TECSUN PL-380 DSP FM stereo. MW. SW. LW. World Band PLL Radio Receiver, LCD Display, ETM Function Ad

• Using Silicon Labs Si4734 DSP; To Digitalize The Analog MW / FM / SW Broadcasting Signal Base On The Modern Software Technology And Radio Principles
• Small and exquisite design, convenient to carry, excellent for walkers, hikers, campers, backpackers
• Seven Tuning Mode Selectable,LCD Display Screen,550 Preset Memories,Digital Clock Function With 12/24 Hour Format,Highly Intelligent On / Off Switch
• Light & Snooze Function,Key Lock Function,Built-In Charging System To Charge The Ni-Mh Rechargeable Battery,Built In Dc 5v Usb Jack, Earphone Jack
• Accessories:1PC STEREO EARPHONE, 1PC EXTERNAL FM/SW ANTENNA, 1PC CARRYING POUCH AND ENGLISH MANUAL. 1 YEAR WARRANTY ONLY BACKED BY VAIROCANA

I've been a Short Wave Listener for over 60 years now. I have, or have had, a number of portable SW receivers including the Sony ICF-2010, and the Eton and G6 and G8. My "home" receiver is the Kenwood R-5000, so I have quite a bit of experience with different models. After reading the review of the Tecsun PL-380 in the 2011 WORLD RADIO & TELEVISION HANDBOOK, I decided to get one and try it out. It's well worth the price. One failing that a lot of small portables have is "overloading" when connected to an external antenna; the Eton G6 and G8 suffer from this tendency. The PL-380 doesn't. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in a small, relatively inexpensive AM/FM/Shortwave receiver. The Shortwave Broadcast bands have not been very good recently due to propagation conditions, but they are starting to improve and in a year or two I expect that reception will be a lot better. Unfortunately, many SW Broadcasters, such as the BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle have been dropping their transmitters as they believe the rebroadcasts of their programming on local FM stations (Public Radio, in the US, mainly) fulfill the public's need for them. That's fine, if you don't mind getting up in the middle of the night to listen to them but I much preferred to receive them direct on SW, "back in the good old days".

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Have been listening to this little radio for over a month now, and am rather impressed with it. Does a good job pulling in AM/FM stations, and sounds a LOT better than you'd think for the necessarily small speaker it has. When using the included clip-on antenna, it does a fine job of picking up shortwave stations and holding onto them. Not much bigger than a couple desks of cards, it fits in a larger shirt pocket or packs away easily. Runs a long time on 3xAA batteries, and can charge rechargeables through the mini-USB jack. The manual is a little "terse", but if you're willing to play with it a little bit, it isn't hard to figure out. MADE IN CHINA, but of surprisingly good quality. Just keep in mind that this is a small, portable receiver, and not a full-on high-end AM/FM/SW/LW rig, and you won't be disappointed. Would highly recommend for hikers, campers, backpackers.

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This is an okay little radio, but the one I received was about a 3.5 star rating.

I wish I could give it a higher rating because I am a real fan of these Tescun DSP radios.

I think this radio falls short of the mark in a number of ways, yet it is very good in a lot of ways. The previous reviewers have given all the good points and I agree with their appraisal.

But this radio has some cons when you compare it to the PL-310 or the Sangean DT-400W.

I find because it has a smaller internal AM/Long-wave antenna then the PL-310 it has less sensitivity and more noise on both strong and weak signals. Some of the noise is generated by the larger LCD display panel. It does not do well on Long-wave beacons. It does have good selectivity. The radio nulls well though.

The smaller speaker and audio amplifier are not nearly as good as the other two mentioned radios. Making it less desirable to listen to for long periods of time.

The PL-380 does have switches that seem to work better than the PL-310, it takes less pressure on them to engage. And the set up of the buttons and switches are very nice with the inclusion of EMS memory features does make it a very attractive radio.

Still I would have to recommend one of the other radio's to my friends, also the PL-390 is getting excellent reviews and another radio to consider, though I have not used one yet.

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I am an enthusiastic supporter of this radio. I have over 80 portable radios, most of them shortwave and I think this one is the best value of the lot. You can get a better portable shortwave radio for more money, but not all that much better.

What makes the difference is the Digital Signal Processing chip. The result is outstanding sensitivity on FM along with very good performance on Shortwave and decent performance on AM. The radio is also very selective with no less than 5 selectable bandwidths.

I've taken this radio with me internationally, and the light weight is greatly appreciated. The carrying case conveniently has space for a set of ear buds (something most portable cases surprisingly don't have). Another nice travel feature is the ability to recharge the batteries with a standard USB cable. Chances are you will have something else with you that charges the same way (or a laptop) and so won't have to carry a separate charger. The Easy Tuning Mode (ETM) is ideal for scanning and setting the local stations in memory when you arrive at a new location. This doesn't erase your home settings. It takes less than a minute on FM and around 2 minutes to scan Shortwave.

I find the operation of this radio highly rational. The features make sense, and are easy to get to. Even the memory system that's usually the most complex feature on a radio is pretty straightforward on this one.

I won't repeat the feature list. About the only thing the radio lacks that someone might need is single-sideband reception (decoding utility stations and ham radio).

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I recently purchased a Tecsun PL-380 from Kaito Electronics the US supplier. Upon opening the box the first impression was just how ultralight weight the radio is compared to my other world band portables, yet still has a solid feel when holding the case. It is really pleasing to see the workmanship and quality of the Chinese radios improving, although I note that the prices have also been increasing as well. It wasn't long ago that Japan lead the way in world band radios with the likes of Sony, then Taiwan with the likes of Sangean taking the market and now it looks like it is China with Tecsun. We should be thankful that at least someone is still manufacturing world band radios considering the demise of many of the major SW broadcasters in the west.

