Philips Fidelio DS1100 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Alarm Clock Speaker Dock

• Compatible with all iPod products with a 30-pin connector (except iPod shuffle)--this includes the newest iPod nano and touch models; also compatible with iPhone, iPhone 3G and 3GS, and iPhone 4
• Surprisingly rich sound; rich omnidirectional sound to fill your bedroom; neodymium speakers for pure balanced sound; shielding technology to block mobile phone interference
• Elegant and compact; 360-degree design for a gorgeous look from any angle; elegant and compact design to fit on any bedside table
• Designed for your bedroom; auto clock synchronization with iPhone/ iPod when docked; soft glow night-light; charge your second mobile device via USB; dock any iPhone/ iPod, even in its case; dedicated app available in the App Store for more functions

Since we have multiple iPods in the house and multiple rooms/offices that we play in them in on a regular basis, we have quite a few iPod players.

I was very pleased to hear quite a nice sound coming from this set. The circular design seems to create a better sound quality than some straight forward speakers.

It was very easy to set-up, just plug it in, choose 12 or 24 hour time display and plug your iPod into the top. The time already set on your iPod becomes the time on the clock. The display is okay and has three brightness settings. The volume control on the speaker system actually controls the volume of your iPod so when you bump it up on the speaker, it turns it up on your iPod. The iPod DOES charge while in the speaker dock and has an additional charging port in the back for a second device. I like that it has a little "back brace" for your iPod as it sits in the dock. I had no trouble playing my 120GB iPod Classic and my son's 4GB Nano (older model).

There is also a neat little bottom light in creamsickle orange that has two brightness settings and off.

It does nothing more than that though. It cannot be set for an alarm, play the radio, etc. But you can set your iPod alarm and it will play through the speaker.

However, what is does do is play your music nicely from your iPod.

I actually set it up next to the following players: Logitech Portable Speaker S125i with Built-in iPod Dock, iHome iP97 Dual Alarm Clock Radio for iPod and iPhone (Silver), and Altec Lansing inMotion iM310 Portable Speakers for iPod and MP3 Players (I said we had a lot) and played my iPod from one to the other over an over.

I listened close-up and far away and these are my findings:

The Philips sounds pretty good, more so up close. It distorts as the volume get louder but it takes quite awhile to get there. It is a little tinny in its sound but sometimes puts the vocals more in front than the other speaker sets. After listening to a large variety of music, rock, classical, jazz, etc. the only one that sounded the best on the Philips was Sarah McLachlan. Otherwise, the Logitech seemed to win out most times. The Philips still sounded good though.

It is a nice speaker set for this price range with a couple of extra features (clock and night light) but there are others that sound better.

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The Philips Fidelio DS1100 Speaker Dock with Clock is the latest addition to my collection of appreciated and often used iPod docks. Any room in my home that I spend a good amount of time in has one; kitchen, living room, bedroom and even bathroom.

My first impression of the Philips Fidelio DS1100 after unpacking was that they style was very nice. I like the curved edges on the speaker, the volume buttons flush with the top of the dock, the size is perfect for a table top or nightstand and both the dimming night light and clock display are great features.

The first time I docked my iPhone 3G, it notified me that there was an app that I could download to use with the docking system. Since it was Free I decided to get it, although now that I've had a chance to use it I may not keep it. I really didn't find any advantages to using it versus just playing music through my iPod feature.

Obviously the most important part is the sound and although it wasn't bad, it wasn't great either. I first turned it to a low/medium volume like I may have it to listen to when in the kitchen. I tried several styles of music and at this level the music sounded fine. Then I decided to up the volume to how I might have it on the patio during a BBQ. At this level there was significant distortion in the music quality, regardless of the style of music.

I originally considered giving this 3 Stars, but then I thought about Philips intended use for this dock. In a bedroom, bathroom or other small area this dock works just fine. You wouldn't expect to crank up the volume, so I can't see taking away an entire star because of that. If this has the features you are looking for and the style you want, then this may be the right dock for you. For me it is now happily residing in the the perfect place in my house; the guest bedroom.

