diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/http/base_response_options.ts b/modules/angular2/src/http/base_response_options.ts
index 3751687496..5028475724 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/http/base_response_options.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/http/base_response_options.ts
@@ -5,20 +5,53 @@ import {ResponseTypes} from './enums';
 import {ResponseOptionsArgs} from './interfaces';
 
 /**
- * Creates a response options object similar to the
- * [ResponseInit](https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#responseinit) description
- * in the Fetch
- * Spec to be optionally provided when instantiating a
+ * Creates a response options object to be optionally provided when instantiating a
  * {@link Response}.
  *
- * All values are null by default.
+ * This class is based on the `ResponseInit` description in the [Fetch
+ * Spec](https://fetch.spec.whatwg.org/#responseinit).
+ *
+ * All values are null by default. Typical defaults can be found in the
+ * {@link BaseResponseOptions} class, which sub-classes `ResponseOptions`.
+ *
+ * This class may be used in tests to build {@link Response Responses} for
+ * mock responses (see {@link MockBackend}).
+ *
+ * ### Example ([live demo](http://plnkr.co/edit/P9Jkk8e8cz6NVzbcxEsD?p=preview))
+ *
+ * ```typescript
+ * import {ResponseOptions, Response} from 'angular2/http';
+ *
+ * var options = new ResponseOptions({
+ *   body: '{"name":"Jeff"}'
+ * });
+ * var res = new Response(options);
+ *
+ * console.log('res.json():', res.json()); // Object {name: "Jeff"}
+ * ```
  */
 export class ResponseOptions {
   // TODO: ArrayBuffer | FormData | Blob
+  /**
+   * String or Object representing the body of the {@link Response}.
+   */
   body: string | Object;
+  /**
+   * Http {@link http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html status code}
+   * associated with the response.
+   */
   status: number;
+  /**
+   * Response {@link Headers headers}
+   */
   headers: Headers;
+  /**
+   * @private
+   */
   statusText: string;
+  /**
+   * @private
+   */
   type: ResponseTypes;
   url: string;
   constructor({body, status, headers, statusText, type, url}: ResponseOptionsArgs = {}) {
@@ -30,6 +63,31 @@ export class ResponseOptions {
     this.url = isPresent(url) ? url : null;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Creates a copy of the `ResponseOptions` instance, using the optional input as values to
+   * override
+   * existing values. This method will not change the values of the instance on which it is being
+   * called.
+   *
+   * This may be useful when sharing a base `ResponseOptions` object inside tests,
+   * where certain properties may change from test to test.
+   *
+   * Example ([live demo](http://plnkr.co/edit/1lXquqFfgduTFBWjNoRE?p=preview))
+   *
+   * ```typescript
+   * import {ResponseOptions, Response} from 'angular2/http';
+   *
+   * var options = new ResponseOptions({
+   *   body: {name: 'Jeff'}
+   * });
+   * var res = new Response(options.merge({
+   *   url: 'https://google.com'
+   * }));
+   * console.log('options.url:', options.url); // null
+   * console.log('res.json():', res.json()); // Object {name: "Jeff"}
+   * console.log('res.url:', res.url); // https://google.com
+   * ```
+   */
   merge(options?: ResponseOptionsArgs): ResponseOptions {
     return new ResponseOptions({
       body: isPresent(options) && isPresent(options.body) ? options.body : this.body,