Aura Sound Station

Aura Sound Station
  • I-Pod/I-Phone compatible, Internet Radio via Shoutcast, Digital Photo Frame, Video/Movie Capability, FM Radio with presets, Bass Boost Enhancement.
  • 2GB Internal Storage, alarm Clock, Built In WiFi, InternalWLAN, USB-keyboard enter URL, IR Remote Control
  • Supports MP3 (Thomson), MPEG4, H 264, JPEG, TIFF, BMP
  • Headphone audio output jack, 3.5mm AUX audio input, A-Type USB host input, Ethernet RJ-45, WLAN Antenna connection.
  • ipod; docking system; wifi; mp3; internet radio; aura sound

The Aura Soundstation is an excellent docking station and multimedia center. Its glossy black color and rounded shape are aesthetically pleasing and looks great in most rooms. It is light weight and easy to move and set up.

The Soundstation supports many mediums in which to enjoy one's media, including docking an ipod or iphone, loading it onto the Soundstation directly by USB drive, auxiliary cable, internet radio, and FM radio. Ipod controls on the Soundstation are great.

The picture quality of the 7 inch touchscreen is clear and vivid, and controls are responsive to touch. The Soundstation requires a slightly more firm touch than current high end touch screens as those in ipods and ipads, but is very responsive nonetheless. Control icons are clear and menus are easy to navigate. I could easily navigate through my playlists, albums, artists, and songs to find the music that I wanted. Ipod video and picture controls are similarly easy to navigate. Auxiliary and FM radio controls are very clear as well.

The only aspect of the Soundstation that I have had some difficulty with is finding internet radio stations (using the wireless internet setting), although, I do not know any internet radio stations to begin with. Searching for a radio station by genre and setting favorites is simple...assuming you know what stations to look for. However, this is a small complaint considering the product in its entirety.

I would DEFINITELY recommend the Aura Soundstation to anyone looking for a small, portable, easy to use ipod ready Soundstation.

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Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player

-first impressions are everything, as the saying goes -and, Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player delivered the "wow-factor" right out of the box!

Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player does not disappoint Me when it comes to quality.

a few many things I like about the Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player :

* Sleek, stylish, modern, comes in my favorite color black, goes with most any decor, light weight and easy to move from one room to another, skid/slip proof feet -stays put when I press the icons on the touch screen or plug things into the back, a lot of Fun to configure and Play with -I kid you not! :)

* Large touch screen with rich vivid/vibrant colors and easy to see/decipher touch icons. for Me, all icons worked (went to desired destination without flicker or hesitation) when lightly touched, without any problems.

* My ears detected Excellent Sound quality, with no distortion.

* Creates Envy -everyone that has Seen the Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player -in my home, Wants the Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player! 'nuf said :)

* The light weight, credit-card thin, remote control feels great in palm of hand -and, all buttons function without any problems.

* Am able to hook up, and play, all kinds of media devices, old to new technology (portable cd players I have left over from my jogging days, thumb drives, flash drives, an external hard drive, my cameras, a variety of mp3 players -as examples) -without problems.

* The Photo Viewer mode is highly configurable and a lot of fun to set up ( with its multitude of transitions et al ) and use.

* The Radio mode will search, lightning fast, for the 20 strongest radio signals in your area -then lock them in as pre-sets -until you touch the search icon again, starting the process all over. Very nice feature!

Tips:

* The glossy black finish, on the Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player, will pick up fingerprints quite easily, but I discovered that they can be wiped away, in a flash, with a clean/soft/dry micro-fiber cloth.

* One must go through the calibration process before using for the Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player for the 1st time -else, it will just sit on the screen with the "+" in the left hand corner and look like it is defective. But, it isn't! Calibration is quick and easy! :) after that, you are taken immediately to the touch screen -where all the Fun begins! :)

* One does not need an IPod/IPhone for the Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player to work. Just hook up your mp3 player, or phone to the Auxiliary Mode, using the "supplied" green connection cable.

Aura Sound Station Universal Media Player would make a Fantastic gift for any "special" somebody -and, don't forget to pick up one for yourself! :) Highly Recommended! --Katharena Eiermann, 2011

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Although I received this products months ago, I recently hooked it up to my Ipod Nano. It starts out with a blank screen that has a + sign that you touch with your fingertips 4 times (it shows up in each corner) The problem for me was that after doing this and wanting to play music, it was a pain in the butt to get it to read your finger print and nothing would play or you have to constantly press it and then it randomly goes to another screen, and worse of all it freezes and then you have to restart it. I've spent more time tapping on this thing than actually hearing music off it.

The date shows as DAY/MONTH/YEAR, I found that to be strange also. The LED is so bright for the clock, if you are like me and like your bedroom dark, this is not the place to leave your clock on.

It's easy to use, but all the time you spend to try and get it to play music is just annoying.

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I was unbelievably excited to get this unit. But I have yelled my throat raw trying to set it up. The touchscreen is not responsive... you can press, tap, whatever and it either ignores you or chooses something else entirely. You will spend half your time screaming "NOOOOOOO!" It also relies on a lot of swiping, for instance to find internet radio stations... you have to swipe your way through dozens and dozens of groups of 10 (really bizarre) stations, which is incredibly difficult when the screen is unresponsive. Even the clock took a good 10 minutes to set, because you have to press and press and press before it will respond. The "back" button is way too close to other things, so as you're trying unsuccessfully to press it repeatedly and it won't respond, whatever is directly underneath it inevitably gets pressed, and it's nearly impossible to go back. I'm not sure how much the "touchscreen calibration" thing matters, but I've done it twice.

If you have your home wi-fi as a "closed" network, you cannot use this wirelessly unless you open the network, because it does not give you the option to type in the name of your hidden network, only the passwords of the networks it can see. This is an issue they need to fix, because many people have hidden networks that require the name of the network to be entered before the device can even see it. Unfortunately, though, even after you open the network, the unit sometimes sees it and sometimes doesn't. I don't have this problem with any other device.

The remote is extremely basic and doesn't allow you to navigate the options on the screen. It would be great to have a full-featured remote to bypass the annoying touchscreen situation. Also, no amount of shoving or wiggling would make the USB port accept even the most basic thumb drive. It simply doesn't fit. I've tried playing music wirelessly through iTunes via Airport and with my iPod since I can't download anything to the unit's internal drive, but the sound quality is abominable. Even at fairly low levels it's distorted, as if the speakers are blown. It's basically unlistenable.

Basically, if these technical problems were resolved, this unit would be heaven on Earth. It's a fabulous idea, and I love having all these features in one small unit. But trying to make it work will bring the most patient person to tears, and impatient people will give up fairly quickly and throw it in the closet. I'm somewhere in between, so I'll keep trying.

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Subtitle: A Very Expensive 7" Digital Picture Frame

This little stereo looks great. It has a sleek, glossy, modern black case that fits in well in a modern decor. The digital picture function is excellent. You transfer your photos via a USB drive, then they play on the screen in clear color with some pretty transitions. You can also transfer your MP3 audio and MP4 video to the device (or just play them directly from your USB drive). The video quality is very good, and the audio quality is acceptable, if only just. You can't expect much from such small speakers, so the sound is a bit tinny. The remote is small and easy to use. Also, you can plug in anything that has a 3.5" headset jack to play the audio through this unit.

Unfortunately, that's where the good stuff ends. I had hoped to use this primarily as an Internet radio, but it does not function as advertised there. I have a WiFi b/g/n network running WPA2 Personal security. I have many items connected to this network, including four PCs, two DVRs, a BluRay player, a bridge, a printer, a couple of Palm Pres, and all of these connected to the network first time, just as they were supposed to. The Aura Sound Station will not connect to the network at all. Every time I try, I get "CONNECTED: FAIL." I emailed tech support, but have never heard back from them. Therefore, this "Internet radio" is no such thing since it will not connect to the Internet. Of course, I should have taken it as a bad sign when the connection menu asked me for my "passward." Misspellings in the user interface are never an indication of good quality control.

So, if I cannot listen to Internet radio, at least it has FM radio, right? Well, not exactly. I plugged in the FM antenna and got no stations at all. I held the antenna every way possible, and I still couldn't get a station that transmits 2.5 miles from my home! There is a menu setting for US or European FM, but it was on the default US setting.

So, no Internet radio, and no FM radio, but at least it has an alarm clock, right? OK, technically it has an alarm clock, but it doesn't have a working clock, so the alarm clock is useless. Yep, I set the clock as soon as I started it up, and the clock stopped at 8:03 PM. No matter what I set it to, it always displays 8:03 PM. Useful in finding the time of death in an Agatha Christie murder mystery, but not so useful for telling time. I have never seen a digital clock stop before, so that was interesting, at least!