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This is good if you are looking for a clock that will play your ipod. The clock sync's with your ipod's time. When the ipod is not docked, the clock still works.

I have docked an ipod classic old generation, an ipod classic current generation, an ipod nano current generation, and ipod nano 2 generation, and an ipod touch 2nd generation. They have all worked in the unit--playing music through the speaker and syncing the clock to their times.

The speaker is about what you would expect from a clock radio---better than the average clock radio--not as good as a boom box.

A big draw back for me is that i would like to be able to use the alarm with the ipod nano, but to use the alarm, you need to download a free ipod touch application (or iphone app). It works great on the ipod touch--but we would have liked it in my daughters room and she doesn't have a touch. There are no instructions with this so you have to fiddle around with it to get it to work. The ipod app allows you to also use a sleep feature on the alarm so you can press sleep and allow the alarm to go off later--it can be set for longer periods of time than the traditional 10 min. if you want.

One time, we got the ipod nano to use its own alarm system and play through the speaker. we were never able to recreate that though so i'm not sure if it was a fluke or if there is something that we could do to make that work.

The time on the unit can be dimmed very low or regular (which is pretty dim). This is great for my child with sensory integration issues who can not sleep if there is much light in her room. The very low dim is perfect for a bedroom at night. we leave it on that setting all day--however, when it is fully light, you can not read the display. But we don't want to change the display each day. There is also a glow light dimmer button on the front. It's like an ambient light or something. It doesn't seem to increase or decrease the glow of the numbers but there is a little light that it can turn on/off---but it is a decorative light. It might be able to be used as a night light, but we don't use it as such.

There are better alarms out there if you want to spend over $100. This is reasonable for this price range but i wouldn't consider it an extraordinary value or a must buy--therefore a 4 star rating rather than a 5.

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I was looking for a docking cradle to sit my iPhone 3GS in on my night-table so it could charge overnight. The problem is that I have my phone in an Otterbox Defender case and the connector is recessed and surrounded by plastic so it is difficult to find aftermarket cords to fit it, and even more difficult to find a docking cradle that will plug in it without getting out the Dremel tool and grinding away. I found a Fidelio 7550 in a local big box store and couldn't believe it when my phone actually fit on the demo model and began charging. $129 was more than I wanted to spend so I came to Amazon and found this model which suits my table area better and is less expensive, but an earlier reviewer that said it didn't fit his Defender case. Phillips advertises that this cradle fits all cases and I couldn't believe that Phillips would use a different connector design on different Fidelio models, so I bought this one. My phone DOES fit on it and does connect, but it JUST makes it. If you bump or wiggle it slightly you're disconnected. I looked carefully at contact points between the case and the cradle and it sits on the edge of the round lips of the microphone and speaker holes. Removing less than 1mm of plastic in that area with a nail file improved the fit so that it works perfectly every time. The amount of plastic removed is not even noticeable and doesn't affect the silicone cover or case integrity in any way.

The cradle works great. Alarms are nice in that they ramp up volume gradually so that you don't startle awake. It's really nice with the built in sea sounds and forest sounds. The phone can be shut off so that the display is blank (with the Phillips app running) and the alarms still fire. Radio stations include worldwide stations, even NOAA weather radio.

Overall, much nicer that I expected, and with minimal, easy, non disfiguring work with a nail file, it works great with an Otterbox Defender case/iPhone 3GS case combo.

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I like a lot of things about this unit. The one major drawback for me is that it emits an annoying buzz from interference created by my iPhone 4. It's very sad when the product details in the Amazon description falsely states the following: "[Uses] shielding technology to block mobile phone interference."

I'm a light sleeper, and the buzz (that I hear now and then) disturbs my sleep and wakes me up. I'll try to get used to the buzz, otherwise, It'll be returned.