RCA RC65i Clock Radio with iPhone/iPod Cradle

• Clock radio with convenient iPod docking station compatible with most iPods including 3G iPhone
• Auto time set for seven different time zones
• Dual wake features two different alarm settings for two different users; Wake to iPod, radio or alarm
• Graduwake ramp-up alarm makes waking from a deep sleep easier
• Audio Line-in lets you connect your device to an input jack so you can sit back and relax
• Built in "No Worry" battery backup safeguards against power failures or outages
• Charges your iPod or iPhone while docked
• SmartSnooze and Graduwake features make for an easy awakening
• IPod/iPhone docking audio system with clock radio

The first thing you notice about the unit is the flat front, rather stark but common nowadays in i-docking devices. A slide-away dock is a neat feature if/when you don't need to dock your phone. The second thing that stands out is the drab color scheme. I'm no fan of battleship gray... The aluminum mesh front is fine but the shiny plastic panel on top calls out for a more imaginative color scheme. Maybe an unfair quibble.

I looked at a lot of units before choosing this one. At this price range most were cheap looking or worse cheap-feeling. This unit is quite solid and it works as advertised, all the features I wanted, in a tidy package that doesn't take up too much space on a bedside table. Where things fall apart a little for me is in the human interface. Nothing to make me return it but I wish I had seen/touched one before I bought it.

Pros:

1. Radio and sound quality are good. The rear of the cabinet sports a small bass speaker with a tuned port firing on either side. Volume is fine for a bedside radio and sound is good if not hi-fi.

2. Excellent iPhone (3GS in my case) compatibility. Occasionally the phone gives one of Apples patented "This device is not designed to work with iPhone" messages but I bet it's a connector-mating thing because the two ARE compatible and work as advertised. You can wake to iPhone music, to a buzzer or to radio.

3. The dock accepts Apple Universal adapters. I got an adapter (white sadly) with the case I bought for my iPhone and it makes for a nice trim fit that supports the phone well while docked. Slides away neatly when not in use too.

Cons (No deal breakers but things I feel are less than perfect):

1. The front face is blank of buttons except for 4 curious touch-activated switches top-right that select basic modes: radio, ipod etc. These are a little uncertain in operation but not bad. I imagine they could be troublesome for thicker fingers? Time-set, alarm set, station presets and other less-used controls are behind the flat front on the main body of the unit. Pretty standard stuff. The most often used controls (volume, snooze, tune etc. ) are on the top edge, in fact they ARE the top edge of the unit. They can be hard to tell apart in the dark but sense memory is a wonderful thing. Undocking the iPhone is a little awkward because your natural instinct is to undock the iPhone with a finger as a lever on the top edge just where the large Snooze bar is located.

2. Setting the wake times is easy enough but the nap and sleep modes are counterintuitive to setup and even worse to cancel.

3. The blurb boasts of "auto-timeset" but don't be fooled into thinking of atomic clock signals from Denver or sideband information from a PBS station. Basically they set the clock at the factory and inserted AA batteries to keep it going. When you first plug it in you choose your US timezone and it magically seems to know the time. Remove the batteries however and it's flashing digits like every other clock :-(

4. The clock display has two brightness levels though some may think even the dim setting too bright at night. More troubling for me is the limited viewing angle. Like most displays this one is designed for maximum clarity and contrast when viewed from above. Sadly when lying in bed most people will be either level or below the line of the display, making it harder to read.

So that's it. Not entirely comprehensive but hopefully useful. Regarding price, I think it's very reasonable for the quality of the unit but I would certainly like a more imaginitive color scheme :-)

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good little system, daughter loves it. Sound is much bigger than it looks. Charges ipod while playing and radio automatically sets time(atomically I assume) Easy controls , she loves how the ipod mount pops out when you push it. Not sure if it was worth the walmart $69 pricetag, but a nice little alarm clock and ipod player. Kinda looks like a small executive system. (also has auxillary jack for other mp3 players). RCA---American made and still making good quality products. Daughter just showed me the lights on the top right front( for ipod, radio, functions)are actually buttons you can push, ,,,neat.

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I am more than happy with my purchase of this iPod alarm clock radio. It is just the right size and fits perfectly on my night stand with a ton of extra space.

It is actually smaller in footprint than my previous iHome IH9 iPod Alarm Clock. And I actually like this unit better than that one.

The appearance is very professional with a silver metal and plastic finish on the front with black on the rear. Sound quality is above average for this class of product, although I am not quite sure if it beats the iHome, but it is definitely very close in quality.

I also like how they use touch controls on the front of the unit for: iPod, Radio, AUX, and Off. The AUX input is obviously a huge plus as you can play any media player that has a typical head phone jack on it.

The controls are very simple, to set an alarm only requires one button push (or two or three of same button if you want to be waken up by the iPod or AUX).

The only thing that is somewhat annoying is the fact that the deeper controls are recessed behind the front and kind of hard to figure out if your not looking directly over them.

Other than that I am very happy with my new iPod alarm clock. I got it at a great price and I would definitely recommend it at this price as well as the iHome is nearly $30 more expensive than this one.

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Shopped for a radio/charger for my iphone. The iHome was expensive at stores for over $100. Also it's bulky. I only have a small counter space left for a bathroom radio and this one fits perfectly. Sounds good too. I love that I can now listen to Pandora radio when I'm getting ready in the mornings. I'm glad this isn't my bedroom clock radio because the blue power light which is on even in the off position (blue lights over the input-ex; ipod, radio, aux, off. I have to keep my master bathroom door closed since it's so bright. On the upside, it serves as a nightlight if I have to go to the bathroom. Other than that I love it for my purposes. Price is right!

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This item looks great sleek and well designed appearance. The blue lights are shockingly bright at night, even after they have been dimmed. I also have difficulty making it work with my iPhone sometimes. That said, the dual alarm feature is great and I really like the "nap" option. I'd recommend it, but not if you need absolute darkness to sleep and plan to use your iPhone through it regularly (fine w/ iPod).