So, no Internet radio, no FM radio, and no alarm clock, what's left? Well, that leaves you with an expensive MP3 player/digital picture frame. The touchscreen isn't as responsive as many, so even as an MP3 player, this leaves a lot to be desired. You can scroll through your songs, but every second or third page you will accidentally select a song while trying to scroll. Hopefully, you only like songs that start with A or B! Likewise, all music is dumped into the root folder, so you can't even just find a folder of songs you want to hear and play that, you are stuck with the entire list every time!

The only thing I didn't get to review here is the iPhone dock, since I do not own an iAnything. Maybe that works REALLLY well to make up for all the other deficiencies. At least it has a nice door covering the iPhone dock, so you don't have an ugly hole in the top when there isn't an iPhone there.

Maybe they'll fix these problems in a firmware update, but considering that tech support ignores emails, I'm not holding my breath. If these are fixed with a firmware upgrade, I'll return here to ammend my review. In the meantime, give this one a pass!

Yamaha PDX-30BL Speaker Dock for iPod and iPhone, 1 Each (Black)

Yamaha PDX-30BL Speaker Dock for iPod and iPhone, 1 Each
  • You can plug your iPod or your iPhone right onto the unit
  • Is light weight and easy to carry around
  • Uses Yamaha's original digital amplifier with extremely low noise and distortion
  • Card type remote unit for additional convenience

I have checked out almost all the iPod/iTouch speakers on the market ever since I added the XM radio app to my iTouch. Since I was hoping to play XM fo rextended periods,I needed a speaker that would charge my second generation while it was playing. Here is a word of caution to anyone in the same situation: not all docking players will charge as they play, especially when it comes to the second generation. Before I bought the unit I actually called Yamaha and they assured me on two different occasions that their player would indeed charge as playing. And it does. Then you have to hear it to believe it. The sound is exceptional, probably better than units that are twice as expensive. The reputation of Yamaha as a maker of quality audio products shines through. Now would anyone want to buy a somewhat used Altec-Lansing?

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This speaker dock does only one thing: It plays your iPod or iPhone. There's no clock, no radio, no CD slot, not even an audio-in jack. It's not cheap, either.

But what it does do, it does *really* well. I tried out numerous iPod/iPhone speaker docks in the one to two hundred dollar price range, and I strongly preferred the sound of the Yamaha PDX-30 to any of the alternatives. The sound is not tinny, buzzy, or boomy, but clean and balanced. The unit sounds good at both low and high volumes. I've used it on low volume in a small bedroom and on higher volume in a large classroom, and it sounds great in both settings.

It can even function as an alarm clock using the iPod's alarm clock feature. A bonus is that even though this is not a "portable" unit -there's no handle or carrying case -it's small enough to fit in a backpack or messenger bag.

Highly recommended if sound quality, iPhone compatibility, and an under-two-hundred-dollar price tag are your top criteria.

Edited December 2011: Over two years after purchasing this dock, it still sounds great. But it recently stopped charging my iPod. Given that it worked flawlessly for two and a half years, I guess I can't complain, but it's kind of a mystery!

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I spent about 2 weeks in search of the right iPod speaker. I'm not an "audiophile" by any means but I wanted a rich sounding speaker dock with good bass for my bedroom and also to bring into the living room for background music when I had guests. I don't think it's too bassy, btw, as some reviewers have said but maybe it's because I have a preference for a little more bass. The quick general fix is to set your iPod EQ to fit your mood accordingly.

I also looked at the Kanto SYD 4 and 5 (80 watts!), Klipsch iGroove SXT (kind of wimpy looking although seemed to have decent sound at the Apple Store), Philips dc570 tower (maybe too bulky looking but 100 watts) & the clock radios DCM250, Polk iSonic (seemed nice and booming, but expensive & people think the LED screen is too bright at night), and JBL On Stage 400P (seemed to provide really solid and powerful sound but I find it kind of ugly), among others.

This provided the best combination of sound, power (30 Ws) and sleekness. I am a minimalist and you can't beat this Yamaha speaker dock for how clean, sleek and compact it looks. For power in a self-contained iPod speaker, I'm convinced that the Kanto SYD 5 is the way to go and I was thinking of buying it. But I'm not 20 anymore (I'm 39) and I don't need to blow people (or myself) out of the water any longer. Plus the SYD 5 is pretty stinking huge and this Yamaha, is compact and sits on my bedroom nightstand beautifully.

There are a couple of foibles. It doesn't have an aux line in. Why in the world they wouldn't just put that in is a headscratcher. But it wasn't a dealbreaker for me. It doesn't have radio, which is fine since I can just stream stations and use Pandora from my iPod Touch. But the most significant foible is that the remote only controls your own music library. If you are playing Pandora, the remote does not operate the controls for the next song or to switch categories. I forget but some iPod dock speakers allow you to use the iPod Touch/iPhone as its remote control so you can have full control of the streaming music, not just your music library.

But all these foibles do not overcome how much I like this unit. And at $169 with saver shipping from Amazon.com to Hawaii (shipping is routinely an issue for us), this was a great deal. I may one day buy a SYD 5 for dual use with iPod and maybe my TV, but for now, I'm really glad I bought this and it was exactly what I thought I was getting.

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My Bose Soundock system died for reasons not clear to me. The Bose system is okay but is grossly overpriced at $300. I spent an inordinate amount of time looking at and listening to potential replacememts. I came on one of these at a BestBuy and a b'd to everything there. In my view there is a lot of bass produced but I think it still has a better overall response level than most and I'm pretty particular. The Soundock may seem smoother as it is all midrange but this system beats it hands down for overall sound reproduction. Keep in mind that Yamaha has long been a high end audio brand a much higher end brand than Bose or KLipsch or any of the others out there so the sonic performace of this unit should not be surprising. No problem with power either the unit can fill my large garage with ease.

I've liked this unit so much I have also purchased the clock radio/CD player unit for my master bedroom which is also excellent if you need the additional features.

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I read all the reviews of the black model, and there seems to be a consensus that the sound quality of this Yamaha is overly bass-heavy, so when it arrived last week I was expecting to be slightly disappointed in the sound. Far from it! Although I agree with another poster who suggested setting your iPod's EQ to the "jazz" setting for a brighter tone balance, the reality is this unit sounds exceptional right out of the box.

The ease of use is typically brilliant, and the remote is as intuitive as the iPod itself. And in case you care (as I do), this until hits harder than you'd expect for such compact dimensions. I live in a 1300 sq. ft. apartment, and it's the only sound system I need even for parties. It easily has the muscle to overpower a condo packed with revelers, and the distortion even at high volume levels is commendably low. Factor in the Japanese minimalism of the design and the funky blue color scheme and the PDX-30BU scratches me where I itch. I love the thing.

Admittedly, if your tastes run toward gadgety features on a speaker system, this definitely isn't the unit for you. It doesn't do anything except play your music. But if you're looking for sound quality and muscle that puts something like the (woefully overrated) Bose SoundDock on the trailer, then this is the best bang for the buck anywhere.

Get it. You'll love it.

Nokia C3-01 Unlocked Touch and Type GSM Phone--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver)

Nokia C3-01 Unlocked Touch and Type GSM Phone--U.S. Version with WarrantyI purchased this phone as a gift for my teenage daughter, she loves the phone...Initially, she was upset at me as I didn't ask her about her thoughts on what kind of phone she would prefer, so I thought I could use this phone if she didn't like it, well, after playing a bit with it, she got in love with this nice piece of technology...She is used to texting via traditional keypad, so she loves the idea of navigating through menus and options via the touchscreen while keeping the phone keypad for dialing and texting functions. Quality of the phone is great (my daughter has tons of pics she can keep in a large memory microSD card, so this is a plus too), the phone feels very resistant and the silver version is very elegant, fits perfectly into small pockets. You'll need to adjust touch screen sensitivity to your preferrences, but the phone has a good feature for completing this task easily. 3G and Wifi capabilities works great in my country, and even when my daugthers' sim card is from 2G technology, the phone has extraordinary reception at areas where her previous 2-3 Nokia phones (various Music express models) never had signal. Quality of pictures are awesome (have not used the flash at this time, but we'll see...). Overall, I highly recommend this phone for someone who needs good battery performance, nice quality pictures, all good stuff such as music, videos, etc., good signal reception and also wanting to keep keypad control for dialing/ texting while improving menu navigation through touch screen...Great product!

