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Belkin DualFit Armband for iPod nano (5G)
by J_Colly
To be honest, I think the best solution and the best product for listening to musc while you're running or exercising is the cheapest iPod there is, the Shuffle. This is because it's so cheap and simply designed that you don't need to worry about it getting damaged. However, before I realised this, I used some other solutions, and this ... is a good way of taking your iPod with you.
-ooo- The Product -ooo-
This product, from Belkin, who are I think well known for making accessories for iPods and other music devices that are often cheaper than the official products, fits the iPod Nano and allows you to wear it while you are running. It fits around your arm with a strap and has a pouch which carries the iPod, but with spaces that allow you to still control it and, for example, change the track or the volume - although I think this is easier to do and more effective if you have earphones with controls attached.
-ooo- Would I Recommend It? -ooo-
I used this for a while before I bought the Shuffle, and I never had any problems with it. Although I prefer using the Shuffle, I think this is a good solution if you want to keep using your Nano. I think it is ideal for people who like to listen to music while exercising, as it's very easy to use and is well-made. In the past, I've had some problems with Belkin products breaking after a year or so of use, sometimes less, but this has not been the case with this product. When you're running, it stays attached well, and doesn't slip off your arm. The band you use to attach it to you is reasonably comfortable, although I'm not sure I'd want to wear it for too long. The iPod fits in easily and is easy to operate when it's in the pocket.
Overall, I think this is a good product that I would use if I only had a Nano.
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Griffin iTrip Black
by kcsevenoaks
In my old car I was able to plug my iPhone into the stereo using an aux cable which was great and did the job well. Though having just changed car the stereo doesn't have the capability to do that, so therefore needed a solution.
I knew these sort of items existed and after reading reviews on Amazon, (I didn't know about ... doyoo at the time!) I decided to go for the Griffin iTrip. After receiving mine which I paid£28 for, I unboxed it and was impressed straight away with the compactness of the product. Looking through the information it soon dawned on me that set up would be a breeze, and it was. Attach the iTrip to the iPhone choose an unused frequency by a simple button push, tune the car radio to that frequency and there playing through you radio.
Well the first time all was good, though in subsequent uses it has been a bit trickier to find a good frequency, although it gets there in the end. I have found the sound quality to be good, though if my phone moves from where I put it the signal does tend to come in and out sporadically so can be hit and miss at times.
Generally I am happy with it, good sound quality and ease of use. I wouldn't say it is the perfect answer but a good solution. Three stars from me.
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Technika SP-507B Portable iPod Speaker
by dawnmarywhite
My partner actually bought this for his mum ages ago, but since his mum no longer needs it he brought it back home for us to use. I was well chuffed as I'd wanted one of these for ages, since our iPod cassette adapter became useless in my stereo's dodgy tape deck! I have an assortment of random songs on my iPod and I love being able to ... listen to them at home without having to use the PC upstairs or my netbook, whose speakers aren't great at high volume!
This is basically a square shape which sits higher at the back. I think this looks pretty sleek; simple yes, but nice and small and unobtrusive. It is only around 6" x 6" overall, but the rounded corners make it actually a bit smaller. It sits a little over 3" tall at the back and only 1" tall at the front. A very portable size! It also has 4 non slip feet on the base, so although it's easy to move around it doesn't skid about if you knock it a little. This is good for me, as I have it sitting on top of my stereo in the kitchen; I don't have a lot of spare worktop space and despite the fact this is nice and small if it were sitting on any part of my worktop (as my kitchen is currently), it would be in the way! I have a 'mini' stereo system and this sits on top really nicely. The dock part of this is a cut-out in the middle, surrounded by the 4 small speakers. The speakers are covered in black metal mesh, as is typical for speakers, and this goes all round the unit with a matte silver trim between the speakers and the black base. It comes with a mains plug and the cable for this is quite long at approx 4ft.
The thing I love about this is that it's so easy to use. On the dock part there is obviously the connection point for attaching your iPod, but apart from this there are simply 3 buttons - on/off, volume up and volume down. This means that choosing songs is done through your iPod which some may view as a slight disadvantage, but it doesn't put me up nor down. I couldn't tell you the technical information about the speaker quality but I am perfectly happy with the sound it gives me. I do tend to listen at quite high volumes while I'm doing the housework and most songs play perfectly well. I do of course hear a difference between this and my stereo, but then my stereo speakers kick serious a*se! Some songs don't play so well at higher volumes and these tend to be bass-y songs. You can hear a bit of deterioration here; not tinny as such but a bit distorted. I'm sure you know what I mean, as everyone has heard a song through very poor speakers before I bet! Not that I think these are 'very poor', far from it - for the price my other half paid I think this is a brilliant wee thing.
The only fault I have encountered thus far, is that occasionally I will get a song that 'jumps', much like CDs can. It doesn't skip parts of songs though, it's more like a brief pause but it happens every few seconds throughout the song. It is very annoying, and I can only put this down to the dock as when using my earphones I have never experienced this once. Pausing the song for a little while before resuming play seems to stop this happening though, as does just skipping to the next one, and there is no rhyme nor reason to it happening, it appears to be completely random.
Any iProduct should fit on this too, it is plenty wide enough to accommodate the newer iPod Touch (as demonstrated yesterday thanks to my technologically superior 18 year old cousin) and iPhone, as well as the big iPods. The thing that really puts an epic smile on my face is the fact that it charges my iPod constantly while it's on the dock - even when the dock power is off, so long as it's switched on at the wall the iPod charges. I was so pleased at this, as I am always switching my (old, and possible slightly dodgy) iPod on and there is just no battery power left at all. So this is now completely avoided, as I listen to my iPod on this dock most days so the charge is constantly topped up.
Although, I have to point out that it does not charge my other half's iPod. I have no idea what iPods we are using now, as I'm completely out of touch with all these generations (isn't there a new one every darn week?!) and things, but the other half has what I think was the first Nano. When I switch mine on, it calls itself 'iPod mini', is rather chunkier than my other half's and is matte silver instead of white (or any other colour of the rainbow for that matter). Both of the iPods we use are no longer available to buy in shops! So, if that helps you at all, this dock charges mine but not his. It also appears to charge an iPod Touch.
When this dock came to us, it was actually covered in dried soap/body lotion/something I don't want to think about - the mesh over the speakers was completely clogged and I had my doubts as to whether it was going to even work. Happily, this came away easily after a scrubbing with a bone dry dish brush (upside down) and a lot of blowing! I can only assume that small amounts of water may have made their way inside this during it's lifetime, but apart from the minor skipping issue, there are no other faults at all.
When my partner bought this, he paid around £18 for it if I remember correctly, and he bought it in Tesco. To be honest, I think less than £20 is a great price for something that overall I am very happy with. I don't need supremely awesome sound quality when I just want to listen to some tunes in the house but again, I will say I'm delighted with the sound of this and I don't think miracles should be expected for the price and the size this is. Besides, if I want to blow my ears off with excellence I have my stereo. This fits the bill nicely for when I want to listen to my iPod and has the bonus of charging it too. I would very much recommend this if you are looking for a nice, good value and affordable dock for casual use.
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