When I got my first Apple iPod two years ago I loved it. Think about what a device like this that can hold as much music as the iPod can hold looked like in the 1950's. Back then they were called Jukeboxes and weighed several hundred pounds, now they fit in the palm of your hand and I dare say hold even more music than those old jukeboxes could hold.

After getting my car setup to interface with my iPod I started looking for something to use at home. What I wanted was a nice feature rich shelf stereo system that had a built-in dock for the iPod. At the time this wasn't easy to find, many just had you hook in by the RCA jacks and/or 1/8" plug. Finally, after looking and looking and looking I came across the iSymphony M2 Product Shot. This nicely sized shelf stereo which measures 19.21"(L) x 14.65"(W) x 10.63"(H) and weighs around 21 pounds has a very nice set of features for such a small compact system. Features include:

• 50 Watts output power
• Built-in Universal Dock for iPod - Charges your iPod while docked
• Progressive Scan DVD Player with MPEG4, DVD/DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW and CD/CD-R/RW playback
• Clock radio functions - wake and sleep to your iPod, CD/DVD, or favorite radio station
• 99 track program memory
• MP3 and Windows Media (WMA) playback
• USB compatible - play music from USB flash memory devices including the iPod shuffle
• SD, MMC and Memory Stick card slots supporting music playback
• AM/FM Stereo with Digital Synthesized Tuner and 80 station memory (FM 40, AM 40)
• Dynamic Bass Boost
• Removable dock adapters to fit all docking iPods (5G, nano, 4G, mini and 3G)
• Equalizer with Classic, Rock, Pop and Jazz presets
• 50 Key Remote control included

It supports the following memory cards:

• Secure Digital
• miniSD (with adapter)
• microSD (with adapter)
• MultiMedia Card
• MultiMedia Card 4.0
• High-Speed MultiMedia Card
• Memory Stick
• Memory Stick PRO(with adapter)
• Memory Stick DUO (with adapter)
• Memory Stick Magic Gate
• Memory Stick selection Function
• Memory Stick Pro Magic Gate
• Memory Stick PRO Ultra II

I have now had this unit for over a year and I have to say that my opinion of it has not changed during that time. I love it. It is a well built package, that has good sound quality, a very nice feature set and it has the one thing I really wanted and that was a built-in dock for the iPod that even keeps it charged. I also have to admit that the wireless remote control is a very handy item as well.

I like the single DVD/CD player that allows me to play music that I don't currently have digitized for my iPod. The ability to play music from memory cards is pretty cool as well. My only complaint is that I wish it had a bit more bass, otherwise the sound quality is far better than I would have thought for a system this size. The wood cabinets of the speakers I think makes for a much more warm and vibrant sound. A separate bass module would have been a nice touch.

If you want a compact bookshelf stereo to use with your iPod or even if you just one want to play your DVD/CDs on this is a great choice. You can find this unit online for less than $150.