Apple iPod Hi-Fi reviewed
Well, that didn't take long. Not even a week after its announcement, Apple's new iPod Hi-Fi has been subjected to a PC Magazine review and comes out victorious over the previous champ, the $300 Bose SoundDock. First thing's first, the sound quality seems be great for the price and form factor, even if the price is $350 and the form factor is that of a single-cabinet speaker and not some stow-and-go boombox. PC Mag seems to think that the "Hi-Fi" moniker is deserved, and that the unit is "capable of powering a serious party in just about any size room without appreciable distortion." Also, the addition of digital S/PDIF inputs to the regular mini jack ensures even truer sound from auxiliary sources. Apple isn't using any sort of magical fairy components in here to get this hefty 108dB sound, so the unit weighs around 15 pounds without batteries and 17 pounds with 'em in. At least that weight does include the built-in power supply -- no power bricks here. There is also no video-out port for the 5G iPod users in the house, and the Apple wireless remote doesn't access the iPod's menu system, both of which are either grave omissions or merely clever schemes to move more Front Row Macs -- you be the judge.
