Logitech’s Mini Boombox is a great way to fill a room with sound, and it’s available in a nifty candy-like red color scheme, perfect for Valentines Day – but great long beyond February 14th. This compact sound system fits in the palm of your hand, but offers substantial sound when paired up with your Bluetooth-enabled gadgets. It’s also got backlit touch-based controls for playback, volume and pairing with your phone.

It’s definitely small enough to carry in a backpack or large purse too. Battery life is rated at about 10 hours, and it even will work as a speakerphone for your A2DP-enabled Bluetooth devices, thanks to a built-in mic. It’s also got a 3.5mm input jack if you need to go old-school. And if for some reason red isn’t the right thing for you, it’s available in black too – but that would sort of defeat the whole Valentines Day theme.

The Logitech Mini Boombox retails for $99.99(USD) and you can grab one over on Logitech’s website now. If you move quick, you can still get one in time for Valentines Day, so you don’t end up in the doghouse. Oh yeah, spring for some candy and flowers too.

Aside from the iPod/iPhone dock, the I931X can play MP3 files over its two 15W speakers via USB or SD/MMC storage devices or through a device plugged into its auxiliary 3.5mm input jack. It also has an alarm clock function. So hip-hop. Thankfully, it still retains its granddaddy’s AM/FM radio function and headphone and microphone inputs. It can be powered via AC, but like all boomboxes it can also be powered by batteries.

Put on your your fingerless gloves and head to Lasonic’s Veentage to order the I931X Limited for €284 (~$366 USD). Or not; it’s currently sold out but the shop promises to have 50 more units available by the end of January. I’m sure those will sell out fast as well so keep checking that link if you really want your own unit. But if you’re willing to settle for a less shiny unit, you can always get the I931X Classic, which is slightly cheaper at €249-€269 (~$321-$347 USD).

[via Fancy]

The boombox is powered by a Pyle Pro stereo amplifier. I could be going deaf, but I’m pretty sure Davis said the amp’s model was “PNA4″, a model that I am certain – based on my exhaustive 5-second research – does not exist. There is a Pyle Pro PTA4 stereo amp though. Bottom line, there’s a stereo amp inside. Davis then used second hand speakers that he got from a thrift shop and some plywood for the front panel. Watch the video below for the full build and some witty banter:

So what are you waiting for? Go grab your stuff, tools, things and ideas and make your own toolbox boombox. Check out Floyd’s website if you want to see his Gentleman’s Boomboxes. As far as I know, he doesn’t have an online store for his products, so if you want to order or commission your own boombox your best bet is to contact him. I bet you’ll have a fun conversation.

The built-in battery, which must be pretty big, can power the Backyard Blaster for up to 12 hours of use. The whole speaker is supposed to be somewhat rugged, which is good since it will get kicked around a bit at parties. It was made for iPhones and iPods, but other players, including the iPad, will need to use the auxiliary audio input. The blaster even has an integrated microphone from impromptu karaoke sessions.

The Backyard Blaster is being launched at this week’s CES show, and we should know more about a price and release date then.

[via Ubergizmo]

This DIY boombox was made by Matt Keeter using laser-cut plywood. It plays MP3 files from an SD card, plugged into a small custom circuit board powered by an Atmega328 chip. As a bonus, it looks like a bit like a wooden TIE Fighter with a handle.

The boombox features five touch controls and is powered by just a single 9V battery. This thing will be light as a feather compared to it’s predecessors. I don’t think it will run very long on a 9-volt though. It’s a pretty good looking boombox if you ask me.

If you’d like to build your own, full build instructions, source code and schematics are available here, and it should cost about $100 in parts.

[via Designbuzz]

This particular piñata was made by Etsy seller Fuzzy Lollipop, and looks just like a retro ghetto blaster – minus the actual speakers, cassette player and zillion D-cell batteries to weigh it down. Instead, you fill this one with delicious candies, then proceed to beat on it with a large stick.

I suppose you could just go buy an old thrift shop boombox, rip its innards out, fill it with candy and take a crack, but the flying plastic shards might cause additional injuries beyond just the blunt-force trauma risks of the baseball bat. So if you’d like to go the safer route with this cardboard and crepe paper boombox piñata, you can grab it over on Etsy for $65(USD) now.

While this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a dock inspired by a ghetto blaster, I prefer the contemporary design of iHome’s boombox. While it mimics the lines of the classic luggable stereo, it boils them down to their bare essentials, creating a stereo that would look great in any moden decor.