Anyway back to the radio. The radio didn't come with batteries or a USB charger, but came with a clip-on antenna wire, earphones and a small zippered pouch that includes a small earphone pouch...hmm very thoughtful. After unpacking I installed 3 x AA NiMH (from another Kaito radio) and the radio immediately identified on the display "NiMh" and the charge state. The radio has a USB charging jack which I think is a great idea, I have already charged the radio using the phone charging port from an Eton FR160 emergency "cranker" radio, as well as having charged it from a PC and from an old Motorola phone USB charger. USB charging is just so versatile hopefully all small radio and cell phone manufacturers standardize on USB. I only wish that the radio required 2 rather than 3 AA batteries.

The radio has the FM, MW, LW and SW 120M to 13M bands inclusive, they appear to have dropped the 11M band which isn't a big issue in my opinion as the 11M band is mostly dead.

OK so how well does it operate. I compared the PL-380 to my first digital portable the Kaito 1101 and I can say that I'm amazed at the low noise level of the PL-380, no more digital buzzing in the my headphones at zero volume levels. The controls and use of the features such as alarm setting, clock setting, bandwidth etc. is just so much better than the early Kaito's. I really like the Easy Tuning Mode (ETM) that basically scans the band you are on MW, LW or SW and stores them in a temporary memory that you can then access them using the tuning jog wheel. I did a few SW scans last night and was very impressed it makes it very easy to find SW broadcast stations rather than manually scanning. The other feature I like is that the backlight can be manually switched to stay on rather than the auto 3 second time when you pres a key. The radio also has 5 selectable bandwidths in AM mode 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6kHz. Rather odd sizes IMHO and they could have just settled on three bandwidths say narrow 2kHz, normal 4 kHz, and wide 6kHz. Nevertheless it is a nice feature to have in this class of radio. Another area that the PL-380 runs circles around the Kaito 1101 is that it allows tuning and frequency entry down to the 1kHz level so that you can tune off frequency if you so desire i.e. 9999 kHz for WWV. The Kaito I discovered the hard way only allows on frequency tuning e.g. 9995, 10000, or 10005 kHz so if you enter 9999 it tunes to 10000 kHz. Something to watch out for in the cheap digital radios. SW, MW and FM (including stereo) all sounded good to me.

OK so what don't I like. There is no tone control, switch (news/music) or the like, but the tone sounded balanced at least to my ears. Well I can tell you I don't like the volume control as it is a notched jog wheel, like the tuning jog wheel, and appears to have 30 volume positions. Basically, the volume control does not have linear sound levels. Individual hearing and volume or loudness is a personal thing. When I'm using the radio I have found that sometimes that volume position 4 is too quite, yet volume position 5 is too loud and similarly with positions 5 and 6 depending on what I'm listening to. I much prefer a full linear volume control thank you. As for the signal strength display that reports in dBu and dB signal-to-noise it really is meaningless, it would be far better to have a simple signal strength meter that reads S1 to S9, 20+, 40+dB then it would be a better reference to signal strength relative to other receivers. The radio has a temperature display, what for I don't know or care for to be honest and I'm wondering if it the actual IC chip temperature rather than the ambient temperature as it seems to be reading high at least on my radio it does.

Overall though for an ultralight weight world band radio that is easy to use you probably can't go wrong.

Happy listening.

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Gpx Ilive CI109S Am/fm Clock Radio with Ipod Dock

• Dock plays and charges iPod
• AM/FM Radio
• Built in Speakers
• White Backlit Digital Clock Display
• Wake to Radio or Buzzer or iPod

I wanted a cheap clock radio that would work with my iPod Nano G4. The sound quality is not that great and neither is the FM antenna, but I guess you get what you pay for. If I could do it again, I'd probably spend a little more money for a better product.

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The Ipod portion of this product works fine. Yes the quality is not great. I recieved this as a gift from a friend almost a year ago. It has played my ipod loyally and hs been sitting on my dresser. Well I bought batteries for it to use incase of emergency and it dosen't work with them. I plug it in and it works. if I take if off the wall plug then I lose all power and it wont power up with the batteries in it. Guess I will have to get a new radio b/c this isn't going to work. (yest I checked the batteries in another product and they worked.)

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Gave this to my son for Christmas because he was also getting an ipod from Grandparents. Nice size and said it did all that we needed it to do, plays the ipod well but the radio part is a piece of junk. Static drowns out the sound when you have it on low volume and it does not matter if its on AM or FM. No matter what you do to the antenna it does not make a difference. This item is basically just for playing your ipod on, not for listening to the radio with. There is also an AUX connection but I as of yet have not been able to find anything that works in it.

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I understand when something is cheap, you are probably losing quality. But this junk is an embarrassment to have given as a gift to a kid. The static is louder than the music. It shows an ipod shuffle playing on the box but you need to buy an additional cord for that you discover Christmas morning. And the sound, no matter what the source is, stinks. Flat out, this isn't worth getting for free. I could have used the cardboard box to recycle wrapping paper along with the eventual 'Thanks for this piece of crud' letter and it would be worth more than the junk inside. I wish I would have read a review like this before I wasted my money. Next time I will give the kid a check and tell him it is for his Bose savings account.

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I bought this for my teenaged daughter. It is a great value for the price. My kids love their ipods and this is a great way to charge it while listening to it through speakers. I"m thinking of buying another one for myself.

