The Bottom Line
The Bosch PB360S Power Box is a four-outlet 110v AC power center, with a single 12-volt DC outlet, battery pack charger for Bosch batteries, plus a 360-degree jobsite stereo with subwoofer that will not only play AM/FM radio, but also plays music from a USB port, an SD/MMC card port to play MP3 or WMA files, or with an auxiliary input source through one of two 1/8" mini stereo ports. This means you can hook up an iPod or other music source and play it through the jobsite stereo, all while charging batteries and powering other tools. The sound quality is, well, lets just say my workshop never sounded so good.
Pros
- The unit's 360-degree sound with a subwoofer is very impressive
- AM/FM, plus MP3, WMA, iPod, TV, or nearly any other audio source through the stereo jack
- 20 FM station presets, 10 AM station presets
- Four 110 volt AC outlets and a single 12-volt DC outlet for powering other tools
- Onboard battery charger for Bosch power tool batteries
Cons
- Tuning from one end of the radio spectrum to the other is difficult with tuning mechanism
Description
- Very strong aluminum roll cage to protect power box.
- Four 110-volt AC power outlets on one side of unit, with single Bosch battery charger on back and DC outlet on left side.
- Enclosure to house iPod or other MP3 player, USB port and SD/MMC card port protects digital media sources on job site.
Guide Review - Bosch PB360S Power Box Review
The Bosch PB360S Power Box is a durable jobsite stereo with 4-way outlet for AC power, battery charger for Bosch tool batteries, and a single 12-volt DC outlet. First of all, the sound from this system is impressive. With four speakers on top providing 360-degree sound, plus a thumping subwoofer on the bottom of the system, the unit has some very nice sound quality that handles volume to a fairly loud level before any noticeable distortion. Of course, excessive volume will overload the small speakers, but it produced a lot higher volume level before the distortion was noticeable than I expected.
The features on the stereo include a direct USB port and a separate SD/MMC card port, from which you can play MP3 or WMA compatible music. There are two 1/8" mini plug auxiliary jacks for playing audio sources such as a portable TV, iPod or other MP3 player. The left storage compartment has a set-aside location for protecting a digital media device such as an iPod. The unit even includes a line out for hooking the audio into an external sound source such as a larger stereo system.
The controls for the audio system include 20 FM presets, 10 AM presets, a digital clock and controls for playing, pausing and skipping forward or backwards through music on the USB or SD/MMC media. There is a five-preset equalizer as well.
As for the power box, the right side of the unit contains four AC outlets with a combined output of 10A max. The rear of the unit has a Bosch battery charger that not only will charge all Bosch BAT607, BAT614, BAT609 and BAT618 batteries, but a charged battery pack in the charger will actually power the radio when AC power is not available. Note that the AC and DC outlets are disabled when in this mode.
As impressive as this unit is, I have only one thing that I didn't like about it, and that is the radio tuning dial. Turning the dial, you feel little clicks as the dial turns. Unfortunately, each of these clicks doesn't correlate to a spot on the radio dial. What this means is that if you want to go from a station in the low FM register, say around 94.5 FM, up to a station in the higher register of the FM dial (say something like 104.3), you can't spin the tuning dial quickly to get there. It actually goes a little quicker to move that distance up the dial if you turn the knob SLOWLY, since one click on the dial doesn't correspond to a tenth on the FM dial. Having the knob clicks and the radio dial clicks correlate would make moving up and down the dial quickly a much easier task. It's kind of hard to explain, but very easy to see once you try it.
Would I like to see other features? Sure. In an ideal world, I'd love to see the unit be able to run off of DC power, such as a truck battery. On some construction sites, AC power isn't always available. Being able to operate the radio from a Bosch power pack battery is great, but adding in an AC power inverter so limited AC power would be available from a DC source would very handy.
The features on the stereo include a direct USB port and a separate SD/MMC card port, from which you can play MP3 or WMA compatible music. There are two 1/8" mini plug auxiliary jacks for playing audio sources such as a portable TV, iPod or other MP3 player. The left storage compartment has a set-aside location for protecting a digital media device such as an iPod. The unit even includes a line out for hooking the audio into an external sound source such as a larger stereo system.
The controls for the audio system include 20 FM presets, 10 AM presets, a digital clock and controls for playing, pausing and skipping forward or backwards through music on the USB or SD/MMC media. There is a five-preset equalizer as well.
As for the power box, the right side of the unit contains four AC outlets with a combined output of 10A max. The rear of the unit has a Bosch battery charger that not only will charge all Bosch BAT607, BAT614, BAT609 and BAT618 batteries, but a charged battery pack in the charger will actually power the radio when AC power is not available. Note that the AC and DC outlets are disabled when in this mode.
As impressive as this unit is, I have only one thing that I didn't like about it, and that is the radio tuning dial. Turning the dial, you feel little clicks as the dial turns. Unfortunately, each of these clicks doesn't correlate to a spot on the radio dial. What this means is that if you want to go from a station in the low FM register, say around 94.5 FM, up to a station in the higher register of the FM dial (say something like 104.3), you can't spin the tuning dial quickly to get there. It actually goes a little quicker to move that distance up the dial if you turn the knob SLOWLY, since one click on the dial doesn't correspond to a tenth on the FM dial. Having the knob clicks and the radio dial clicks correlate would make moving up and down the dial quickly a much easier task. It's kind of hard to explain, but very easy to see once you try it.
Would I like to see other features? Sure. In an ideal world, I'd love to see the unit be able to run off of DC power, such as a truck battery. On some construction sites, AC power isn't always available. Being able to operate the radio from a Bosch power pack battery is great, but adding in an AC power inverter so limited AC power would be available from a DC source would very handy.
