I had been reading some of my favorite blogs and saw that the second generation Jawbone Bluetooth headset had been released.  I haven’t really been a fan of handsfree headsets.  Using Skype more and more on my computers, it has quickly become only second to my iPhone.  I’ve just been using the built-in mic and speaker on my computer, but I figured I should get a headset for better call quality.  I had read a lot of good reviews of the original Jawbone and since they claimed the new one is better than the original, I figure I’d give it a shot.

I decided it was time to upgrade my Sony home theater in a box.  They were a decent set for the price, but I was looking for something better so I picked up a Harman Kardon AVR-247 and a set of Aperion Audio 7.1 4 Series speakers.  I had read some really good reviews from CNET about Aperion Audio, even though I had previously never heard of the company.  They are a small company based in Portland, OR.  I gave them a call about what I should select and I was able to talk to a real person, not some computerized recording.  I don’t mind automated systems, but a lot of the time the computer tries to figure out what you want and fails.  In some systems it doesn’t let you call the operator and you are just stuck.  With Aperion Audio being a small company,  I was able to get to a representative right away and they were very kind and helpful.

So you have your iPod and it works great, except when it comes to listening in your car. Maybe you picked up an FM modulator and that works somewhat well, except in large cities where it is almost impossible to get a clear station. If your car still has a tape deck maybe you have a mini-jack to tape adapter, which actually works fairly decently especially for 20 or so dollars it costs. Unfortunately if with both of those methods a point comes when the iPod runs out of juice and you have to charge it. Also both of those methods require access to the iPod to control your music selection. The Dension iceLink solves all of these problems.

I’ve always been interested in ways of getting my large music collection off my computer and into a decent component stereo setup. Throughout college it was consisted of running a 20 foot mini jack to RCA’s cable from my sound card to the stereo inputs. After college the mini jack to RCA cable just didn’t cut it when I had a real office with the computer and a real living room with the stereo setup. Enter the need for a music streaming device. After a short period of research I selected the Roku setup. It seemed to support everything I wanted to do and was capable of running digital outs along with the standard RCA. I did like the concept of Sonos, especially their color remote. Unfortunately their setup did not include any digital outs (even at the time of writing this article).