The SoundDock is Bose’s attempt to impress iPod owners who are looking for a convenient docking solution without sacrificing style and sound.  Among casual consumers, Bose represents assured quality without the need to know the technical tidbits behind the scenes.  In a way, it’s the perfect match for the iPod:  simplicity over customizing.  To audiophiles, Bose is an overpriced alternative with comparatively mediocre sound.  If you are an audiophile, chances are you use MP3s solely for the portability and convenience factors.  But for those reasons, even audiophiles may want to give the SoundDock a try.Compared to other speakers you can hook up to your iPod, two things about the SoundDock stand out. Firstly, it’s a lot more expensive than many of its peers. Secondly, the main and only speaker is big and weighty, measuring 29.8 x 16.6 x 16.2cm and weighing 2.1kg. There are reasons for both. The first is because Bose is Bose and, like Apple, everything it makes doesn’t come cheap. The second is because the sound the model produces from this large speaker is very loud, very clear and very good.

On-board controls are thin on the ground. True to the minimalist styling, there’s a volume selector on the front, and that’s it. The back of the SoundDock sports a connector to allow you to hook it up to a Mac or PC. Unlike Altec Lansing’s iM3 iPod speaker set, the SoundDock doesn’t feature an additional input socket for a secondary source.The SoundDock is compatible with any iPod that has a dock connector. We tested it with the Video iPod 5G and an iPod mini and each fit fine and worked well. Bose includes two additional dock adaptors to ensure a good fit, and a matching IR remote that controls power, volume and track playback. The Bose do not use batteries but rather AC and a large AC brick power supply is included in the box. The SoundDock will charge your iPod while it’s in the dock. There are volume controls on the SoundDock as well, though those lack tactile feedback and we found ourselves using the remote even when in arm’s length of the speakers. The speakers are magnetically shielded so they won’t distort the image on nearby TVs or computer monitors.