UPDATE! I had one of the first reviews for this phone, (maybe the first?) on Amazon and I can no longer recommend this phone for US customers. No US GSM carrier has sold this phone so Nokia has apparently decided it is not worth supporting in the US. They have some way of identifying the hardware and the new firmware is not available or downloadable through their software application. They have not only added features but according to release notes they have added bug fixes. Great, now I know I have a phone with software bugs that will never be fixed. My phone is also dropping calls indoors where I have never had problems with previous phones. I wonder if that is one of the bug fixes.

I tried to open a ticket with Nokia customer support, this was my response from May 3rd.

Thank you for contacting Nokia.

You will be receiving a reply from one of our Customer Care Representatives at the earliest.

Have a good day.

It's June 9th, haven't heard a thing. Nice way to treat your customers.

I had to replace the phone on my ATT plan ( Nokia Mural ) because the battery life was horrible, it dropped calls, would not receive calls and the menu navigation was awful.

I am not interested in a smart phone. My top priorities are battery life, call quality and ease of use. I could also care less about a camera in a phone. I also carry my phone in my pocket so the size and shape of this phone is important. For the 2 weeks I have owned this phone it has met all of these criteria. I went 3 days before the first charge and that was after playing with all the phones features like WLAN, bluetooth camera and media player and I still had battery left. The call quality is superb, people talking to me on the other end have also noticed the difference, no dropped callls so far. The ring volume is EXCELLENT! The main screen and goto menus are totally customizable so if you don't find this phone easy to use it is your own fault. The resistive touch makes navigation easy. The screen is also very clear and the picture quality is excellent. Texting uses the traditional key pad and utilizes the touch feature for special charachters. This phone is thin and the back is rounded so it carries well in my pocket, sometimes I forget it is there.

Now for the extra features. The camera takes pretty awful pictures but I find that true with most phones. Flash photography on this thing produces incredibly washed out colors. I the WLAN feature is great!, the default browser is very poor but it also comes with Opera Mini web browser pre-installed and that works surprisingly well. This does not surf the web as well as a "smart" phone but it is certainly tolerable. One of my favorite features is the * button can be held down for 3 seconds to turn on the camera flash for a flashlight. Love it! So far the software support from Nokia is poor because the phone is so new. There is no ActiveSync which I think is true for most phone. SUPL location, which uses tower triangulation to find your location, is available but I have not found an app that it works with yet. The java google maps does not support the touch screen. It comes with a built in mail app which support gmail. The is no plugin yet for Apple iSync. Hopefully there will be better software choices the longer this phone is out. The music player is relatively good, decent sound and a regular sized headphone jack is awesome. I also appreciate the ability to charge with both the Nokia barrel charger and micro usb.

I own an ipod touch which senses electrical conductivity, this phone differs in that it uses resistive touch which senses pressure. It is not as sensitive but has the advantage of not exposing a glass surface ( possibly more durable ) and you could still use it with gloves on. Once you get use to using the touch on this phone it goes smooth. It seems to work best with your thumb.

I would recommend this phone to anyone who likes to use their phone as a phone.

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This phone is one of the best innovations by Nokia. It combines both a touchscreen factor and a keypad design that users can make use of. The large keypad really helps for typing and the interface, as usual, is very user friendly.

There are somethings you have to be careful for... For instance, when you're sending a text message, if you accidentally touch the screen, you may hit the "cancel" button and your text will not go through.

I wish the text message interface woud be a little bit better. It just takes time to get to a text message especially if it's a recent one in my opinion. For some users it may not be a problem at all.

Also, this phone's vibration is a little light. You may not feel it vibrating for a call sometimes if you're walking or doing physical work.

Other than that, it's a really nice, SUPER slim stainless steel phone. the camera is very good. it has a flashlight. the dialpad is really large for your fingers.

Surely, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages & that's why I still use mine

Read Best Reviews of Nokia C3-01 Unlocked Touch and Type GSM Phone--U.S. Version with Warranty (Silver) Here

'Bought this phone about a month ago, I think it's fantastic. 'Best advice I have to give is know what you're looking for in a phone. Pictures are decent if you hold the camera extremely steady, video is average, call quality is good, honestly it's average.

The selling points it had for me include:

-Hefty phone, it's not flimsy especially w/ the Stainless steel backing I love it. The plastic isn't flimsy either.

-Wifi capable, not a deal breaker but it's convenient if you're bored in starbucks. No Ovi maps, but a physical map works just as well.

One of my keys creak, but I'm sure it's an isolated incident, 'still feels just as strong as the other ones and doesn't bother me at all.

I dropped this phone twice in the course of the same minute, and two of the keys were knocked loose (protruded slightly, but no play)

I googled dis-assembly for the phone and apparently nokia supplies a free manual for complete tear down of the phone, which I love.

If any think breaks on this phone, the screen for example, just get one for 20 bucks, look up the information, and install it yourself, no hassling with people over the phone.

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I have always been a Nokia fan, but their basic phones sort of disappeared during the smart-phone craze. This phone was described somewhere as a hybrid, and I have found that this is a very good description. I really didn't want a smart-phone, but this gives me the best of both worlds. Battery life is great, it's an attractive phone, and I can go on the internet if I want to. AT&T doesn't consider it a smart-phone, so I am trying out an unlimited internet access plan for $10 per month. If I want, I can drop that plan and get free wi-fi access where available. The free Ovi mail account is good for folks like me who don't want to "text" but who occasionally like to communicate via email on the go. I did have some trouble hooking up to the internet initially, but thankfully there are folks out there (on the web) who have left great trails of useful tips--and so I programmed myself onto the AT&T links. I highly recommend this phone.

May 1 update: I'm still enjoying this phone, but buyer beware: I have noticed that this phone "jumps around" without my hitting any keys. I'm not sure why, but just be very aware that you have actually "locked" your phone, and are back at the main screen when you're done using any application.

Coby Portable Dual Alarm Clock/Radio with Motorized iPod Docking System (Black)

Coby Portable Dual Alarm Clock/Radio with Motorized iPod Docking System
  • portable dual alarm clock/radio with motorized iPod docking system
  • universal dock for iPod charges and plays your favorite iPod music, motorized docking mechanism safely secures your iPod, digital AM/FM radio with 30-station preset memory
  • digital clock with two independent alarms and snooze/sleep timers, wake to your iPod, radio, buzzer, easy-to-read, five preset equalizer settings
  • High-output, full-range stereo speakers
  • 3.5mm audio line-in jack for use with any portable audio device (e.g., iPod shuffle), Full function remote control

What is good:

1. Nice appearance

2. Protected iPod compartment

3. Very good sound

4. Multifunctional remote

5. Reasonable price (around $80)

6. Runs on batteries (supposingly long)

7. Alarm watch

8. USB MP3 playback

9. FM Radio with a lot presets

What is bad:

1. At low volume makes noticeable hi-frequency noise

2. Alarm watch is too bright and does not deem even when running on batteries

3. Does not recharge iPod when running on batteries (8D)

4. Keeps iPod backlight constantly "on" which discharges fully charged iPod Nano-4 in about 1.5 hours that does not allow using it outdoor for any reasonable time

5. There is no way to navifate to the different folder when using USB playback function

6. Hanging out long wire as FM antenna?

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I bought this because of its feature that let you plug in a flash drive and play mp3s, but it made a humming noise at low volume levels. I also didn't like that it took 8 batteries (which is sort of OK if I wanted it to be portable), but didn't have a battery backup for the time as a seperate battery.

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I bought this item for my sister for Christmas and it is awesome. My sister loves it and tells me very often that this was the best iPod Dock I could have gotten her. The only drawback that she has found is that she can't figure out how to make the volume on the alarm lower. She has tried many times to turn the volume down when she turns it off, but every time the alarm goes off it startles her with how loud the music comes out. Besides that, this is an awesome iPod dock.

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item works very well, fairly intuitive on control functions, great sound. My wife loves the Ipod dock and the fact that the remote works with it.

Initially I ordered a HOME brand docking system, but it cost more and the sound wasn't nearly as clear. Needless to say, I returned the previous item and kept the Coby product. Great bang per buck!

