Bose SoundDock Portable Digital Music System (Gloss Black) by BOSE
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Digital camera reviews of Bose SoundDock Portable Digital Music System (Gloss Black)
Digital camera Review: Best Overall Portable iPod Speaker
Summary: 4 Stars
I have gone through a few different portable speakers in the last 4 years: Klipsch, Altec Lansing the most recent.
The Bose Portable is supposed to play 3 hours on a charge at full volume and simultaneously charges the iPod during that time as well. I'm listening to it on battery right now after charging overnight. Sounds great and plenty of sound headroom. Full Charge takes 10 hours and the battery is user replaceable using nothing more than a coin to remove its cover.
Ergonomics:
* Compact size, big sound, plenty of bass and the highs are good as well.
* Dock rotates into unit for transport. Not extremely robust, but more so than the iM7. Comes with one adapter which fits my 60GB just fine. Bose recommends swapping out adapter if you have one for a particular iPod, but says the one that comes with is designed for a wide variety. Meaning you'd have more comfort with the right dock so as to not harm the docking port when putting pressure on the iPod. Swapping out is tenuous at best--you need to put a slotted screwdriver into the adapter's slot in the back and push against a spring loaded tab while then simultaneously lifting up. I serendipitously have a ratchet screwdriver with bits and its tube that holds the bits is perfect to use as a fulcrum as when it rests on the base there is no contact with the Bose docking plug. Bottom line is I'll not be swapping out units very much or plan ahead if I need to use my 80GB iPod.
* Remote is very cool and in addition to the core functions we all expect, you can actually toggle through your Playlists. The remote can also check the battery strength on a query basis (no external meter) which lights up an LED with different colors to the levels. Or if the level goes to critical, then the LED flashes red on its own.
* Red-20% or less full power
* Yellow-20% to 70% full power
* Green-above 70% full power
* Power adapter is a marvel of ergonomics. It is a square adapter with removable plug like the iM7, but it has a groove cut in the back for winding up the slack. In addition to that there is a little rubber ball that slide up and down the length of the power cord which wedges in the groove to fix the cable in place.
I bought the carry bag and it is very good as well.
* Soft leatherette with rigid reinforcements in key places.
* Plenty of pouches for the iPods, remote control, and has a strap plus a carry handle.
* Special pouch at the top for Power Supply which is on a flap that allows you to pull it out of the way when inserting or removing the Dock.
* Once the unit is in the bag, there is a rigid inside lid which folds down to protect the top of the unit. The Power Supply then sits on top in the space between the inside lid and outside flap.
Is it worth $400??? Well, on the one hand the Lithium rechargeable battery is a cool idea rather than have to use D Cells as with the iM7. So if you leave it plugged in, you're always good to go. And if unplugged there is a hibernate mode to conserve battery life for a long time. Bose claims very little depletion when not being used, unlike iPods which do discharge when unplugged.
Digital camera Review: Best portable listening solution
Summary: 4 Stars
i have tried them all: tivoli pal, the old discontinued virgin boomtube ex, various portable logitech and jbl speakers, harman kardon, altec lansing... but the bose sounddock portable just is the best compromise regarding size/sound quality. and you won't believe it but it even sounds better than the highly rated harman kardon go&play, although others claim differently.
the harman kardon go&play is indeed an impressive piece it has a very bass-heavy sound without sounding too boomy. i really like it, its looks and sound, but only if it is plugged in. if you put in 8 expensive D-cells the sound quality is suddenly cut by half, the sound becomes a bit tinny because bass is lacking and treble is still on the harsher side. now put a bose sounddock portable next to the harman kardon go&play running from battery and you will notice that despite the smaller size the bose produces a fuller bodied sound with slightly more rolled off treble but overall more consistent sound, pleasant to listen to for hours without fatigue. for portable use the bose is just much easier to carry and weights about half of the harman kardon with batteries inside. i have both units at home, and i even compared them to the altec lansing im7, which i sold again though, as it sounded worse than the harman kardon plugged in and was much bigger and more complicated to carry than the bose. at home i still prefer the harman kardon of course and rarely turn on my hifi-stereo, but for the garden or at the beach i only use the sounddock portable. for me there needs to be some certain volume, some base, some power in the music in order to make listening satisfying. others might be even happy with the built-in iphone speakers, well i am not, and for the given size the sound quality coming out from the sounddock portable is just impressive, you can crank it up to quite high levels and if you want to have some party-fun outside you even have to crank it up louder and it'll still sound pretty good. there are some limits though, at extreme levels you will of course be able to hear some distortion, but most of the time you will never be in need for such high volumes, except if you really want to annoy your neighbors. at lower listening levels it sounds quite bass-heavy, if you like bass this shouldn't be a problem, if not you need to use some EQ on your ipod, as there are no controls for bass and treble on the bose.
bose claims up to 3 hours of playing time from one charge at full volume. well, usually at normal listening levels you should expect about 8 up to 12 hours of playing time, depending on how much the ipod drains the battery because the ipod itself also gets charged from the sounddock, even when run from batteries. at first i though what a stupid feature that was, because an ipod doesn't need that much charge as the speakers, usually an ipod can play for more than 20 hours. but then i started to actually welcome this feature especially when used with an ipod touch or iphone during wireless streaming. without permanent recharging the iphone battery would just die after 2-3 hours if you listen to some internet radio or stream some other wireless media like last.fm, jukefly etc. but because it gets a permanent recharge inside the sounddock you should be able to listen to 6-8 hours of wireless internet radio until the iphone sucks out the whole sounddock battery, at least the iphone battery is still fully charged then haha...
