Home > Consumer Reviews > iLive Boombox with iPod Docking Station (Pink)

First of all, 3 stars mean I think this unit is average. I got mine for under $30 and for that price I was willing to buy it. I love complex music, and sold portable electronics as a kid, so I'm pickier than the average person. If you want an iPod docking unit with a radio that's cheap and very compact, you don't have overly discerning ears (like me), and can listen to music at something stronger than low level, then this unit is fine. I do think if I paid more than $35 for it I'd feel ripped off. In order to get the most out of this box it needs to be played at low/mid to mid-level, which is probably how it would be played at home, or outside, or in a community accepted environment. My biggest caution to you is if you're buying it for work, listen to music, and can't turn the volume up much (I'm in an executive office setting and my box sits two feet away on one of my desks) be wary. I'm not sure the reason, maybe because of poor sound equalization or stereo/speaker formatting (or probably just low quality speakers) when I listen to my unit at a lower volume, I can hear the melody and dominate vocals of some songs but not the background vocals (e.g. California Dreaming) unless I turn it up to a level that's too loud for my environment. This is frustrating. Also, the manual tuner on this thing (didn't think anybody was still using them) wanders slightly on occasion and I have to retune it. But hey, this is a budget unit. If you're looking for a budget compact box for that iPod and want radio back up, or are giving this to your 9 year old, then it's probably good enough.

**This docking station will not charge the latest iPod Nano released 9/2008**

I purchased this in white about a year ago to use in my cubicle at work. In a corporate office where I need to use low volumes the sound quality is good but when I use it at home on the weekends while doing chores I found that the sound at high volumes became a little strained and does not go up as high as I'd like it. The radio is ok if you're in a good area but every now and then I have to tweak the dial for better reception. The clock is in an odd curved spot on this docking station so if you look at it from certain angles it's impossible to see.

I have no complaints for the actual Ipod play such as moving from song to song and stopping and pausing, but I did find that the docking adapter for my iPod 3rd generation does not slide in the docking station so I had to play the iPod without it making the iPod rock back and forth whenever I used the menu features. It comes with several sized adapters to use with the many iPods that are out but I couldn't use any of them with the iPod I had when I purchased this.

All and all it's not a bad little player for the money and it will charge your iPod (Older versions only)when you use it. Unfortunately I just purchased the new iPod Genius and will need to buy another docking station that's compatible and charges my iPod.

Warning - this boombox is a battery hog. It requires 8 C cell batteries. Also when running on battery power an attached IPOD will charge. For some this may be ok but for me it quickly drains the C cell batteries even if the power to the box is turned off. Also, on our unit, the ipod backlight turns on and off every 5 seconds. This is not only frustrating but also drains the batteries.

Additional information: FM reception is poor to fair. Sound is good.

I am very pleased with my docking station. It was inexpensive, shipped right away, and works great. I took it to work with me, and all of my co-workers love it too!

This product has a tremendous value. I wasn't sure what I was going to receive due to some of the negative reviews I read, but was more than pleasantly surprised the first time I turned this on. My girlfriend uses it in the bathroom to get ready every morning and takes it to the beach for portable sound. The sound is crisp from low to high volumes regardless of what other reviews says. I have a different Ipod docking station that I use in the garage and paid 4 times as much for it. The quality in sound and the achievable volume level of this product far surpasses that of mine. I would defenitely recommend this product to anyone looking for a portable ipod docking station.