Uniden TRU9460-2 Expandable Cordless System with Call Waiting/Caller ID and Extra Handset and Charge

Uniden TRU9460-2 Expandable Cordless System with Call Waiting/Caller ID and Extra Handset and Charger
  • 100-name phonebook with 2 numbers per name
  • 100-number Caller ID Memory
  • IntegriSound life-like audio
  • DirectLink 2-way radio feature
  • Intercom between handsets

We've had this system, expanded to 10 handsets, for 6 months. When our old phones and baby monitor died I wanted to buy a new set that could double as an intercom system and baby monitor, both of which are features advertised with this system. I found to my regret that this is a decent expandable system, but does not live up to its promise regarding advanced features.

PROS:

Expands to 10 handsets fine. The extra regular handsets interchange with the original chargers fine. Only the 2 waterproof handsets have to use their different base.

Voice mail indicator light on the top of each handset works with the phone company's indicator tone (i.e. stutter dial tone).

Dedicated voice mail button can be programmed to dial your retrieval phone number & code for one touch message retrieval.

Each handset has a number (based on the order in which you register them with the base) and a nickname. When you turn on room monitoring or intercom, it gives you the list in numeric order to scroll through, but also shows you the nicknames ("Kitchen", "Johns Room", etc.).

Redial has the last 3 numbers dialed, not just the last 1.

Good backlighting shows up in the dark.

CONS:

None of the bases are wall mountable.

Each handset must be configured individually. The phone book can be entered on one then told to copy to each of the others (one at a time). All other features including speed dial settings, voice mail key, ring tones, etc. have to be set on each handset.

Ring tone choices are poor, and grating. There are no remotely "normal" ring tones that are not either gratingly high pitched and metallic, or too soft to be heard. We resorted to the musical tunes but the handsets don't ring at the same time, so it's still a cacaphony.

The intercom feature has it's own painful ringtone that can't be changed.

The "intercom" is more accurately termed "in house calling". The receiving handset rings, and a person must pick it up and answer it. There's no way to make it automatically go to speakerphone. So if the kids choose not to answer the phone, you can't just tell them to come downstairs to dinner anyway. So much for our plan to quit shouting up the stairs! There is one brand that works the "correct" way. Unfortunately, I forgot which it was, since I ran out of time and motivation to package up 10 Unidens and send them back in order to by the other system.

Speakerphone won't turn on until after a few rings when calling out. You can't turn on speakerphone then dial. Our old AT&T 2 handset system allowed us to hit the speaker button to get a dialtone, then dial the #.

Speakerphone volume max is low; it's borderline if you're using the room monitoring feature for listening to a sleeping baby.

When room monitoring is on you cannot make or receive calls. When there is an incoming call you'll get one odd tone, then you have to quickly turn of monitoring and then answer the call.

Handsets cannot be used as monitoring receivers (the listening end) while on the base. So they have to be well charged ahead of time, and may not make it through the night.

Recommendation: All of the manufacturers have their user manuals online. Before buying a system, download the manual and read through the details of how the features work. If I had done that, I would not have purchased this phone.

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After trying several different brands, I've been very happy with this Uniden. Sound quality is good, it's lightweight and the dial pad lights up. Most important, of the 4 different phones I sampled, this is the only model which allows two different household members to be on the phone and access two extensions at the same time (which is apparently called conferencing).

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I had a pair of GE phones and after two years, the LCD display started to disappear. So inititially I replaced them with Motorola's. HUGE mistake!

They were complicated to use, sound wasn't very good, and my family hated them. So, I returned them and bought these Uniden's. They are fantastic!

Easy to use, great feel, many features, reasonable. The only knock on them, is that for a 5.8 Ghz phone, the range is not impressive AT ALL! I had better range with my GE 2.4Ghz phones! I have my "home base" in the kitchen, and when I am a short distance away, in our family room in the lower level, there is QUITE a bit of static that is heard on BOTH ends.

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We have had these phones for over 3 years and haven't had a single problem with them. I especially like the 2-way intercom and handset finder features.

Lots of features. Good phone, expandable to add other handsets. I would reccommend. Unlike my old cordless, only draback is when you clear caller ID on one handset, it does not clear it on the other handsets.

Apple iPod nano 4 GB Silver (2nd Generation) OLD MODEL

Apple iPod nano 4 GB Silver OLD MODEL
  • iPod Nano holds 1000 songs and thousands of photos on 4 GB of storage
  • Download songs, podcasts, and audiobooks from the iTunes Store
  • Large, 1.5-inch color display is 40-percent brighter
  • Customize menus, check capacity, change language, and more from the Nano's Settings menu
  • Measures 1.6 x 3.5 x 0.26 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 1.41 ounces

I've had a chance to play around with this for a few days now, and while I am a huge fan of the iPod Nano, it will not be replacing my 20GB iPod Photo anytime soon. It's Apple's own fault, really; they gave me 20GB (or 40, or 60) of space first, and now they want to take 90% of it away? Don't think so. I've come to believe what Apple's been telling me for a few years now: I NEED to take my entire music collection around with me everywhere I go. It's as essential as my cell phone and Metro Card. So for the storage reason alone, I can't chuck my 20GB model just yet. But the Nano really is a cool machine, and I imagine it will overtake the higher capacity iPods in popularity shortly because of its size, price, and cool factor.

Here's what I consider the improvements to be:

1. First and foremost, the transition to flash memory. This enables the Nano to be smaller and operate quieter than iPods that are hard drive-based. Make no mistake, flash memory is the future of digital music players;

2. The size, duh. Apple has made the Nano smaller without compromising much of the bright colorful screen. As we all now by now, it is thinner than a number two pencil (my 20GB iPod Photo, on the other hand, is probably three pencils thick). But it's still too large and delicate to jog with, without an optional accessory or two (arm band, lanyard headphones); and

3. The Apple-brand accessories that have been released concurrently with the Nano are affordable and well-designed.

...And what's not-so-great:

1. The price drop isn't that substantial, especially for what you get. For an extra $100, you can upgrade to a Photo that has ten times the capacity; and

2. The headphone jack is on the bottom of the Nano. I'm not sure what the logic behind this is-it seems like making a change for the sake of making a change to me.

Some wonderful things about the color iPods in general: they're very easy to use; their demure size could hardly be improved upon; the color screen is beyond adequate for viewing photos and album art; the battery life is exceptional; making playlists and controlling iTunes are simple tasks; all are compatible with Mac or Windows; and if you use a Mac, you can sync your iPod with your address book, to do list, and calendar (this has come in handy for me a number of times when I'm traveling). Also, if you're a college student or an educator at any level, the Apple Store (both the b&m and online versions) gives discounts on just about everything. For iPods it's about $20, but for computers it's up to $300

The bottom line on the Nano: it's a great entry-level MP3 player that will probably suffice for most listeners. However, if you're a music warrior who listens for many hours a day, many days a week, then 2-4GB is just too small to suit you--but of course you've had an iPod for three years now, and you already knew that.

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Let me start by saying that I'm coming to the iPod Nano from the world of flash MP3 players, this is my first iPod because I was waiting for Apple to make a decent flash MP3... and they've finally done it! So here are the things I love about my iPod Nano after about a month of use:

1) Making playlists on iTunes, this is a wonderful feature that you just don't find outside the iPod world!

2) Beauty, the iPod Nano is without doubt the sexiest MP3 player alive today. Apple really knows how to make beautiful products.

3) Sound is great.

4) Love that click wheel thing, another great idea by Apple.

5) Beautiful big color display makes navigation easy and fun.

I know much of that is old hat to the iPod world, but for me coming from a world of Muvo's and iAudio these are wonderful features. Now for the bad news, why I didn't give the Nano a 5:

1) Fragile!! Doesn't Apple understand that part of the appeal of a flash player is ruggedness? I'm scared to take this thing outside or even put it in my pocket without protection.. I immediately went out and spent another $30 for a decent case which leads to

2) Where are the accessories? My iAudio's and Muvos came with cases and lanyards and armbands. iPod Nano: nothing!! The most expensive player I've bought to date and the one most in need of a protective case and I have to go and spend an extra $30 for what should have been included!

In summary, this is a wonderful product and a delight to use and behold. However, Apple does need to get a clue about durability and accessories imho!

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I bought a 2nd Generation 8 GB Nano to supplement (and probably eventually replace) my 20GB Color iPod, which has been developing signs of old age, getting stuck at innopportune moments. I decided that 8 gig is really big enough to listen to the music I actually listen to every day at the gym, and I wanted to replace my disk-based iPod with a solid state device.

My first reaction upon opening the box was astonishment at how small the Nano is! I had never seen one before. It is very slick.

