the passionate ailurophile

I was browsing through the weekly deals over at Buy.com, and came upon this item, the one pictured here. As you can see, it’s a speaker for an iPod.

To be exact, it’s the iHome iH80 iPod Speaker System, and it sells at Buy.com this week for just $36.99.

I actually already have a gizmo that lets me play my iPod through my stereo speakers, on an unused FM station. However, this thing has its downsides, mainly that it requires an AAA battery, and said battery dies pretty fast. I have a set of rechargeables, so I don’t have to endlessly waste money buying batteries. But the other downside is that too often, when I’m trying to listen to the iPod this way, I get interference from radio signals in the background. That can get kind of annoying. So now I just use this thing in lieu of computer speakers and not with the iPod, and only turn it on when I need sound on the computer. I’ve given up on buying computer speakers, the cats keep chewing the wires. So this other gizmo is good for that. But I definitely need something better for the iPod!

As for the iHome speaker system, it operates either on batteries, or electricity (A/C cord is included, batteries are not). When it’s plugged into the wall, it will charge up your iPod. Also, for those who have a video iPod, as I do, this has an A/V jack on it, so you can plug it into a TV and watch all of your video podcasts and such on TV. I think that’s a really cool feature.

It also comes with the remote control you see here, it does all of the same things that the controls on the iPod can do. I wonder…I have a few games on my video iPod, such as PacMan and Ms. PacMan, that I bought from iTunes a while back. I wonder if I would be able to play them on my TV with this thing?

Well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough, because I just went ahead and ordered this thing. And I’m getting it for a grand total of $28.84.

How am I getting it for less than the $36.99 price I mentioned above? Well, if you are a new customer to Buy.com and Google checkout, they are offering ten bucks off your first purchase. Shipping is free when you choose “budget shipping”. Since I’m not in a huge rush to get it, I opted for that…why pay for shipping when you don’t have to? The only extra charge I got hit with was $1.85 for Deval Patrick Massachusetts state sales tax, and that was it!

It’s quick and easy to sign up for Google checkout, and it’s secure, of course.  Well worth it for a free ten bucks!  If you don’t want to sign up for Google checkout, Buy.com does offer other payment methods, such as PayPal.

I’ll let you know how I like this thing when I get it.  If I really like it, I have the option to buy a second speaker to attach to it, for stereo sound.  We shall see.