When I purchased my 30Gb iPod in the US last year I decided to take advantage of the excellent Sterling to Dollar exchange rate and purchase some iPod accessories. One of these was the Apple AV Connection Kit.

In a nutshell this kit allows you to connect your iPod to another audio visual device such as a hi-fi or TV. But the kit consists of more than just a few cables.

The AV connection kit consists of the following (taken from the Apple web site):

iPod AV Cable
On one end, the iPod AV Cable connects to the headphone port of the iPod or the line-out port on the iPod Universal Dock. On the other end, it connects to the left/right stereo input jacks on a stereo, powered speakers or TV and the composite video input on a TV or monitor.

Universal Dock
The iPod Universal Dock serves as a convenient and elegant home base. It features an infrared port for the Apple Remote. And it works with all iPod models that have a dock connector through the use of interchangeable inserts called Dock Adapters.

Dock Adapters
These adapters snap into the Universal Dock to provide a snug fit for any iPod with a Dock connector. This package includes adapters for five iPods: iPod mini; iPod with click wheel (20GB, 40GB/U2 Special Edition); iPod with color display (20GB/30GB/U2 Special Edition, 40GB/60GB). New iPods already include adapters for that model, and other adapters are available separately.

Apple Remote
The Apple Remote combines with the Universal Dock to let you experience your iPod from across the room. When used with the iPod, the Apple Remote offers play/pause, volume control and forward/back buttons. (Note: Menu button is inactive when used to control iPod.)

USB Power Adapter
Use this convenient USB based adapter to charge your iPod. Simply plug the adapter into a wall outlet and connect to your iPod for recharging.

Dock connector to USB cable
This cable connects to the iPod USB Power Adapter to deliver a continuous charge.

Let’s now review each of these items:

iPod AV Cable

This is a decent quality AV cable. Nice and sturdy and the connectors for plugging into your hi-fi or TV fit snugly. It does the job of connecting your iPod to your hi-fi or TV without any problem.

The sound output from my iPod to the hi-fi was very good. I had equally good results with photo and sound output when connecting my iPod to the TV.

Before connecting the iPod to your TV there are a couple of menu options you need to set on the iPod. Select Photos from the main menu, then Slideshow Settings, then make sure the TV Out option is set to On. Also make sure the TV Signal option has the correct setting, either PAL or NTSC. This map will show you the correct setting for your country.

I have many photos stored on my iPod and I was interested to see how well these would display on my TV. I use the resize feature on iTunes, so that whenever iTunes syncs with my iPod it resizes the photos to save space. I thought that may have an impact on picture quality, but on my 32 inch widescreen TV I was very happy with the photo quality. It is certainly good enough for doing photo slideshows in front of the family.

An added bonus of doing slideshows through the TV is that the iPod plays a selection of your Top 25 rated songs so you have music to accompany the slide show. The sound quality of the music through the TV was also very good.

Universal Dock

No complaints with this device. The universal dock is more convenient than using just a USB cable to charge your iPod. It looks more cool too!

I had no issues using the infrared port with the remote control. Attaching the iPod to the dock is fairly easy. At first it may seem a bit fiddly to dock the iPod, but once you’ve done it a couple of times it becomes straightforward.

My only minor niggle is that the universal dock is white. Since my iPod is black it would have been nice to choose a color that matched my iPod.

Dock Adapters
These work fine. You just pick the adapter that matches your iPod model and slot the adapter onto the universal dock.

Apple Remote
My only minor niggle with this is that the menu button is inactive when controlling the iPod. It does say this on the Apple web site but I wasn’t aware of this as the time of purchase. As far as the iPod goes, you can use the remote to adjust the volume, play and pause tracks and rewind and fast-forward tracks.

Since the menu button is inactive it means you can’t access any of the menu functions of the iPod which is a shame. I don’t know whether that problem will be resolved in the future.

You do have to remember though that the remote is for more than just controlling your iPod though. You can use it to control your Mac too, and for that the menu feature does work. So it would be unfair to complain too much about this.

Also worth noting is that the Apple remote can only control your iPod when the iPod is connected to the universal dock, since that is where the infrared port is located. If you’re considering buying the remote control separately, instead of the AV connection kit, you will also need to buy the universal dock.

USB Power Adapter

I haven’t used this yet because it uses the 2-pin style plug which is unsuitable for use in the UK. I think I’m right in saying that even the adapters sold in the UK use the 2-pin style plug?

I think this is poor marketing from Apple. It is forcing me to buy an expensive travel adapter just so I can use the USB power adapter. The world travel adapter sold by Apple is expensive. I have seen cheaper alternatives but I’m worried I might buy the wrong one and end up frying my iPod!

Summary
Overall a nice piece of kit from Apple although I’m not sure it can fully justify the price tag of $99 (£69), especially when you consider the USB power adapter won’t work outside North America without purchasing a separate travel adapter.

I mainly use the universal dock and AV cable. They are both great pieces of kit. I’m really pleased with the AV cable. It delivers good sound quality to my hi-fi and the photo and sound quality on my TV is very good too.

If you’re looking to connect your iPod to a hi-fi or TV, and need extras like the universal dock and remote control, then overall this is a good buy.

Buy the Apple iPod AV Connection Kit from Amazon.

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