Itunes is pretty smart about letting me update the 8 GB Nano from the music library I had accumulated for my 20 GB iPod. It creates a special playlist for the Nano to define what songs are specifically downloaded to the smaller device. I had actually thought I would have to set up a completely new music library, and go through the tedium of reloading all those CDs.

One extremely important note of caution for PC users: this is the first USB device I have owned (and I own a lot of different USB devices) that really requires a USB 2.0 port. I didn't even realize that my 3-year-old home-brew Windows machine didn't have USB 2.0; it was never really an issue before. Apple says that USB 2.0 is highly recommended for the 2nd generation Nano, but it really should be a hard requirement. The behavior of my PC while trying to talk to the Nano over a USB 1.1 port was truly bizarre. The Nano basically brought the PC to its knees. I was able eventually to start updating the Nano but after 24 hours had only loaded about 400 songs. The response time of my PC during this ordeal was utterly ridiculous. During the day I bought a USB 2.0 PCI card, shut down the PC, installed the card, and was able to finish updating the Nano in a matter of minutes.

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Ok... This might be the first iPod that I've owned but I've been an admirier of Apple's work for some time. I have several friends with various generations of the original iPod and always loved the combination of art and technology that goes into them.

I had been the owner of a Sony mp3 player for about 2 years and until this summer had no reason to think about replacing it. 256meg of memory seemed enough for me and it was small too. What more did I need really ?? However, over the summer my trusty sony got washed and so it was time to look for something to replace it.

In the run up to my birthday Apple launched the Nano and I instantly fell in love with it. I have no real need for 60 gigabytes of storage but knew that 256 meg was limiting the amount of music I could carry around with me. Even the 2gig version which held 500 songs would be fine for me. I added a Nano to my birthday wish list and waited !!

Last Friday I opened up the sleek box to feast my eyes on my Nano for the first time. Even though I'd read pages of reviews about the player, I was still amazed at the size (or lack of size) of this unit. It's just tiny !! Not so small that you'd lose it but small enough that when It's in your pocket you can forget its there. The screen is so bright and clear and the sound !!.... WOW. For such a small player, it certainly packs quite a punch in the volume department. Full volume would certainly lead to hearing damage after a short time.

The iTunes software that comes with it is easy to install and easy to use. I was soon burning my CD's onto my PC with ease. A 10-12 track CD takes around 2-3 minutes to load onto the PC but uploading those same songs onto the iPod takes a fraction of that time. Infact on day 1 I loaded about 450 songs onto my player and it can't have taken more than 5 or 6 minutes. The product specs say that the 2gig version will hold 500 songs. Well I've got about 560 on mine at the moment and there is still about 250 meg free. I'm sure that the actual storage capabilities depend on the length of the songs you're loading.

I'd read lots about the problems with early versions of the Nano with regard to failing screens and scratches etc. but guess what ??... stuff gets scratched and damaged, thats just how it is. if you;re silly enough to think that anything will stay as pristine as the day it was bought, then you're bound to be dissappointed. I will be buying a case for mine (probably an Agent18 hard case) because I want to keep it in the best shape possible. I'd reccommend others do the same, not because it will fall apart if you don't but because when you're spending $200 on something, you want to look after it !!

I'm not going to tell anyone that the iPod Nano is the best value mp3 player on the market. There are plenty of others that have it beat hands down in terms of storage and price. However, I am willing to say that It's probably the sexiest mp3 player around and has the competition beat when it comes to looks. Add to that the fact that 500+ songs is probably more than enough for most users, that the quality of the sound is excellent and that (sor far) battery life has been up there with most of the others on the market, this really is an awesome piece of kit and well worth considering if you don't need the ability to carry around 25,000 songs !!

Bottom line... if you want a great looking player that is very capable and also has some neat additional functions that most of the others don't have then get out there and get yourself a Nano. If you want something thats gonna hold thousands and thousands of songs and withstand you throwing it around all the time, look elsewhere !!

I love mine

Mark

I am 48 years old and have never owned an MP3 player before. Prior to this, I saw the MP3 player as one of those gadgets that teenagers were always fiddling with. I finally learned that with an MP3 player I could just buy the songs I wanted and not the whole CD, so that is why I decided to look into them. I could not care less about "brand names" and did not have any preference towards any of the players as I knew nothing about them. I was looking at Zune, Ipod, and creative (the three main ones that I could find) and did a lot of reading up on of them before I bought the Nano. All three sounded good and it was a tough choice. In the end, I bought the Nano because:

1. I did not like the sound of the $15 dollar "rental" fee that Microsoft charges for the Zune. If you want a song permanently, you have to buy it in addition to the rental fee. I don't like the sound of the points system, either.

2. Ipods come different models and sizes. The Nano was the size and price that best suited my buget.

3. Ipod Itunes has more music than the others, and music is my main use.

4. I already had a satellite radio boombox that also doubled as an Ipod player, saving me the expensive of buying an additional player for one of the other MP3's.

5. The Creative was harder to find in my area.

I just began using the Nano today and am thrilled with the purchase. I bought a prepaid music card and used it immediately. I had no trouble at all with installing software, purchasing, or downloading the music. The Ipod sceen is somewhat small, but easy to see and navigate. The click wheel is also nice, a little hard to get used to, but very fast. There is a "hold" button that you can use to prevent the device from accidently turning on. There is a clock and calender included. I cannot believe something this fun comes in such a small package!! (But I guess that applies to all MP3's) I wish these were around 30 years ago! I am now a older person fiddling with a gadget.

I found the Apple web site to be very helpful with tutorials etc. The information included with the Nano was not very helpful. I also bought the Ipod and Itunes for Dummies book and have been very pleased with it.

I can see myself buying another in the future, but will also still consider Zune if I want to upgrade.

iSound ISOUND-1669 DreamTime Pro FM Clock Radio - Black

iSound  ISOUND-1669 DreamTime Pro FM Clock Radio - Black
  • Play and Charge your iPhone or iPod
  • Clock syncs with iPhone clock
  • AUX input for other music devices
  • Digital FM radio with 20 presets

Just got this out of the box. It actually fills the kitchen with sound. It's definitely not a Bose but for the price it does what I want. I would say the sound quality is way better than a typical clock radio. I didn't even realize it has a remote that works well too. I will be keeping this until I get the Bose wave radio which is about 10x the cost so it might be a while.

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Great sound, compact look, good features. Unfortunately the insert will not connect with the newest iPhone (I have the iPhone 4) and barely fits the iTouch. This is even without case protectors!

Boss BV7325B In-Dash 3.2-Inch DVD/MP3/CD Widescreen Receiver with USB and Bluetooth (Detachable Fron

Boss BV7325B In-Dash 3.2-Inch DVD/MP3/CD Widescreen Receiver with USB and Bluetooth
  • AM/FM radio, DVD, SVCD, VCD, CD, CD-R/RW, WMA/MP4/MP3 receiver
  • 4 x 80 Watts maximum power with front/rear, subwoofer preamp outputs
  • 3.2-inch TFT LCD display with 1440 x 234 pixel resolution
  • Includes front panel auxiliary input, USB port, SD card slot, wireless remote
  • One-year limited warranty
  • AM/FM radio, DVD, SVCD, VCD, CD, CD-R/RW, WMA/MP4/MP3 receiver with 3.2 Inch TFT LCD display
  • 4 x 80 Watts maximum power with front/rear, subwoofer preamp outputs
  • 3.2-inch TFT LCD display with 1440 x 234 pixel resolution
  • Includes front panel auxiliary input, USB port, SD card slot, wireless remote
  • One-year limited warranty

OK, I have been living with this thing for a couple months and I am ready to give it the full review top to

bottom! I'll cover the packaging, installation, initial impressions, what works well, what doesn't,

predicted reliability and any tips or tricks that I have learned.

Let's start with the packaging, nothing fancy and if I recall it comes with the metal sleeve, a

couple of 'keys' to remove the radio from the sleeve, a short metal strap to mount it and two wiring

harnesses that plug into the back of the radio. One harness is for power, ground, remote turn on, etc. and

the other is the speaker outputs. Directly connected to the back of the radio (no harness) are all the

inputs and outputs. It also has a manual, the exact same one you can get from the bossaudio web site. Upon

unboxing I looked over the radio and you can tell the Quality Control is not really A+. It works fine and was

not broken in any way but the back side of the screen had a smudge on it and the corner of the front bezel

still had plastic 'flashing' sticking out a little bit. Not a highly polished product that is for sure but I

am not going to be super picky at this price.

