My docking station was just delivered from AMZ. When I first took it out of the box I was impressed, solid, clean and my Iconia A500 with the Acer Cover fit nicely. Then I went back to look for the power cord.....Guess what? $61 and no flippin' power cord. I realize I should have looked closer at the spec's, but sheesh, I never thought to look to see of a power cord was included in a docking station.
Guess I learned something, hope this saves someone out there some grief.
I also received the Acer BT-Keyboard in the same shipment, so the accessories are in stock and shipping.
I am considering purchasing the dock. I don't need HDMI or the audio port etc.
My plan is to use the A500 as a chumby-like device beside me at night time. So, clock, weather, etc. and a quick touch to dim or light it up.
That being said, is the dock worth it? Does it work well? Mostly I'm concerned about the remote, I'm sure I'll be using that a lot.
I have read that it never used to, but now works nicely in 3.2, but I'd like to verify that here before I drop 50 bucks on it.
Thanks.
If that's all you want it for, save yourself the money and just buy a cheap tablet stand...
FloatingFatMan said:
If that's all you want it for, save yourself the money and just buy a cheap tablet stand...
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And where do I find a remote that will work with it that's small and neat?
Unless you're willing to pay a lot of money just for a remote, I'd have to agree with FloatingFatMan.
While I really want a dock, paying $55 USD for the official Acer dock and another $20 for a power supply (because it doesn't come with one) is crazy, considering the limitations. It's really nothing more than an expensive piece of plastic with a power pass-thru and audio connector.
I think that dock would be good if they droped the price or released a version 2.0 with a power supply, USB, and HDMI (granted, you mentioned you wern't looking for those features).
A simple $5 generic tablet stand and nightstand app will do everything you're looking for... just without the cheap-feeling remote that the Acer dock comes with.
If you really want a remote there are several good Bluetooth versions that will work. I saw some threads with people using a Jabra 3030
Hell, I bent an old coat hanger into a DIY stand and it works great. Not aesthetically pleasing mind you, but it works amazingly for what its worth.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
I have to agree with the others...
As an owner of the dock, I'm very disappointed. Everything the others say about it is true. A basic tablet stand would likely serve you better. Note that I really don't use the remote, though.
Inexpensive tablet stand
Here's a link to an inexpensive, folding tablet stand. I don't own this, but it has many positive reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/Arkon-Portabl...TAB1/dp/B000CKVOOY/ref=acc_glance_e_ai_ps_t_4
Thanks for the responses. The answer is, yes I really do want the remote. I was only thinking about the dock on behalf of the fact that it would be 2 solutions in 1.
1. I'd get a remote. I haven't been able to source any neat/small bluetooth remotes
The only one I've seen for less than $40 is the PS3 remote and I doubt that's compatible with the A500 in terms of all the relevant functions. There's another, $40 by SMK-Link but again, not sure if it works with the A500 and it's too big anyway.
and...
2. The dock would serve as my charger so I didn't have to fumble for the cord to plug the tablet in every time. I could just drop it on the dock when I'm heading to bed. Afaik the tablet's charger works with the dock, so I wouldn't need to spend another $20, it's not like I need 2 anyway.
The dock isn't absolutely necessary. It just takes a few extra movements to plug it in anyway. I'd gladly save a few bucks on skipping the dock. The remote is the real issue at hand. While I want the tablet to be like a chumby, I also want it to be my music player as mentioned. After I'm done playing with it beside the bed and I've set my alarm, I don't want to have to stretch over to fiddle with it if I don't like the song being played. Likewise, I don't want to have to fiddle with it while manipulating/navigating the netflix app.
If you guys could recommend to me a good bluetooth remote control I'd be happy. I still haven't been able to source a good one. The Jabra 3030 is $60-90 and a bit more than I need but less than I want. I don't need a device to stream music through headphones to me, I already have a great bluetooth speaker system set up in my bedroom. The Street also is missing a directional pad.
