iPod Secret Touch

Selecting Speakers For Your iPod

The following paragraphs summarize the work of ipod experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of ipod. Heed their advice to avoid any ipod surprises.

More and more people are purchasing a set of speakers for their iPods, some to replace their current home audio set ups in order to get rid of the cd collections that take up so much room, some to have a portable audio source for when they are away on holiday, some just for having some iPod speakers because everyone else is buying them! One of the problems we come across the most is people being faced with a huge selection of choices and feeling bewildered about what to buy. What I am aim to do is make your choice that little bit easier.

We can break down the different sets of speakers into the following categories:

Portable and powered by batteries.

Portable and powered by mains adapter.

Home Set up powered by mains adapter.

Is everything making sense so far? If not, I'm sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.

For those of you looking for a portable set that is powered by batteries there are a variety of excellent options at varying prices. Personally I am of the belief that whatever amount of money you are spending it is important that sound quality is pretty good as what use is a light speaker set that has crackily sound! If you are looking to spend under £50 then we highly rate both the Logic 3 i-Station 7 and the Monster iSpeaker. Both of these are very light to carry, are of a size very conveninet for putting ina backpack or suitcase and run for a good amount of time on batteries, sound from both is exceptional for this pricepoint with great clarity.

If you are looking to spend a little more then a lot of options open up in the £50 to £150 bracket. If lightweight is your number one problem then you will not go far wrong with the JBL On Tour, this is an incredibly lightweight unit that what it lacks in bass it makes up for in the sound clarity department. If you would prefer better sound quality then a step up to an Altec Lansing IM5 or Logitech MM50, Saitek A250 and for iPod Nano Owners the XtremeMac MicroBlast. All of these provide excellent sound alongside good looks and a highly portable structure. Once your budget is going over £150 you are in to the realms of a great portable system in the Altec Lansing IM7, thumping bass, crystal clear treble and a great portable structure, definetly the daddy of portable iPod Docking Stations and Speaker units.

If you would like something that can be considered portable but don't mind having to use a mains charger then there are a couple of good options available. One of our favourites is the Macally IceTune, this is indeed one of our top 5 iPod accessories altogether, when stacked up it looks like a coke can and has two separate speakers that can be removed and pointed to send sounds in different directions, the sound quality is excelletn for only £39.99 and it is very much portable but does require mains power. The JBL On Stage is another wonderful compact and lightweight unit that can be plugged into the mains for power and will charge your iPod while you listen to it, very high quality sound, lacks bass a littel but you are compromising bass to have such a small portable unit, clarity of sound and loudness are both very impressive. Another excellent unit in this bracket is the Logic 3 iStation 8, newly released and keeping up the fabulous reputation of the iStation 7 this really is worth the money, great combinations of bass and treble and very much a portable size and weight.

For the home set up there are a variety of options and in honesty the best value speakers in our opinion come at this price point. For just £59.99 you can have a pair of JBL Creature II's, these are surely one of the greatest home electronics products to ever hit the market, the bass is phenomenal and the clarity is superb, vocals sound great for many types of music, they also look very appealing and are bound to interest visitors who glaze their eyes upon them! Also in the JBL range are the Encounters, these expand on the Creature philosophy of an alien themed set of speakers and have even stronger bass, they are quite simply phenomenal! At this price point we also have the Harmon Kardon Soundsticks, for a long time these have been my individual favourite speakers, they are see through so you can have a look at what is going on inside and provide possibly the clearest vocals you will hear from iPod focused speakers they are simply outstanding, perhaps not as strong bass as the Encounters but still more than enough for most pallettes. For anyone considering a home iPod set up I strongly suggest a very close look at the Harmon Kardon Soundsticks they are oustanding and will fit in to 99% of home settings in the living room, dining room, kitchen etc!

Hopefully this guide has been of some use to you choosing your speakers, firstly establish which of the three categories your requirements for speakers come into and then you can use the above advice to direct you to some great units, we wish you the best of luck in your choice!

Now you can understand why there's a growing interest in ipod. When people start looking for more information about ipod, you'll be in a position to meet their needs.

iPods- Basic Information You Need To Know

Do you ever feel like you know just enough about ipod to be dangerous? Let's see if we can fill in some of the gaps with the latest info from ipod experts.

Let's face the fact. iPods are the hottest things to have these days. Just about everybody has one or wants to get one. It's an all in one gadget that seems to do wonders.

iPods are capable of playing music while you are on the move, organizing your personal and business commitments, storing photos which you can proudly display to your friends at the touch of a button.

Since May 2005, Mecedes-Benz, announced that they were integrating the Apple iPod Interface Kit in their passenger vehicles. How cool is that? Very!
Just when you thought that things could not get better, the iPod mini was released complete with cool accessories like:

• Apple remote - Universal Docks support this. You can connect it to a stereo or television, plug it in the Dock and control everything from there.

• USB power adapter- Easily charge your iPod while you are surfing the internet.

• AV connection kit- Play your favourite tunes, movies or photos on the television with a simple connection.

• Radio remote- Changing radio stations is a breeze with the remote. It is a wired remote.

• Universal dock – Basically this allows you to connect your iPod to the television or home entertainment system to view movies or display photos,etc.

• USB cable- You need this to connect your iPod to your computer.

• Camera connector- Tranfer your pretty pictures from your camera directly to your iPod

• In-ear headphones- Makes listening to music even better with its good bas response and quality audio.

You have some variety too. Since iPods come in models with 512MB or 1G. The prices are also very reasonable considering the tons of cool stuff you could do with an iPod. For about $100, you could pick up an iPod and be listening to Shakira's latest hit in minutes.

Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:

There are several points you need to consider so that you'll be able to make a wise decision when buying an iPod.

1.) iPod Nano

The iPod Nano is the most common model now. You have a coice of music,data and photos with this model and the colors are great. It is a slim model that will easily slide into your pocket.

2.) Battery life

The 4G model battery lasts about 8 hours roughly. Not too good. However, the latest 5G models have a battery life of about 14 hours.That's much better and the battery lasts much longer too.

3.) Color

Pretty standard color here. :)

4.)Video

In the past, video was not an option. Thankfully, things have improved and now with the iPod Video, you can have data, music, photo and video...all in one model. Just fantastic!

5.)iPod Shuffle

The iPod Shuffle is a slightly cheaper iPod model and suitable for those with a lower budget. It only supports music which you can listen to in a sequence or shufled. There is no screen or other features. If you only need an iPod to play music and don't really need the fancy features, this model would be a good pick.

You should be able to purchase an iPod from most good electronics stores. You could even buy one online.

Some websites are even giving away iPods free. Basically, you'll need to fill up some affiliate form and refer 5 friends to the site to do the same. It's a simple idea but you may face some difficulty getting friends to sign up. You could give it a try. There are many people who have received a free iPod in this manner. The rewards are good since the effort you put into it is minimal.

The day will come when you can use something you read about here to have a beneficial impact. Then you'll be glad you took the time to learn more about ipod.