Next, installation was fairly easy with this unit. You can wire both wiring harnesses before you put

the radio in since they are modular, leave enough slack to plug them into the radio, plug in the RCAs then

you slide the radio into the sleeve in whatever opening you put it in. Perhaps this is me but there are two

stages of insertion of the radio into the sleeve. The first stage 'clicks' once you get it in a certain

amount. If you push it in really snug it will click into the two small holes right near the front of the

radio on the sides. I was not able to get it to click into the tighter set of holes and also get the

faceplate and trim frame onto the radio. I had to slide it in the first set of holes which leaves about a 1

to 2mm gap between the radio and the sleeve, which looks a little cheesy from the side if you look closely.

The silver metal sleeve really is noticable in that little gap. I painted my metal sleeve black since it

bothered me.

My impressions and observations about this unit have come over the last couple months. The features

that I have used have been AM and FM radio, front USB, SD Card, picture viewing, mp4 playback, DVD playback,

front RCA out, internal amp, and subwoofer out. I'll go over each one by one.

AM Radio: reception is pretty good and sound quality is nice. One problem that I have had is that

when I go over bumps sometimes the AM (FM also but not as bad) radio will sound like the reception is

dropping. I don't know if the electronics for the radio are in the detachable panel but if I shift the front

panel around and tap it lightly it tends to go away. It seems the worst on cold mornings. Not a big deal

now that I know what it is but if you don't know it almost sounds like you wired something incorrectly. I

wonder if the front panel is just a little flimsy which causes this problem. I would suggest not removing

the detachable front panel. I used to do it a lot when I first got it (paranoid I guess!) and I wonder if

that caused stress on the front panel.

FM Radio: again, reception is pretty good and the number of presets is nice (18). THe LOC function,

like just about every other radio I have ever had, doesn't seem to do a darn thing. What's nice about the

radio is that if you press "clock" you can read the time quite clearly. The same cannot be said in the other

modes.

Front USB: pretty much functions like the SD card. Plug it in and it will read your files and start

playing. If you leave it in the next time you turn it on it will start at the same place you left off which

is nice. SD card does the same thing.

Picture viewing: Not much to see here. Maybe a nice feature if you want to show someone something or

look at a slideshow. Just jpg I think is compatible. Big (3GB or more) pictures do take a while to render.

It would be nice if you could make a picture your wallpaper but I do not think you can.

MP4 playback. OK, I wish more info were published about this but I can say that you can't go wrong

if your video file is encoded with Xvid for video and mp3 as audio. The manual doesn't say what kind of .mp4

files work but I suspect only divx/xvid. I can say that I have not had a single .mp4/x264 video play. I

don't think it has the horsepower anyway. The framerate can be pretty much anything 25/30 fps but it did

start to choke on 50/60 fps video. Not sure the max bitrate but I used up to 2400kbps and it played fine.

Just make sure your largest dimension is at least 640 on the width or 480 on the height. You definitely

cannot throw an HD file at it. I hope this helps someone. I wish I had known.

DVD playback. In a word, nice. I did not try PAL DVD but they probably play fine as well which is

nice. The audio along with it is nice. I almost like watching DVDs in the car better because I have a

better dynamic range and frequency response in my car than in my house. Some 4 x 3 stuff is stretched to 16 x

9 which might bother some but I guess it's OK. YOu cannot resize the aspect ratio.

RCA out: Levels seem to be fine. The pre-amp outs didn't have quite enough juice and I had a little

bit of hiss at low volume when I cranked up the sensitivity on my equalizer. I backed that off and set the

gain on my amp instead so it seems to be pretty good now. The volume is certainly electronically controlled

and not analog as the volume goes up in 'steps' when starting at low volume. This is a little annoying and I

would prefer infinite gain but not a big deal breaker.

Internal amp: I ran this before I got my external amp hooked up and I'll be darned if it isn't half

bad. If you are on a budget (like me!) this really is not a bad amp. Not nearly as good as a component amp

but it sure isn't bad. If you are running the internal amp I highly recommend very good power cabling (at

least 8 AWG if not 4) and good speaker wire (minimum 14 AWG). I ran the factory wiring and the display would

dim pretty bad when I turned it up loud. I would bet that would go away with good cabling.

Subwoofer out: Used this today for the first time. It's a mono out. I am not sure what the db/octave

is and the crossover frequency and I do not remember seeing it in the manual but if I had to guess I would

say 80Hz at maybe 18db / octave. That is a wild guess though. Seems to work fine. After testing many features

along with my observations about the radio dropping out over bumps I don't really predict this radio will last forever

but for now it works fine and it should keep on chugging for a few years.

Finally here are all the little niggles and observations I have about the radio. Yes the front panel

does feel a little sketchy and it is a little tough to pop in and out without feeling like you might break

it. It has been fine though. The volume knob is just doggone slippery and sometimes hard to turn up and

down with confidence. It is slightly annoying to have to always toggle through the "AV" (rear view camera) mode every time I

switch from radio to USB or SD Card, etc. I don't have anything hooked to the video in. The options/setup menu is pretty

nice and I accidentally set something that I shouldn't and the audio was really choppy. I changed some sort of setting for

dynamic range it went back to normal. Fit and finish are kinda bad. The clock is hard to read on the SD Card/USB screen

since it is bright green on top of fairly bright gray with lots of letters. Some people complain about the interface and

indeed it is bare bones and not very flashy but it gets the job done just fine and I am sure its simplicity (linux perhaps?)

probaby allows them to offer such a versatile product at such a great price. Also, some have complained about how bright

the display is. I don't really have a problem with it personally. I think I need to mention the fan in the back. It does not run when using the radio but if you use the memory card / DVD / USB it will spin up. I am guessing it is a CPU fan. Mine spins up pretty loud at first, especially when it is cold. If you are listening to music at a relatively low level the fan sound is kinda loud.

If you look back 10 or 20 years on what radios used to do this thing does a ton and does them well.

It's fairly unobtrusive / not a real looker (i.emight not be that interesting to potential thieves)

does a ton of stuff and rocks the house. I can't give it 5 stars because it isn't perfect but for the price

I have to give it 5 stars. Bluetooth would have been nice but oh well...

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Installed this the other day in my pontoon boat.

The sound is much better than expected very happy.

The screen is very clear and more than acceptable.

This stereo also had two additional Video-Outputs. I connected one to a dash mounted 7" Legacy Monitor and it looks great. Note the Video-Outputs DO NOT show output when in "Radio Mode". But do show output when a CD/MP3/DVD Movie are inserted.

Tested Terminator 2 in DVD Mode Looked and sounded great!

Camera Input which works as expected.

Tested a purchased DVD movie, three different Home-Made DVD Movies, DVD with MP3's, CD & CD with MP3's, ALL worked with NO Problem!

For the "Parking Break Safety Feature", just Ground the Green wire to any ground to bypass.

Note The reason for a "4-Star" rating and not 5 The Product Description makes it sound like a "Touch-Screen", it is NOT a Touchscreen, it is Touch "Controls" only. This is mostly my mistake, should have read the description closer and then contacted the seller, but would be nice if said something like "Touch-Controls Only, not a Touch-Screen".

I would buy this item again for sure!

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I purchased this radio for my 1991 Ford Explorer. I will admit a was a little iffy about this radio but so far it has worked perfectly. The radio works fine its very easy to install and the cd/dvd player works great. To make the dvd player work you have to plug the parking brake green wire to the parking break system but if your like myself you have no idea what that is. I just went online and searched for a bypass for boss radio parking brake wire and it simply told me the answer, went outside and tried it worked great. :) So thankful for technology and blogs! Other then that one thing that bugged me is the when you turn up the radio there is a clicking noise which is quite loud. If you like myself I hate the clicking noise, but you get used to it. The screen for movies is very good quality! When you plug in the ipod through USB it syncs with the deck but the letters are very small, its a little difficult to read but if your like myself once again I just go through the folders not knowing whats going to play and just listen to what song comes on. Its kinda fun :) Overall radio works perfectly have had no problems and would definitely suggest this to anyone, you definitely get more for your money!

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I purchased this unit for my wife's car. Its a decent unit with a nice sound that brought the factory speakers to life. The video is nice and clear. The downfalls with this unit is CD's take a while to read, the aux. port always says no signal, the usb doesn't work with anything (Ipod or cell phone) other then a flash drive and the bluetooth is very "iffy". It will sync and unsync at will and thats if it even syncs in the first place. Cell phones seem to sync better than Ipods. Also, there are no graphics while a CD or SD card plays music and the music shuffle feature doesn't do a good job of shuffling. But the unit isn't too bad for $150.00. After all, you get what you pay for.

