Customer Reviews

Apple White Dock Connector to FireWire & USB 2.0 Cable

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a handy item for a Windows user. I happen to have Firewire native on everything except my Tablet (a PC Card there). Transfer rates were not anywhere close to the max 400 speed on the Tablet, for whatever reason, which I believe is because it's an unpowered port. However, this cable makes all the difference.

But people are wondering why does it need 2 ends, and what do you do with the Firewire end?

You plug it into the power adapter and into the wall. The USB port doesn't supply the power the iPod needs.

Do NOT buy this Cable if you're planning to buy a new click wheel ipod, they're not compatible, (use M9688LL/A cable kit instead).

(The following review was moved to the wrong product, the correct product is in my review title, RH 2/3/2009) I get an IPod from someone. It's cable doesn't fit my USB port on my PC. I found out it came with a fire-wire cable. I searched for fire-wire to USB cable changer, but I found they don't exist. I saw this (Apple iPod Dock Connector-to-FireWire-and-USB 2.0 Cable), but I thought you had to have an I-Pod Dock and I didn't know what it was. Well, the Dock Connector refers to the port on the bottom of all I-Pods. You plug the "dock" connector to the bottom of your I-Pod (it's dock), and now you can plug the USB cable to your PC's USB port, whether you have 1.0 or 2.0 (2.0 is just faster). Also, now you take the extra fire-wire cable and plug it to your charger, so you can keep charging while your using your I-Pod on your PC. The alternative is buying a fire wire card and installing it in your PC, a little more expensive, a litte more work.

the cold hard facts today are that most people do not have a MAC computer. its also a fact that most computers have USB ports, not fire wire. You have two alternitives: a fire wire card for around 40 dollars, or this cable for around 20 dollars, you make the choice. if your like me, the only thing you would use the fire wire card for would be your iPod, which to me seems like a waste of 20 bucks, but if you have a lot of fire wire appliances, then you may wanna pick up the card. For any other reason than that, this cable is the only solution.
On the upside, you can dowload music on to the iPod and have it plugged into a power outlet at the same time so your iPod doesnt run out of batteries half way through downloading, thus cancelling your download. This isnt such a big problem for MAC users, since the iPod actually charges while downloading, but for windows users, most of us, it sucks the batteries dry when downloading. This cord is almost a given necasity for PC users, inless you want to waste 20 bucks!

PC owners: odds are high that you need this to connect your computer to your iPod. Yes, it chafes that after spending several hundred dollars for a fancy digital music player, you have to drop another $20 or so for another cable, but that's just the way it goes.

The firewire end of this double cable connects with the AC outlet adapter and has the same functionality as the firewire-only cable packaged with the iPod. It's the USB end that connects to the computer. In order to synch up the iPod, you plug the USB cable into your PC; when it's finished and a checkmark appears on the iPod screen, you can unplug it again.

The cables are about six feet long, long enough to reach under a desk to the wall outlet or around to the computer. They come with cute little plug covers that snap onto skeins of cable.

It would be nice if there was some kind of retractable-cable option, or if the cables were a little bit larger-gauge.

Unless you have a firewire port, PC and iPod users will need this item to connect and synch their iPod.

(My experience comes from owning the 3d-gen 20 GB iPod with dock connector.)

This is a great product. You do not need the Ipod dock to use this connector as it may seem from reading about it. The connector clicks into the bottom of the Ipod. You can plug the firewire side into the AC charger so that the battery is not used while transferring files and the USB 2.0 side can be plugged into your computer at the same time. If you have any money left to burn after the cash you dished out for the Ipod, get one of these handy connectors.

Basically, most people don't have a Mac computer, so most people only have USB connectors on their computers. So go to TARGET and get this Dock Connector for $14.95. It works great for USB ports, and the great Apple interface makes updates a breeze. Overall, great product for computers other than Macs.

I use this to hook my new iPod up to my USB 2.0 PCI card. This can only be used with the new iPod, as it uses the Dock Connector. My thoughts:

USB 2.0 worked relatively well. A few things that users should know: USB 2.0 shares bandwidth with all devices that are using the master hub. Therefore, the more you have hooked up, the slower the speed for each device is. I happen to just be using the iPod with my USB 2.0 PCI card. Another note: the iPod cannot take full advantage of USB 2.0. The iPod can only handle the 400 Mbps data transfer rate that FireWire supplies. The extra 80 Mbps does not make a difference in this situation.

Using this cable initially for my iPod (my computer's OS is Windows XP), I found the installation painless, and it works as advertised.

Another thing this cable is good for, is if you have word documents on your iPod. You can connect it to more computors using the USB 2.0. Not all PC's have a firewire port. So if you want to have a more universal iPod, this is a great product.

A Firewire port will only power your iPod if it is a 6-pin firewire..as opposed to a 4pin that is common on many computers. If you do not have a 6 pin, this cable is a good idea so that you can charge and sync at the same time.