Electronics Gadget Reviews

Dock Cradle for iPhone 3G iPod Touch 2nd Gen with AV out and AC

This premium construcion dock station specifically made for latest generation Apple iPhone including, but not limited to: Apple iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch 2nd Generation, and Nano 4th Generation The new design includes the AV out for iPhone that can be used with the new Apple 30-pin AV cable to watch videos from your iPhone to TV. Works with all older versions of iPod too – the new AV out is only needed for the latest generation Apple iPhone 3G(iPod Classic, iPod Nano 3G, iPod Touch, Touch 2nd Gen, and Nano 4th Gen) that require you to use 30-pin Apple AV cable. The dock station also includes a 3.5mm AV out that can be used with older generation iPods for A/V out, or for connecting your headphone/earphone to all iPod/iPhone models. This is a must have accessory if you are looking to watch video from new generation iPods to your TV (please note that you will need to have the Apple 30-pin AV cable to connect this unit to your TV).

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Good stand
If you need A/V, then think of this as just a stand, not a dock, and you’ll need an iPod A/V cable. For example, I purchased this with Griffin Component Video Cable for iPod and iPhone, which plugs into the back of this “stand” and allows me to hook it up an iPhone 3g to a TV (note that the cable is not made for iPhone 3g so it does display that annoying error every time it gets plugged in).

4 Stars Not Perfect – But Quite Useful
This device falls down on the headphone AV output jack, but has other features that are easily, to me, worth the money.

You get all these features for your 3G iPhone:

- a universal iPod cradle

- an extra AC power adapter

- an extra USB cable that can sync your device, recharge it, or both

- 30 pin AV output that you can use to play good quality videos on your TV (once you purchase the special AV cable from Apple)

You do NOT get:

- usable headphone audio output from the cradle for your 3G iPhone. On my unit, the audio plays thru the headphone and the iPhone speaker at the same time. Not very useful.

If you must have the headphone output, you’ll be disappointed.

If all you need is an extra AC power adapter, a decent cradle with sync/power cable, and video output capability, then you’ll be very happy with this product, as I am.

1 Star No Audio Out
This device has an audio output on a phono jack, but it just plain doesn’t work. This is anything but clear from the language “The dock station also includes a 3.5mm AV out that can be used with older generation iPods for A/V out, or for connecting your headphone/earphone to all iPod/iPhone models.”

A better description would have saved me a purchase and return.

2 Stars Allows Synch but does not allow audio output via AV Out
I purchased this dock to allow me to (1) power my iphone off of the USB cable on my employer’s laptop and (2) allow me to play audio via external speakers directly connected to the dock. While this dock does allow me to power (and synch) my iphone, it does not allow me to output the audio via the “AV Out” jack provided on the dock. While I can still hear the audio via the iPhone’s small speaker or output audio via the iPhone’s av/out jack, both of these options defeat the purpose of the dock. I am returning the dock, hopefully, for a refund.

5 Stars you can’t beat this product in this price range
This dock is amazing since for only $12 you get both the dock and the miniUSB cable(beat that, Apple!). It’s great to have the AV out and audio out on the dock as well – usually you have to pay more for a dock to have these features. Audio out is really useful if you like to play music form your iphone via PC speakers like I do. Adapters for various devices are included. Dock looks great with my black iPhone3G – don’t know how it would work with the white one.

The only thing I wish for is a sharper tilt angle when the phone is on the dock so the phone would “face me” more. But I fix this by moving the dock further away from me.

Buy/More Info

Onkyo HT S6100 7 1 Channel Receiver and Speaker Package

Sound makes up quite a bit of the home-theater experience when matched with your HDTV. Onkyo’s HT-S6100 helps make that match-up really easy. The HT-S6100 marks a major milestone for Onkyo: the company’s first receiver/speaker package to simultaneously handle 1080p video and bit-for-bit audio processing. The launch of the HT-S6100 marks another milestone for Onkyo: the company’s first receiver/speaker package to simultaneously handle 1080p video and bit-for-bit audio processing.The HT-S6100 anchors your home theater by integrating the full potential of high-definition media (think Blu-ray Disc) and high-definition displays. With an HDMI platform as good as it gets (integrating up to four sources), you have every reason to be impressed. But the HT-S6100 is also going to take analog sources (from component video, S-video and composite video) and upscale them to HD-friendly 1080i resolution for HDMI output. Featuring some valuable options single-cable dock connectivity for iPod, Audyssey room acoustic co Featuring some valuable options single-cable dock connectivity for iPod, Audyssey room acoustic correction technologies, and integrated control with other leading brand-name devices this receiver/speaker package puts the emphasis on value for money. 1080i Upscaling powered by Faroudja DCDi Edge TrueHD, DTS-HD Decoding Slim, wall mountable 7.1 speaker system with 290W powered subwoofer Includes dedicated RI iPod dock (DS-A1L), which supports the following iPods (audio only) – 4th Gen iPod; 4th Gen iPod (color display); iPod Photo;IPod video; iPod Classic (80, 120 and 160GB); 1st – 4th Gen iPod Nano; 1st and 2nd Gen iPod Touch; iPhone and iPhone 3G Audio I/O 6 / 2 Digital Audio IN (OPT/COAX) 2 / 2 Composite I/O 4 / 1 S-Video I/O 3 / 1 Component Video / Bandwidth 2 / 50MHz HDMI I/O 4 / 1 / HDMI Version V1.3 Repeater / HDMI Bandwidth 1080p Analog to HDMI Upconversion Audyssey with mi

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Outstanding performance.
The system works great. You get crystal clear sound. I conected my PS3 to it and it sounds great. It gives you a great gaming experience. I don`t think it`s possible to get something better for this kind of money.

