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this small dock is heavy enough to keep it grounded on whatever surface I put it on to plug in and charge my mini. It's an essential.
3rd party firmware, particularly rockbox can be installed on it, and with the minis being ancient history I picked one up for $35, less than the pioneers here paid for the doc itself back in 2005. With Apple moving on with bigger and flashier ipods to make sure to stick it to consumers to get the latest and greatest, these docks have become a relic of a much earlier generation. So I buy two docs which including shipping comes to about six bucks. Precisely why they are so cheap now is that they only work on the minis, which have been out of production for 4+ years.No matter though, as I did my research before determining that for the minimalist that cares only about what the ipod was originally designed for, to play music, the 2nd gen mini is the best and most efficient of them all. They are highly moddable, with storage upgradeable to a 128GB compact flash and the battery replaced with a lithium-polymer (notice the difference from lithium-ion) which is a HUGE upgrade. One to sync at home, the other I mounted in my car ashtray where I have it hooked up to by usb 2.0 capable JVC CD Deck. I couldn't have asked for a more economical solution.
As mentioned in earlier comments the mini came with all the cables needed. I'm, late to the game (see date ordered) BUT I only paid $4.50 for mine, brand new. Looks good sitting on top of my desk or next to my speakers. Apple doesn't make the mini anymore but I had one that was barely used and needed it for powered speakers and it works great for that. It does what it was made for and at this price it was a no-brainer. Buy one if you have a mini. Check out the "new and used" link and you will find other vendors selling this for $4.25 on up, NEW and made by Apple.
My ipod mini looked sad on my desk until I got the dock, and now it is displayed proudly, like the beautiful piece of industrial design that it is.
This is well designed product that fits the iPod mini perfectly, and allows it stand upright so it doesn't get banged around etc. Me. It comes with no cabling and it does not come with an AC adapter (that is another $40).
I initially bought a third party cheaper product, the opening for the iPod is too big (though it works), it was clearlu designed to be used for the larger iPods - and it has an annoying LED that can't be turned off. They plug right into the dock, nothing else needed to make the dock a standalone charger. while syncing or charging.I bought two - one is attached to my stereo system and used as a standalone charger (and for playing music through the stereo), the second sits next to my Palm cradle and attaches to my USB 2.0 hub for syncing my iPod.No gripes whatsoever, it is a very good looking product.
Apple makes sure that you can't get any idea of what you are buying until after you have purchased it and broken open the packaging.---My iPod mini came with an AC adapter and a FireWire cable that attaches to the adapter. Not very nice to have in a room where people sleep.It also looks cheap. The Apple iPod mini dock looks very classy, not an eyesore in the slightest.For the reviewer who said:---Here's the joke, the dock is absolutely nothing more than a stand for your Mini.
If you want to use FireWire to connect to your mac/pc - then you will need to buy a second firewire cable. I just use the USB2 cable that came with my mini for syncing.
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