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After reading some of the reviews and seeing the sheer number of people who bought this stereo I decided to take a chance on it. My requirements are very basic, I just wanted a car stereo that can play from SD Card and USB. I decided on this one because I figured a high-res screen would make it easier to browse through all the folders of MP3s on the SD card. A lot of similarly inexpensive units have the basic 8-character display which I know from past experience is just not cutting it when you want to see the name of the song playing or the folder it's in, let alone being able to browse through folders effectively.

What I found after a week of using this product is that even with my basic expectations it just has too many fatal and disappointing flaws. One or two annoyances I could live with but after a week I was ready to return it, even given the hassle and expense. Unfortunately amazon has a 50% restocking fee for opened items on top of paying for return shipping. I would have maybe gotten $30 or $40 back which is pointless, I'm sure I could get more just selling it used. I am writing this review in the hopes that it will save other buyers the hassle, cost and disappointment that comes with this stereo.

Here are the main flaws that make what should have been a great stereo into a tragic waste of time and money:

* The display is next to useless. It has an incredible resolution for its size and price but all of those pixels are wasted because of poor software design. The text is white on light blue in an extremely tiny font, it can't be read at all unless you get your face right down to within a few inches of it. It is 100% impossible to read anything on the display while driving, I've even tried leaning down (very dangerously) and still wasn't able to read it.

* Even if you could see the text, all file and folder names are truncated to 6 characters so if you're listening to, for example, a song called "06 All That We Perceive.mp3" in a folder called "Thievery Corporation The Richest Man in Babylon", what you will see on screen is that your song is called "06 A~1" and the folder is called "THIEVE~1". Not that it really matters because the text is impossible to read while driving anyway.

* The display is blindingly bright at night. Not a little bit bright, REALLY REALLY BRIGHT. Bright enough that just trying to ignore it is not even an option. There is no way to turn it down. Your only option is to flip open the detachable face, which means that you can no longer adjust volume, skip a song, or use any other controls. I had no idea how often I tend to make little volume adjustments and skip songs until faced with this inconvenience.

* Just to make it that much worse, if you do try to flip the faceplate back into place to adjust the volume or hit skip, it takes a few seconds for the controls to become active. A few seconds may not sound like a long time but in this context it seems like an eternity. Forget ever being able to drive around and enjoy your music without having this thing testing your patience. Turning it on also takes a long time.

* As other reviews mentioned this stereo makes loud clicking noises in your speakers for no particular reason. I saw that other reviewers mentioned this and figured they must have installed it incorrectly and were getting alternator interference. Nope, this stereo just sends clicks down the wire and there is nothing you can do to stop it.

* The buttons do not respond unless pushed very hard. You pretty much have to be pushing the entire faceplate into the deck before a button responds. Again it sounds like a minor thing but its hugely annoying.

* I thought it was weird that other reviewers said the Random feature wasn't really random but after using it I see exactly what they mean. It tends to favor certain songs over others. I've had it play the same song twice with only 1 other song in between, and it's played that same song a disproportionately large number of times over the last week.

* As another viewer mentioned the "Aux" port (the small hole where you would typically plug in your iPod, cell phone or other device to play music through) only works if you are using an audio-video plug. It looks similar to the iPod plug but is different and thus you will only get music playing out of the left speaker if you try to connect an audio device through it.

Sonic Alert Super Shaker 12V Bed Vibrator, White

Sonic Alert Super Shaker 12V Bed Vibrator, White
  • Super Shaker 12V Bed Vibrator
  • Extra Strong Vibrations
  • Operates at Low Voltage for Safety
  • Built-In Temperature Sensor
  • Lightweight & Portable

This product is great. Would be late everyday if it wasn't for this great system. I have used it for about 2 years now and won't use anything else

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Shaker works fine, we depend on it. Wife is death and I can hear out of one ear only, we can set the alarm shaker to wake us up. Works well.

iHome iP15WXC Color Changing 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Speaker Dock

iHome iP15WXC Color Changing 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Speaker Dock
  • Translucent cabinet changes color at the touch of a button
  • 5 color change modes - slow fade spectrum, fast change spectrum, pulse to music, favorite color & no color
  • Reson8 speaker technology with passive subwoofer
  • Charges and plays iPhone or iPod while docked so you can enjoy your music while keeping your iPod fully charged
  • Translucent cabinet changes color at the touch of a button with five color change modes (including slow fade spectrum, fast change spectrum, pulse to music, favorite color and no color) that let you set the mood
  • Reson8 speaker chamber technology with passive subwoofer gives you big, bold stereo sound
  • Simple elegant design with a contemporary yet classic look that suits any décor
  • Universal dock fits any iPhone or docking iPod model and includes inserts for popular models

The iHome stereo system is pretty good. It looks pretty and has some "wow" factor. I like it.

Lets go over the main features:

Charging: Charges very nice. Support for all the various i devices is provided by sticking different plastic plates in the dock. Its really important to use this white little plates because they keep you from putting too much strain on the 15 pin connector. Disappointingly, they did not include a white plate that is compatible with the iPhone 2G. Perhaps they are not aware that many adults pass down their old 2G iPhones to their kids for use as iPod Touch... I have done that and I know several other people who have done it as well. However, this isn't a big deal, its not advertised as including this plate, but rest assured that if your child is using an iPhone 2G as an iPod touch then they will not be able to use the charging feature of this device.

Speakers: The speakers performed well for what they are. In fact, I was modestly impressed. It has a port so you can plug in an external mp3 player and get the flashing lights and speakers, so if you have an iPhone 2g, well, thats how you would use it. They make a big deal about the Passive Subwoofer. I did some research on the internet to find out just what a "passive" subwoofer is. The iHome manufacturer website had nothing to say about this, in fact, the "tech specs" page only had the product dimensions (weak). The manual also had no specs (weak). The amazon "technical details" has no specs (weak). So really, we don't know what this passive subwoofer is, or the specs of this subwoofer. Maybe its just an "idea" and all you are really getting is a "subwoofery experience" (boo!).

The lights: The lights are nice. I like the fade mode where it cycles through the colors. They blink appropriately when you have a really strong back beat on a song and not much else. It works perfectly. But as soon as anything that is not a very clear beat or melody enters the music the iHome has something closer to an apoplectic fit. It starts blinking and stuttering and flashing with no real relation to the music. I'm sure its little firmware is trying to do something marvelous, but its not as cool as a disco ball. The lights do work without music, it can sit there and color shift all day without your i device plugged in. The lights were a little jerky to adjust, there are 5 settings, and sometimes its hard to know which setting you are on, or how long to hold the button. But my kids don't mind this. They like to fiddle with it. An adult will dislike the vagueness of the controls.

The box tells you to check out the iPhone app... That the item is "app enhanced". which seems to imply that the iPhone app will somehow help you get more out of your little disco light show. Well, not really. They do have a free iPhone alarm clock app, I downloaded it and tried it and the two are mutually exclusive items. It is true that its nice to have the alarm clock app but I couldn't see how the iHome app worked with the iP15 in any way. I think you should download the free app if you get this device, just don't expect the app+iP15 to do more than they do separately. The app is a nice touch, maybe I'm missing something...

One minor detail... I think that the iP15 is kinda ugly when its not glowing some color. Its a dingy blue-grey when turned off. It doesn't look as white as the Amazon picture shown on this page.

Overall I would say this would be a great gift for a girl. My daughters were very excited when it arrived. I doubt it would disappoint a teen.

Its really hard to say whether to give it 3 stars (its ok) or 4 stars (i like it). I'm going to settle in on 4 stars, as the kids who are the target market felt it was great. And isn't it their opinion that matters the most?

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What I liked: compact, easy to use and set up, "decent" sound, inexpensive.

I picked this up not expecting the same type of sound from a higher end player. The sound is passable. If you want a great iphone/ipod type dock and expect a nice sounding system I would expect to pay in the two to three-hundred range. This is something you might use in a small room or out on the patio or in the garage. Definitely more of a trinket than a home music system.

It's very easy to set up, just plug and play. There are only four buttons: power, volume down, volume up, and color. There's no way to adjust any sound levels on the iHome iP15W. It also takes up very little space which I liked. The colors are ok, but most of the time I keep the colored lights off.

For the price I feel you get a fair value. The sound quality isn't going to impress anyone so don't look to buy this as your main sound system. But if it's a secondary music player then it's perfectly fine.

