- Play and charge your iPod or iPhone or iPad simultaneously.
- Auto clock synchronization with iPod or iPhone or iPad when docked.
- Wake up to your iPod or iPhone or iPad music or radio tunes.
- Aluminum cabinet for quality look and feel
- Neodymium speaker driver for rich and clear sound
Unpacking was easy, 2 AA batteries for the power loss backup. Getting it set up took about 2 minutes, including setting both my alarms, one for when I need to get up at my time, one for when I have to get up at my son's time. It supports 12 or 24 hour format display. Easy to see what alarm is on, time, and setting. So for a standalone alarm clock, it was very quick and easy to set up. And all of it can be done either on the unit or on the remote. Even the brightness can be adjusted from the remote, including shutting off the clock display altogether.
Then came the fun, and I plugged my iPad 2 on top of it. Instantly was charging. Changed the input to the iPad, and bang, there's my music. And I almost soiled myself at the volume levels and bass this unit puts out. I guess I'm so used to the tinny sounds from the iPhones and iPads, that while I was expecting more out of the dock, I didn't expect THIS much. Outstanding sound, 5 equalizer presets, fantastic bass response. Best at low to mid levels, but while it does get louder than I'd ever play it, the bass does get a bit muddied at those levels. I could've probably been tweaking it with the presets and the extra bass setting it offers, but didn't worry about it.
Fired up a few of my alarm clock apps, and all work just fine, sound comes out of the dock's speakers and everything is good. So now I can have a regular alarm clock OR use the iPad. Either way I'm set, and now have the added ability to listen to music while reading in bed... iPhone 4 had the same results.
All told I got this for a fraction of the list price since I had some points to spend with this particular brick and mortar, but even had I paid Amazon's price, or the $20 higher full price at this particular store I would've been happy. Worth every penny.
Buy Philips DC291/37 30-Pin iPod/iPhone/iPad Alarm Clock Speaker Dock Now
The Philips DC291 has an impressive list of features that had me quite interested. Having iPhones, iPods, and an iPad 2, the compatibility with Apple products was a major draw. Overall I was pleased with how these features worked. There are some flaws (which I will detail below) but for the relatively low price, I'm willing to forgive these failings.PROs
Handsome alarm clock is sleek and modern looking.
Sound is very good and very loud for the size.
The included remote control works well for basic navigation of your playlist.
Time is automatically set when your iPhone/iPad/whatever is plugged into it.
CONs
The numbers in the time display on the LCD screen are too small (< 1 inch tall).
The viewing angle of the LCD display is really bad.
iPhone 4 will not dock with Apple Bumper installed.
iPhone 4 gives sporadic error messages when docked.
iPhone 4
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The first device that I tried was my iPhone 4. Mine has the Apple bumper installed and when I docked the iPhone, nothing happened. The phone seemed firmly attached to the clock but the battery wasn't charging and I couldn't get any music to play through the clock.
On a hunch, I removed the Apple Bumper from my iPhone and tried again. This time it immediately made the "charging" sound and any music I played on the iPhone played through the clock speakers.
In addition to using the standard "iPod" app, I was also able to play the Sirius satellite radio app and Pandora apps through the speakers. The included remote control was able to pause/fast forward in the iPod and Pandora app but not in the Sirius app. I believe this is a limitation of the Sirius app.
One concern was periodic error messages that were displayed on my iPhone 4 while it was docked. I repeatedly saw "Charging is not supported with this accessory." and "This accessory is not optimized for this iphone." While these messages displayed on the iPhone, it continued to operate fine. I'm not sure what to make of these error messages but they didn't give me a good feeling. These errors generally popped up when I was fiddling with the iPhone (navigating through menus, etc...) so I assume they are due to the connection getting jiggled.
iPod Touch
---------------
My iPod touch docked perfectly and worked flawlessly with the DC291. Functionality was identical to my iPhone 4. When docked, the iPod touch charged and played local music, Pandora, and Sirius through the speakers without any problems. I haven't yet seen any sporadic messages from the iPod touch.
iPod (2nd Generation)
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It's a marvelous feat of engineering that my trusty gen-2 iPod features the same connector as a modern iPad. As I expected, I plugged the old gen-2 iPod in and was able to play music. Unfortunately, many years ago, Apple changed the way that power is provided through the connector. This dock is unable to charge an old iPod which makes it fairly useless. This is not a surprise to me as no recent devices I've seen are able to charge these old Firewire-based iPods. But music playback was fine.
iPad 2
---------------
The Philips dock works great with my wife's iPad 2. The small plastic support tab that protrudes from the back of the docking station provides just enough support so that the iPad is solidly anchored.
The iPad worked fine and even could be attached with Apple's magnet cover attached in the "open" position (wrapped around the back).
One curiosity was not an iPad problem or an issue with the docking stationthe SiriusXM app will ONLY run in landscape mode on the iPad 2. This means it is always sideways when used from the docking station. I consider this a flaw in the SiriusXM app, not in the docking station!
Speakers
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The speakers on this clock are quite clear and surprisingly loud for the size. The bass is poor but that was expected. What wasn't expected is just how loud I could crank this thing. I was also surprised that the speaker did not distort as I turned it up uncomfortably loud. While these are not in the same league as one of my favorites, Klipsch, I was quite pleased with the performance of the speakers.
Clock
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The display on the DC291 is the biggest source of disappointment. It's unacceptable in my opinion because the size of the clock numerals is less than 1" tall and the viewing angle is terrible. When standing in front of the clock, it is impossible to read the time because of the viewing angle limitations. The same is true for trying to view from the side: everything just fades away. In an age of retina displays, this clock features a display with 1980s era technology. Fortunately, this product is marketed more as a docking solution so I think the clock features are somewhat secondary.
