Docking stations for your iPods are not just made to recharge the popular digital music players. There are now a large number of iPod docking stations with speakers, and if you know what to look for when you decide to buy one, you can have a terrific listening experience even if you are on a budget.
These with-speaker docking stations are not always celebrated for top-of-the-line sound, but foremost you want a docking station whose sound is as close to wholly clean and true stereo as you can find for the money. You may also want a docking station that will not cause too much interference if you want to receive a phone call while listening to music, if you seek a station with iPhone compatibility.One of the highest-praised such stations is Logitech’s Pure-Fi Anywhere 2, which has added iPhone compatibility and is getting high marks for little to no interference or buzz. The only major flaws any reviewers have spotted are an automatic speaker shutoff when volume is turned down low enough, and an inconsistent remote control. However, it is considered one of the best of its breed for the price range (around $100-120).
If your budget is $150 or under, you have several good choices. Weighing in at exactly $100, in fact, is the Memorex Mi1111 mini-boomboz, which features an iPod dock adapter set and delivers quality sound. The Griffin Amplifi, at $150, gets high marks for sound and for adapters that can be fitting to any iPod model, as well as a simple-to-use remote control.The Samson StudioDock 3i looks a little ponderous at first—two individual speakers connected similarly to a standard stereo or full-size boom box setup. However, is considered to have superior sound quality even at high volumes, and is compatible to all iPod and iPhone models, which may make its $150 price tag one of the best values for the money if you can live without portability.Nevertheless, if you have less than $100 to spend, the iHome iP9 may be the best ipod docking station for you. It is a modest-sized iPod/iPhone docking alarm clock/radio with well-regarded sound quality even though some reviewers criticized its modest bass range. It also has a solid remote iPod main menu control, but if you use the Edge network rather than the 3G iPhone network you may hear very slight buzz when taking a call.
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