iHome iH6 Clock Radio for iPod (Black)

• High-quality clock radio with built-in iPod docking station and AM/FM tuner
• Sleeps or wakes to iPod, radio, or buzzer; auto-setting time and date functions
• Gentle Wake and Gentle Sleep modes gently increase or decrease system volume
• Pair of Strontium-Ferrite speakers with exclusive 1-piece speaker chambers
• Special port for iPod shuffle; measures 10.2 x 3. x 6.1 inches (W x H x D); 90-day warranty

I bought this on a whim, since I've been waking up to my $5 alarm-radio recently. The build quality is excellent, and the ported chambers are good. Not anywhere like the bose wave radio, but pretty decent. I'd rate it lower than bookshelf speakers, about on par with mid-grade computer speakers, and above most clock radios.

The layout is good. It's a little funny to set the alarms; hold the "alarm 1" button, then turn the dial quickly or slowly till it's done, then press "Alarm On" to toggle alarm 1, alarm 2, alarm 1 & 2, off. Once you get used to it, everything is easy. The radio tuning is done by turning the dial, the "scan" is only on the remote. Remote works well from 10ft away.

However, on the front of the box it states "Works with all dockable iPods" with an asterisk. On the other side of the package, in tiny letters, it says "not compatible with 3G iPod". I really have a contention with the use of the word "All" when it doesn't mean "All". On picking this item up quickly, I saw the star but didn't think to check out the exception; I thought it referred to the "iPod not included" elsewhere on the package. I would never have expected "All dockable iPods" to mean the same as "All dockable iPods except the 3G dockable iPod". Other radios say "Compatible with 4G, 5g, Photo..." and so on. Much more clear. Incidentally, the iH5 (earlier version) is 3G friendly, and I'll probably be picking that up soon.

Another note: the "2 alarms" isn't as nice as I thought; 1 alarm is beeper or ipod, the 2nd is radio. I wanted 2 ipod alarms, or 2 any alarms. It puzzles me why they decided to limit each alarm. So essentially, this is a 1 1/2 alarm ipod alarm clock for me.

Overall, good design, good build, recommended product unless you have a 3G.

(Rating 4 stars, no minus for the 3G incompatibility)

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If you are looking for an IPod alarm system this is your machine. The reviewer comments about good sound quality are on the mark. But it has one serious design flaw at least for how I wanted to use it and I'm returning mine. I thought it was a dual IPod/Radio alarm system, as advertised. It is not. The radio alarm is only a second alarm, apparently for a second sleeper. You cannot select between the two options. Tried the work around of setting the second alarm to go off first but you can't not set Ipod alarm so when it (or the buzzer) goes off it shuts down the radio. Can't understand why they couldn't have worked around this issue but beware if you want choice and flexibility in what you wake to.

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First off

this is the best integration I've seen of a speaker/alarm/iPod trio!

The iPod plugs in real easily, and it is charged while in cradle ---from there, the music, for the most part, sounds great, and all the functions are very easy to use

I was also impressed that it came with batteries, so if the power goes out, the batteries will serve as a backup

and of course, the alarm is loud as heck!

The reason I purchased the iHome though is because of its 'gentle wake' feature, which plays music at a low volume, and slowly increases to wake the person up

Phillips was the first to introduce this feature into their alarm clocks, and I loved it! --I hate waking up to a jarring sound, first thing in the morning

however, the gentle wake functions on this alarm are not as solid ----don't get me wrong, the music does start out at its lowest setting and gradually increases

the music, even at its low setting, starts out too loud, and then gradually increases way too quickly

compared to regular alarms though, this is a HUGE difference, and I don't find the iHome's alarm to be 'jarring' in any way, but it can definitely be improved upon

for the most part though, I'm pretty happy --its great waking up to one's favorite iPod songs and playing them while getting ready in the morning ---in addition, every alarm, on this clock, automatically uses Gentle Wake, in comparison to the Phillips, which had to be set manually within this feature

if the 'gentle-wake' feature is more important though, then I suggest going with Phillips

HAPPY BUYING!!!!!

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I just got this and it works very well. I first bought the Eton Sound 50 Speaker Dock, which had a great sound, but the problem with it was that it was too loud for the office. I finally decided to get this one and having used both now, I can say this is the better system, for the office. The reason is that this system is much quieter than the Eton system. I haven't tested its highs yet, but it's lows are low enough that I can play any type of music I want. With my old system, I was only able to play solo piano music.

The only aspect to this system I do not like as compared with the Eton speakers is the functionality of the remote. With the Eton system I was able to control the iPod completely with my remote so that I could scroll through menus and select songs. With this sytem, the remote only allows you to skip to the next/previous song and not through the menus. It's a definite drawback if you plan to put the dock further than arms' reach away.

I believe that this product would be the perfect gift for any iPod person (you know the type). The sound is VERY good for such a small box. It's not a home theater system, don't be confused, but good luck finding a better sounding clock radio. They include enough parts to dock it with any iPod and even two antennas for FM and AM. It also includes a patch cord so you can plug in whatever non-iPod device you'd want to listen to through its headphone port.

For anyone in doubt over this thing, it's worth the money. The sound is great, everything functions well. I'm not sure if I'd rely on the buzzer to wake me up, it's not as loud as a normal alarm, but the "wake to ipod" function makes up for it with volume. The remote is pretty basic but does all the important stuff (volume, next song, previous song, snooze, on and off). If you are looking for a great music source for your bedroom with an alarm, you simply can't go wrong with this thing!