We aren't commonly excited these days by the exterior designs of iPod speaker systems, but we are extremely enthusiastic about the look and feel of Boston Acoustics' new Horizon Duo-i ($200), an upper-end iPod dual-alarm clock radio with significant speaker power, a very clean on-screen interface, and cool styling. You choose from dark gray ("midnight") or white ("mist") versions, each with soft touch rubber bodies and cool metal grilles that make the larger-than-standard-radio enclosure pleasant to look at and hold, while a large blue screen on the face can be adjusted with front-mounted buttons and dials. The iPod dock is on top, with a remote control bundled in the package to let you make adjustments -- including iPod track and volume, radio tuning, presets, and more -- from afar. Another interesting twist is color customization: Boston Acoustics separately sells replacement grille covers that transform the gray or white speakers into shades of blue, red, pink, or green. We'll have to see how the twin 3.5" speakers perform sonically, but we like the rest of this package quite a bit.

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