Product Reviews

Picture this. You're sitting on a train whiling away the hours watching all those episodes of Spooks you recorded but have only just got around to putting on to your iPod when the battery dies. What to do? Whip out a backup battery, of course. In this case, XtremeMac's MicroPack, a combined iPod dock and battery.

The MicroPack is a large slab of black-and-white plastic, about the width and height of a regular iPod dock, but about three

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times as deep. Concealed inside is a spare battery that, when fully charged, provides enough power for up to 80 hours of audio or eight hours of video playback, depending on the iPod model.

On its top is an iPod dock, which is compatible with all iPods, except the shuffle, from the 4G onwards, and volume controls for the dual headphone sockets, which mean that two people can listen to the docked iPod simultaneously. Between the jacks are an on/off switch, an iPod dock connector, and an AV output jack.

The MicroPack is an elegant solution to a very real problem. You can charge it from any iPod charging source, and you can also sync it with your iPod when it's connected to your Mac. It's small enough to throw in a bag when travelling and if you want to make sure it's fully charged when you need it, you can use it as a permanent replacement for your regular iPod dock.

At £54.99, it's not cheap, but if you regularly find yourself running out of battery power on long journeys, it may be the ideal solution.