Beyond its looks, the iP4 has a pair of 4″ carbon-composite woofers, and two 1″ ferro-fluid cooled tweeters, powered by a class D amp. It’s also got a 5-band graphic equalizer with an LCD screen, and an FM radio too. It also comes with a handy remote control, which magnetically attaches to the top of the boombox so you don’t lose it. True to its boombox roots, it’ll run on 6 “D” batteries if you prefer to travel fully cordless.

While I personally prefer the basic black/grey look of the standard version of the iP4, if you prefer something a bit more garish, you can also get it in hot pink. And when I say hot, I mean it.

I think if you had been walking around the streets of Harlem with one of these on your shoulders back in the 1980s, you probably would have been shot, then beaten with your pink boombox. But it’s a new millennium now, so you could give it a try now if you want. Or better yet, you might just want to keep the pink one in a teen girl’s bedroom instead.

So if you’re ready to put some boom into your dock, you can get your hands on the iHome iP4 boombox over at Urban Outfitters for $199 (USD).

Aside from the usual features and functions we’ve come to expect from music players, the Mobile Cinema D20 can also play DVDs and display video from its LCoS LED projector. The maximum projection size is 75″, but unfortunately it can’t do HD – max resolution is 640×480. Still, it’s a decent alternative if you’re in need of a display. It can also read both audio and video files from USB, SD and MMC storage media. Here’s a look at the projector in action, albeit in a well-lit room:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If Freeview TV (DVB-T) service is available in your area you’ll also be able to tune in to that on the D20. The video below has Spanish captions, but its a decent overview of the D20′s functions:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Here’s a look at the buttons (remember those?) and ports on the D20:

You can order the Aiptek Mobile Cinema D20 from Amazon UK for for about $360 (USD). It ain’t the prettiest gadget out there, but then again you won’t be staring at it when you’re watching videos or playing music.

[via Geek Alerts]

The big difference is that the SP-XA6802 has only two speakers on the front and has a flexible strap making it look like a purse (with giant speakers) to me. The controls on the front are touch sensitive save that round volume knob you see there. The side has inputs for USB devices and RCA plugs for connecting input sources.

The thing ships with a cable that will let your iPhone or iPod play through the boombox. The cable should work with any dockable iOS device. It has a pair of 10W speakers and is gigantic. It measures in at 20″ (w) x 13.3″ (h) x 4″(d) and weighs a rather hefty 15lbs. It will retail for ¥44,800 (~$560 USD).

[PhileWeb (JP) via GenerationMP3 (FR)]

The TDK Boombox features two 6-inch coaxial drivers and a 6-inch subwoofer, and outputs 35 watts of power (not sure how many watts drive each speaker). Naturally, it can dock your iPod or iPhone, but only with a USB to Apple 30 pin cable, so that kind of sucks. The boombox is also made to serve as an amp for instruments. You can mix your own guitar with the music it plays. Despite it’s heft, this boombox really is portable luggable, and can be powered by a whopping 12 “D” batteries.

The TDK Life on Record Boombox is currently available at Amazon for $499.95 (USD). The pricing puts this boombox in the same league as the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin. For $100 more, you can even get the new Zeppelin with Airplay.

Jazwares‘ Darth Vader “CD Boombox” doesn’t really qualify as a boombox in my book, but it definitely qualifies as a CD player and most definitely qualifies as Darth Vader. Sure, the light up red LED eyes aren’t exactly something Vader had in any of the Star Wars movies, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have. The player has built-in speakers, and while it doesn’t have built-in MP3 playback, you can connect your media player and use Darth’s speakers to listen to Cantina Band. And from the looks of that antenna sticking out behind his dark helmet, I going to go out on a limb and guess Darth has an FM radio built in too.

There’s no word on when you’ll be able to buy one yet, but we do know it’ll retail for $69.99 (USD) when it eventually arrives from a galaxy far, far away.

[via Chip Chick]

The design seamlessly integrates the Dreamcast’s CD-Rom drive into the portable’s old DVD tray, and wired the console to the front-facing LCD screen. He even perfectly integrated the Dreamcast’s four controller ports into the front of the console.

Here’s a brief, grainy vid clip of the Dreamcast boombox in action. I’m not sure what all that squealing is about – maybe it’s XCKDIY’s squeals of excitement over his modding achievement.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Excellent work, XCKDIY! This could be the best Dreamcast casemod ever.