I already own the Arkon. That's what I use to dock it now. It serves it's purpose as a dock nicely in terms of leaving it be, but in cases where you need to touch the tablet, it isn't as practical since if you're not careful, touching the tablet ends up fumbling your configuration/angles...even though the hinges are for the most part quite tight.
I'm sad to hear that the dock is disappointing, but for what I want it seems I may not have a choice.
Thanks again for your responses and advice. I look forward to hearing your suggestions. I've searched up and down the net' and haven't been able to find a small, tidy control like the one that comes with the A500 dock.
Gentle Alarm's Night Mode + my 10 dollar Merkury Innovations Stand is more and adequate enough on my dresser, plus it looks sexxy .
The Docks current setup is just not worth the money, unless you need a 50+ dollar remote for the brag factor.
I have that stand it works real nice.
it's definitly not worth it !
i had one for another tab. save ur money, and just take a good case
Dock purely for charging?
So there are no cheaper docks purely for charging?
I know I can get a cheap stand and plug in the power cable, that's what I use now - A $3 business card holder from OfficeWorks and the original charger.
But I want a dock that I can throw my tab at, and have it slide in and start charging.
luke.pell said:
So there are no cheaper docks purely for charging?
I know I can get a cheap stand and plug in the power cable, that's what I use now - A $3 business card holder from OfficeWorks and the original charger.
But I want a dock that I can throw my tab at, and have it slide in and start charging.
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I caved and got the Acer Dock. There are just no alternatives for the remote and being able to just sit the device on something and have it charge is a nice bonus over having to plug it in every time.
Not sure why so many are complaining about it. I half expected it to crumble while using it or that it just wouldn't work the way some owners complained of how cheap it was on Amazon. But I read some of the 4 star reviews and went ahead with the purchase.
But the dock works well, the remote works very well, better than I expected and the dock isn't that 'cheap' to me. Then I again, I don't equate something made of plastic to being cheap so that may just be me.
For what it does, allowing you to sit your tablet down to charge AND coming with the remote control (that I can find no alternatives for), it's well worth it to me...you just have to stomach the $50. If you consider the dock to be 20/25 and the remote to be 25/30 (that's what I did), it doesn't feel like a waste of money. Granted, if you don't want the remote then it would definitely feel like paying too much but I haven't found any charging bases either way, and I don't think you ever will since it's a proprietary slot.
I'm considering getting one of these docks.
Its handy to have an audio connection that doesn't use the 3.5ml jack, preventing the jack from getting worn down whenever you want to play music at home.
Let alone not wearing down the solder for the charging port (I hate the charging port, am really disappointed the tab cant charge over its micro USB, but thats a whole separate rant eheh)
I originally thought I should get a second charger and dock, but since using custom roms my battery life has gotten so good that I can leave my only charger at home on a dock and not have to worry.
My battery is usually on 70% ~ 65% remaining by the time I get home, including daily web usage, 2 hours of video playback, and general fiddling here and there.
If there was a cheaper stand that utilised the Dock port, i'd strongly consider it, but since this is the only one I know of that has the port for audio, remote control and charging. if I could get one for 50 bucks I would be very happy.
unfortunately in Aus they're price point is ****ty (aus retail sucks) so Its probably going to cost me $65~
qwertylesh said:
I'm considering getting one of these docks.
...
Let alone not wearing down the solder for the charging port (I hate the charging port, am really disappointed the tab cant charge over its micro USB, but thats a whole separate rant eheh)
...
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If you could charge via the USB, you would wear it down twice as fast. That's because you can't charge it connected to a PC because its USB port simply cannot supply the needed current to charge the battery. So you would have to plug in a charger and unplug it every time you need to connect to a PC for file transfer. Not to mention that this would make developement of applications with A500a pain in the a## because you will be discharging the battery while connected unless you allow it to go to sleep and have to wake and unlock every time you run your app (which would still discharge the battery but slower).
Acer did not put the extra production effort/cost in having more ports just to make your life miserable
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I picked this thing up on eBay for $35 brand new w/free shipping.