i don't know of any other system that lets you listen to webradio for 8 hours on the way at this sound quality! although there are plenty of different internet-radio units available, none of them is really portable or able to run from batteries, besides neither ipod-dock i know does recharge the ipod when itself is running from batteries.
a big plus is that the battery is replaceable. you can even have 2 or 3 of them and if you run out of juice, you just attach another one and have some more listening fun. the batteries are not cheap though. they are usually going for 89.-
although i personally have the black one, i would suggest the white one if you are going to use it outside in the sun more often. the black one gets hot pretty quick, i have not experienced any problem or damage so far, but i don't feel comfortable using it in bright sun. the white one should be less of a problem. best solution would of course be a silver one from brushed aluminium, but i doubt bose could really create one, and if, it would cost double, despite the already too high price!
i would give all 5 or even 6 stars, but there are some quirks i would also like to mention. first of all the price, it is much too high. here in europe it costs even quite more than in the states as bose converts US$ = Euro and adds some additional virtual tax, so it isn't really a bargain.
the glossy finish is too sensitive for portable use. mine got heavily scratched after only some weeks of use, if you often wipe off dust, dirt or sand, you will certainly scratch the surface as well. i would have preferred a matte sturdy surface, similar to that one that bose used for their roommate series. in reality they were actually bose sounddocks, without the ipod-dock, but with a different finish.
there should also be a place where you can store the remote control. the altec lansing im7 had an extra compartment, the harman kardon go&play also has a pocket for the remote, not so the bose. i sometimes run through the whole house in order to find the remote. you also cannot turn off the sounddock without the remote. although it should turn off automatically if nothing is playing you never know if it is actually on or off and it can happen that you want to listen to some music but realize that the battery isn't charged at all. a simple on/off button shouldn't be such a problem.
the touchless volume-buttons are sometimes too sensitive, other times they don't react at all, i really would have preferred some "real" buttons. therefore i usually use the remote, as i know that when i press a button, it will work as it should
although there is a special bag available from bose, i don't really like it as it is too big and not practical. i would have preferred some simple shoulder harness, where you can leave the sounddock inside when playing. this way it would also be better protected against scratches.
another thing is that the sounddock sounds best if it is put in front of you at ear height. the treble is quite directional and putting the sounddock somewhere beside you leads to a bit muddy sound. i also noticed that the bass is sometimes heard much stronger from some distance than if listened close. maybe this is because it is emitting to the back out of the grip-opening, the original sounddock has the bass reflex hole at the front.
although the sounddock portable is smaller than most of the competition (harman kardon, altec lansing etc.) while providing similar sound quality, i find it still a bit too big sometimes. i would even prefer something a bit smaller, maybe the size of a tivoli pal, but with this typical bose sound. I have heard the bose computer music monitor speakers, which are really tiny, but have an impressive sound for their size. something like this but battery-driven would be even more suitable for always carry around as you could even put it inside a jacket pocket. please don't suggest something the altec lansing orbit, they are nice for sure and of similar size, but they just don't compare to the music monitors soundwise!
despite of all the quirks i would still recommend the sounddock portable to everyone who is looking for a perfect portable listening solution. if price doesn't matter take it, as there is no real alternative on the market yet. of course you cannot compare the bose to a b&w zeppelin or some geneva sound speakers, as they are all different beasts. also the altec lansing imt800 (mix) is in another class as it is heavier and much bigger than the sounddock portable. i doubt you will be able to put the altec lansing mix inside a backpack and go out for a picknick with it. although the mix is a real party machine (i will be getting mine tomorrow btw) the sounddock will remain the real portable solution!
ps. sorry for my english as i am not a native speaker, but nevertheless i hope this little review can help you a bit on your decision.
Digital camera Review: Best portable speaker system!
Summary: 5 Stars
I spent countless hours researching portable speaker systems. After reading many web site and owner reviews I narrowed my choices down to four models. The first model was the Altec Lansing InMotion im7. I wasen't able to find this model in any store so I could listen to the sound quality for myself, so I eliminated it. The others were also Altec Lansing based on good reviews. First up was the InMotion im600, Second was the m602 and last the Bose SoundDock Portable. My final decision came down to the ability to listen to these three models side by side.
There wasen't any real comparison after a listen to the Bose. They blew the other two away. Great base and great highs. I was sold. I do realize the Bose are pricy but like most people out there, these are not my first IPOD speakers but the will be my last. Go for it and get the best first. The Bose are the way to go!
Digital camera Review: Best product on the market
Summary: 5 Stars
The Bose portable speakers and iPod docking station has the best sound and is easy to move around! It is well worth the price!Digital camera Review: Best purchase I ever made!
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband and I just purchased a 160GB IPOD and downloaded every song from our CD library on it. We wanted a player that we could take to parks when we were with the kids. This machine is clear and loud- we love it! It is easy to tote around and it sounds awesome! My biggest worry is that it will get stolen when we are on an outing, but we keep a close eye on it. At night, we have been taking it out on the patio when we are in our spa. It's just so convenient! We love it, and the sound is terrific. I can't see how anyone would be disappointed with this purchase!