- Supports most iPhone and iPod models with Universal Dock Connector
- Enjoy crystal-clear sound in a compact design that fits easily on your nightstand
- Wake to your iPod, radio, or alarm with progressive alert volume
- Auxiliary input also lets you connect a CD, DVD, MP3 player, or other external audio devices
- 1 Year limited warranty
I hate alarm clocks. I tried for a long time to avoid getting one because let's be honest they're ugly, they're big and a waste of space, and they never have all the functions you need in one reasonably priced package. You think the way they make cell phones these days, someone could have figured out how to make a decent alarm clock.
Putting that in mind, here are my lists of pros and cons of this product:
PROS:
1) relatively smaller and lighter than most alarm clocks that charge ipods and allow you to wake up to an ipod. So I don't feel like I have this huge thing overtaking my nightstand. But it's also not so small that i can't even tell what time it is.
2) sound is pretty good for its size. Most alarm clocks when they turn on have poor sound quality, which sounds even more irritating when you're not a morning person like me. thankfully this alarm clock has warm sound quality which is more bearable to wake up to.
3)relatively tasteful, subtle design that doesn't stick out as the first thing you see when you walk into a bedroom. It's not super fancy and somewhat overstyled like some timex models, or tacky like the Hammacher Schlemmer or anything that illuminates stuff in midair, or cheap the popular models of iHome. It doesn't try to "look nice". It just looks like what it's supposed to be, just slightly more efficient, which I think in in of itself creates a more authentic "nice look".
4) numbers are big and clear enough to see across an average bedroom, but not so huge and bright that it screams "hi look at me, I'm digital and easy to read!"
5) does allow you to choose the volume and the track on your ipod you want to wake up to.
6) I LOVE that this clock allows you to adjust the brightness of the display. It really does do down to an acceptable level of brightness where you can sleep without being disturbed by the light.
CONS:
1) not the most intuitive to set up or buttons. however, the instruction manual covers about everything and if you take the time to read through it, you'll get it. But the steps of trying to for example set your alarms is not obvious or super user friendly without the manual.
2) doesn't tell you ahead of time in product description which models of iPod it does not fit. None of the iPod adapters fit my 4th gen. iPod nano. However, it does fit and work just fine without any of the provided ipod adapter.
3) doesn't allow you to set the span of time the snooze should last. You are stuck with 5 minutes as your snooze time even if 8 minutes might be your optimal snooze period.
4) the lowest volume is still not low enough for me. It should be about 1/4 of what level 1 is, and then have 4 increments in between before it gets to what is considered "1". However, their "1" is still lower and therefore better than many other alarm clocks out there.
5) though it allows you to wake up to a song on your iPod, it doesn't allow you to wake up a playlist.
6) no ramp up option
So many cons...so why 4 stars? Because relative to the overwhelmingly lacking-in-function and fugly alarm clocks that exist in this world today, it actually is probably one of the better ones I've used. This is coming from someone who has tried out and experienced the following alarm clocks most recently:
Philips AJ3980 AM FM CD Clock Radio
Digital Zen alarm clock from Now and Zen (E tone)
Retro MP3 Alarm clock http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/a334/
Sleep Tracker watch
My LG Dare cell phone
My iPod
as alarm clocks. And I would say that of all of them, while it could be improved, it probably functions the best for what an iPod alarm clock is supposed to do.
Buy Altec Lansing M302 Moondance Home Alarm Clock Radio for iPod and MP3 Players (Black) Now
There must be an agreement amongst manufacturers of anything designed to dock with an iPod that it must cost at least $75. While the Altec Landsing Moondance Home looks good, the design department and the engineering department really need to get together and figure things out.
I bought one of these and put it together when I got it home. As far as looks and components this product is first rate, however once you plug it in the adventure begins. The setup is pretty difficult, even for gadget nuts like mysself. It comes with four different iPod adaptors and you have to figure out which one works with your particular iPod by trial and error. Get the wrong one and docking connection might not be secure enough to allow communication between the iPod and the dock. Setting the clock, dates and radio stations is not really explained well in the manual and is also very difficult to do.
Once that was all taken care of the first thing I noticed was the sound. Definately not crystal clear as described in the marketing literature, I found it very muddy with little to no high-range; though it filled the room it was very DULL. EQ settings from the iPod can not be heard on this unit and no advanced iPod functions can be controlled from the remote. Also, communication between the remote and the unit were kinda spotty as well.
I returned this two days after I got it and found a similarly priced Sony unit with much better sound, easier setup and full control between the unit and the remote. I could use the remote to control all iPod functions (search songs, create playlists, change iPod settings AND EQ settings could be heard through the docking unit.
Pros: Looks great, small footpring, substantial sound but horrible range.
Cons: Muddy sound, very difficult to program, limited control of iPod with remote and too expensive for its quality.
I would gladly pay $40 for this item, however for the $79 asking price at most retailers I was very dissapointed with the sound and functionality. Definately NOT what I've come to expect from Altec Lansing.
Read Best Reviews of Altec Lansing M302 Moondance Home Alarm Clock Radio for iPod and MP3 Players (Black) Here
When I decided I wanted an alarm clock that included an iPod dock, I spent some time looking around and weighing available options and prices -this unit seemed to be the best bang for the buck, and I was very excited to have found it. I really, really wanted to like it -in some ways I did, but overall it proved just too problematic for use as an alarm clock.