***THERE SHOULD BE AN IMAGE HERE BUT I'M A N00B AND CAN'T POST OUTSIDE LINKS***
It's a "B3510 Bluetooth Audio Music Receiver". It can hook into your home stereo or a pair of computer speakers or your car's aux input and use it like a pair of bluetooth headphones for your tablet. I'm using this on my Acer Iconia Tab a500 to put Pandora to my home stereo. It's kind of nice having Pandora playing turned up in the living room while I'm able to change stations in the kitchen. 30-foot range is about all you'll get out of this thing though. If you search eBay for "bluetooth home audio" you'll find plenty of other options. I went with this one because it looked the cleanest and was the cheapest. It got to my door from overseas in about 10 days.
Cheers.
20 bucks. Works great. Monoprice is the best.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10827&cs_id=1082704&p_id=7364&seq=1&format=2
Wow... can't beat that. Have to admit I've never heard of monoprice.com though... thanks for the tip. I'll be checking it out.
I wish we had a Fry's here... this town sux!!
You don't need a Fry's store in your town, just go to their website That is unless you want instant gratification...
I'm male... instant gratification, of course
Yea, I know the feeling, when I need something now and can't wait, I just go to Fry's. Otherwise it's always online for me. hehe
I needed an additional receiver for the bedroom so I ordered your suggestion from Monoprice. I'll re-post when it gets here with first impressions.
Funny thing, It was $26 and change which included overnight shipping. Still cheaper than e-bay.
The one thing I will say though, this adapter from Monoprice is going to be a big white box either up on the wall or taking up 2 slots on a power strip whereas the one that I got from ebay is a small little black square with a single outlet, small corded power supply.
Ok... The bluetooth audio receiver from Monoprice has it's pros and cons but for me it's more of a comparison to the same product I ordered off of eBay a bit ago.
The unit from Monoprice actually is nice because of the price. With overnight shipping it came out around $26 and change where as the one off of eBay was $35 with free shipping but it took about a week and a half to get here.
The Monoprice model is kind of a pain in that you have to string the audio cable from your receiver down to the nearest wall outlet or plug this into your power strip and let it use one outlet and cover the one next to it. One plus though is that it's got a USB jack on it in case you want to charge something.
The model I purchased from eBay has a small power supply with a cord so it allows you to place the unit in your entertainment center with everything else.
The Monoprice model constantly blinks it's bright blue LED when it's not in use (solid when it's connected) whereas the unit I bought from eBay is solid when connected and OFF when not in use. Most wouldn't think this would matter but if it's in your bedroom plugged into an exposed outlet, you'll be sleeping to a constant blue light.
So, although saving a little coin is nice, I'll buy into the more aesthetically pleasing choice next time.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Tiny piece of tape covers blue light. 2$ extension cord puts it anywhere you want.
Newegg has the Samsung WEP490 Bluetooth headset on sale for $29.99. Use the promo code EMCNGHG26 to save an additional $5. There is a mail in rebate good for an additional savings of $20, bringing the total price after rebate to $4.99.
Comes with case, stand, car and travel chargers. Limit 3 per customer.
Newegg Link
I actually own this one and i have problems getting it to pair about 75% of the time. Just putting that out there.
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for $5 I'm willing to try my luck, just bought this. Thx for the heads up.
Worked perfectly for a little over a year. It still works fine once its paired. I quit using bt headsets because my history teacher said i looked like a douch xD
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leo321 said:
Worked perfectly for a little over a year. It still works fine once its paired. I quit using bt headsets because my history teacher said i looked like a douch xD
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
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I don't really give a **** what I look like while I'm driving, I'm not holding up this Note to my head for a half hour, lol.
Received the headset today. Everything was just thrown into the box. The case will not fit most modern thin smartphones. I fits my HD2, but leaves A LOT of extra room, since it is thinner. It fits my Touch Pro2 much better. There is also a crappy little phone stand in there as well, that gave the same results as the case.
The car charger is a standard 700mAh 5V charger. Same with the wall charger. It pairs easily, and gives fairly decent audio quality. For $5 overall, I can't complain. I would not have paid full price for this, however.