Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

OK - here's what you get: 1 power supply brick 1 iPod dock 1 3-foot cable to connect power supply brick and dock 1 3-foot cable to connect dock and stereo This version of the kit is compatible with 3rd and 4th generation iPods (those with a dock connector on the bottom) and with the iPod mini. Although the dock connector is electronically the same for all these iPods, the dimensions of the iPod itself differ by model. Thus, the dock comes with different plastic tops for the different sizes of iPods and you snap on the right-sized top for your iPod (check the size carefully before snapping on the cover - it goes on easily, but it doesn't come off easily). The cable that connects the power supply brick and the dock is a special Apple firewire-to-iPod-dock cable, but the cable that connects the iPod and the stereo system is nothing special, just a standard stereo minijack plug on one end and two rca phono plugs on the other. You can get a compatible cable from many different vendors and in many different lengths; which in my case was a good thing because the 3-foot length in the kit was too short. Is the kit a good buy? Well, it depends. If you price all of the components in the kit separately, you will find that the kit is cheaper than the individual parts, even if you have to replace the stereo cable as I did. But, the question is, do you need to buy all the parts. Let's assume for the moment that you do in fact want to attach your iPod to your stereo and consider what you might be able to do without: (1) Power supply brick. Your iPod and dock will in fact work fine without being plugged into the power supply. The trade-off is that without it you will drain the battery of the iPod while it is plugged into your stereo. You can get a dock and a stereo cable for substantially less than this kit, so if you're OK with the battery issue, you can save money by not getting the kit. (2) iPod dock. You can plug the iPod into the stereo without the dock. The same stereo cable that connects the dock to the stero will also connect the iPod to the stereo. There are two disadvantages to this: first, the dock gives a true line-out, meaning that the volume control on the iPod doesn't affect the volume coming out of the dock, so you just use the stereo's volume control to control the playback volume. The audio-out jack on the iPod, however, is affected by the iPod's volume control, so if you connect it to the stereo, you have to be careful about the fact that there are two volume controls in the system, which is annoying at best, and there might be some risk to your stereo if the iPod's volume is too high. It is also worth noting if you have a power supply brick, you do not need the dock to recharge your iPod - the brick can plug into the iPod directly. If you are OK with the audio-out thing (and whether and how to keep your iPod upright without it) you can save money by not getting the kit and doing without the dock. (3) Power-supply brick to dock cable. If you don't have the brick, you don't need the cable; if you do have the brick, you need the cable or the brick isn't going to do you any good. If you have decided you can do without recharging the iPod while it is connected to your stereo, you can skip the brick and this cable both. (4) Dock-to-Stereo cable. This is the thing you can't do without if you want to connect your iPod and your stereo, but you have a lot of choices on vendors if this is all you're getting. Even if you aren't getting a dock, the cable that would connect the dock to the stereo is the same one that would connect the iPod to the stereo directly. One more thing to consider is that your iPod might have already come with one or more of these pieces, and if you aren't using them elsewhere, you could use them as part of your stereo set-up and just buy any other pieces you need and not get the whole kit. For me, I didn't have any extra pieces and I wanted the works - to recharge the iPod and not have to worry about a double volume control, so I got the kit. I also got the NaviPod IR Remote (which you can get right here at Amazon) so that I could control it remotely like the rest of my stereo gear. To make your decision, just figure out what you want to have, what pieces you have already, and what you might be willing to live without and then make your decision. Hope this was helpful.