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Sonic Impact V-55 Portable Speaker System with LCD Screen and Remote for iPod (Black) | List Price: $299.99
Discount Price: $56.00
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Brand: Sonic Impact Technologies
Binding: Electronics
Release Date: 2006-10-18
Features: - Portable speaker/display system designed for all "dockable" iPods**
- Crystal-clear, 7-inch widescreen LCD display with 480 x 234 resolution
- Pair of aluminum cone neodymium drivers and Class D digital amp
- Built-in iPod docking station; 3.5 mm auxiliary input for other devices
- Measures 8.7 x 1.7 x 6.5 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty
Sounds good, but looks bad [Posted on 2008-05-07]
WARNING: NOT FOR NEWER IPODS
Thankfully, my daughters (age 8, 4 1/2, and almost 2) are not concerned with their cartoons being correct aspect ratio. I got this for $39 from another vendor, too. I'd say that's about what it's worth. It's nice they have a bigger screen and the sound is actually pretty loud given the size. (The speakers are in the tube hinge.) The $39 price is reasonable for the speakers alone, the video feature is seriously flawed. Movies bought from iTunes Store are incorrect aspect ratio when you try to watch widescreen. Not recommended for videophiles.
3 stars for video quality (when it IS at correct aspect ratio).
4 stars for sound.
ZERO stars for not matching aspect ratio of the iPod... duh, that's what it was designed for... what were they thinking! How could you design a product to watch iPod Video and then not make it work right with iPod Video... it boggles the mind they would do this...
Weird but cool [Posted on 2008-05-08]
My husband gave this to me as an early mom's day gift(I have no patience) and we found out later like alot of others that the Ipod 3rd generation video will not work with it unless you get the "apple a/v cables". Well, I bought the cable only because I had a gift card and paid less than retail for it. You plug the ipod to the cable and and the video cable to the V55, it looks like you are listening to music when the video starts playing on you ipod, I then realized that I have to disconnect the ipod from the cable and then plug it into the V55 docking station and BINGO!! you have video from the V55. Crappy situation because you no longer need the cable after the video starts to play on the V55(plus side, you put the way long cable away until you need it again.). Now for the widescreen aspect, you have to go into the video settings on your Ipod and select widescreen,and fit to scren has to be on in order for the movie you are watching to take up the whole screen, just figured that one out. After this is all said and done you don't have to touch the ipod at all because the mini remote works great and does everything it needs to do. From pausing and volume to rewinding and fast forwarding. I love this little thing even though I have to jump through hoops to get it to work and the sound is freakin' awesome for something this size. One last con, the battery life on both don't last very long, you have to keep V55 plugged in to keep it running for long periods of time.
A very cool gadget [Posted on 2008-05-20]
If you shop around, you may find this unit for a lower price, which makes it irresistable. It works perfectly with 5G iPods with Video. Using later video models requires some workarounds which many find bothersome and inconvenient.
With a 5G model, however, life couldn't be better. Set you iPod to Video Out, pop it into the V55 dock and watch your videos on a 5.6" screen. The screen is good, but not superb. More than adequate for portable video watching. Audio through the in-hinge speakers is surprisingly good. Battery life is okay - enough for two typical movies of about 2 hours or less each. The whole kit is very complete with a tiny remote that slips into the V55, AC and car chargers, a nice fabric slip-on case and regular A/V cables.
The unit is a bit on the heavy side. The battery is not easily user swappable, so you can't carry a spare. The tactile keyboard is finicky and doesn't work predictably. There's only on audio out jack, so get a splitter if you watch movies with someone else or want to keep a pair of kids occupied.
Be warned that if you want to convert your own videos to iPod format, you are going to have to learn how and use external software. Many people find this process very confusing, though there is a lot more software out there that offer one-touch conversion of unprotected non-commercial video.
On the whole, this is a very nice little unit. It also doubles as a pretty good external speaker for your music. If you're considering it, be sure to do some comparison shopping. This product has been available from several sources lately at very attractive, in fact irresistable, prices.
Jerry
I wooted it. [Posted on 2008-06-09]
I got this item from a Wootoff and at a nice little price of $35.
It has good picture quality (not the best in the world), great sound (actually... scratch that, amazing sound), and fits my Ipod video perfectly.
The buttons do not stick, and in fact mine are touch sensitive, so I have to be careful when moving the device. I bought a car charger adapater for it, so riders in my car can just sit still in the backseat and watch TV for the long trips.
Really there isn't much to say. It is basically a portable IPOD play with a larger screen that can play your music (loudly) or your movies.
I like it, and I REALLY like it on the airplan.
An excellent AUDIO tool [Posted on 2008-07-07]
I bought this on sale ($39) for the video capacity, but have ended up mainly using it as an audio docking station. I plug it into AC current, dock the ipod, then run the audio out cable to my very good sound system in the living room.
Advantages:
*Because of the extra stage of preamplification, the sound quality has more gain and is much more convincing than running the ipod directly into the main stereo amp. The flat, compressed quality that can make hearing mp3's seem depressing over time to serious listeners is much attentuated.
* I can shuffle my 9000 or so tracks all day long and the battery never runs down.
I may purchase another unit for use in another part of the world -- again, not because of the video, which in fact works acceptably well even if nothing great, but because of the improved audio performance. My five star rating is for this feature specifically.
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