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Sangean RCR-1 Advanced Atomic Clock Radio - Silver

• Time is displayed via LCD and an analog dial!
• Dual time HWS (Humane Waking System) gently eases you out of slumber
• Tone controls
• Headphone jack (headphones sold separately)
• 3 x 4 speaker delivers pleasant sound from the unit's 800mw amplifier

This clock radio is OUTSTANDING!!! (and it looks great). The time accuracy (atomic clock) is beyond compare. The AM/FM PLL synthesized radio is static free and has excellent sound. Not stereo, but still pleasing! The unit is feature-laden. I love the "Humane Waking System" which gradually ramps up the sound for both alert/radio alarms so as not to jolt you out of bed. I'm a very heavy sleeper, and the adjustable volume for both alarms makes it plenty loud to get up. The independence of both alarms makes this extremely convenient for husband/wife and weekday/weekend settings. Another nice feature is the "nap" function. Set it and the alarm goes off from 10 minutes to 2 hours later, without having to touch the normal alarms. The background light display is a pleasing pastel blue, which changes to orange leting you know that the alarm is serious! The adjustability of the display is excellent, including a dimmer at the push of a button, and completely off if you so desire. I could go on and on about the features of this unit. However, here is where the "but" comes in...the instruction manual is not the most clearly written. The most serious problem, in my opinion, was not being able to pick up the atomic signal. Sure the instruction manual warns you that it might take up to 48 hours to receive the signal. It also warns you that the unit might need to be repositioned to receive the signal. I was frustrated after not getting the signal for a couple of days. Then I noticed that the back of the radio has a circular slot for the rectangular "block-shaped" atomic signal antenna. Once I put the antenna in the slot, the signal was received, and has been maintained ever since. This was NOT stated in the instruction manual. Another minor criticism is there are 14 (7 AM and 7FM) presets, not 21 as stated in the manual. 14 is more than enough for me. The alarm instructions took some patience to learn. These criticisms of the instruction manual should in no way detract from the features and quality of the product, both of which are excellent. Buy this and you will be extremely happy. Just be patient and fiddle around with it. Nothing beats trial and error when it comes to high-tech gadgets.

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All in all, a decent clock radio that I'm not altogeter unhappy I purchased. But there are a few oddities to bear in mind and I'd probably buy a different model if I had to do it all over again.

I have very good eyes, but even for me both of the clock displays are very hard to read when the room lights are off. The backlit digital clock doesn't have an adjustable contrast. This means that it's only legible in a darkened room if you have good eyes and are looking at it from a narrow range of angles slightly above horizontal. It can be a real problem if you're trying to see it off-angle, without glasses, or bleary-eyed from sleep. The advertising pictures you see on Amazon and Sangean's websites imply rock-solid sharp and easy to read displays and that just isn't the case.

The atomic clock receiver isn't the strongest and can be a bit flaky initially, but I can get a signal in our brick/concrete/steel frame condo which I think must be an unusually difficult environment. When I first set it up it took about a day to lock in, but I've had no troubles since then.

The FM radio has good reception. Not miraculous, but considerably better than the previous Panasonic radio we tried in the same space.

The alarm is very useful, easy to program complex times into it, and easy to deal with routine alaram/snooze/wake functions. But as other reviewers have pointed out, you cannot easily instruct the alarm not to go off if you wake up before it goes off. Instead, you need to enter the main alarm program menu, deprogram the alarm for which ever day of the week it is, and then remember to come back to the clock after the alarm time passes to reprogram it for that same day of the week. This is such a nuisance we generally don't do it.

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Overall, the Sangean RCR-1 clock radio is awesome. (For me, it replaced the "Sunrise alarm clock" by Sharper image that I found sorely wanting in quality and features). The Sangean atomic clock radio, however, was hardly wanting in any area. See below for my comments.

Advantages:

-small footprint: takes up half the space on your nightstand versus most clock radios

-atomic time synchronization: this works perfectly and is very accurate

-automatic tuning: sets station preset buttons automatically based on signal strength

-very cool looks

-adjustable illumination from very bright to nearly off

-gradual increase in volume of either alarm tone or radio to gently wake you from sleep

-reasonable radio sound fidelity, not "tinny" like many clock radios

-value: try finding another clock radio so feature-laden for this price. I tried... nothing else came close.

Disadvantages:

-difficult to read digital display at night (you can simply read the analog display, or turn up the illumination)

-my wife says the receiving bar for the atomic signal that attaches to the back of the unit is ugly. It is hidden but would be even better if it were internal

Why I didn't give it 5 stars:

I almost did! But it felt a little dishonest to do so since I did list two weaknesses. Nevertheless, I find these weaknesses to be minor, especially given all the huge advantages above. I have been exceedingly happy with this purchase and recommend it to anyone looking for a unique clock radio with the above features.

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I'm the type of guy that is fanatical about my electronics. This clock radio offers nearly all the features I want in a clock radio with only a few draw backs. I love the flexibility of the alarm's. You can set it up to wake you only on certain days of the week. It also features what Sangean calls Humane Waking System which is basically a way of gradually increasing the volume of the alarm tone or radio. This allows for a gentle wake up as opposed to a sudden jolt when the alarm sounds.

One reviewer on this site claims that he was unable to wake to an AM station. My unit wakes me to AM stations just fine so I don't think he understood how to set the station while setting up the alarm. The instructions don't really explain that very well so here is the easy way to set the station you want to wake to. Simply turn on the radio and tune to the desired station. Then press and hold either Alarm 1 or Alarm 2 for more than two seconds and wait till you hear a beep. Then your wake up station will be stored into memory.

Turning on either alarm requires several key presses but it is not overly difficult to master. My take on this is that it is a safety feature so that you don't turn on/off an alarm by mistake. The radio also features a basic power failure feature. It will retain it's settings for up to 4 hours in the event of a power failure. However, the alarm will not sound at the designated time if the power is out. I see that as a critical oversite and I hope that Sangean corrects that in the next model. I have mine plugged in to a APC Battery Backup so I don't worry too much about power failures.

What I don't like about this clock radio. The LCD display is is very hard to read. I have good vision and I find it difficult to read the display. The contrast could use an adjustment knob but sadly there isn't one.

A clock radio of this caliber should have an automatic dimmer. I hate having to manually set the brightness before I go to sleep.

It should have a programable snooze function. It does snooze but only 5 min. at a time. You cannot tap the snooze bar repeatedly to add more time.

Overall I'm very pleased with this clock radio but as always the search continues for the perfect clock. When I find it, I'll buy but until then I'm happy to use this one. BTW, the sound quality is very good. Not Bose or Tivoli quality but good nontheless.

