iPod Uber-anal question: Effort-free docks

[Sesshi]

Whipping the iPods - any of my iPods, and I have too many - out of the dock is never an easy task.

The 5G has to be rocked out of the cradle, and the Nanos require in some cases a hefty tug. It may seem trivial, but it's just one of those small things which can nevertheless bug you over time.

Are there any alternative docks which allow a smoother docking and undocking experience?

 

[spicyapple]

Are there any alternative docks which allow a smoother docking and undocking experience?

You'd need a dock that weighs quite a bit (2-5 lbs, maybe?) But for that, most companies will avoid building them since shipping costs would be quite high. Something like this might be a DIY.

 

[Sesshi]

Unless they're made of depleted uranium I doubt I'll find a heavy dock which doesn't take up huge amounts of useless room on my desk.

 

[nitynate]

If you are just using your ipod dock as a charging station, I may suggest an iHome, or if you want to sacrifice the quality of apple hardware and sleekness, you could use a TuneSync ipod dock.
It is nice and it works great. My friend Steve has one.
He uses it with his mini and I am not sure what it is compatible with.

 

[Sesshi]

There's one I do use purely as a charging dock, but that's not a big deal. All the rest are syncing stations. Truesync looks handy even if it doesn't prove any more effortless than the Apple article, might give it a try. Apple hardware sleekness I can sacrifice if it works better, Apple hardware 'quality' I can definitely do without.

 

[Project]

the worst thing Apple did with the Nano was put the earphone jack at the bottom of the player. I have to take out my earphones to be able to dock it. Very stupid

 

[gloss]

Unless they're made of depleted uranium I doubt I'll find a heavy dock which doesn't take up huge amounts of useless room on my desk.

Heh.

WD-40 and Gorilla Glue.

 

[Twinsbb17]

Put some strong doublestick tape on the bottom of the dock... put a book or four on it to let it get situated and then dock away.... I haven't tried it but in theory that should work

 

[Sesshi]

Actually I get the feeling it's more the stiffness of the docking socket more than anything else. My year-old 5G still requires rocking to and fro and still doesn't come out cleanly in one motion. I could swear I could do this with the 3G's. The recently bought Nanos really need a good tug (and shove to dock).

Tape is an option, but I like my docks to be movable as I change layouts often.

I'm not being too demanding, am I?

I can figure something out but I wondered if there was anything on the market which solved this issue.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

my 3rd gen just pops right out of the dock... must be a new thing they're doing :-/

 

[live4ever]

They should make a Mag-Dock.