At the front and center of Hyundai’s portable boombox is an oversized 12.1-inch LCD monitor. The spec sheet says the screen is 1280 x 800, but from the pictures I’ve seen, I’m not sure that’s really the case. It’s not like you’re going to be watching Hi-Def video on this thing anyhow. Unlike the classic ghetto blaster, these new compact stereos are all about the image, and not the sound. As a matter of fact, the speakers on this boombox have taken a serious backseat to the screen.

The Hyundai HY-1210 is all about watching movies and TV – not listening to your jamz. The portable has a built-in DVD player, and can play content in VCD, DVD, CD, CD-R, JPEG, MP3, MPEG-4, AVI formats. There’s even a Karaoke feature built-in so you can sing along. And if you don’t have any DVDs lying around, there are USB and SD/MMC/MS slots for watching media stored on digital memory devices. And there’s a VGA connector on the back for some reason too. I can officially say this is the first boombox EVER with a VGA port.

Unfortunately, the TV tuner is analog, so you won’t be able to tune in stations in many parts of the world. At least you can listen to the FM radio when you’re not watching those Harajuku girls on screen. And with a 10-watt per channel stereo amp under the hood, audio actually isn’t that bad. One other technological advancement – this boombox only needs 8 “C”-Cell batteries – so we have made progress in the last 25 years or so. Maybe by 2035, we’ll have OLED boomboxes that run on 8 “AAA” batteries.

The Hyundai HY-1210 boombox can be yours over at ChinaGrabber for $219.99 (USD).

Unfortunately we don’t have specs on the speakers, but judging from the picture I don’t think we can expect top-quality audio from them. The yellow-green bag pictured above was already sold out as of this writing, but you can still score the classic black version.

You can get the bag at Kitsch-U-Like for £30 (approx. $50 USD). The shop also has other retro audio player-themed bags, but no cat hats, groovy glasses or violet tracksuits. Thank God. Actually I kinda like the cat hat.

[via 7Gadgets]

The LEGO boombox has an analog radio and CD player, but you can connect other audio players via its 3.5-mm input jack. You can plug it in or take it to the streets with 6 C batteries. Check out its product page at Digital Blue for more specs.

[via InventorSpot]

Flüd’s Boombox watch looks like a tiny version of the “portable” stereos of days gone by. Keeping with the retro theme, the watch features a truly old school 7-segment red LED display that looks like it came right out of the 1970s.

I only wish the tiny little speakers actually worked, so I could crank up some Grandmaster Flash and get down to some poppin’ and lockin’ any old time.

The Boombox watch is available in either a shiny silvertone or gunmetal grey design, and sells for $90 USD over on Flüd.

[via e-potpourri]

Textile artist Blythe Church has just revealed a sneak preview of her latest creations which she’s preparing to show at her upcoming show “The Pitch of the Stitch”.

Her latest collection of handsewn electronic gear includes an AM/FM radio, complete with soft batteries, a boom box, and an old rotary phone among others.

If you happen to be anywhere near Halifax, Nova Scotia (current temperature: a balmy 19° F – yow) between April 11th and 27th, you can check them out in person at Argyle Fine Art Gallery.

Created by industrial design student Joonas Saaranen, the Reppo II backpack features a built in pair of full-range speakers and an amplifier, so you can kick out the jams as you walk down the street. The only thing better would be if that big black patch were a subwoofer. Of course, that might shatter your vertebrae if you turned up the volume too much.

Saaranen’s concept design has gotten as far as a functional prototype at this point, but he hasn’t revealed if he’ll ever have them produced en masse. In the mean time, if you happen to be in Berlin, Germany (where Joonas currently resides) and hear someone coming down the street wearing this bad boy, offer up the mad props he deserves.

[via Square]

I love how the artist even made a little pair of headphones and some cassettes to go with the portable tape player.

All were lovingly handcrafted by Israel’s VeryNiceDolls. While you’re off ogling their Flickr photostream, be sure to check out their other plush creations, including a cool toaster (complete with buttered toast), a reel-to-reel tape player and a pair of sneakers.

[via Craft]

If only all those speakers were really functional. Now that would be cool.

The removable vinyl sticker set includes decals for the front and back of the phone, as well as a great matching wallpaper for your to download onto your phone. It’s just $6.99 from DecalGirl.