I loved that the clock set it's time to match my iPhone or iPod. Setting clocks is sometimes a tedious affair but this was very easy.
The battery backup feature seems to work well. To conserve the battery, when power is removed, the display turns off. Pressing any button will cause the time to briefly display. When power is restored, the time and all settings are preserved. You cannot use or charge your iPod/iPhone when on battery power; that is not a surprise!!
I love that I can set the alarm to only go off on weekdays or weekends. I think for most people, this is a great feature. Also, I appreciate being able to choose from my playlist, the FM radio, or the buzzer for sound to wake up to. You also get to pick the volume of the alarm so if you are listening to the radio loudly during the day, you won't be jarred awake by the volume being too high in the morning. This is a thoughtful feature.
Miscellaneous
---------------
During normal operation, I measured the DC291 as using less than 1 watt of electricity. This is consistent with other digital alarm clocks in my house. At least you can know that it's not costing you money! While charging the iPhone/iPod or playing music, it used 5+ watts (depending on how loud you cranked the speakers). In my opinion, this is completely reasonable power usage in all modes of operation.
Summary
---------------
If not for the lousy screen and the iPhone 4 errors, this would be a 5-star product. If these problems don't seem like they'd bother you, this is a fine product worth considering.
Read Best Reviews of Philips DC291/37 30-Pin iPod/iPhone/iPad Alarm Clock Speaker Dock Here
This radio sounds very good considering the size and price. It includes an FM only radio, docking station for most ipods, iphones and iPad. I have tested it with the iPhone4 and ipod Touch 4. There is an input jack for non-Apple music devices. You can set 2 alarms and each can be set for everyday, weekdays only and weekends only. The alarm can be a sound, a specified FM station, or an Apple MP3 player with a playlist named PHILLIPS. Note that the actual station frequency is not remembered in the alarm it just uses the last station tuned in. This means you cannot go to sleep listening to one station and wake to another. The display is a soft white glow and there is a brightness adjustment for the display but it is of no value because it resets to full brightness whenever the radio is turned on or off. So for example you can set the sleep function and turn down the brightness but when the sleep timer expires and turns off the radio the display goes to full brightness. You might not want to put this near your face when sleeping for this reason. Every new computerized clock radio I have tried has this same stupid flaw with the brightness control.The controls on the radio are not clearly marked and mostly use symbols that don't make it obvious what they do. However the remote control has clearly marked buttons and is easier than the on set controls.
UPDATE: After using this radio for a little over a month it has quit working. The radio will play for 5 to 30 seconds at a time then the sound goes off for 5 to 30 seconds. This repeats continuously at random intervals.
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To address some of the concerns others have had:1) Screen Brightness control. Using the big centrally located sleep button allows you to control the display brightness. It even says brightness on it. Gets very dim and quite bright. Whatever you prefer.
2) Sound quality is good and volume excellent. Fills a large space. Bass isn't awesome, but bass is ulitmately about size and you can't make an alarm clock dock huge.
3) iPad dock support doesn't feel super secure, but it is ultimately just a "feel" issue. The dock holds the iPad and iPhone 4 very well even in a reasonably sized case.
4) Controls are a little on the complicated side, because you are used to Apple products, but hardly rocket science. Two alarms. Each can be set for Mon-Fri, Sat & Sun or 7 days. So you don't work a "traditional" schedule? Set it for seven days and then you can turn on and off the alarm with two taps of the alarm button.
5) The dock basically just hits play on whatever you have queued up on your iPhone/iPad/iPod as a default. What's nice is that it can do it with any music app as long as it is active on your iDevice. Pandora? Radio app? It works. That requires a little pre-planning the night before, so Phillips also enables you to create and name a playlist that the dock will instinctively use.
6) It is an alarm clock, it isn't designed to be a room clock. I can see the time just fine from across my brightly lit bedroom. Unless you use the very dim brightness setting.
7) Setting the alarm can be done by the hour and minute. One reviewer said it was the old 24 hour hold and scroll type. It is not.
Misc The gentle wake is quite nice compared to other products I've used that jolt you out of bed. Much more refresing to gently awaken to music than be jolted by that high energy song you thought would be a good idea.
It works and looks great and you can pick one up for about a single Benjamin Franklin.
Did I mention the iPad 2 works just fine? No issues. Very happy with the product. Losses 1 star for not being a "smart" alarm. If it was you'd be shelling out 2 bills.
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I had this unit for less than a week before returning it. It had great sound and looked sharp. It works perfectly with an iPhone 4 with the apple bumper on... charged and played music without a problem.I returned it for 2 reasons. The display is a back-lit LCD. Even at the dimmest setting, it would keep me up at night as it bathed my room in white light. I had to turn off the display to sleep, and turn it back on again in the morning to make sure I turned off the alarm and check the time. Another reviewer also mentioned an odd feature with the dimmer feature of the display... the display will always return to full brightness whenever the radio is turned off. Whether you turned off the music yourself, or if you set a sleep timer! That was a rude awakening... to be lulled to sleep by the music, only to be abruptly woken by a bright flash of light moments later.
The second reason I returned the unit is that the battery backup will only maintain clock settings. It will not power the alarm in the event of a power failure! To me, what good is an alarm clock that will not reliably wake you up?
I think this unit would make an excellent clock radio if all you are looking for is great sound with the ability to charge and play music from your ipod touch/iphone/ipad or listen to FM radio (there is no AM tuner). I would definitely not consider this if you are primarily looking for an alarm clock!
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