iLounge

Company: iLive/DPI (HK) Ltd.

Website: www.iLive.net

Model: IHMD8816DT

Price: $160

Compatible: iPod 3G, 4G, 5G, nano, mini, shuffle

iLive IHMD8816DT Home Docking System

By Jeremy Horwitz

Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Category: Speakers - Multi-Component/Stationary

[Editors' Note: On November 1, 2006, iLounge published The 2007 iPod Buyers' Guide, with more than 30 brand new, capsule-sized product reviews - only for products we considered to be amongst the very best we've seen throughout the year. The short review below is excerpted from the Guide, which you can download here.]

It’s not that iLive’s Home Docking System (aka IHMD8816DT) is an amazing multi-component speaker system, or a complete iPod video dock with remote, or a fully functioned Samsung DVD player and AM/FM radio with a clock - no alarms - it’s that it does all of these things, and pretty well. The two large speaker cabinets include side-firing subwoofers and front-firing drivers, separating from the combination iPod dock and DVD player for placement alongside a TV or anywhere else in the room. Though the audio quality isn’t phenomenal, it’s good enough to satisfy virtually anyone given the price and extras.

Twin 4” speakers and woofers are mounted inside two cabled wooden cabinets, with gray fabric front and side grilles and a faux metal reclining base, while the central docking station houses the amplifier, LCD screen, DVD/CD Player, and radio. Video and audio output is provided to a TV via ports in the unit’s back. Separate docks for Dock Connector iPods and the shuffle are found on the unit’s top; the standard iPod dock is resized with included, color-matched inserts. You access the system with front-mounted buttons or the staggering, 44-button remote control, which initially looks ridiculous - and isn’t easy enough for just anyone to figure out - but has a full complement of DVD controls at the ready. A good option for younger users who aren’t looking for incredible audio quality, but want a fully-featured bedside iPod AV system with DVD functionality.