JENSEN SMPS-125 Portable Stereo Speaker For iPod/iPhone, MP3, Tablet, and Smartphone Black

it means "not included" and "not readily available." Which is okay. The battery life seems to be okay so far (3 hours with no sign of letting up). But the item description should be clear. I took "optional, or you can use batteries" to mean that I had a choice between batteries and an ac adapter. Since there isn't an ac adapter and doesn't seem to be an easy way to get one, the ac adapter isn't really a viable "option."What was clear from the description is that this isn't truly a dock. You can't charge your device through it. Strictly speaking, it's a portable powered speaker. Requires batteries or an ac adapter, neither of which is included.As portable speakers go, it's nice and loud and clear.

The sound system is very nice.

I’d love to like this device, but I don’t. Unless the volume is turned very low, the speakers are terrible, so distorted and scratchy that the unit becomes barely useful at all.

really did not dislike the apparatus, it worked and worked well, I have no bad things to say, very happy with it.

I was happy to find a docking station device for my old ipod, which I use for audio books from the library. I continue to use this ipod because it does not have wifi, so my books stay on the device until I have time to listen to them, instead of just a 2 week lending period.But this device is pretty poor. It does not come with an AC cord, so batteries are necessary. There is no way to turn the ipod off and on on the device, so you have to use the ipod to do it, and, depending on which connector you use, it can be difficult to do. But the worst is the sound quality. After a very short time, it deteriorated into a mass of static. It is virtually unusable now, after just a few weeks.

I was looking for something that I could plug my iPad into to listen to music and movies. the sound level is no louder than just listening to the iPad and if you try to turn it up, the sound is warped. the instructtions said when that happens, to turn the volume down on the device and then you can't even hear it. It does, however make a nice holder for the iPad for my grandkids to watch movies at the table.

Working just as expected after I purchased an A/C adapter

Not for older people. Directions too hard to read. Markings on unit ,black on black also hard to read. I am not successful in using it.