Right out of the box I found setup to be very unintuitive and difficult. I work in IT and generally don't have an issue with setting up electronics, but I still had trouble even after resorting to looking at the instructions -this did not bode well, but once I'd gone through the intial work of setting the time, alarm, FM presets, etc., I figured the struggle was over and I could just proceed with everyday use.
Generally speaking, after fighting my way through setup this wasn't altogether a bad clock radio. I liked the design (nice small size -didn't hog a lot of space on my nightstand), LOVED the "set it and forget it" weekday alarm feature (coming from a 10 year old alarm clock, this seemed like a miracle to me -though, of course, it is pretty standard among present day alarm clocks), I thought the sound quality was decent, and the FM reception was very good -it did everything on a day to day basis that I needed it to do, and life was good, until...
Watch out if the power goes out! Not for the reason you'd think -of course there is a battery backup, which saves everything so you don't have to go through the hassle of setting up all over again. What I found, though, was that although the desired volume of the alarm can be specified when setting up the alarm, after a power outage the alarm goes off at the highest volume setting -AAAGGGHHH!!!!!!! I am the epitome of the non-morning person and reeeeeeeeally need to ease as slowly and easily as possible into my period of morning awareness -my alarm of choice is to wake to radio, where I can listen to approximately an hour of music, weather, and newscasts through my varying stages of wakefulness (I say approximately an hour, because rather than cutting off exactly an hour after the time the alarm is set for, this cuts off after 1 hour and 4 minutes -huh????????!!!), and the progressive volume feature of the alarm was a little piece of heaven to me. So all was really pretty good between setup and the first time the power went out here. That first power outage came and went before bedtime and I never thought another thing about it, but I had the shock of my life when my alarm went off the next morning -the music was UNBELIEVEABLY LOUD!!!!! I came to an immediate stage of full consciousness that just doesn't work at all for me, and in my state of panic couldn't find the appropriate button to MAKE THE NOISE STOP!!!!! Now, mind you, I didn't know why this happened -I just wrote it off as a weird glitch and went on with life, and the alarm proceeded to perform as expected in the following days. Until the next power outage... Unfortunately, it took me several months and a handful of power outages before I saw the pattern, at which point it was too late for me to return this for something else. Even at this point, having figured out what was going on I could have worked with this by resetting the alarm after I knew the power had gone out -but once in a while those momentary outages occur that don't necessarily set all of the electronics in the house blinking to be reset to tip you off. After the fact, though, and after I'd been blasted out of my bed by the ungodly volume level of my alarm a few times and asking around to find that the power had indeed blinked for a microsecond during the day, I just couldn't deal with this quirk anymore...
I still use this unit -as long as I'm not relying on it as an alarm I still find it a completely acceptable radio and iPod dock, and I've set it up in a different room for this purpose and am still enjoying using it. But as far as an alarm clock radio unit, I replaced the Altec Lansing with the iHome iP90 Dual Alarm Clock Radio with AM/FM Presets and Dock for iPod and iPhone (Black) -I passed this over initially because it was more expensive, but I wish it I'd gone with it to begin with. While it's a bit bigger than I'd prefer, it's very intuitive to set up and in continued use -and after having gone through a power outage, I can report positively that the volume level stays right where it should!!! :-)
So in closing, in my final review ranking I took a star off for the non-intuitive, difficult setup; a second star for the problem with the volume of the alarm after power outages; and a third star because in the end I just couldn't use this unit as an alarm clock, which was my true intended purpose for it. But the 2 star ranking notwithstanding, if you're looking for an iPod dock and radio that you don't need to use as an alarm clock this will serve just fine -and with the price having dropped from the time I first purchased it, I'd certainly recommend it in that capacity. Hope this helps!
Want Altec Lansing M302 Moondance Home Alarm Clock Radio for iPod and MP3 Players (Black) Discount?
Pros: The unit has a nice solid look and feel. The weight makes it feel like a quality item. There is no thin plasticy feel anywhere. The sound seems pretty good for a clock radio, I'm no audiophile but I would say it sounds rich.
Cons: I consider myself to be very good with computers and electronic gadgets. I found the instructions were required for almost every step of the setup. Nothing about the controls is intuitive. Even after having the unit for several weeks i had to refer to the instructions to change the alarm settings.
The buttons are very small and the type is even smaller! Definitely needed the bedside lamp on to make adjustments.
The radio stations can only be changed via the remote control, so if you lose that I hope you like the station it is tuned to.
The buttons and type on the remote are small, keep your reading glasses handy.
No AM radio.
Lowest volume setting is too loud.
Conclusion: returned the item for another brand, glad to be rid of it.
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I've been looking for a new clock radio for several months now, so when this item showed up as a Lightning Deal, I jumped on it. Altec Lansing has a great reputation for sound, and this did everything I was looking for two alarms, iPod dock, FM radio, etc. It arrived quickly and in great condition. I didn't have any trouble setting it up I'm good with gadgets and the instructions were clear. It wasn't an intuitive set-up, but with the instructions I had no issues. However, the sound... dear Gods, the sound. No matter what I listened to, it sounded like the speakers were hidden under a heavy cloth or under water. A DJ talking sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown. It was muffled, muttered, all-low sound with none of the excellence I expected from a unit that originally would have cost nearly $100. I thought perhaps there was a blown speaker, but there were none of the tell-tale signs of that. Just bad quality. I tried this with the iPod, radio stations, different locations... nothing helped. It was honestly bad enough that I've returned the item. I'll suffer my ancient Memorex alarm clock for a while longer and keep looking for something else.
