B -eats O-ther S-ound E-quipment

The Bose SoundDock is a smart, stylish sound system for your ipod.

The look of this piece of kit is smart, It looks very stylish. Available in black to match your ipod (white is also available). The Design is arched which allows for the sound to be angled when in use. The back is pretty plain and houses most of the components. Bang centre on the front you will see the docking area fro your beloved ipod. This unit has a larger footprint than its competitors 6.65" H x 11.91 W x 6.48" D (16.89cm x 30.26 x 16.47cm) 4.56lbs and weighs 2.1kg.

Out of the box it is very easy to set up - take out unit and place in desired zone, plug in the adaptor at the back and then into the wall. Plug in the relevant docking adaptor for your ipod and that's it. The power rating on the box specified 110v on mine however the power adaptor supplied was multi voltage.

Bose claim there product is compatible with all dock connector ipods. The adaptors supplied cover the ipod video and mini and other ipods. The Nano insert was not included with mine but Bose sent me one directly. However I don't use it. We own two ipods a 60 GB Video and a 2 GB nano I use the adaptor that fit the 60 GB video player as I find the nano sits happily on the dock connector without any further support.

Basically to use you place your ipod direct onto the dock connector your ipod lights up and off you go. Control is from either the ipod itself or from the included remote. The remote is credit card size but quite thick. Very basic giving an off function, Pause/play, back, forward and volume control. The only controls on the dock itself are for volume and these are place at either side of the docking area.

The sound is good. In fact very good. I wouldn't say amazing as it isn't. Its rich clear and not to basey in my opinion. As with anything you have to hear it for yourself as we all hear differently. The volume level is good and fills our open plan, living, and dining and kitchen room. I am quite pleased with the overall sound from such a small unit. I find the best position for this unit is the corner of a room.

The unit charges your ipod via the dock connector whilst playing or when switched off. I like the fact I can use my ipod at work come home stick it in the SoundDock and play my tunes while I make dinner. By the time that's done it's charged and ready for action again.

Overall I am quite happy with this unit however it does have some imperfections. The first being the lack of controls on the unit. The second is this unit works off mains only. There is no auxiliary port either so it's designed for ipod only. The remote is very basic for such an expensive device. There is no off switch on the system so your ipod is either charging or displaying charged. Although I don't think it will damage the battery on the ipod I unplug the unit to be sure. There is no USB connection so you can't link it to your PC.

I have been using the Unit for 6 months now and it seems to be fairing up well. No damage to anything no signs of wear and tear. I use the dock daily.

It is expensive compared to others but it is BOSE. I paid 250US for mine.

If you're looking for a stylish good sounding speaker/dock system that you can place permanently in your home or office for your ipod this is it. Due to its weight, size and lack of battery power I wouldn't class this as a portable set of speakers. However if you want to take it on your Hols then BOSE sell a carry bag for it.