Review: Griffin Amplifi speakers

As iPods have got smaller, their accessories seem to have got bigger.

The Griffin Amplifi is a prime example. It's an iPod dock and charger which is a touch pricey at £100, but users get a lot of bulk for their money.

Portability is poor as the unit is very heavy, but despite the bulk the Amplifi looks good, with a black case and a grille spanning the middle.

A single scroll wheel sits in the centre and the silver sides make it fairly stylish. On our unit, though, the legs were uneven, making it wobble.

It comes with adapters for all iPods, except the Shuffle and Touch, and a power adapter. Once switched on - by pressing the scroll wheel - it shows a pleasant blue light and automatically begins to charge a connected player.

At the back of the Amplifi are power and line-in sockets but there are no more buttons: no radio, display or skip and any sound control has to be done on the iPod. This was a nuisance but also made for poor sound quality at first: when we switched it on, the volume was fine but the bass (at nearly full volume) was terrible. It was only after adjusting the iPod that the sound improved. There is a credit-card-sized remote control for power, volume and track skipping, which worked from a good five meters away.

Vista compatible: N/A