Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to my newest friend, the Tivoli Audio iPAL. It plugs into my new iPod and plays the music wherever I would like to go.

For a couple years now, I'd been wanting a speaker system to tote around with me on my various journeys. iPod lovers are always ready to point out the great sound of the JBL Creature, but that's not portable at all. Many pointed out that the Altec Lansing inMotion series had some nice, very portable features for a good price, and I thought, "Yeah, maybe." But still, if I wanted to go really mobile, I'd have to start packing AA batteries. And those speakers are so thin, it's hard to get enough bass response out of them, I'd wager.

But the iPAL has all the good features I'd be requirin'. It's got a large speaker that can kick out some sound. It's kinda weather-resistant so I can carry it around a bit. It's small and compact and doesn't even take up all that much space in my backpack. It has a rechargable battery with a 12+ hour battery life. And it has an AM/FM tuner built in for good measure. (The analog tuner reminds me of the days not-so-long ago when I toted around a Fisher-Price microphone with a radio built in.)

Some may complain that the unit only has one speaker. But who cares about stereo sound when you're on the go? Getting a good sound out of one speaker is better than having two tiny speakers that are six inches apart. Plus, this thing kicks out some beautiful sound when you turn both the iPod and the iPAL up. And even at high levels, it sounded almost as good as my Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 system. Of course, I guess it should becuase I paid almost as much for this.

I don't know if my mom's gonna be excited because now I can listen to my music anywhere in her house when I visit, but I know I am excited!