Unison i-XD
Company: Cygnett
Price: $49.99
www.cygnett.com
The Unison i-XD is a multi-function dock for charging, syncing, connecting speaker systems to your iPod for audio, and playing video from your iPod to a TV (5th gen iPods only).
The unit supports audio on the Touch, all Nanos, the iPod Classic, and 5th gen iPods. Video out is supported on the 5th gen iPods, but none of the newer models.
What you get
The unit itself is a nice looking and compact dock that takes up very little space. It is about 1 inch high, and a little larger than a business card for width and height. It comes with adapters for the various iPod models, and it also comes with all of the cables you would need for any of the connections. No need to run out and buy cables
Also included is a slim remote that is very comfortable to hold and very easy to use. The buttons are soft and spaced nicely so that even a person with larger hands can easily use it. The remote gives you all of the functionality you would use controlling the iPod with the click wheel, or other controls.
Setup and Usage
Setup for the i-XD is a piece of cake. You connect the cables to the back of the unit that you want to use, and connect them to the system you want to use the dock with. You then plug in the power cord and away you go.
Once connected you can navigate through the iPod with the remote, or the click wheel. If you are using the video feature you still have to navigate from the iPod. There is no menu display for navigating that will appear on the TV.
As I mentioned earlier, the remote is very easy to use. However, my only problem with the remote is that you have to be in a direct line-of-sight with the dock. It does not work off to the side and forget about using it from another room.
The video quality transmitted from my 5th gen iPod was fantastic on my TV. I was very happy with the results. Sound quality was also fine. I suspect the sound quality results will vary depending on the speaker system used. Not only can you use the i-XD to transmit audio and video, it also works like a typical iPod dock. With the included USB connector you can connect the dock to your computer and sync to iTunes. It also charges the iPod.
The Verdict
I really like the i-XD. It is easy to setup and easy to use. It looks great while taking up very little space.
At $49.99 the i-XD is the same price as the Apple Dock, but the i-XD comes with all the cables. If you search the internet, you can find it for less. I found it at Buy.com for under $30! Similar units from other companies which I have reviewed cost more.
If you are looking for a dock for your iPod, you might want to give this a look.
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