits menu navigation through remote from a distance. This was not an advertised feature anyway in Kensignton Dock but new docks will come out with this feature soon

A fix for the remote control...
I did a lot of research in trying to find just the right dock for my new 80 GIG iPod, much of it on Amazon and iLounge. I figured with the negative reviews on the remote that even if it was a bit faulty, it probably had some sort of solution or I at least would be able to get it replaced (Kensington offers a free 2-year warranty on this product). That said, it seemed to provide the best audio and video outputs (with s-video capability assuming you already have an s-video cable or buy one separately), so I went for it.

Everything worked great for two days, and then the remote stopped working. HERE'S THE PROBLEM: The coils which should make clean, direct contact with the flat end (the negative end) of the AAA battery are very, very flimsy, and one of mine (probably at least one on the remotes on all of the people reporting problems) always tended to tilt sideways when I put a battery in (resulting in the coil not completely hitting the negative end). The result is that you're not getting full power from the batteries and so the remote seems dead. HERE'S THE FIX: I had to use a golf tee to keep the coil straight-on with the battery as I put the battery in, and then removed it once the battery made clean contact and could push it in directly. After that it worked fine. Use whatever but make sure those coils are in direct contact - that should do it. UPDATE: A day later, my fix has failed, but I'll continue to play with it and see what I can do - that cheap little coil is really flimsy but at least the company can replace it.

The remote will navigate through pretty much every menu on your ipod (not just volume or skipping tracks, but also going up and down levels on the menu, turning the iPod off and on, etc), though sadly as I had read in advance the menus do not turn up on your TV screen. It'll be great when/if that problem is solved.

As for AV quality, I'm fairly satisfied. On my HDTV, using the RCA inputs for audio works great but the picture quality leaves something to be desired (what do you expect with all that compression) - looks great on a 2" x 2" screen but blow that up onto an actual TV and it's watchable but hardly crystal clear. I haven't tried the S-video connection yet but I imagine the results won't be that much better (again, I'm assuming it's the file compression and not the cables that make that big a deal). Audio is my main concern, and that sounds great. I'm picky about such things and as such was late to make the leap to iPods in general, but this dock makes my songs sound nearly as good as CD's to my ears.

Pros:
-Great sound
-Nice unobtrusive design
-Supports RCA and S-Video output
-Good range on the remote

Cons:
-Cheap (but fixable) remote
-No menus on the TV (though very few support this)

A little known fact for the Dock 500, that will ruin your iPod.
This is a fantastic dock in features, but a little known fact about the Kensington Dock 500 is that it continuously charges your iPod whether the battery is full or not. The problem with this is that it will eventually ruin the battery in your iPod, giving you decreased runtime and eventually killing it altogether. This is why high end battery chargers stop charging when batteries are full. Kensington actually admits to the continuous charging on their website in the FAQ section. I found this out from the staff at a Genius Bar in an Apple Store after I purchased the Kensington dock. Luckily I was still able to return mine and get a dock by a different company that stops charging when the battery is full.
I would recommend the Belkin TuneCommand or the Keyspan AV dock. Both of these units are basically identical to the Dock 500; except that they both stop charging when the battery is full. Ohh, and they cost less too.