I had an interesting interchange with a reviewer of Bexy's iMirror Wireless Remote Control Docking Station that enables users to remotely play, view and control their iPod music and video connected to a TV or a home entertainment system. I sent him a unit for review but he chose not to include it in his guide because he felt it was too similar to the AppleTV and Airtunes Express. While I think both of these products are terrific, I respectfully disagreed with his point of view based on the elegant simplicity of our product. Setup and operation should be fast and easy so you can enjoy the experience. Below is an abridged transcript of our exchange.
Hi Keith, A while back we sent you the Bexy iMirror Wireless Remote Docking Station for iPod for you to review. Is this in the queue for review?
Hi John -- We did try the Bexy iMirror product, but we decided not to include it in the gift guide roundup. The tester couldn't find a compelling reason to recommend the product as it compares to the AirTunes Express or AppleTV products. The $149.99 price tag was also felt to be a bit pricey for what the product does.
If you think we missed something in terms of the product's appeal or usage, let me know and I can try to take another look at it for the Cool Tools column, but I can't promise anything...
Hi Keith, I’m kind of impressed that you considered our iMirror in the same sentence with the AppleTV and AirTunes Express. I’m not sure I can convince you that you should include our product or if I even want to try and convince you. Usability is entirely up to your own tastes and I completely respect your opinion.
I do know that our product has a HUGE advantage over AirTunes Express – no PC is involved. We believe strongly that an entertainment experience has to be free of a PC. We also believe that control of your content needs to be where you are, not in another room on a PC Screen.
2. Complete control of virtually all iPod Functions in the palm of your hands anywhere in your home while your iPod is charging. You don’t have to look at a TV screen or go to your computer in another room to see what is playing.
3. Always know what you are playing wherever you are. My iPod has over 6000 songs on it. I usually play my iPod in shuffle mode and am constantly hearing songs that I can’t remember what they are. So I look at the remote and it tells what I am listening including Artist, Album and track title.
4. Immediate feedback and real time system status
5. And the biggest reason this product is great is it is simple. I love having the ability to bring the iPod into my bedroom, pop it in the dock and play videos on my TV. And my wife and son love it, too. It was a mind changing experience for us. And we didn’t have to run cable wires, we didn’t have to lease an expensive cable box with a complicated menu, and we didn’t have to figure out how to network Airport Express with our PC. True story: I spent an entire weekend trying to get Airport Express to work with my Windows based PC. I NEVER GOT IT TO WORK (and I am no dummy.) I spent hours (and I mean hours) on the phone with Apple tech support and they could not get it to work. I eventually gave it to the babysitter who has a Mac. In the end, anything that has to interface with the PC for listening or watching is doomed.
Now explain to me why I need to spend $299 or $399 for AppleTV with another hard drive when I already have my music and video on a hard drive in my PC and iPod? Just another way for my content to get out of sync and screwed up. No thanks!
And what if I want to play music away from my TV or PC? Why do I have to turn a TV on to see the user interface menu for Apple TV? Frankly my TV uses a boatload of power and if I am not watching video, I’d prefer not to be drawing that kind of watts. And what if I am not sitting in front of my TV and I want to pick a song, album or playlist? I would have to go into the room and stand in front of the TV. With the iMirror you can carry the wireless remote anywhere in your house.
So for $149.95, your iPod becomes pretty useful around the house and it does not require a PC.
I have no illusions that our product is the end all, be all. But it is a relatively inexpensive and operation is simple. And that’s what consumer want – simple out of the box operation. Plug it in and play in five minutes or less.
Thanks for hearing me out.
Hi John -- thanks for the note. I'll give it another shot and see if we can fit it into an upcoming Cool Tools column...
Hi Keith, I have an interesting follow up to our discussion.
My 13 year old nephew Adam drove in from New Hampshire with his family yesterday with his brand new iPod Classic. He was so proud to show it to me and to tell me that he had a lot of really cool music and videos on it. He handed it to me and I popped into the iMirror connected to my TV and multimedia speakers. I promptly turned on the iMirror with the wireless remote control as we all sat down on the couch. Suddenly we were listening to some Beatles music. Then we listened to some Miles Davis followed by the Doors LA Woman (that surprised me.) Finally we watched a couple of his music videos. It could not have been a simpler or a better experience. We were dancing around the living room screaming “L-A, L-A, L-A, your my Woman!” The way life should be – simple.