I agree with the other reviewers. The clock is nice and attractive but does not blow me away. My main complaint is the alarm settings. I had thought that you could program two alarms each day to go off whenever you wanted. Not true. You have two alarms that can be set for a specific time each day and specific days of the week. Foe example, Let's say you use one alarm and your spouse uses the other. You can set your alarm to wake up at 6:30 am M,W, and F. If you want to wake up at 7:00am on Tu and Th, your out of luck.

My other problem with this machine is the humane wake system only works for the alarm bell not the radio. Also, the display is of very poor quality and can only be seen at certain angles. I radio in this price range should also have a CD player.

I paid $80 delivered and I feel so-so about the purchase. I feel sorry for those folks that paid $130.

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Pyle PLDN79U 7-Inch Double Din TFT Touch Screen AM/FM/AUX for iPod and MP3 Input, USB/SD Card slot

• 7'' TFT/LCD Touch Panel - 30 Station Memory (18FM/12AM) - PAL/NTSC Color System - Subwoofer Output - Rear Camera Output-Parking Video Input
• Treble/Bass/Balance/Fader/Encoder Volume - Touch Screen Control Operation - LO/DX & ST/MO Selector - Selectable View Angle - 320 Watts (4x80W)
• PLL Synthesizer Tuner - Res. 800x480 Pixels Brightness: 400 cd/m2 - Repeat/Intro Random - A/V Input & A/V Output - Last Position Memory
• Auto Store/Preset Scan - On Screen Display/Title/Time/Chapter/Subtitle - Clock Function Mute Control - SD/MMC Card Slot-USB Connector - Selectable USA/Europe Radio Frequency
• AM/FM-MPX 2 Band Radio - Double-DIN Chassis - RCA Line Out Preset EQ - Wireless Remote Control - Dimensions: 7.26'' x 4.08'' x 6.36''

The product does not work well, the USB portion is inoperable, its cheaply made. Do not buy this product. :(

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let me start by saying i have nothing against this was the second radio that i ordered the first would not even turn on.this one would turn on but screen stopped working before i could set more then one preset but radio still played.this is not the fault of amazon and the return of items is esay with amazon that i am happy withjust not with the pyle radio.

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IT IS NOT AN DVD PLAYER WHICH IS PORTRAYED AS AND NOW I CANT EVEN RETURN THE S*** I HATE IT

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Worked ok for the first few days. After that it started freezing and switching automaticly to different settings. Quit working altogether after that.

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excelente producto muy buena calidad en la fabricacion se recomienda a todos buena adquisicion para cualquiera que requiera un reproductor de bajo costo

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Philips Fidelio DS8500 Speaker Dock with Remote for iPod/iPhone (White/Silver)

• Compatible with all iPod products with a 30-pin connector (except iPod shuffle)--this includes the newest iPod nano and touch models; also compatible with iPhone, iPhone 3G and 3GS, and iPhone 4
• Advanced PureDigital sound processing technology offers vastly superior sound performance; higher signal-to-noise ratio
• Smart sound design brings you the best bass reproduction possible
• Acoustic volume allocated to each mid-range driver perfectly matches its acoustic requirements; low tones come out deep and tight, delivering strong and rich bass
• Most top-grade audiophile appliances allow the display to be turned off for absolute enjoyment of music, and for power to be focused on sound reproduction; with the proximity sensor feature, you can enjoy that, too

So this is my first video review I have ever done so please excuse the "ummms" LOL.

----Side by Side sound comparison -----

I thought I would give a video review a shot to present the sound quality of the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock as well as compare it to the BOSE sound dock which I already own.

From what I understand the quality of BOSE is considered to be one of the best so someone out there might find value from a side by side comparison between the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock against a BOSE sound dock.

Over all the sound is very, very good to even great. In the video I am playing a song ("Space Lord" by Monster Magnet) which has a good amount of bass in the song. At the volume I am playing the song on the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock the bass notes end slightly distorted. The best way I can explain "notes end slightly distorted" is if one note of bass is 2 seconds long the sound doesn't start with a distortion but rather when the sound of the bass ends you can hear a bit of static or distortion.

In the video review I say "You are not going to be able to compare this to a BOSE" .

And what I am referring to is the bass sound between the BOSE and the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock. The bass produced by the BOSE is cleaner and BOSE is able to handle bass at a greater volume.

To be fair the base static/distortion is slight and nothing I may have noticed easily if I wasn't looking for problems and comparing the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock to another quality sound dock. This may not bother the average user but someone who is connoisseur of sound, bass and /or music and is critical of these faults may not be able to easily look over this.

The PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock has great projection and full sound which can be heard across the house. The sound quality comes extremely close to the quality of my BOSE sound dock which cost about $200.00 -$300.00 more.

Good Points:

* Sound quality is closely comparable to a unit which costs $200.00 $300.00 or more

* Great sound projection

* Full sound

Bad Points:

Nothing really "Bad" but a few note worthy.. not "perfect" items to list are

* Bass notes end with a slight static/distortion

----USE WITH APPLE IPHONE -------

I own the Apple Iphone 3G.

Good Points:

* No static / feedback when playing music on the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock

* Able to still receive phone calls when Iphone is docked and playing music

* PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock remote is able to control (Volume, Rewind, FastForward, Pause/Play ) using both the Iphone's Ipod application and Fidelio application

* Fidelio application is NOT required

Bad Points:

* Fidelio application is NOT required but must be installed to resolve the message "Application Not Installed ...."

* Incoming and exiting phone calls cause music to strongly distort.

When I first docked my Apple Iphone I received the error message

"Application Not Installed

This application requires an application you do not have installed. Would you like to install it from the App store?"

I chose "No" and it played just fine using the Iphone's Ipod application.

I found until you install the application "Fidelio" you will receive this message but it does not interfere with the Iphone's ability to play music through the Ipod application and the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock remote is able to control the Ipod application (rewind, fastforward, play and pause).

So if you have a guest using your PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock there is no need for them to install this application on their Iphone.

Incoming and exiting phone calls caused some problems for the Iphone. When the call first comes in and after the call hangs up the music becomes distorted for a few seconds. This distortion occurred 8 out of 10 different phone calls using both the Iphone's Ipod application and the Fidelios application.

