Chinon AVi Portable iPod Dock: Is The Boombox Back?

Topic: Hot Gadgets

Posted on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:03:28 CST | by Robert Evans

Chinon AVi Portable iPod Dock: Is The Boombox Back?

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Every child of the 80s and 90s remembers the iconic image of the bulky, sharp-edged brick boomboxes that once flooded our city streets with hip-hop. Like the popularity of MC Hammer and his glorious parachute pants, the boombox has largely faded from the public consciousness. Now we're able to blare our tunes from smaller devices that deliver better sound quality and weigh less than thirty pounds.

And yet, some people are still nostalgic for the old days. That's the only explanation I can find for the design of Chinon Corporation's newest product, the AVi portable entertainment system. This fancy iPod dock features a built-in 7" LCD monitor and a pair of speakers arranged in the same configuration of an old-ass ("retro") boombox. Outside of nostalgia, this dock packs AUX input, an ATSC digital TV tuner with AV out, built-in telescopic radio antenna, an external TV antenna, digital FM radio, plus an alarm clock.

The big weakness of this gadget is battery life; 3 hours of charge is the max you'll get. In practice, I doubt most people will be able to get two. Still, with a car-charger this thing could be a great companion for long road trips, and the price is right. It costs $199.99 (fairly reasonable for a gadget like this), and can be ordered now from Chinon USA now.