My very sweet husband bought me a 30Gb iPod video for valentines day. I'd like to be able to play music in my office. Any opinions of a good set of portable speakers? I'd like to stay in the $120 or less range.

And while I'm asking, any recommendations for a case for the thing?

Any other "must have" accessories?

Costco has one that is small with a dock that I've been thinking about. I forgot who makes it, but, it was right in that price range and folds compact for taking on your travels. The Bose noise cancelling headphones are incredible with the ipod.

Lauri, this is what we use and they work great. These have great sound and fold up flat about a little over an inch thick for travelling. We take it on all our cruises. It recharges it while it is docked. In fact, I think they is a discount coupon for them this week at Costco. Diana wants an extra one for her IPod Nano that she got for Christmas.

http://www.alteclansing.com/product_details.asp?pID=IM3

Editing to add. They have a plug in on the back as well. We have a travelling noise maker/clock/alarm that we got at Brookstone that we always take with us. Sometimes there is a lack of plugs (especially on ships) and you have to plug it in across the room and you can hardly hear it. We now plug it into the altec lansing IM3 and it amplifies the sound. It's great. OK, I'll stop now. I know I sound like an advertisement.

Hi Lauri,

Some essential Ipod advice - if you clip it to your gym clothes when you go to the gym/go running - remember to take it off before you throw the clothes in the washer! I didn't !!!!!

And despite leaving mine to dry for several months in the airing cupboard, it is well and truly knackered.

As for accessories - i bought Gus a set of Ipod socks for Xmas. They come in a range of colours. I'm not kidding. They will keep his Ipod nice and warm. And as he is a Madonna fan it will keep her from catching a cold - prancing around in a leotard at her age - honestly!


(i also bought him some speakers - which i selected purely on the basis of how they looked)

Don - that's the one - they are $119. I think this week at Costco!

Lauri,
Check out the "store" at http://www.Apple.com
there are all kinds of different speakers you can get.. travel etc.

Lauri - the Altec Lansing that Don and Kathy recommend works well.

You might also want to take a look at the JBL OnStage II which is in the same price range and gets very good reviews as well.



I have an Altec Lansing IM7 which works REALLY well but it's probably more money than you want to spend. :)



Masaki

Kathy, I talked to Diana. She said the coupon starts on the 22nd. Maybe they are at different times in different parts of the country.

I just bought a new car with bluetooth built in and wish it had an iPod dock. I have a transmitter, but it gets lousy reception. Any suggestions?

Don see if your car has an Aux plug. You can then plug the jack into the iPod headphone spot and then into the Aux port. Many of the new cars have that and you can buy the wires at Radio Shack. I learned that from reading at www.edmunds.com - great spot to learn about cars.

Thanks, Kathy. I edited Don's post to say that it starts on the 22nd. It was in the little booklet of coupons they send to you.

Also, I got my Constellation watch- albeit w/o the diamond bezel. The jeweler told me that Omega has been bought by Fossil! Pretty soon I think there will only be 2 companies that own everything- either Coke & Pepsi, or Lowes and Home Depot.

I'm sure Don will be going to Radio Shack today!

How's tax season going?
thanks for the info,
Diana

I went ahead and got the Altec Lansing that Don suggested. Since I don't belong to Costco, I ordered it from Amazon.com for about the same price considering I don't have to pay sales tax.

Still figuring this thing out, I managed to erase everything I put on it yesterday (just some CDs I transfered) when I loaded itunes onto my work computer. I think I've got that problem fixed.

Thanks for the advice!

Don - some new cars have aux plugs (on the front of the faceplate of the stereo). Others have aux plugs on the REAR of the stereo (which would require removing molding from your center console and extracting the stereo - don't recommend doing this unless you're comfortable with working on car interiors). Others don't have any at all.

Your options then become using a car cassette adapter (assuming your car stereo has a cassette player which is becoming more and more scarce by the minute), using a FM transmitter with the iPod and broadcasting it to your FM car stereo (which usually has lousy sound as you've discovered), hardwiring a connection to your antenna for a wired FM modulator (which improves the sound but still limited by FM frequency response and would still probably require installation), or replacing your CD changer for your car (assuming that it's separate from your stereo and that you have one) with an adapter and plugs for your iPod which will let you control your iPod through your steering wheel mounted controls (again, assuming you have) and will also charge your iPod while you drive (since it usually connects to your iPod through a dock connector).

Just some thoughts.

Masaki

The speakers arrived yesterday. In fact I'm listening to them right now. Love them!!!! :woh:

Lauri, you are welcome. Glad you like them.

Masaki, thanks for the suggestions. I will look for the aux jack, but unless it is hidden behind a door on the faceplate, I didn't see one. Kind of surprised that my Infiniti wouldn't have had one.

Don,

My Aux plug is in the center console compartment -next to the chilled cupholder and cellphone dock.

Don - my G35 doesn't have one either. :) I'm using a cassette adapter (thank goodness it came with a cassette deck).

I then use this product to mount the iPod in the car and to charge it while using it. Works rather well, actually.

http://www.tentechnology.com/products/products_flexibledock.php

Masaki