Just a note I was making these calls a good 15 feet away from the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock so the distortion shouldn't come from the phone I was using to make the calls with.

--- Regarding the PHILIPS Fidelio Application ------

This is a free application which you will be asked if you want to install when you dock your Iphone.

Without the PHILIPS Fidelio Application the error message about "Application Not Installed" came up each time I docked my Iphone.

After installing the application "Fidelio" I received another error message that went something like

"This accessory is not optimized for this iPhone"

After I installed the application "Fidelio" I clicked on it and found it to be a player similar to the Ipod player except with a picture of a blue note against a background which changes colors (I uploaded a photo if you are curious). I did test whether the Iphone's Ipod application still worked with the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock and it does so the Fidelio application in my opinion is optional and only if you get tired of seeing the error "Application Not Installed".

The Fidelio application is described as

"Fidelio is a suite of applications that brings cool, new features to your Philips Fidelio docking speaker. With Fidelio, you can easily browse and play your music collection, control your speakers acoustic properties, and check your docking speakers battery health from your iPhone or iPod.

Fidelio also has a clock feature with multiple music alarms. Now you can set your docking speaker to wake you up playing your favorite music and displaying your favorite photo.

Fidelio is a free app created by Philips exclusively for use with Philips Fidelio docking speakers and the iPhone or iPod. It is not compatible with any other docking speakers.

FEATURES

Playback mode:

-Album/ Music navigation

-Playback controls

-Sound setting controls* (e.g. DBB, Treble, Bass)

-5-Band equaliser

"

Source: CNET Downloads

The clock feature on the Fidelio application can be found at the bottom of the screen where there are two little dots, similar to when your Iphone has multiple pages. Click on the dots and the next "page" is your clock option.

Sound setting controls can be found by touching the little "i" (as in info) found on the bottom right hand corner.

--- Physical Attributes ------

Physical specs of the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock here on the Amazon product page says it is 9 x 6 x 19 inches but I measured it to be 16.5" in length x 7" height and about 3.5" in depth. Perhaps they are referring to the box it comes in.

The PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock package came with a remote, CR2032 3v lithium battery for the remote, power cord, brick, instruction book and a line in cord so you can connect the PHILIPS Fidelio Sound Dock to other music sources.

In the video I reference the CR2032 3v lithium battery which is a type of battery I have only found to be purchasable over the internet or occasionally in stores which carry specialty battery types such as battery displays for hearing aids.

--Remote Control ---

After I created this review I noticed a few people here say the remote does not work with the Iphone which worked for me.

So I tested the remote out again to be sure I did not miss something. This time when I used the remote it moved back and forth between two songs. I checked the playlist and placed it on "Shuffle" and was able to FastForward and Rewind between different songs.

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I had been looking for a iPod docking station/speaker for some time before I finally settled on the Philips Fidelio DS8500, mainly because I no longer use CDs (I buy music as downloads or copy the CDs onto my computer) and that I didn't (and still do not) wish to have a big hi-fi system with massive speakers and so on in my (not so terribly large) living room.

I tried out different speakers side by side, and I came to the conclusion that the Fidelio 8500 is the best overall speaker for the money. The Zeppelin, the Bose Sounddock 10, and the Fidelio 9500 are all better speakers, but they are more expensive. Quite a lot more. The Sounddock 10 (which I had originally wanted to buy) is 400 dollars more expensive, but to my ears, it is only between 50 and 100 dollars better as a speaker. The same could be said about the other speakers. The Fidelio 8500 has pleasant, full bass tones (which makes sure you don't get that 'tinny' sound so often found in small speakers), good mid and high tones, and it can play quite loudly distortion-free. Even at low volume levels it fills small rooms rather nicely, and if need be, it can fill larger rooms quite easily. I, for one, was surprised at the sound quality of this little speaker. In addition to its capabilities as a speaker, it also looks very smartly. It is definitely well-designed, and quite pleasing to the eye, making it a good alternative to massive speakers, which so often seem unattractive (if mostly to girlfriends or wives).

The speaker also comes with an aux cable, so you can hook up other devices as well, which is nice.

There is, however, a small thing, which I find rather odd and a bit annoying. I have a Samsung TV and DVD-player, and for some odd reason, Philips and Samsung have chosen the same wavelength to control their devices remotely, which means that whenever I adjust the volume on my TV or pause my DVD-player, it wakes up my Philips speaker (when an iPod or iPhone is connected, that is). To fix this, I only have to turn off the speakers (pull the plug), which makes it easily fixable, but still a bit annoying.

4.5 stars, with .5 subtracted for the remote interference. The best speakers you can buy for your iPod in that pricerange, and in fact very good speakers, period. Highly recommendable.

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Let's get to the point

PROS

Awesome design

Great sound/bass quality

Not too expensive

Nice remote

CONS

It says it's "Compatible with all iPod products with a 30-pin connector" but it's not.

I have a 4th gen Ipod touch. At first, there was some noise from time to time when playing music, sounded like some kind of interference, I contacted the Philips people and said my ipod wasnt compatible.

I don't know why or how, but it stopped, and now it sounds perfect. The only thing is the remote functions doesn't work with my 4th gen, just the basics; play/pause, control the volume and move to the next or last song. But the menu button doesn't work so, I cant use many features.

If you have an previous compatible model I highly recommend it. If you have a 4th gen ipod touch like me.... keep looking

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Please scroll down for my original review.

**********************************UPDATE: Jan 29, 2011*********************************

Although I have returned this dock, I have yet to ship it back because I purchased the Soundfreaq Sound Platform last week. (Details Soundfreaq Sound Platform for iPad and Smart Mobiles). I decided to compare the 2 systems before I shipped the Phillips. Here are my conclusions:

1. Sound: Phillips wins hands down. The bass is fuller and it can be played at a higher volume. Having said that, the Soundfreaq is no laggard. The bass isn't as deep but the sound over all is excellent. My wife listens mostly to older Indian songs and podcasts, neither of which requires big thumping bass. Both genres are more vocal oriented and the Soundfreaq does a good job. I have a different system for my periodic dose of classic rock/metal and any sound dock in this price range will most likely not do the trick anyways.

