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A quick BIG THANKS to Brando for providing the product for this review, which obviously, without it, this review could not have been possible.

If you’ve ever wanted to be able to provide a louder sounding stereo sound of your mp3s from your Treo or just wanted a portable music component with you, here’s a solution: Brando Workshop Treo 650 Music Dock.

The Brando Workshop Treo 650 Music Dock is a portable set of stereo speakers that also functions as a cradle for your Treo 650 when it’s plugged into the USB port of your computer. That’s a very cool idea! So, not only will it function as a cradle, holding and “cradling” the Treo in an upright position, when it’s plugged into the USB port of your computer, allowing you to perform a hotsync, it will also trickle charge your Treo 650. And don’t forget that you can also play your audio or video files and listen to a louder and better quality audio than through the Treo 650 speakers. So rather than spending the money on a cradle, spend it on this Treo 650 Music Dock by Brando Workshop instead so that you get not only a cradle but also a music dock as well and be the envy of your friends as being the only one who has such a cool looking accessory.

Pics of the Treo 650 Music Dock

Click on the images for a bigger picture.

Here are the listing of features and specs (from Brando’s website:)

Features:

* Charger with USB female head
* 3.5mm to 3.5mm stereo cable
* Charger and HotSync cable

Video review of Treo 650 Music Dock

Video review of Treo 650 Music Dock at YouTube

The Music Dock comes in light grey color with shiny, reflective silver speakers. At the top right there is a dial for volume control. Located at the back of the unit, there are ports for the USB and a 3.5mm stereo cable (supplied). The package includes a 3.5mm stereo line-in cable that allows you to plug in a CD/DVD/mp3/MD, etc player and play the music from an external source through the speakers. It includes a USB cable that plugs into the dock at one end and into the USB port of your computer at the other end. You can also opt to connect the cable to the wall instead via the AC socket adapter (supplied) to charge or power the dock via AC power. So, you can opt to charge either via the wall socket or via the computer’s USB port allowing you the best of both worlds. Of course, when you’re plugged into the wall, you lose the hotsync capability since it’s not connected to the computer.

The sound of the music dock is adequate for most needs. Considering the small size of the speakers, the amount of power supplied and the cost of the dock itself, you can hardly expect Bose quality music or sound from these speakers. That said, the sound is as I’ve already mentioned, adequate. You can’t expect to compare this to something else like a set of computer speakers supplied with its own set of power. A more closer comparison would be to compare this to speakers that are powered through the USB port and not through an AC adapter. There is obviously a limit to the quality of the sound, as well as the volume and power of the speakers so, given those factors, the sound isn’t bad.

During a test of the dock with Aeroplayer as i’ve done in my video review, it’s quite evident that the low end is not great, as is normally the case with most other similar type speakers. The tip is to manipulate the equalizer of your mp3 player software (if available) to adjust it at a level that will optimize the sound quality of the music to provide the best sound possible. With a bit of time with adjusting, you may surprised by the quality you can achieve with it.

One observation. Considering that this music dock does offer the capability to do a hotsync, I’m surprised that there is no Hotsync button on the dock. Instead, I have to do the usual manual launching of the Hotsync program and tapping on the center Hotsync icon button to initiate a Hotsync process. Having a hotsync button can be quite nice, but obviously a minor issue.

So, keeping in mind the limits I’ve already discussed previously, you must try to keep in mind that it is NOT expected to be a replacement for your several thousand dollar stereo but more of an enhancement set of speakers. By that, I mean, that it’s meant more as a stereo volume booster accessory with a slightly better sound than the built-in speakers of your Treo. If you crank up the Treo, there is usually a limit in volume where the sound will become too distorted. With something like the music dock, you can increase the volume a bit further but obviously not that much since there are limits. I would have preferred that the dock were louder but I am aware of circumstances and limitations.

If you wanted better sound, and volume you’d have to either rely on your better and more expensive earphones or even possibly plug it into your stereo. There is a limit on the volume of the speakers but you can boost the volume simply by increasing the volume in your Treo mp3 player and adjusting both volume levels to get an optimimum volume level with decent sound quality.

Depending on your requirements, this may be something you may be interested in or not. Just keep in mind what I’ve mentioned previously regarding the limits to volume level, sound quality, power capability. If you simply want a set of stereo speakers that are small, portable, lightweight and possibly use it as a Treo cradle when not using it to play music, then this may be a great product for you. But, if you are a bit picky about the quality and volume of the music, you’d better spend a bit more money on a better set of stereo component, or headphones instead.

I have noticed that once I’ve got this plugged into my computer’s USB port, I have been playing music through my Treo a lot more, probably because it’s now more accessible, compared to normally having put on my headphones or plug in the AC adapter for computer speakers or whatever. And it’s very nice that I can get better sounding music or audio playing for as long as I’d like without worrying about draining the battery. I normally don’t listen at a high volume so for me, the dock works fine. Having this music dock can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective.

You can get more information on Brando Workshop’s Treo 650 Music Dock here.

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