I've owned these Intempo speakers for nearly four years now and use them almost daily. The model I have is the basic IDS-01 in white, for which I paid about £18 on Amazon, which was a great bargain and excellent value for money. A quick Amazon search shows that this basic model has been surpassed by more expensive versions in different colours for anything up to £55. There are some models available from other Amazon sellers for closer to £30-£35, which I would recommend as a more reasonable price for the unit.

Firstly, I have to say that the design of these speakers is great. The glossy black or white finish is the perfect compliment to your iPod. The unit gives excellent sound quality and good volume output, its not at all what you would expect for the size, but rather an adequate alternative to my bulky old hi-fi. These speakers are extremely lightweight and take up very little space. In fact, when I bought them, I remember them being billed as travel speakers, which gives an idea of how portable and convenient the speaker set is. However, I have never used them as travel speakers - this is because, while the speakers are lightweight, the mains adaptor is large and surprisingly heavy, which I think makes them unsuitable for popping into your luggage. I have only ever used these as an alternative to a home hi-fi.

The speaker unit is easily connected to the iPod through the port on the bottom. Mine does not have a remote control (though I see there are other models on Amazon that do include a remote), and selecting tracks is done using the iPod controls. Volume, however, is not selected using the iPod, but with fixed buttons on the speaker unit base. These touch-sensitive buttons have to be repeatedly 'stroked', rather than pressed, which I didn't realise when I first purchased the unit, and which took some getting used to.

The speaker also has a stereo jack on the back, so it can be used with other audio devices - I've plugged mine into my laptop previously to compensate for the abysmal PC speakers.

Finally, the unit can also be used to charge your iPod. For this, it doesn't need to be switched on at the speaker switch, but does need to be connected to and switched on at the mains. I don't just use the speakers for play back - I keep my iPod in here all the time, so I always know where to find it, and never forget to charge it.

To recap, this is a great alternative to a full hi-fi, that won't cost much or take up much room - get it at a bargain pric and it will exceed your expectations.