2. Connectivity and convenience: The Soundfreaq is the outright winner. The iPhone4 connects without any adapters even with the bumper case. No problems! Even better, I don't need to actually mount the iPhone on the dock because of bluetooth connectivity. It took 5 7 minutes from the moment I signed the UPS receipt for the box to having a song from the iPhone 4 playing through this dock via bluetooth. It works like a charm. Setup is a breeze and the convenience of bluetooth is a HUGE plus. Similarly, I was able to connect my Blackberry via bluetooth, so I no longer need to use the AUX input for my BB. Also, the AUX input works perfectly with no background hum like the Phillips.

3. FM radio: Works fine on the Soundfreaq. Not present on the Phillips. This isn't a very big differentiator but since i'm spending more for the Soundfreaq, its nice to get more too.

4. Looks/aesthetics: both systems look pretty good. I liked the Phillips but the retro, vacuum-tube radio like design of the Soundfreaq is very nice.

5. iPhone app: Phillips' app is buggy, clunky and is more of a hindrance. Soundfreq app does what it is supposed to and stays out of the way. Neither app needs to be used but the Soundfreq app doesn't irritate like the Phillips.

Conclusions:

1. If you want deeper bass and all round better sound, go with the Phillips.

2. The convenience of the Soundfreaq cannot be matched by the Phillips. I really like the fact that I can switch on bluetooth on my phone (I don't have it running all the time to conserve battery), connect and I'm in business from anywhere in the room. No wires. No need to even get close to the actual dock.

3. Soundfreaq is more expensive, and more than what I was planning to spend but I think I'm getting decent value for the extra money.

I'm happy with my purchase of the Soundfreaq and more important, the wife loves it. I'm keeping it and will ship back the Phillips.

******************************Original Review from Jan 24, 2011**********************************

I was pretty excited about this product. It looked good and the reviews were positive. I did however, have 2 mandatory requirements other than good sound quality:

1. It should work with an iPhone 4 in a bumper case.

2: I should be able to use it with non-Apple devices using the AUX input.

I decided to check it out at the Apple store before buying it on Amazon to make sure it works with the iPhone 4 with a bumper case. The sales clerk at the Apple store mounted an iPhone 4 in a bumper case and it seemed to fit fine. For some reason they refused to plug it in and actually play it with the iPhone 4. They said that I'd have to purchase it, test it and could return it if it didn't work. Strange! I couldn't do that then because I was buying this for my wife who has an iPhone 4 and I didn't have her phone with me. Well, now I think I know the reason why they wouldn't let me try it out. It doesn't work with an iPhone 4 in a bumper case! The input prongs do not go all the way into the iPhone 4 because of the bumper case. Remove the bumper case and it works fine, but I don't want to have to do that every time. I don't profess to be an audiophile, so to my lay ears, it sounded great. But the reality is that after the whole antenna thing, a bumper case is almost mandatory on an iPhone 4, and in any case, I use a bumper case for added protection. Phillips should've designed this system taking that into account.

My other issue was that I decided to plug in my non-Apple MP3 player using the AUX input and I kept getting a hum. I moved the set away from possible electronic interference but the hum wouldn't go away.

Net, net: much as I liked the sound quality and the aesthetics, I had to return it because both my 2 mandatory requirements weren't met. I could maybe excuse Phillips for the bumper case thing but the hum with the AUX input is inexcusable.

Very disappointing.

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I have been purchasing from Amazon for years with many pleasant experiences but have never felt compelled to leave a review before now. This unit so thoroughly filled all of my expectations that I just have to let others know. I purchased a refurbished unit that arrived in two days (two days!) and that was just the beginning of my love affair with this unit. I adore the sound and kick that comes out of this small, elegant egg. this unit is not to be confused with all those cheap, tinny sounding units out there posing as Ipod speakers. The speakers may be too close to get good stereophonic sound, but there is no compromise in fidelity. I read a review that suggested the Bose might be better for classical music and the Fidelio for Rock and there may be some truth in that but as far as I am concerned that is just splitting hairs. This unit sounds great! Plus, I always have a fully charged Touch 4gen when I leave the house.

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Kensington SX 3000R Speakers with FM Radio for iPod

• NXT SurfaceSound speaker technology provides rich, balanced, natural sound
• Fall asleep or wake up to your favorite music using your iPod's built-in alarm clock and sleep timer
• Easy-to-use remote controls music from across the room
• Compatible with iPod Nano (Gen 1,2); iPod (Gen 1,2,4), including iPod Video
• Built-in charger recharges iPod either on or off

Let's keep it simple:

1. Sounds great

2. Excellent price

3. Works with my girlfriend's iPod nano and my new iPod video, etc

4. Remote control so I can be lazy

5. FM Radio for NPR and in case I want a break from my music

6. easy to move around the house or even backyard

Not to mention the thing looks pretty cool and was a hit at my last BBQ

Get it or give it, it's a no brainer

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I was heavily influenced by these reviews when deciding which speaker system I wanted to purchase for my apartment, so I thought I'd return the favor to all and write one of my own.

I absolutely love this system, the sleek and unique design is a great addition to my apartment and the sound is great. It's very simple and easy to use (plug-and-play). The remote is also an added perk that I never thought I'd appreciate as much as I do. I would (and do) highly recommend this to anyone.

Good luck in your search, although, I think it can stop here!

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I have to admit that I wanted the Bose system but this is the one that my frugal husband bought me for Christmas. The sound quality is good for the price. I don't have any complaints about it. It is very user friendly. It really shows dust because of the shiny black laquer but that is to be expected.

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This was a Christmas gift for my daughter who at one point had mentioned she would like the Bose speakers, but she knew they were just too expensive. After doing a little research and reading other comments I thought the Kensington speaker sounded like a good quality product for a better price. She was delighted with her gift and it has a very good sound. Good product good price!

