The dock of this item charges both my ipods, but the ipod does not play speakers thru dock. You can connect the ipod thru a wire to the speaker, and it works nicely with it's powerful speakers. However, if the dock does not work, it defeats the purpose.This is a defective item. So the question is whether this is one-off or generic defect.I will ask for a replacement. When I get a good replacement, I will rate it better.