Blu-ray movies sound awesome.

4 Stars First HT system
I found the HT-S6100 to work well with crisp sound and ample bass. I doubt there are many better HTiB and none better at this price range.

If you are comparing this to the S7100, know you only get Onkyo branded speaker stands and added i-pod functionality. If these extra features are important to you than get the S7100, otherwise stick with the S6100.

I connected the speakers with 16 gauge the wires right out of the box per the suggestion of many HT forums , so I don’t know how well the system will sound with factory wire.

The auto set up needs tweaking to get it to sound right, though it provided a good starting point.

The universal remote works best when it is all HDMI in (HDMI out to TV is assumed). It is fine for non-HDMI connected sources though more button pushes are required.

There appears to be no loss in video quality through the receiver, except with the cable company’s HD cable box. The cable picture was slightly darker and slightly blurred in movement. Xbox 360 & PS3 work perfectly with the receiver.

4 Stars Outstanding value despite a few little quirks
I’ve had my HT-S6100 installed for a couple of months now. I acquired it in March 2009 for $five forty nine shipped from N e w E g g. It arrived amazingly quickly via UPS, in perfect condition in the product packaging box.

Overall I’m very happy with this system and would consider it an outstanding value. With a good HD 5.1 or 7.1 channel signal, it sounds awesome. For stereo music listening it can sound a bit barky and it doesn’t have a lot of punch, but on the whole it’s not bad. For home theater, it’s worth much more than I paid for it.

As other reviewers have noted, it does have a few quirks. Here are some observations I didn’t see in other reviews:

1) The gain level of the receiver’s subwoofer setting affects the peak volume of the receiver. I suspect this is to prevent you from blowing out your sub by cranking the volume, but it’s kind of annoying. If you have the volume knob turned low on the subwoofer and calibrate the receiver using the Audyssey system, it will boost the subwoofer and compensate by putting a low ceiling on your overall system volume.

2) On a related note, the volume maxes out at a numerically peculiar “79.” Why not 100? I don’t get it. Likewise the gain settings on the separate channels go to 12. Why not 10? It reminds me of Nigel on Spinal Tap: “These go to 11.”

3) It would be nice if it had a couple more analog RCA a/v inputs. If you have more than one gaming system you’ll be scratching your head to figure out where to hook them up. I run the Wii through the front AUX connectors for lack of a better choice on the back. That means I always have cords running around the front of the receiver, which is kind of stupid.

4) The plethora of listening modes (Dolby D, DTS, True-HD, PlxII, etc.) is pretty confusing. Sometimes the receiver seems to select a setting based on the input signal, and other times it doesn’t. I guess I need to read up again to understand what it’s doing, but it seems a bit mystifying.

5) The iPod dock will only accommodate certain generations of the iPod. I don’t own an iPod so this isn’t important to me right now. I wish, however, that it provided a mini-plug jack on the iPod dock so I could plug in my MP3 player. Instead you have to use the AUX input, displacing whatever else you might’ve plugged in there.

That’s my 2 cents. I’d definitely buy the HT-S6100 again and I think it hits the sweet spot in Onkyo’s home-theater line — a nice-sounding, reasonably powerful receiver with a lot of bells and whistles, plus 8 decent speakers, for less than six Franklins. Really can’t be beat!

5 Stars It Rocks
Ok well first thing it took me about 12 hours to runn the wire and hook it up but I am a little OCD lol. Got it hooked up and wow. Called a buddy to come listen that has a bose system that he paid well over three times for and he is selling it after he heard this system. The down firing bass box makes it so the base is sounds if its coming from everywhere and is plenty of bass. Awsome system and I researched for six months before I bought and I am very immpressed.

5 Stars Onkyo Rocks
Really great unit for the money. Only need one cable to go to my flatscreen.

Easy to set up. Great sound. Wish the brackets allowed the speakers to be mounted horizontally.

Great value for the money. If you are setting this up under your TV it is very easy. If the unit is off to one side (as mine is) you’ll need speaker wire. I would replace it anyway as the wire they gave is rather thin. But they are color coded so it is a snap to install.

Overall I recommend this to everyone. You’d easily spend twice as much for other competitive units and not get all the functionality. The 4 HDMI ins are great for my DVR, Wii, DVD player. The ipod dock is very handy.

Buy/More Info

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