Bose SoundDock – Speakers for iPod

Apple’s iPod has become a huge cultural phenomenon similar to what Sony’s walkman created few decades back.

The success of iPod also has bought in a lot of players in the iPod accessories market.

The Bose SoundDock digital music system is one of the accessory specifically designed to expand and enhance your enjoyment of the music stored on dockable iPod’s

Thanks to my brother; this accessory is now part of my big list of iPod accessories and at 300$ is probably one of the most expensive one too.

Key feature of Bose SoundDock

• Bose proprietary acoustic design: Rich, full sound from a relatively small enclosure.
• Docking cradle: Holds and automatically charges your iPod, iPod photo, iPod mini or iPod nano whether its playing or not.
• Infrared remote control: Controls the system and basic iPod functions from across the room.

Unit Specification

• 6.65″ H x 11.91″ W x 6.48″
• 4.56 lb (2.1 kg)

Pros

• Very easy to setup. Also connectors are provided(3 connectors) so that the different types of iPod’s can be docked.
• I have been continuously listening to music (not typical of me) from the past few days and I am totally impressed by the sound quality. The audio is clear and not a strain on your ears even at high volumes.
• At 2kg’s its totally portable and is an ideal choice for people on the move.
• The dock charges the iPod automatically and is probably this is probably one of the easiest ways of charging the iPod.

Cons

• Can be used only with iPod. There are no other auxiliary inputs into the system.
• Even though the connectors are provided to accommodate the different generation of iPod’s, my video iPod was not sitting properly in the dock. I have to literally struggle everytime to see that its docked properly.
• The SoundDock is not portable in the sense that you have to always carry it around along with the power adapter. A built-in battery would have made it more attractive.
• Its very expensive; There are couple of other alternatives listed at the end of the post.
• The remote is of limited functionality; you cannot switch between albums/playlists. You cannot change the Equalizer setting.
• Even though you can play videos, you can’t navigate between the different videos in the library.

Alternatives to Bose SoundDock

1. Altec Lansing has a lot of products targeted for iPod’s. You can find the list of all the models at this link
   
2. Apple iPod Hi-Fi
   
3. JBL – On Time and Radial Series
   
4. Logitech