Take your Apple iPod anywhere in this rugged water-resistant protective case! Listen through headphones or speakers. The iH19 attaches quickly and easily to bike, stroller, exercise equipment and more. The sturdy, lightweight zippered case features 2 dynamic stereo speakers, built-in remote control capability. It also charges iPod with included adapter.

The iH19 consists of a rugged neoprene case (five colors are available, ours is the light pink iH19P) that measures 9.05 x 4.25 x 3.54 inches and weighs approximately 2.4 lbs (without an iPod). The unit’s front panel features stereo speakers (each with a diameter of about 2.25 inches), as well as a control pad reminiscent of Apple’s own remote control, including back/forward buttons, volume up/down buttons, and a play/pause button in the center. Instead of the various snaps and latches normally used by speaker docks, the iHome2go is held closed by a zipper, which opens to reveal the battery area, as well as an iPod connection cable, a hold switch, and connectors for the AC adaptor, a line-in cable (enabling you to use the iHome2go with an iPod shuffle or other audio devices), and headphones. The power, line-in, and headphone jacks can also be accessed while the unit is closed via a Velcro panel. If you want or need to see your iPod’s screen, however, you will have to unzip the unit fully.

In practice, however, some features of the Colortunes iH19 seem less than optimal. Although the device is designed to be quite portable, it doesn’t include a rechargeable battery—you’ll have to use 4 AAs instead. Moreover, although the product does charge your iPod when it is connected to AC power, it doesn’t charge it on battery power, and it doesn’t provide any syncing ability. You will also not be able to use the iHome2go to charge rechargeable AAs, even if it is plugged in.

Perhaps even worse is that the control panel is buggy—sometimes the buttons don’t seem to respond to being pressed, and sometimes audio doesn’t play through the speakers at all if you use the iPod’s own buttons instead of the control panel. Discussions I found on the Internet seemed to indicate that many people are experiencing similar issues.