The first time I saw this item, it really caught my eye. I liked that you could turn it on its side to watch a movie! And I really just liked the look of the machine itself!! It didn't disappoint me at all when I tried it out. The sound quality is really good. I was nicely surprised. It's nice and compact so you can put it on your night stand or desk and for get it's there. I'll be starting college in a couple weeks and I'm moving into a dorm, so the smaller the better. This will be a good alarm clock for me and my room mate. With the back up battery, you can easily move it to the bathroom or where ever and not have to reset the time. There's only two cons I can come up with. 1. It really bites that there's no "Next" or "Last track" buttons on the machine though. You have to use the Ipod to change songs. 2. It's really annoying that the remote is not included. It's another $20 to get it. Other than that, the machine is definitely worth it! iHome iP41 Rotating Alarm Clock for iPod and iPhone (Black)
I ordered this after receiving the previous non iphone compatable version as a gift. I wanted a small unit for my office at work. It comes with some plastic inserts for docking different versions of ipods which I didn't use. I can connect and charge my first gen Iphone without removing the silicon rubber style case I use. There is a little battery indicator on the front that looks like the iphone charge indicator, but it's actually for the units battery backup, not an indicator of the iphones charge. It will turn sideways for watching video,(a nice feature I probably wont use) and still stay connected.
The sound is good but not great, I believe it's just a single speaker and this may be the reason for my one con; it doesn't fill a space with sound at low volume very well, which is how I use it at work, I think stereo units are better for low volume play. The remote is well designed, and controls the ipod app nicely.
I'm not sure I would use it as an alarm clock as even though the snooze & reset buttons are on the top of the speaker, I could see myself banging the Iphone when reaching for it, which might not be good as it sort of just balances on the plug, without a back-rest of any sort.
If size is your first priority this is a good choice, its not much bigger than a typical PC speaker. If stereo sound quality is your priority you might want to consider a unit with multiple speakers.
There are two different versions of this product. One only works with the iPod and one works with both the iPod and iPhone. We have the iPhone 3G and it works perfectly. It is great because you can tilt it to the side and watch your videos. I keep mine on my nightstand and I LOVE that the light can be on one of 3 different settings or turned off. I do have to laugh that the there is a remote that activates the snooze button. I won't be needing that, but I suppose somebody might. I would recommend this product if you need something on your nightstand to charge your iPhone that has an alarm and will also play your music and videos. I put a lot of TV shows on my iPhone so I really love the rotating feature of this product.
To me, this is the perfect alarm clock! I can both charge my iPod and wake up to my favorite tunes!
Pros:
-Stylish, small profile design
-3 different clock dim levels
-Energy star compliant :)
-Charges your iPod/iPhone
-Great sound for one little speaker
-Alarm starts out soft then works its way to your specified volume (love that!)
-Includes different plastic adapters to fit a variety of iPods or iPhone
-Standard alarm will sound if iPhone/iPod is not connected
-Includes a battery backup feature so if you lose power the alarm still functions
-Can be rotated horizontally or vertically (LCD display rotates automatically)
-Nice large snooze button-- perfect for sleepy mornings!
-Sleep timer settings so you can fall asleep to your favorite tunes!
Cons:
(if I have to be picky... here's some cons)
-Adapter cord could be a little bit longer
-Button tactile feedback is a little hard
-Confirmation alarm beep is a little loud
-Initial set-up (clock/alarm time) is not too intuitive
Pros:
-small size. Even compared to regular alarm clock/radio combos out there, it's smaller than most of them though it's taller.
-cool design. Especially with the iPod on, and the display on it's highest brightness setting, this is one cool looking set.
-iHome+sleep app. This free downloadable app let's you customize your nap/wakeup schedule with customizable music selection, and paired with iHome+radio, can play internet radio to wake you up. (ihome+radio app costs $2 btw)
-big sound. For it's small size, this can get loud, and it would take one really, really heavy sleeper unable to wake up to the music it plays at the loudest setting. This can double as a speaker dock, especially with the unit turned sideways so you can blast the sound while watching a movie file on the iPod. I wouldn't use it to host a party, but it works as a background noise for a small office. It even has a special expanded bass sound, which works fine.
-backup battery for the alarm clock. Though some alarm clock/radios come with this feature, some don't, so it's worth mentioning. I had a bad power outage when the power went out with a hurricane, and though the speaker/iPod didn't work (needed AC power) the alarm clock woke me up with its default sound setting.
-display. Big and bright, you can adjust the brightness so it won't bother you while you try to go to sleep, but visible enough to see the clock at the wee hours with your eyes half closed and not awake yet.
-Daylight savings adjustment. There is a switch on the back to +/- 1 hour, so if you think it's a hassle to change the hours twice a year, this is a great feature.
-aux-in port. Though I haven't tried it, with an audio-out cable, you could play other sources of audio. Can't say there's many clock radios with this feature.
-recharges your iPod. It won't sync your iPod, but it will recharge it!
Cons:
-no radio.
-small buttons/lack of some options. The snooze button is right in front of the iPod dock and it's quite small for an alarm clock. So chances are, if you are trying to get some more sleep, you might have to try pushing that button a couple of times. Also, any navigation you have to do for your music/media files are done only by the iPod, so that can be a minus. There is only play/pause button for that on the alarm clock/speaker unit itself.
-one speaker. While the sound is loud, there is only one speaker. So don't expect the audio quality of a Bose clock radio- but then again, you could probably buy three to five of these for one Bose!
Conclusion: At the price range, it's a very solid clock radio/speaker set. A radio would've been nice, and more accessibility features too, and a stereo sound, but all that would've made this unit more pricier, bigger and expensive. Most importantly, I haven't had a day where I overslept (so far) so it certainly works! - Ipod Dock - Alarm Clock - Ihome - Ipod Alarm Clock'
Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information