The sound on this device is of good quality, but the speakers don't project as omni-directionally as they should. My main objection to this machine is that it doesn't do ANYTHING unless the iPod is docked in it--no radio, even.

But given that the comparable machines that do what this does are around $500, it is a good, but flawed, product.

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Pyle PLR44MU In-Dash AM/FM-MPX Detachable Face Receiver with MP3 Playback and USB/SD/Aux Inputs

• AM/FM-MPX PLL Tuning Car Radio - Encoding Volume, Balance, Bass, Treble & Fader Control - Blue Button Illumination Controls - Dimensions: 7''W x 4.72''D x 1.96''H
• Dot Matrix White LCD Display- 30 Radio Preset Station Memory 18FM-12AM- Seek/Scan Function
• Fold-Down Detachable Face Panel - Front Auxiliary Input Jack - AM Frequency Range: 530~1710kHz
• MP3 ID3 Tag Digital Readout Compatible - Stereo RCA Line Out Jack - FM Frequency Range: 87.5~107.9MHz
• USB Slot & SD/MMC Card Port For MP3/WMA Music Files Playback - Full Function Remote Control - 4 x 60 Watts Maximum Power Output

I was getting really tired of the poor sound from my MP3 player connected to my old radio using an FM transmitter. In my area, there is not a channel that has no broadcast, so my songs were constantly competing for the airwaves. After researching several digital receivers on Amazon, I was discouraged to find that nearly all had negative reviews, or at least some negative features. When I found the Pyle PLR44MU, it had only one review but it was 5 stars, so I decided to give it a try. I'm very glad I did! What I discovered is that this digital receiver has all the features I wanted at a price that is truly unbelievable. The unit installed without a hitch, although I was not for-warned that I also needed an antenna adapter and a mounting case, which I purchased locally. I was also not sure if I needed a wiring harness, so I ordered one with this unit that I ultimately did not use. As it turned out, I could not easily get to the plug behind the dash for the existing wiring, so I reverted to splicing the wires from the connectors included with the receiver into the existing wiring. A Google search lead me to the wiring schematic for my car (1999 Chevy Suburban), so I could match the correct leads.

THE RADIO:

I was impressed by how many clear channels I got on the FM scale. The PLL tuner was quite capable of searching out channels, and I could add any channel to memory by just holding in the memory button for 2 seconds. The display is pleasing and easy on the eyes.

USB: I inserted a usb drive loaded with .mp3 files and after displaying "USB", it began playing the songs. The Title and author of each song is displayed along with the file length. I could advance or backup one file at a time, or switch to the next folder using the "DIR+" or "DIR-" buttons.

SD/MMC: It took a while to find the slot for an SD Card, as they are mis-labeled on the instructions. I found the slot behind the face plate! I did not test this slot as I did not have an available card, but assume it works like the USB port. An advantage to using SD/MMC cards is that the media card can be hidden, rather than sticking out front as the USB drive is.

CLOCK: There is a brief reference in the manual to displaying the clock, but no instructions on how to set it. You must press the "DSP" (not "DISP" as the instructions read) and the time will display. To set it, hold the DSP button a few seconds and the hour will begin flashing. Turn the volume knob to change the hour. Press the volume button once and the minutes will flash, allowing you to set them by turning the volume button. Press DSP again to set.

OTHERS: There are buttons for MUTE and PAUSE, as well as a RF remote control unit that works.

Conclusion: This digital receiver exceeded my expectations, did everything I wanted it to do, and looks great. The instructions are very poor and riddled with mistakes, so you will have to experiment. The MP3 receiver remembers where it was when powered off and restarts from that point. I did not notice any of the memory problems noted for other receivers reviewed, and am very happy I chose this one. I cannot imagine getting a better digital receiver at any price to work with my old speakers.

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This looks and feels and acts like a higher end product than it really is. I put this into my Ford F100 1978 pickup truck and it has given new voice to the monster. Very clear and easy to use.

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I first ordered a slightly lesser model of this stereo, which turned out to be defective. A most helpful Pyle customer service guy told me to return the unit, so I asked if they needed all the wiring and such, too, as it was already crimped onto the short factory loom I had cut into.

No, just return the head unit itself, he said. Great, that saved me a bit of work, and crimp connectors.

Went to order a direct replacement, but by then the price was up a bit (and no free shipping, as I recall) but this unit was only a dollar or two more than the original.

Plugged it into the waiting wiring and...there was sound. Not great sound, but that could well be the speakers' fault.

Considering the crummy rubber antenna on the vehicle, the reception was well above expectations.

It's about time someone made a basic radio, without failure prone CD or tape accomodations, and for a very good price.

I just might buy another one, for a different vehicle.

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I have been using this for a month now and am really happy with the purchase.

Installation:

Easy. Had to by a din kit for my car which was easy to install. The physically installing the radio was easy. Doing the wiring was easy as well. I don't work on my car at all and don't have much experience with this, but the installation was easy and painless.

Performances:

Audio is great. I love using the SD card to play my music. I also use the usb port to charge my phone (though keep in mind this is will not charge it a lot. my phone barely consumes much as its not a smart phone. it does not charge a smartphone more than its normal consumption.) Also, as a side note, that if your phone acts as a mass storage device when you plug it in, then you can play music on your phone through the usb cable.

Complaints:

None so far

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The radios great; some things to think about?

THE GOOD, price is the best.

Easy operation, the remote makes this part easy.

Great reception, i also have an antenna booster which helps a great deal.

The screen resist glare so easy to read.

Not so good, good for a small system but not enough power alone to push subs so an amp will be purchased in the near future.

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ClearMax Auto Scan Shower Radio - White

• FM receiver
• Water resistance for shower
• Built in speaker
• Stick it on the wall in the shower with the special large suction design for air release
• Powered by AAA size x 2 pcs (not included)

I really liked the idea of a compact shower radio that operates on 2 AAA batteries to replace our bulky Jensen shower radio with CD player that we had for years, that thing eats through 6 C batteries like there is no tomorrow.

