Customer Reviews

Griffin AirDock Docking Station for iPod w/RF Remote

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

 

 

This is a very nice looking product that I bought because of that and its A- rating on iLounge.

What I found was that the audio quality was poor, presumably because the dock has another (and not very good) amplification stage so volume can be adjusted via the remote. Not even close to the quality you get from a dock which just takes the line level signal straight from the iPod via the dock connector.

And each time you play the iPod, the volume level reverts to the dock's relatively low default level, so using it in an audio system means adjusting level (on the dock or on the audio system) every time.

I regret having purchased this unit.

This is a great product with very few downsides. The Air-Dock basically allows you to listen and charge your iPod through a wireless or wired device (such as a wireless speaker system or hard-wired stereo). You can even watch iPod-loaded videos on your TV. I hooked mine up to a Brookstone portable wireless indoor/outdoor single-speaker system (I call it the egg cause it looks like one) and it works great. However, the best feature of this device is that it has a RF or Radio Frequency remote control, meaning the remote will work in any room of the house up to 60ft away. You don't have to be directly in front of the dock for it to work---NICE!!! The remote starts/pauses, skips forward or back within a playing track, advances to next or back to previous track, and adjusts volume up and down. The downside is that being an RF device, if you have other wireless devices in the house, you may experience occasional song skip or a repeat of last song. Thankfully, it does not happen often. Otherwise, to me this is the king of remote controlled iPod players. Worth every penny.

I took a chance that it would work with the iPod Touch, but it seems to be hit or miss.

The charging works great via computer and the provided AC adapter, but I kept getting a connection error via iTunes. [I think Vista is assuming it's a digital camera.]

For those interested in my setup, I'm running Windows Vista, iTunes version 7.6.1.9 and have a 16gb iPod Touch (1.1.4 with software upgrade). The universal adapter fit, but didn't seem to improve connectivity.

It's not a total bust since I can use it as a stylish charging cradle, I just wish I could sync with it as well.

Update: I was able to finally get iTunes to recognize the iPod. It only seemed to work on one of my front USB ports.

Quick note - 07/12/08: Upgrading to 2.0 pretty much renders this useless. It will recharge, but iTunes will not recognize an iPod has been attached.

In my experience, Griffin makes a solid product at a reasonable price. So for me, the bar was set pretty high when I had the chance to review another of their products. The Griffin AirDock is a docking station made for any iPod with the standard docking connector. This would include most full-sized iPods and both generations of Nano. The iPod Shuffle won't work. The AirDock comes with a (radio-based) remote control, a composite video cable, and an AC wall plug. It's constructed of silver anodized aluminum over a plastic core and resembles the industrial design of the Mac and Macbook Pro.

To set the unit up, simply snap-in the right iPod adaptor to get a snug fit for your model. Plug-in the power cable, and run the composite video cable to your home entertainment system. The power cable is a standard USB with a small AC brick for the wall. Set the iPod into the dock and use either the iPod's controls or the Griffin remote to play audio or (if your iPod supports it) video content to your TV. Or you can use the USB cable to connect your iPod to a computer. No software is required.

I found the setup, and controls to be intuitive and didn't need any instructions. I was up and working in seconds. The remote is radio based, not infrared, so you are not restricted to line-of-sight to use it. A bonus. The range is adequate for a large room, but I sometimes found that I had to repeat the button push to get a result. This was not dependant on distance. There is a slight time lag between pressing the remote key and getting the response in the iPod. The bottom of the AirDock is a non-slip rubber material. If your entertainment center is near your computer, you can attach the AirDock to both simultaneously. It can be your one 'dock' for everything: sync, charging, and sending content to your TV.

All told, I am very impressed with the AirDock. And it's slight shortcomings with the remote would not sway me from a 5 of 5 rating. Well done Griffin.... Again.

This iPod dock works great for audio and is an amazing value for the price. I like that you can use the iPod controls while it is in the dock. The RF remote is very good. Too bad they are out of production.

this seemed like a great deal, charge your IPOD and listen to it at the same time and it comes with a remote to control the IPOD when it's in the dock, but the quality of this product was lacking for sure, after a couple of weeks the port that connects to your IPOD would not fit anymore and in fact on one of my machine it made it so the IPOD wouldn't fit any other plug after that.

The product is effective at displaying video on the TV as well as playing audio files over the TV. However, I find two missing features very annoying. The first is that only the video displays on the TV, not the iPod menu. You can only navigate the menus directly on the iPod. I have my audio/video equipment in my closest so it is annoying to have to get up and down to navigate the iPod. The second missing feature is also quite annoying. On the remote, you cannot fast forward or rewind a video. When you push the buttons designated for forward and reverse, it goes to the next video or the previous video. It does not allow you to use the remote to navigate the video you are displaying. These issues may be with the design of the iPod navigation design vs. the AirDock itself. Regards it's extremely annoying.

this product is very easy to hook up to your cpu, stereo, etc. i connected the docking station to my stereo receiver and the sound quality is less than desirable. many folks may not notice the sound quality but it was obvious to me. also, the connection uses the ipods headphone jack vs rca connections. i bought the radio shack docking station and the sound is much improved.

The only reason I can think why anyone would rate this product 5 stars is either they recently bought it and it hasn't had time to mess up or they live somewhere where there are no stray RF signals.

I've had the same issues as the others who rated this product with low stars. My Airdock will randomly engage and play all songs or randomly stop a song that's playing (and it will either put the iPod back to the main menu or it will go to some other song in the playlist).

Volume level on the dock resets to default way-too-low levels every time you pull your iPod off it, so when you put it back on to play it, you must turn up the volume via the remote each time. If you lose you're remote (it is fairly small, a little smaller than a regular sized tic tac box), you are hosed. The volume control on your iPod (the wheel) is disabled (however, the navigational features on the iPod are not disabled).

I can't really speak for bad output audio because my speakers aren't that great to begin with (they're 20 year old, cheapo Fisher speakers!).

I also bought this dock based on iLounge's good rating; apparently they don't test these things near stray RF signals either. I have to hope that here must be a better dock out there with an RF remote.