By most accounts, Apple's iPod Hi-Fi is a surprise entry into the iPod portable speaker market. It comes with some surprises of its own, most good but a few puzzling.

The iPod Hi-Fi is a one-piece portable speaker system that includes a universal iPod docking station, as well as six iPod docking adapters that accept any iPod with a docking connector. The iPod shuffle and other MP3 players can connect via the auxiliary input, which is a combination 3.5mm analog and optical digital miniplug.

Power is supplied through a built-in power supply (AC) or from six D batteries. Control surfaces are limited to two buttons for adjusting volume. All other functions are controlled either from the iPod or the included wireless remote.

Sound quality is impressive. The iPod Hi-Fi has a 130mm woofer and a pair of 80mm midrange/highrange drivers, and each is placed in a separate, isolated chamber within the single enclosure. The woofer chamber uses a tuned bass-reflex design, with two ports that allow extended bass response.

The sound is rich and full, with a very good midrange response and a crisp, detailed high end. The single dual-coil bass speaker provides a surprisingly deep bass response, down to at least 56Hz. The iPod Hi-Fi just sounds good, whether it's playing softly or channeling room-filling volume. Cranked up, the iPod Hi-Fi can easily rock out a large room, without the distortion or booming that are common to other portable speaker systems.

Among the puzzling surprises is the lack of a video output jack for use with video- or photo-enabled iPods. Also missing is a pass-through cable to allow a docked iPod to connect to a computer. Finally, the iPod Hi-Fi package doesn't include any cables. If you plan to use it with an iPod shuffle, a non-Apple MP3 player or as speakers for your computer, you will have to supply your own cables.

Despite these omissions, the iPod Hi-Fi is easily one of the best-sounding portable speaker systems designed for the iPod and other MP3 players. Despite the absence of a few desirable features, its sound quality earns it a Best Buy rating.

Pros: Great sound, handy remote, works with batteries or AC power
Cons: Heavy, no video output, no data connections to a computer system

Warranty
1 year, limited