The AV Dock

The AV Dock is an interesting piece of hardware that is designed to extend the functionality of your Zune Player (especially the Zune HD). With the dock you enable 720p HD playback from your Zune HD on any HD capable display device that has a HDMI connector. There are additional options for standard RCA video and audio in (stereo only) as well as Optical (Toslink) S/PDIF. The AV Dock is also solid and stable. When you get it out of the box you will feel the weight and know that your Zune Player will be ok while in this dock.

Microsoft also included a remote that is capable of duplicating all of the control functions of the Zune Player from a distance of about 15 feet. Beyond that I had spotty reception. The AV Dock can be powered using an included wall power pack (that also works with the Zune HD USB cable) or directly from a computer USB port.

Unfortunately the AV Dock was not all beer and pizza. Microsoft decided to make the USB and radio antenna hardwired. To be perfectly honest I am not sure why they chose to do this. It makes using the AV Dock on the road very clunky. I wish Microsoft would make both of these removable; it would make the dock a better product.