Portable iPod, portable SoundDock
It’s becoming increasingly hard to catch up on tech toys of the moment — cellphones, PDAs, laptops... ad infinitum. Whether it’s planned obsolescence or not has always been the needling issue, but we have nonetheless been such good consumers, faithfully buttressing the cause of big business and capitalism by greasing the cogwheels.
Still, impulse spending is a luxury reserved for the well off. The majority of us are left to our own devices to choose whether to parry or accept the constant barrage of products that compete for our fortnightly payoffs. That means buying a lemon is totally out of the picture.
Mighty Apple’s savior, the iPod, has enjoyed a near monopoly of the personal and portable music market. With feet firmly entrenched in the psyche of teenagers of all ages, it is the ultimate aspirational product that has become even easier to, well, aspire for. And that means Apple needs to continuously up the ante in terms of iterations and features — what with the plethora of wannabe MP3/4 platforms competing for the slice of the pie.
More and more established industry players have taken notice, too, and have scrambled to outdo each other through imaginative takes on a system that makes the iPod a genuine sound system as opposed to being a purely personal one.
Bose, an established and distinguished player in acoustics, was first known for its distinctive-looking direct/reflecting speaker system, which debuted in 1968. It took on the challenge and came up with the impressive Bose SoundDock — a refined, high-performance speaker system devoted to the iPod.
The SoundDock had a lot of things going for it — top-notch brand equity, snob appeal, and (of course) darn great sound. Bose coaxed out the beautiful voice of the iPod beyond headphones while taking the guess work out of achieving excellent sound. Just plug and play.
But why stop there, the Bose engineers must’ve thought. Despite the nifty dual voltage feature, no-brainer operation, and other obvious niceties, the original SoundDock was basically home or office-bound.
Enter the Bose SoundDock Portable.
Now you have everything: an impressive digital music system untethered by power cords. Heck, if you have a crappy system in your car you can just charge up the SoundDock and take it with you. This portable version sheds off half of the original’s 4.5 pounds. How convenient, indeed.
What makes everything possible is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery (included, of course) that Bose claims will outlast most of its contemporaries. The smart-looking dock with the familiar Bose logo rotates for storage and protection when you have to go places. A nifty molded handle gives you absolutely no excuse to leave this at home — yes, kinda like that credit card. A custom remote control completes the effect that should leave your friends and family green with envy.
The SoundDock Portable also no longer plays favorites — an auxiliary input lets you plug in from other sources such as a portable DVD player. Aside from playing your iPod or iPhone (yes, iPhone!), it charges them, too — even when not plugged to a wall socket.
Just like its predecessor, the SoundDock Portable performs well even at low volume, featuring robust bass and crisp definition. The luscious lines and presentation are definitely not just for show. So you may dare to crank it up. You’d be amazed by the sound quality made possible by Bose’s patented integrated signal processing technology.
As expected, the SoundDock Portable costs more than the original. Expect to shell out P25,000, but I suggest you check out the system for yourself.
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Visit the Bose showrooms at the Power Plant Mall at
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