I wavered back and forth whether to buy this or not because of not only the price, but the reaction to it. As someone still waiting for a 5G mic attachment, I wanted to add some kind of extra accessory to my new iPod, and after doing some comparison (and a $5 discount from Amazon), I bought the Radio Remote.

First of all, the remote works very well and is perfect to clip on your jacket so as you walk around you don't keep having to reach into the pocket for the player to change tracks or pause. It's perfectly sized, although with my wrap-around headphones it adds length to the cord I have to rein in, but clipping in cord length into the lapel keeps it in control.

As for the performance of the FM radio, it compares evenly with my radio-only Sony Walkman, the reception is great, and it can pick up distant stations well, something I was looking at closely since I'm between two radio markets (Milwaukee and Green Bay) 100 miles apart from each other. Setting up stations was painless and quick, though an option to order the stations according to popularity instead of frequency could make for a better listening experience. The sound on FM is better on the same headphones than that of the Walkman, and tuning into stations not on preset is a breeze with the "analog dial", so much better than the digital tuning on most portable stereos today.

The Radio Data System feature worked pretty well, though I expected some stations not to pick up RDS data because of distance. Showing the title and artist of a song while it plays is wonderful and I would hope other radios or MP3 with FM players pick up this feature quickly. It's on and off at this time (one station has it set for some songs but not for others), but I would hope most stations pick it up quickly.

Overall, this met my expectations perfectly, and it makes my iPod within a leather case look more elegant with the dock connection instead of the headphone jack. I would hope Apple might come out with an AM version if they make a newer version of this, though it could be hard because of the need for a larger antenna inside the remote unit. NOAA weather radio alert capability would also add another facet to the product as a warning device. But that's just my opinion, I like the Radio Remote alot as it is now.

When I first got this I was pretty pleased with it. It looks very cool, brings up a cool new display on the screen, has RDS, is dead easy to use, gives you the remote control so you can keep your iPod deep in your pocket, and you get a brand new pair of earbuds, with four new foam pads to add to the millions that have mysteriously vanished into the ether.

I was quite impressed with the reception in my house too.

But today I detached it from my iPod, and I think it may stay that way unless I really want to listen to the radio.

So why? Well, for a start, all the extra wires are a pain in the neck and destroy the simple elegance of the iPod concept. The way the wires dangle from the remote gets annoying, and they seem to tangle up when you wrap the whole thing up and put it away.

The radio reception is great in my house, but not so great on buses and trains. Which I guess is no surprise. It wouldn't be so bad if you could select mono to kill the reception problems, but you can't.

Worse still, there's some kind of interface problem: I found my iPod (nano) resetting itself all the time.

And not only that... but you can't just switch off your iPod and flick the lock. That doesn't lock out the remote. So you've got to power your iPod down from the remote too, and lock that. And make sure you do it in the right order.

And it sucks your battery dry faster than usual.

But most of all, it makes you think, why on earth didn't they put a radio in the iPod to start with!

I am not giving this five stars only because the price is a bit steep. I had to get this because I thought I lost my Apple earbuds and this was the only way that Apple will sell you a replacement pair.

I thought the radio option was nice but I didn't buy an iPod to listen to the radio--although it's there if you need it (the sound quality for FM radio is much lower than my 224Kpbs Mp3 songs.) Second, I thought the extra wire/cable length got me a bit irritated and made me wish I had not lost the original earbuds.

A week later I am happy I bought this product. It is an A+ remote control. I keep the iPod secure in a pocket or pouch or armband (for the gym). I start a playlist and then use the stop/play, forward and volume up/down button without having to take the iPod out of a secure location and expose to a sandy beach (deadly) or a gym environment.

Advice to mobile iPod people: get a pair of Sony earbuds and an armband. Then fold up the extra length of cord from this radio remote inside of the armband case.

Now, if Apple wants to bring this price down to the $25 range I could see everyone buying this. But I'm OK with it now.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 74 reviews  3.6 out of 5 stars