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We checked this out at a discount store as we've been searching for a reasonably priced docking station for our 14 year old daughter for Xmas. Was very surprised by the decent sound quality. Much better than some of the other higher priced ones sitting next to it. We love bass and it performed better than expected. Color changing is pretty cool and I like the different settings. She's going to love it. Found it for $49.99 so look around!

UPDATE: Daughter loved it....worked for 10 months...now it's dead. Daughter very disappointed.

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This ipod dock is just ok. On the plus side, kids seem to like the styling and the colors, although after the first few days, my kids rarely play around with the colors. It is a charger as well as a player, which is nice, because the kids don't have to be messing with the wall charger, or for the iTouch, plugging it into a computer.

The sound is fine and certainly sufficient for kids, but when I went back and forth between this dock and our other Phillips dock you could hear a huge difference. The sound on the iHome is much "fuzzier," for lack of a more technical term.

The biggest disadvantage of this dock is the inserts that should be placed around the connecter where it is docked. They are very difficult to get out once they are in, so if you have more than one device (such as an iPhone4 and and iTouch3) you are not going to be able to use them both on this dock if you use the insert without a big hassle. There is not really enough stability without the inserts in my opinion.. I'd be afraid of snapping off the connector or at least damaging it over time. An advantage of this product over some docks I would think is that it can fit an iPad (the one I recommend below would not), but we don't have an iPad, so this doesn't help me.

The biggest problem with using the inserts is that they do not accommodate a case. And seeing as how this is seemingly targeted to kids, generally kids should be using these devices with a skin or case. My kids have to pop the case off everytime they dock it, leaving it sitting on the furniture, and then remember to pop it on when they undock it.

To be honest, unless your kid is really obsessed with the lights, at this price, I'd recommend spending just a little more on the Philips Fidelio DS3000 Desktop Speaker Dock for iPod and iPhone (White/Silver) which has excellent sound quality and is more stable and accommodates multiple devices.

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I purchased this item for my daughter for Christmas. We were all absolutely amazed at the wonderful sound that comes out of this little thing! It also makes a nice little night light for her bedroom. You can turn the light off too. I really liked that feature too, so when she is gone, the lights do not have to be on. She has an ipod touch and it docks very easily. I have also used this for my iphone 4 to charge and play my music. Perfect! I highly recommend this item.

Energizer Max AAAA Size Batteries, 2-Count

Energizer Max AAAA Size Batteries, 2-CountPrevious AAAA size batteries (another brand) purchased from Radio Shack didn't work in my hearing aid controller. The positive end nipple wasn't large enough to make contact. The energizer AAAA batteries from Amazon worked just fine.

I was surprised how hard it was to find these in a B&M store. When I did find them, they were priced beyond reason so I fired up the old Dell, pointed my browser to Amazon, and submitted my order after a few clicks. Now I can scrape plaque from my teeth myself until my next visit to the dentist.

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Visited four different retailers in my area, searching for this size battery. I should have known to visit Amazon first. Works great and the price can't be beat!

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These are two AAAA (E96 LR61 1.5V) batteries in Energizer sealed pack. I have ordered on Amazon since I could not find AAAA size in stores. The batteries I received are in original sealed retail packaging and the expiry date is 3-2017 which is after 4 years! These are working fine with my Quartet Laser Pointer.

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Needed to go in my remote for my hearing aids by Resound and they were a perfect match for me.

N8000 3G Smart Phone /Android 4.0.3 + MTK6575 Chip + 5.0 Inch Touch Screen

N8000 3G Smart Phone /Android 4.0.3 + MTK6575 Chip + 5.0 Inch Touch Screencan i put in a tmoible sim card and i have it work with that company?

does this phone need to have the internet connected with it in order to use it??

Sony Compact AM/FM Alarm Clock Radio with Large LED Display, Extendable Snooze, & Built-in Battery B

Sony Compact AM/FM Alarm Clock Radio with Large LED Display, Extendable Snooze, & Built-in Battery Back-Up - Black
  • Compact Alarm Clock Radio with a Bright, Large LED Digital Clock Display and Attarctive, Sleek, Modern Design that Goes with Any Interior Décor at Home or at Work.
  • Wake up to the sweet sounds of music from your favorite artist or to the chatter of any talk show From the AM or FM Radio or by the original Buzzer Sound.
  • Extendable Snooze gives you the freedom to easily choose your own snooze time instead of being held captive by the short time intervals of other snooze timers. Each press of the snooze button add an additional 10 minutes to your total snooze time for up to a full hour of uninterrupted sleep.
  • The correct time has been preset at the factory so just plug it in and When Daylight Savings Time changes take place in the Spring and Fall each year, there is no need to adjust the clock because the built in calendar recognizes the dates and automatically makes the proper time adjustment.
  • Battery Back-up with Installed Lithium Battery which maintains the clock and alarm operation in the event of a blackout or any other power failure, and maintains the correct time so when the power returns you don't have to re-set the clock.

This is a great little bedside alarm radio. Reception is excellent for pulling stations and the sound quality is what one might expect from a small, inexpensive clock radio, i.e., the sound is adequate for waking one from a sound sleep. For what it has been designed to do, it is a five-star product. If you want high-quality audio, look into Logitech's Squeezebox Logitech Squeezebox Radio Music Player with Color Screen (Black); but if you're looking for a straight alarm-clock radio, this is worth $20.

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Bought for backup functionality for an older relative whose power has gone out multiple times (and for 7-10 days at a time) recently. Takes odd button batteries for the clock backup; not a common battery you're likely to have on hand or easily be able to buy in anticipation of a storm. I expected the battery backup to also operate the radio (it does on two other Sony clock radios I have) but this unit does not have that feature. Is this design change something new? (The description has seems to have been tweaked so it states battery backup is for radio only). The battery backup radio is specifically what I was looking for. My relative likes the styling of the unit so she didn't want me to return it. In these days of super storms, we need multi-functioning products that will make our lives easier when there is possible danger.

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Weak antenna, only worked well near a window for a week. Afterwards reception was fuzzy on all stations. No longer the SONY we used to know. This will be replaced.

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The radio is compact but the display is big and bright. I do wish it had a settling to lower the brightness. The beeping alarm is subtle and slow at first but speeds up to gently awaken you. It is easy to set and I especially like that once you set your time zone, it will correct the time when I set it incorrectly. Cool!

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I got this one because the other reviews were terrible. This one had the least negative reviews. I got it quickly and it works fine. What else to say about an alarm clock. It does the job well.

Sony 100 watts Hi-Fi Stereo Audio Sound System with iPod & iPhone Dock, CD Player, AM/FM Receiver wi

Sony 100 watts Hi-Fi Stereo Audio Sound System with iPod & iPhone Dock, CD Player, AM/FM Receiver with 30 Station Presets, Sleep Timer, Play Timer, DSGX Bass Boost, 7 Preset Equalizers, 2-way Bass Reflex Speakers, Alarm Clock, Child Lock & Full Function Remote Control with Batteries Included
  • This hi-fi stereo sound system is compact yet powerful and sounds great in any room in the house or workplace. Featuring a powerful 100 watts and a 2-way bass reflex speaker system, impress everyone with its rich and accurate sound grounded by deep, full-bodied DSGX boost bass. Dock your compatible iPod or iPhone and charge it while it plays. Listen to any of your favorite CD's or tune into the radio of your choice easily with the 30 station presets.
  • Alarm Clock with Sleep Timer - have the time always displayed, plus set your wake up alarm to any Radio, CD, or iPod Tunes or talk shows you like. Imagine awaking or falling asleep casually with sweet classical music or some interesting conversation from your favorite talk show host, or the latest news. Falling asleep or awakening to the sounds of your choice just makes the day better.
  • Remote Control Included - Control all the basic functions of the stereo system, CD, Radio, or iPod/iPhone playlist navigation, with the included compact and easy to use, remote control from the comfort of your couch, favorite chair, bed or anywhere in the room. Alkaline Batteries are Included
  • Child Lock function lets you keep the children away from using the sound system without permission or from arguing about what to listen to. Most important, it makes sure that the baby won't turn the volume up to the highest level, especially when others are sleeping.
  • Total Dimensions: 23.5"W x 12"H x 13.25"D - Total Weight: 17 lbs - Compatible with iPod touch 2nd, 3rd & 4th generations - iPod nano 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th generations - iPod Classic - iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 & 4S

It was larger than I thought it would be, however it has amazing sound and is a joy to listen to. I also like that I no longer have to have an alarm clock, screaming I can wake up to my own music!