What to Buy Bose Sound Dock 2 £199 or Zeppelin Mini £289 for Wifes Birthday

For a kitchen it probably won't matter, but if it was my money, I'd buy the Bose. The Mini Zep is nice and clear, but the lack of drive units compared to the normal Zeppelin does make it a little thin sounding. Somehow, the Bose doesn't have that issue.

Another one to look out for is the Monitor Audio iDeck100, which, quality-wise I'd say is the best of the three, with it's bass response somewhere between the Mini Zep and Bose. Worth an audition if you have a local dealer with them on display.

If you go for the Mini Zep, placing it in a corner in the kitchen will make the most of it's bass response.

The fabric on the big Zeppelins attracts dust and grot like nothing else*.

A kitchen is the last place I'd use one.

The Zeppelin mini only has vertical cloth surfaces so maybe it won't be quite as bad as it's bigger stablemates in this respect.

*I have seen this with display models in John Lewis and in the almost 'laboratory clean' environs of our nearest Loewe Galerie too. I asked staff in both establishments about this and they all agreed the Zeppelins have to be cleaned almost daily to stay looking good. Everything else on the shelves around them was gleaming so I don't think it was due to lack of effort by the staff in either place. Maybe it's due to static.

Your upper budget level (£289) would easily cover the cost of a Vita Audio R2i (About £250 and three different finishes.)

WHF review.

Hi Chebby,Agree on the Dust aspect re the Zep,That would be a downer.Have a Vita upstairs its very good but cumbersome to move around,plus my wife is not keen on the looks really.Having £150 of J L Vouchers I need to use up limits my choice a little.

David Hi,thanks for your comments.Unfortunately J L don't stock the M A 100. as I have £150 of J L Vouchers that need using soon,it limits choice somewhat.scratches chin again.Not heard any Bose stuff as yet so might be worth a shot.

Would an S3 not work?

If you want to dock both 'Pod and 'Pad, don't overlook the Philips Fidelio - available at John Lewis for £249

The Philips docks, while not outright class leaders, have impressed us to date - we gave the DS910 four stars at £400 - at £249 it'd be a five-star proposition. Definitely worth a look/listen if you're browsing in JL.

EDIT - Sorry, getting model numbers mixed up (doesn't help with Philips makes them all so damn similar). We gave four stars to the slightly bigger, Fidelio 9010 (now £349 at JL) - it's the Fidelio 9/10 that's now £249. Damn naming conventions.... Anyway, both still worth considering.

Thanks Clare,will check them out,she is not keen on wood type finishes though.I have a 400mm 30pin Apple female to male extender lead which would do the iPad job if necessary, from any dock.

Between the 2, I would choose the Bose.

If you can stretch your budget a bit, then look at Arcam rCube. It's available for £349 everywhere, including Sevenoaks. John Lewis is selling it for £399, but it will price match Sevenoaks or any other shop.

Hi bigboss, Tried the Arcam from J L and didn't rate it myself,sent it back for refund.Wife found it too heavy to move around.She has mentioned she likes the Bose style though.I pretended to take no notice.if it was my choice I would go with Monitor Audio ideck 200.J L don't do them and I need to shift the vouchers soon.