iLuv i1055 review

The iLuv i1055 is curious creature -- a portable DVD player with an iPod dock tucked into the rear. With the iPod docked, you're free to enjoy your favourite videos on the i1055's 7-inch screen. It comes fitted with TV-out sockets so you're also able to hook it up to any television you find in your vicinity.

You can buy the i1055 for under £150 -- it's ideal for easing the pain of constant "are we there yet?" whines on long journeys.

Design
This is a large piece of kit and is enormously difficult to hold with one hand, but for a very good reason: it's a DVD player and an iPod dock. Though the i1055 is too large to use on a train or the bus, it will come into its own like any portable entertainment device when the kids are screaming or when you're lying in bed and the TV remote control is too far across the room.

With its built-in stand this system is designed to be propped up on a table or fixed to the back of a car's headrest for the kids.

The DVD portion of the system is cleverly concealed behind the screen, which lifts up with the touch of the eject button. Also cleverly concealed is the iPod dock, which resides in the back of the device. An iPod-sized lid folds outwards to reveal a docking tray that securely holds your player in place and a gap in the lid allows for easy control of the iPod's Click Wheel.

The iPod is docked and secured to the rear of the player

Features
The iPod integration allows you to watch any video stored on your iPod on the DVD player's large screen, but controlling the iPod is cumbersome. You have to flip the player around, navigate to the video you want to watch through your iPod's menu, then flip the screen back around to watch it.

Things are made worse if you use the supplied headrest strap. The system needs unclipping from the seat it's attached to in order to change videos. Why navigation of the iPod wasn't integrated into the main navigation system is baffling, since many products feature such technology. The user guide for the i1055 blames the iPod's navigational system, claiming it's too limited. Cheeky.