Griffin TuneBox is a speaker system that doubles as a charger...

I've been using the Griffin TuneBox, which is an iPod shuffle speaker system/charger, for a couple months now. During that time I've been debating what my final opinion is about it. As a speaker system, the sound is average to above. Good midrange and treble, not much bass. Not too surprising since we're talking about four 1" speakers with a total of 4 watts of power. The TuneBox does have plenty of volume, however, which I really appreciate. It's very much like listening to a quality portable radio.

It's handy around the house or office. For example, keep it on the night stand, and you can spontaneously listen to music from your iPod shuffle, nano, or 5th Generation full size (iPod video). But what really hooked me was that the TuneBox is a convenient charger as well as a speaker system. And I can charge all of my current pods with it (iPods need to be USB-compatible since the TuneBox's power port is USB).

So it really comes down to expectations. Originally I was thinking that the TuneBox would be a portable speaker system for my iPods. The required power brick weighed down that idea. When you start lugging the TuneBox around, the power brick literally feels like a ball and chain. But once I started thinking of the TuneBox as my home base station for both listening to music and charging my iPods, my fondness grew for it.

So, hot or not? If you want a convenient speaker system that will reside on your desk or night stand and charge your iPods, I'd say hot. If you're looking for a truly portable sound system with great bass response, then not. It's all about expectations.

The TuneBox is available on the Griffin website for $39.99.