Top 10 iPad docks

There is a huge choice of docking stations for the Apple iPad on the market, but most of them are dull and look like each other. AMELIA HUNTER rounds up ten rather unique looking docks.

1. RockAppleWood docks

RockAppleWood makes unique docking stations for Apple’s iDevices from wood and stone pieces found in California, all in a single copy. The one on the pic below is a dock with a 1.2W speaker made from the remains of an old oak tree discovered by the designer. Stylish, eco-friendly and the only one of its kind.

I don’t know if this dock is real, but it definitely looks very cool. And it reminded me of the catapults from the famous Age of Empires series.

If you want a unique and artsy docking station for your iPad, have a look at the Venus of Cupertino. Inspired by the round forms of the statues of Venus, the goddess of fertility and love, and sold for $199, this dock will hold your tablet gently and sync/charge it.

This cool vintage typewriter can act as a docking station for your Apple iPad and a fully functional keyboard that has not only the usual number and letter keys any computer keyboard has, but even keys like F1, ESC and CTLR, too.

Georg Dinkel, photographer from Bavaria, has created this docking station and called it ‚”TonSchrein‚”, which means ‚”Sound Shrine‚” in German. I am not sure if he’s going to start producing these, but I guess many people will be willing to buy such luxury accessories.

This dock has flexible legs that can help stabilize or hang your iPad everywhere, or even attach it to your knee. And it’s not just a concept ‚Äî you can buy it from Amazon for about $78.

The Running Water iPad stands are designed by Japanese studio Nendo, and as you could have guessed from their name, they look like faucets with running water. Looks quite real, doesn’t it?

The V-Luxe iPad Stand will turn your tablet into a ’50s style TV set with a speaker cabinet, not preventing cable access for audio and power, and access to the touchscreen and its Home button. It’s available in walnut, cherry and African mahogany, but you’ll need to have a spare $1500 to buy it.

This is not the most unique stand you’ve ever seen, but it’s definitely a very comfortable one. It’s available at Amazon for about $70.

And here is yet another retro-looking TV dock for the Apple iPad. It’s handmade, and it fits any iPad, even the new iPad 4. And $60 seems to be a fair price.

* Amelia Hunter is founder and editor ofhttp://www.teqno-logical.com. Follow her on Twitter on@HunterAmelia