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View Full Version : Mobis Just Mobile PK1 Docking Station


Rocco Augusto
08-07-2006, 06:00 PM
<img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock1.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><br /><b>Product Category:</b> Docking Station<br /><b>Manufacturer:</b> <a href="http://www.just-mobileonline.com">Mobis</a><br /><b>Where to Buy:</b> <a href="http://www.mobileplanet.com/product.asp?code=126625">Mobile Planet</a> <br /><b>Price:</b> $83.95 - $108.95 USD<br /><b>System Requirements:</b> HTC Tornado or HTC Faraday devices<br /><b>Specifications:</b> Length: 195 mm, Width: 92 mm, Height: 67 mm<br /><br /><b>Pros:</b> Listen to music and sync phone;<br /> Tiny device doesn't take up much room!;<br /> Perfect for podcasts!<b>Cons:</b> Sub-par sound quality;<br /> Feels very toy-like/cheap;<br /> Volume resets when turned off.<b>Summary:</b><br />Are you sitting in your office bored out of your mind because your company doesn't allow you to listen to music through your work computer? Maybe you just love music and like to have the latest and greatest toys for your Windows Mobile Smartphone. If this sounds like you, the Mobis Just Mobile PK1 Docking Station might be the perfect solution for your needs!<!><br /><br />Read on for the full review!<br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>First Impressions</b></span><br />Over the past week and a half I have been lucky enough to test out the Mobis Just Mobile PK1 Docking Station. When it first arrived on my doorstep I was actually quite surprised. I had read a fair number of reviews of this device online beforehand, curious as to what others thought of it, and every review I read on the device said the same thing: this is a great device with rich sound. What these reviews failed to mention is that this docking station is incredibly light, and I don't mean that in a good way. The first thing I noticed when I picked the docking station up was that it felt more like a toy than something I would want to put my phone in. But, deciding not to judge a book by its cover, I unpacked everything as quickly as possible and took an assortment of pictures to show the rest of the guys here at Smartphone Thoughts. :)<br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock2.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><i>Figure 1: The box is actually really nice. It's made out of a glossy cardboard material that is surprisingly smooth.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock3.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><i>Figure 2: The PK1 contains everything you need to start listening to music. On the left we have a line-in cable that is used to hook up external CD players, iPods or any other music device. We have the power cord on the top and on the right we have two separate heads to make sure you can use this device in any country you go to! Very nifty!</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock4.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><i>Figure 3: My hands are not gigantic, this device is just incredibly tiny :)</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock5.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><i>Figure 4: Here we have a close-up shot of the device's 2.5mm adapter and USB adapter. It should work with almost every HTC handset out there.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock11.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><i>Figure 5: A nice shot of my Cingular 2125 resting in its new home.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock9.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><i>Figure 6: Side profile shot to give you an idea of not only how tiny the device is, but also how thin it is.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock10.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><i>Figure 7: On the backside of this device is where we connect all of our cables.</i><br /><br />After I was done emailing pictures, I decided it was time to put this bad boy to the test, so I plugged in the power adapter and attached it to my laptop via mini-USB cable. This is when my first hiccup occurred. Once I inserted my phone into the docking station, nothing happened. I sat there for a couple seconds confused, this was usually when my laptop started playing that familiar little chime that let me know I was about to sync, except that never happened. First thought that went through my head was that I needed to restart my computer but that had no effect on it either. I tried a different USB port but that had zero effect on the situation too, so I did what any guy in my position would do, I asked the girlfriend if I could borrow her computer. :lol:<br /><br />Unfortunately, this docking station wouldn't connect to her computer either, so I tried another computer, and then another. After the fourth computer, I decided that maybe it was just some faulty mini-USB connector on the device. Seeing how my excitement for this device didn't revolve around using it as a docking station, I wasn't too disappointed that my phone wouldn't sync. My real purpose for reviewing this item was for my love of music, and while my Cingular 2125 sounds fantastic with a nice pair of iPod headphones, sometimes I just like to sit back and enjoy music without sticking something in my ear.