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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
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Release Date: September 29, 2009
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  • Billy Miles

    • 10 out of 10
    • Billy Miles
    • Take the voice of a young Billie Holiday and stuff it into a svelte, petite body with the face of an angel, and you have some idea of what it's like to experience the music of Billy Miles in her self-
  • Jagged Little Pill (Acoustic)

    • 6 out of 10
    • Alanis Morissette
    • Ten years after the original release, comes the traditional celebratory acoustic re-recording. The album has held up remarkably well. While it is not as meaningful to me as it was when I was sixteen,
  • Every Day: The Best of the Verve Years

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    • Joe Williams
    • Joe Williams was Figure Two in my three-man education in singing. A brilliant vocalist, scatter, and interpreter of jazz and blues, Williams produces music that's totally unique, yet sounds so effortl
  • Trouble

    • 8 out of 10
    • Ray LaMontagne
    • At first, Ray LaMontagne might strike you as just another breathy-voiced knockoff of folk/rock guitarists like John Mayer and Jack Johnson. But he's actually got a better voice than either, he tell

  • Velocifero

    • 6 out of 10
    • Ladytron
    • "Back to the future" isn't the right turn of phrase for Ladytron's newest album,

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In-Depth Review

Jensen Banshee JiSS-330 Docking Speaker Station for iPod

The Jensen Banshee JiSS-330 Docking Speaker Station is a uniquel-looking, excellent sounding, reasonably priced speaker and recharging dock for all iPods with dock connectors (but not iPhone, which is incompatible).

You'll either love or hate its looks:

I have to say it reminds me of one of the female mutants in Total Recall (if you've seen the movie you know which one) or perhaps the one-eyed Leela from the Futurama TV series. In any event, it's definitely got that "other-worldly" look about it.

The spec sheet claims the JiSS-330 provides "revolutionary surround sound with unmatched volume and precision." I beg to differ with the surround sound part -- I never felt I was listening to surround sound. But the rest of it --the "unmatched volume and precision" part -- I have to agree with. You can crank the volume on this puppy all the way to 11 without introducing a speck of distortion. Its ported design (you can see the bass port on the right in the picture above) gives it much better bass response than you'd expect while its three speakers deliver crisp and well defined mids and highs. In a nutshell, it sounds much better than you'd expect from a unit so small.

Speaking of small, I really liked its size -- just 8 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 4.25 inches tall -- and that it sounded as good as or better than many bigger and more expensive one-piece speaker systems.

Not only does it sound great, it's packed with useful features you probably wouldn't expect from speakers that list for under $100 and sell for even less at most retailers. Among the niceties are:

  • 10W Total Output Power
  • S-Video and RCA video out jacks for playing iPod video on your TV
  • 6-foot S-Video cable included
  • 6-foot RCA video cable included
  • 1/8-inch line in jack for iPod shuffle, other audio devices, or computers
  • 6-foot 1/8-inch to 1/8-inch audio cable included
  • wireless remote control

So those are its pluses... now here are some of its minuses:

  • While it includes an AC power adapter, it would be nice if it could also operate from batteries (and nicer still if the batteries were rechargeable).
  • The remote control has limited functionality (Play/Pause, Volume, Next/Previous, and On/Off).
  • The remote control is too big and, at least in my humble opinion, ugly as heck.

The Jensen Banshee JiSS-330 is only available in one color -- black -- and works with all iPod models except the iPhone. It comes with dock adapters for most (but not all) iPod models.

The Bottom Line

If you're looking for a great sounding iPod speaker system with video output for under $80 (street) and you aren't put off by its looks, look no further.

Just The Facts

Pros:Very compact, sounds great for its size, has video out, includes all cables, wireless remote.

Cons:AC only -- no batteries, remote control big, ugly, and less-functional than some others.

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