Attention Best Buy Shoppers…

So I’m wandering around Best Buy the other day and I noticed a couple of Insignia boomboxes with iPod docks on an almost empty shelf near the end of an aisle. They were last year’s model, and have been replaced by a newer model. I’d read good reviews on the new model, so I thought I’d check out the older version and see what had changed. That’s when I noticed the price label on the edge of the shelf: $11.99

$11.99? This had to be a mistake. The tag also said: Closeout Item – regularly $100.00. I checked the model number on the box against the model number on the tag, it was a match. Then I grabbed a box and went to the nearest self service price scanner:

Bloop... $11.99

The scanner also informed me that I could purchase an extended service plan for $26.00. I don thin so, Lucy...

So I went back to the aisle, scooped up another box, and headed to the checkout. Someone’s going to get a kick ass Yankee swap gift this year!

When I got home that evening I set one up and was extremely pleased with both the sound quality and functionality. The major difference between this older model and the new one, and the reason it’s being phased out, is that the old model suffers from iCD, or iPod Continuity Disease.

There isn’t a docking adaptor for the 3rd gen nano, iPhone, or touch, although they all fit (loosely), and the video out port has been rendered useless by the recent changes that require you to use an “official” Apple video cable (or approved device) to unlock the port. There's also no telling yet about compatability with the new iPods released this week, but my guess would be that they were the final nail in the coffin for this product.

But hey, for $11.99 you get an 18 watt (total), 2.1 channel, iPod docking boombox with remote, that charges your iPod, looks good, and sounds great. Not a bad deal.

So check it out, you might get lucky. You can skip Square One though, I already wiped them out.