If your woodworking skills ever lead you to tackle home improvement projects — especially those of the outdoor variety — you’re likely well aware of two things: one, the outside of your house has way too few electrical outlets; and two, the work goes a lot faster if you can listen to some tunes.
Bosch’s new Power Box addresses both of those things. It’s a radio, it’s a CD player, it’s a battery charger, and it’s a four-way outlet.
Plug your drill, your sander, or any electrical tool or equipment into any of the four-way OSHA and UL approved GFCI protected power outlets. Recharge your 12, 14.4 18 or 24-volt Bosch batteries in the charger. You can even charge your cell phone in a 12-volt power outlet.
While you’re doing all this, you can listen to your favorite tunes with the radio or CD features. The built-in AM/FM digital radio has 20 preset buttons (personally, I don’t recommend hitting the one you have programmed for talk radio while operating power tools); the front-load CD player has anti-skip technology and CD-R/CD-W compatibility. In case you’re really into music technology, there’s even a 3.5 millimeter auxiliary jack compatible with MP3 players.
But, if you just want your music to sound good, you can fiddle with the buttons for four preset equalizer settings — to emphasize bass, clear, soft or vocal music — or the “Bosch Sound,” which boosts the overall quality of sound without the need for equalizer adjustments.
An aluminum roll cage protects the Power Box from damage (like, say, bumping it over while you’re working on your deck), as do the sealed speakers, battery chamber and CD player. The integrated internal antenna eliminates the possibility of breaking off an external one.
If you’re ready to get rockin’ with the Bosch Power Box, the CD version (PB10-CD) will set you back about $179, while a radio-only version (PB10) is priced at $149. Find out more info at www.boschtools.com.