<br /><br />Now as I mentioned before, every review I read on this docking station said the sound was rich, outstanding, and "not tinny". This, however, is not the case at all. After loading up "Michael Jackson's - Number Ones" I was disappointed yet again. While the device does not output a tinny sound as you would expect from something this small, it does output a very hollow sound, like a clock radio. I shouldn't have been surprised by this due to how toy-like the device felt from the moment I picked it up, but I was. I have seen/heard iPod docking stations for the same price, that produce a much cleaner and richer sound than the PK1. Considering how expensive this device is, I figured it would be on the same level as some of the better iPod docking stations out there. But first impressions have shown me that it isn't. Not wanting to give up on the PK1 right away I figured that maybe it just didn't like the King of Pop, so for the next week and a half I played every genre of music I owned through the device as well as some of my favorite Podcasts!<br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Music</b></span> Michael Jackson<br /> Madonna<br /> Air<br /> Hooverphonic<br /> Portishead<br /> Olive<br /> Finch<br /> Armor For Sleep<br /> Blues Travelers<br /> The Toadies<br /> Our Lady Peace<br /> Foo Fighters<br /> High Contrast<br /> LTJ Bukem<br /> Hybrid<br /> Shy FX<br /> Esthero<br /> Third Eye Blind<br /> Eminem<br /> Zion-I<br /> Less Than Jake<br /> Kosheen<br /> FannypackAs you can see, my taste in music varies greatly from Drum and Bass to Emo to Hip Hop to Alternative. I'm all around the board which I figured would be good for testing this device. After a week and a half of playing with this I discovered one very important thing: anything with an exceptionally large amount of bass in it (i.e - Drum and Bass) sounds absolutely <i>horrible</i> on this device. Now, to some people that wouldn't matter, but let's say you prefer some form of dance music with a lot of bass in it - you might not be satisfied with the quality of a device such as this.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock7.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><i>Figure 8: Yes, I'm listening to "Rock With You".</i><br /><br /><span><b>Podcasts</b></span> Jason and Dave's ThoughtCast (<a href="http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=8303">vote</a>)<br /> The MediaCenter Show<br /> Free Talk Live<br /> Keith and The GirlPodcasts performed beautifully in the PK1. Granted, some of the Podcasts out there were a little hollow, but when you're just listening to someone talk it really isn't that bad at all. To be honest, listening to different Podcasts through this device was the most fun I had with it. :)<br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.07.28-dock8.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><i>Figure 9: Here we have an image of the PK1 doing what it does best, playing a nice podcast. In fact, every podcast I played sounded fantastic from this device.</i><br /><br /><span><b>Interference</b></span><br />There were a few reviews I read that said there was interference with the radio on their phone when they received an incoming call or email. I can tell you first hand that I never had a problem with this, no matter how hard I tried. I sent myself twenty-two emails and called myself eight times and there was no interference at all. My only guess is that Mobis heard these complaints and added some kind of shielding or something around the device's speakers. Either way, I was ecstatic!<br /><br /><span><b>Conclusions</b></span><br />Now before I finish up this review there was one thing about the Mobis Just Mobile Docking Station that annoyed me to no end. When you turn the PK1 off it resets the volume to mute so when you turn it back on you have to fiddle with the volume again - every time. I'm not sure if this is a feature to protect you from blowing out the speakers but I can tell you that it's incredibly cumbersome to turn the volume up <i>every</i> time you turn on the device. You would figure that for the almost $100USD price tag, it would at least remember your volume settings, but it doesn't. <br /><br />All in all, this isn't a bad device, if anything it's just a tad bit above mediocre. Personally I feel that it costs a little too much for what it does and how it performs, but for those of you who would like to have some music in your office, I would consider checking out this device or one of the newer Mobis models that were just released, like the PK4 which includes a loudspeaker and subwoofer. :)<br /><br /><i>Rocco Augusto is a freelance Web Designer who suffers from a borderline obsessive-like passion for gadgets and gizmos. When not working, you can usually find him hiding in the corner as his alter ego, The Mighty Spam Slayer. He currently lives in the Portland, Oregon with his beautiful fiancé and daughter.</i>

Kris Kumar
08-08-2006, 12:03 PM
Wow you really tested this little unit; that is quite a long list of sound tracks. 8O

For me I am not much of a music person, I rarely use the headset or play music from the Smartphone. I have tried watching TV, but the Smartphone is still for email and surfing. But I can see people using this dock at work to listen to some music or podcasts, as you suggested. I think it makes sense to use this at work to listen to podcasts or streaming media because some of the big corporation firewalls block popular web sites.

Overall, a cool review for a unique Smartphone accessory. 8)

Mike Temporale
08-08-2006, 02:16 PM
It looks super cool. But it's just not for me. The only time I use my phone for music is when I'm out and about. If I'm sitting at my desk then I'll just use my laptop which has pretty good sound reproduction. :D