The Apple iPod is without a doubt the most popular portable music player in the world. The next closest runner up is so far behind that it isn't even a realistic second place. Besides the innovative design and user friendliness of the iPod it also has one of the most impressive selections of third party options available. It is this third party support that makes other things like Adobe Photoshop and now Adobe Dreamweaver so popular. The third party support for any product I think more than anything makes or breaks a product. That is why it is sad to see products that if they had this third party support could be incredible products.
We will use the iPod for our example. By itself the Apple iPod is a small hard drive, with minimal user input options, no speakers so basically to listen to music you need headphones or earbuds or the like. As the iPod comes there is no way to connect it to your TV so you have no choice but to watch Podcasts, TV shows and movies on its small screen. There is no way to connect it to your stereo at home to listen to the music contained on it. There is next to no way to use the iPod in your car (though some new cars offer iPod connections, most do not). All of these missing features make the iPod a simple portable music player with limited uses. However, add in products from third parties, third parties like Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO) and your iPod blooms in to one of the most beautiful electronic flowers of our generation.
DLO has products that allow you to connect your iPod to your TV, Stereo and even an FM transmitter so you can use your iPod in your car. What these products do is make the iPod 10,000 times more useful and 10,000 times the bargain cost wise. One such product from DLO is the Home Dock Deluxe See What's In The Box. This small, stylish looking box allows you to connect your iPod to your home stereo (using Red and White RCA cables which most stereos today have) or to connect it to your TV by using the Red, White and the Yellow RCA cable, again ports that more TV's today have. The DLO Home Dock Deluxe also comes with a wireless remote so you don't have to get up and run to your iPod to change music, TV shows, Podcasts, etc.
Note: currently Apple doesn't allow for video or photo slide show navigation except from the controls of the iPod directly. So in order to play a video using the Home Dock Deluxe you will need to go to your iPod and choose the video category or photo slide show you want. Once that is done you can use the remote to start, stop, etc. the video or slide show. I expect this missing capability to be taken care of soon.
The DLO Home Dock Deluxe basically turns your iPod in to a music Jukebox as well as a video storage and playback device. This turns a simple portable music player in to something infinitely more useful and it turns the iPod in to a device that will see much more use. Especially considering the wide range of music, TV shows, movies, Podcasts and more that are available from Apple iTunes. There is also a wide range of third party software products that allow you to convert your own video files over so that they will play on the iPod. The Home Dock Deluxe is an amazing piece of work and it offers all of the features and capabilities for a small $149.99 price tag.
Note: If you would like to use your iPod in your car take a look at our review of the DLO TransPod which allows your iPod to play over your cars FM radio.
Using the Home Dock Deluxe Product Shot is quite easy. Once you attach and adjust the support arm for your model of iPod you simply plug the iPod in to the unit. You then connect the Home Dock Deluxe to the device of your choosing. For connection to your stereo you would use the red and white RCA jack connectors on the back. For connecting to a TV you would also use the yellow connector to connect the Home Dock Deluxe to your TV, you can then either connect the red and white connectors to the TV or to your stereo receiver/surround sound receiver.
Once this is done you simply turn on the Home Dock Deluxe using the remote, this also turns on the iPod using the remote you select the album, song, etc. using the iPods screen or if you connected it to a TV using the on screen menu system Music Navigation on TV Shot that the Home Dock Deluxe displays on your TV (when the Home Dock Deluxe is not in iPod mode). The remote that comes with the Home Dock Deluxe is full function, meaning when it comes to music you have total navigational control you shouldn't ever have to go to the iPod. It has buttons for skipping tracks, repeat, shuffle, play, pause all of the standard buttons you need to for controlling the iPods music playback. However, for video, video Podcasts Video Podcast TV Shot and photo slideshows you will need to use the controls on the iPod to get in to that area of the menu, once there you can use the remote to make your choices, fast forward, rewind, etc. You can blame this lapse on Apple and not DLO, Apple for some reason decided that navigation for video playback and photo slideshows wasn't needed from a remote.
If the thought of your video going through the yellow RCA jack doesn't appeal to you, you can use the S-Video connector. However, since video on the iPod is such low resolution I don't see the need to use the S-Video option unless your RCA jacks are already being used or your TV doesn't have them but does have an S-Video jack (rare). The choice is yours however. You will still have to use the red and white RCA jacks for audio.
The Home Dock Deluxe has two modes. You have on screen navigation mode that allows you to use a menu display on your TV to select music, songs, albums, etc. and then there is an iPod mode that allows you to do this using the iPod controls. Both modes work with the remote. For video playback you use the iPod mode so that you can use the on iPod controls to navigate to the videos section of your iPod. For music with on TV menus you switch out of the iPod mode and this turns on the Home Dock Deluxe's on screen menus.
As I said the only screen navigation (on TV screen) is limited to music use only. However, the on screen menus are clean and easy to navigate and work a lot like the menus on the iPod itself. You do have some customization options including interface color, screen saver and the like. So you can customize the on screen look to a small degree.
The Home Dock Deluxe also has a USB port so you can connect it to your computer for easy updating and it does charge the iPods battery as well. There is also a spot on it to put the remote when not in use. Overall, the Home Dock Deluxe is a very nice package and turns your iPod in to a very nice little home entertainment and jukebox device. I was also impressed with the video playback on my 36" TV. Considering the low quality of the iPod video it was clean and clear with only a small amount of softening. Now this isn't HD or even DVD quality video here, but it is better than VHS in my opinion.
My only negative complaint is that the DLO Home Dock Deluxe left me wanting more. A lot more, once I realized just how useful the Home Dock Deluxe was I starting thinking about what it can't do and what I wish it could do. What I would like to see DLO do now is take this concept to the extreme. I would like to see them add a RF remote to the unit so that the remote will work from any room in your house or office. I would like to see them add a second set of output ports on the unit so that you can connect the Home Dock to your stereo as well as your TV and/or surround sound system. I would also like to see them add wireless support for these connections. They could include wireless RCA connectors so that you can have the dock itself in with your computer connected to the USB port for easy updating of your iPod but still be able to play music on your stereo in the living room and watch videos and Podcasts on the TV in the den. I would also like to see them add full support for video, Podcasts and photo slideshow playback through its on screen menus. While they are at it the ability to play the iPod 5th Generation games on your TV would be a cool addition as well.
I know I am asking for a lot and I know this would increase the cost of the unit. However, the benefits a system like this would give, I think would be well worth the money and would really set the iPod free and make it a useful and important part of your home entertainment system.
Your only option now is to buy two DLO Home Dock Deluxe units and that takes the cost to $300 right there so a unit like I described above for that price or a little less or a little more would be killer.
If you have a 5th Generation iPod, iPod Nano 2nd generation (aluminum), iPod Nano 1st Generation, iPod with Video, iPod with Color Display, iPod or iPod mini and want to make your iPod more useful, entertaining and fun the DLO Home Dock Deluxe is just the ticket. |
