- All-in-one remote control.
- Play and charge your iPod or iPhone simultaneously.
- MP3 Link for portable music playback, FM digital tuning with presets
- Auto clock synchronization, Sleep timer, Dual alarm and Gentle wake
- iPod Compatibility: iPod mini, iPod with color display, iPod 5th Generation, iPod classic, iPod nano 1st Generation, iPod nano 2nd Generation, iPod nano 3rd Generation, iPod nano 4th Generation, iPod nano 5th Generation, iPod nano 6th generation, iPod touch 2nd Generation, iPod 6th Generation
- iPhone Compatibility: iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4
If, however, you own an older iPod, this is a nice quality system for the price. It offers a variety of features and accomplishes most of them proficiently.
These days you can define an electronic device by what is does and by what it does not do. Phillips describes this product as a clock radio with a docking system for an iPod/iPhone. As far as I am concerned, the docking system for the iPod/iPhone is the strongest feature.
Not only will the device charge an iPod and play music stored in iTunes, it promises to fit any model iPod/iPhone without the need for extra attachments of any kind. I tried the system with three trusty household iPods: an iPod/video (long in the tooth but with an entire family's music collection stored within), a 4th generation Nano (my personal favorite and purple), and an iPod Touch (2nd or possibly 3rd generation). All iPods are in cases and all these iPods fit the docking system easily without the need to remove its case. As far as I am concerned, this alone is worth the price of admission.
I was able to easily navigate the menus and playlists and raise and lower the sound volume of all three model iPods using the system's controls as well as the provided little remote control. Navigating around the iPod/Video was a bit pokey, but nothing terrible. The Nano was next in responsiveness. The iPod Touch worked the best and I was able to navigate around many of its features.
One of the benefits of using this docking system with the iPod Touch or iPhone is that you can connect to Pandora or other internet enabled services. This extends the listening experience greatly and allows the docking station to begin to compete with nifty internet radios such as the Logitech Squeezebox Logitech Squeezebox Radio Music Player with Color Screen (Black). I had no problem navigating Pandora with the remote control or the Touch's touch screen.
As far as the clock radio goes, I found it adequate. I enjoyed having FM radio with 20 pre-sets and an automatic tuning feature. I would enjoy AM radio as well; it would have been nice if it had been included.
The sound quality is ok. It's nothing like my Bose docking system that issued a mysterious click and stopped working over a year ago, but the Phillips has many more features and is far less expensive.
One very significant complaint I have concerns the digital clock on the outside of the docking station. The most important feature of a clock radio is the clock itself. If the clock is not accurate or consistent, you are lost. One feature of this system is when you insert an iPod or iPhone on to the device, the device defaults to the time on the iPod/iPhone. Now, this is a nifty feature if you have an iPhone and other reviewers have commented on it. However, I only have iPods. When I set up this docking system I set the clock. As long as the system stays plugged in, the clock should be accurate. When I inserted my three various iPods I discovered that none of their clocks were accurate. In fact, in 2 cases, the iPod's calendars and clocks had defaulted to factory presets. This is not something I would normally check.....the time on my iPod Nano, for instance, is not on my radar. If I sync'd these devices with my computer every day, perhaps their clocks would be accurate. Whatever. Each time I inserted an iPod on to the Phillips system, the time on the clock went from accurate to terribly awry. Adjusting the time on the iPod while it is docked does not help. The time is only sync'd once, when the iPod is first inserted. Each time I have used this as a clock radio, I have made it a point to confirm the accuracy of the time on the iPod before I connect it and then double check the time on the system after it syncs.
All in all, this is a decent system at a reasonable price. Time will tell how durable and dependable it is.
Buy Philips AJ7040D 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Speaker Dock Now
The Philips Docking System for iPod and iPhone is an attractive unit that serves as an iPod dock -recharging your device when it's plugged in -and an alarm clock radio. It performs the functions you'd expect from a clock radio: it has two alarms (with buzzer/radio/dock options) and snooze (9 mins.) and sleep functions. And the unit has some nice features: It grabs the time from your iPod so you don't have to set it manually (although you can). It has room for 20 preset FM stations which can be set either automatically or manually. It comes with a remote that seems to operate very smoothly. And it's great that the device can work with a range of iPod cases.The device does have some issues, however, that prevent me from recommending it wholeheartedly.
1. This may well be -perhaps almost certainly is -a problem unique to the unit I received, however, the buzzer on both alarms is barely audible. You can hear it if you put your ear up against the unit, but there's no way it could wake anyone up. Since the alarm type will default to buzzer if you've selected dock (iPod) but don't have your iPod plugged in, that means that you have to be very careful to either select radio as your alarm preference or plug in your iPod before going to sleep.
2. The alarm buttons you have to push to turn off the alarm are flush with the top of the machine and thus very difficult to find by touch alone.
3. The connector that you plug your iPod into is spring loaded. This is nice in one sense, because when connected your iPod is pushed to the rear, securely nestled against a rubber nub that protrudes slightly from the speakers. But in order to plug in your iPod you have to push the connector forward, then seat the iPod on top of it. After many attempts I'm getting better at doing this, but it was initially very frustrating.
4. This is surely a question of taste, but I'm not thrilled with the sound. There's far too much bass, and there's no way to change the bass/treble ratio. One time I put my iPod on and it sounded much better. Great, I thought, maybe the bass issue was temporary! But it turned out that the iPod wasn't connected properly (see note 3), so I was hearing the iPod speakers and not the Philips speakers. That it sounded better unconnected is kind of sad.
-Debra Hamel
Read Best Reviews of Philips AJ7040D 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Speaker Dock Here
If you live in the world of Apple like myself & my family, then this is the clock for you. The iPhone, iPad, & iPod can all charge and play from this. My family had a party and instead of making a mix CD for the occasion we were able to play music all night from the iPod. The sound is good. Has a lot of bass behind it. The programming took me a while to catch onto. However, it stores the info even when you unplug it. The blue light is very bright, I cover it up at night or else it makes the room glow blue. Overall, great device if you are an Apple user.Want Philips AJ7040D 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Speaker Dock Discount?
Bought my 17 year old son and myself one of these each for Christmas. The sound and quality of this little unit is outstanding. Very pleased with this purchase. An added bonus is that his phone fits while still in it's otterbox defender case and mine fits while still in it's otterbox commuter series case! Most docking systems will not accommodate a phone while still in these cases.I wanted to love this product. Having read the other reviews here on Amazon before I made this purchase, I took notice that there were complaints about the bass/treble balance. Hey, who doesn't like a strong bass sound? Turns out not having control over the bass is a problem even for a basic music listener such as me.When I listened to banda, all I heard was the tuba. When I listened to hip hop, I couldn't hear the lyrics. Classical -the flute no longer exists. Radio DJ's were unintelligible at times.
After dissatisfaction with the sound quality of pop, latin music, classical, hip hop, reggae and 80's new wave, I decided to return the set. It's a shame, because it is really easy to use, the remote control is good to have, and it's attractive and affordable.
Other users may have had better luck with their favorite genres, but I can say unequivocally that my $10 am/fm clock radio from Walgreen's has better sound.
Check it out for yourself; Amazon makes it easy to return if you don't keep it.
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