To Dock or not to Dock

[washburnmav]

...That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the Droid X to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageously priced accessories... Ok I'll stop.

It seems like most people on here are coughing up the extra $50 for the multimedia dock. Are there really big advantages here I'm missing? It seems like it just holds up your phone nicely as an alarm clock, or when its plugged into a TV via HDMI. But you can just do that with an microHDMI, don't need the dock per say.

What am I missing here??

 

[accellpo]

I loved having a dock with my 1st Droid and now I wont purchase a phone unless it has a dock. It was a huge turn off for me when I found out the Incredible wouldn't have a dock. Its how the real Droids are supposed be presented to you when you're not out and about. My DX just doesn't look right laying on the table like a regular phone. Seems easier to keep charged when you can just come in and place it on your dock. Also, if you have movies on there, you don't want to hold through the whole film. Browsing is great from the dock. Its something you might not understand until you have one. Just order it from verizon online because you get the mini hdmi cable free when you get the dock.

 

[washburnmav]

Is browsing really better? I feel like I would prefer to have it in hand instead of in the dock for typing and navigating purposes. And I would only be watching movies when I'm traveling. If I'm at home I'll just watch movies on my computer or TV, not the phone.

Of course, I don't actually have it yet so this is purely speculation.

 

[DaveJustDave]

IMHO its nice to have a dock, but seriously this thing is not worth $50.

It's a weighted down plastic/metal block with a pass through for the usb and hdmi connections in the back. With a charger (which incidentally does not have a seperable USB cable). With a magnet inside that triggers the dock mode on the phone. THATS IT. And they want $50??? I regret paying that much for mine, even if I did get 20% off.

Oh yeah, and its a ***** to get in. Unlike the D1, since there are 2 connections to be made, the phone takes a bit of wiggling to fit in. And if its not in perfectly, sometimes it will just drain your battery instead of charging it.

 

[bigdog9586]

I think it turned out to be a big waste of money. If you plan on using the HDMI maybe, but you still need to buy that cable. I have the silicone cover on mine which I wouldn't be without but you have to remove it to put it in the dock. Unless you are going to put it by your bed and use it as a overpiced alarm clock don't waste your money. You get the dock and an AC adapter but if you want to hook up to the computer than you have to unplug the AC and plug in the USB cable. It comes with a HDMI port and a USB port on the dock same as the DX has on it. So what do you really get for $50 since you need to buy the HDMI cable. You can do the same things with what came with the DX and all you gain is the ability to stand the DX on its side which you have to ask yourself is this feature worth $50. Now in my humble opinion if they would have also included a place to plug in the AC cord that comes with the dock then maybe it would be more useful as then you can charge it while it is coupled to your computer using the USB port. But lots of us turn off our computers for the night which means you can't charge the DX using the usb since the computer must remain on so you have to unplug the usb port from behind the dock and then plug in the AC plug in its place. Take a second and think about it and you will see where I'm coming from. The dock does NOTHING extra that you can't do with what came with the phone when you bought it.

 

[jmorton10]

I agree, it is a complete waste of money.

I bought it with the phone, I never use it as I don't want to remove the case every night & it is a royal PITA to get the phone in & out of the dock.

~John

 

[IIGood]

I'm gonna echo the negative reviews here...I really don't think the multimedia dock is worth the $50 as it is. Had they thrown in the HDMI cable, maybe. But as it stands, I'd say the thing is worth half the asking price...if even that much.

I have been using the dock for the alarm clock/charging portion since I've got it...it is good for that aside from the slight difficulty in actually putting the phone on the dock and removing it. It's almost like the connectors don't quite line up. But for browsing, no. I don't know the HDMI capability either because I don't have an HDMI capable TV. So that's a moot point for me.

So, dock not my friend. Alas, poor Yorick...

 

[stealthman]

The car dock is totally worth it, the home dock, not so much

 

[washburnmav]

It seems my suspicions are confirmed, thanks to everyone for the reviews. I could definitely see the car dock coming in handy though.


"The dock doth cost too much, methinks"