[Dave]

Anyone heard one of these in action :- Shop for Intempo iPod Dock With Remote Black. at Argos.co.uk Just wondered if it's acceptable (eg. like a portable radio) or sounds awful ?

[Dabhand16]

Which? best buy went to a Bose system. Needs mains supply, though, and I think it costs £250.

iH5 got a good review for sound quality, marked down on some details. no price quoted on the page I saw.

Looking at the size of the speakers compared to the ipod, I suspect the answer to your question is 'No'.

Depends how fussy you are at the end of the day. Half decent headphones will probably sound better.

[Markulous]

When it comes to audio quality and reproduction we were hopeful that the 6 watts per channel of the IDS-01 would produce a worthy sound for such a small unit. Initial tests looked good with various pop music tracks like Kylie and Robbie Williams even up to 2/3 volume. However a switch to tracks with more bass started to show the rough underbelly of the IDS01, it didn't take much beyond 50% volume to create some serious distortion. On really bassy tracks the whole unit seems to resonate and the plastic shell joins in adding a level of rattle to the sound, its far from perfect and really destroys the idea of having the 2 x 6 watt channels.

On the more POP orientated tracks the vocals do sound OK and the mid range is present and not too bad for a cheap unit, however we just can't cope with any hint of bass on the IDS-01's it really does ruin the product. It's not as though all cheap speakers are like this either, the Logic3 iStation unit seems to cope much better although its volume does not go quite as high. There are some plus points like being able to charge your iPod while in the dock and the ability to connect other portable devices like CD players or DAB radios through the auxiliary connection.

However we have to recommend you save to 30GBP the Intempo IDS-01 will cost and add another tenner to purchase the more rounded and better sounding Logic 3 iStation.

Tho' I'd be MUCH more worried at being associated with the likes of Kylie and Robbie! But then it IS an iPod, so inevitable really