Apple Hotsync & Charging Dock for iPod Shuffle 2G

When I saw the price for this item, I was suspicious. I think that, usually, you get what you pay for. But this cheap little thing charges your Shuffle and allows you to do the usual things you do on iTunes. It looks chintzy but it does what you need and expect it to.

You get what you pay for. The unit was shipped in a non-padded envelope and arrived slightly damaged. The docking pin was bent. After adjusting it to where I thought it was aligned properly (straight) and docking the shuffle, the pin snapped off and became lodged in the shuffle. Only after many attempts with a paper clip was I able to dislodge the broken pin from the unit.

Never again.

Lower quality construction than Apple's dock, but at 1/15th the price that's to be expected. The problem is that this doesn't charge my iPod. I bought this and a smaller 1 piece molded ipod-usb plug and that works fine, but I leave my completely drained iPod connected to the dock overnight and in the morning when I take the iPod off the cradle it doesn't even have enough of a charge to light up when I turn it on.

I'd avoid this unit unless you enjoy collecting useless USB devices.