Unfortunately ClearMax Auto Scan shower radio did not deliver in any way.

First of all the sound was not as good as I thought it would be even though I wasn't expecting much from the radio with only one speaker.

Second (the most annoying): it resets the radio station after you power it off. You would have to scan for your favorite station every time you turn on your radio.

And now on to the Suction... While suction is quite large (almost the size of the radio) it only stays attached to the glass for about 15-20 minutes and then radio drops.

Final thoughts? $10 Down the drain, not even worth the hassle of returning.

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Had this about a month and half and it's only working when it wants to. Have to bang on it to get it to come on and if you move around in the shower it cuts in and out (I'm guessing it blocks the antennae?). Of course it's a week and half past the return date so I'm stuck with a radio that only gives me half of my morning NPR news stories.

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Purchased this for my daughter for the holiday. Thought the price was a steal. After 35 days the unit just died. It appears it is not water tight. Not good for a shower radio. That $10 was wasted. I would pass on this product. I just sent it back. Lets see if I get anything back from the suppier.

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I got this radio with little expectation due to the low price. I am shocked at how well it works. The sound from this little thing is amazing. With two buttons and a huge dial it is really easy to operate. Sometimes it is hard to find a specific station since there is no display showing what station you are on. Not having a display, or even an analog bar, may save some battery life but it would be worth it. If there are lot of stations that are close together in your area it might be hard to get to the correct one.

Essentially the best thing I can say is that I would recommend this, and if it broke I would buy another without hesitation.

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Logitech s400i 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Alarm Clock Speaker Dock

• Versatile alarm clock with dual settings plus snooze: Wake up to music from your iPod or iPhone, favorite FM station or classic buzzer
• Convenient charging dock: Charges your iPhone or iPod while you sleep
• Rich stereo audio: Turn up your tunes with room-filling full stereo sound
• Built-in FM radio: Preset buttons let you tune to your favorite stations with one touch
• Compact design: A perfect fit, even on smaller nightstands

This Logitech Docking Station/Radio/Clock device works well in all respects.

The remote control is handy, a little small but useful for sure when you want to change songs and are not standing next to the machine. The remote also powers on/off, changes from ipod to FM and offers other functions that make it a good asset.

The device itself, when you power it up, you can either insert your ipod or other similar device into the slot on top, or set it to FM radio mode. The radio tuner is quite good and pulled in a lot of channels.

When you plug in with the enclosed power adapter, the ipod the device syncs with the time on the unit or you can set it manually. Sound quality is quite good. Also the device is a charger and does that very well.

There are a few things that could be better, like the black on black buttons on the device are a little hard to see, they should have had white or another color for them to be easily visible. There is also a line-in jack so you can attach another audio device to play through it and the alarm system is two stage, meaning it can be set to go off at two separate times, both handy additions that just add to the devices usefulness if needed.

I like Logitech products, and this is another of theirs that I would add to the list of ones I find are well made, have good functions, and nice design. Better than other docking stations I have owned for sure.

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So, in all fairness for this review, I will be comparing this product to my husband's Sony iPod/iPhone clock radio, which both retail for around the same price.

The Logitech Clock Radio has all the typical features of a digital clock: snooze, alarm with choice of buzzers (iPod, radio, buzzer) and sleep. In addition, it has a mounting station on the top for an iPod or iPhone. The size is fairly substantial compared to a regular digital clock, so be prepared to clear some space on your night-table for this item. It takes up about 1/3 of my small night-table, so I had to do some adjusting to get it on there, along with a small lamp and odds and ends. The display is nice and not overly bright (and adjustable). When you dock your i-product onto the docking station, the clock automatically resets to that time, thus increasing its accuracy (except for the one time my iPad was set for another time-zone and it messed up the clock--a simple re-dock fixed it so I didn't have to manually adjust the time, but it does come with a manual clock set as well). It also comes with a remote controller, which I have never used, as it is positioned next to my head. I suppose the remote would be useful if you wanted to use your clock-radio as a stereo system, but I find it superfluous.

So, here is the head-to-head comparison: The similar product from Sony is taller, but thinner. All of the features are the same, except that the Sony's clock is light green, not orange. However, the sound from the Sony system is so far superior that there is very little comparison. If you are looking for a clock-radio and a bed-side charger, this is a nice product. However, if you are looking for sound quality and possibly more space on your night-stand, go for the Sony. The Sony's footprint is about 1/4 of the size (although taller) and the sound is much better.

A note about charging my iPad: I bought an extension cord for my i-products, which plugs into the docking port on the clock-radio and then into my iPad on the other end. It is quite nice in case I want to charge my phone and use it while charging or when I want to charge my iPad next to my bed. They are very expensive for the reliable ones ($16+, the cheaper ones don't work well or die quickly), but for me, well worth the money.

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Logitech's clock radio with a dock for the iPhone/iPod/iTouch has been a pleasant surprise. We've owned two other iPod clock radios and they've been abysmal. The biggest problem I've had with them is the iPod/iPhone dock. In almost all instances it's lost connectivity or simply broken after very few uses. Logitech's clock radio is a very solid unit with what's proved to be a sturdy dock for playing and recharging. Another nice feature is that the dock is the little door that supports your iPod, as well as hides the dock when not in use, keeping it relatively dust free.

As to the sound, for being a clock radio, it's actually pretty good. When folding clothes or cleaning the upstairs, it's nice to simply hit the shuffle feature and let the music play. This sleek little unit actually has decent sound for what it is. We checked our 3rd and 4th generation iTouches on it and both played and recharged just fine.

Someone else mentioned the buttons being hard to see in their review. I agree with this. With the black design, it would have been helpful to accent the buttons in white.

The setup was very easy. The clock radio's time automatically synchs to your iPhone/iPod/iTouch's time. There was a little tab inserted during packaging that you have to remove to activate the battery. Something to note: the back-up battery isn't AA or AAA; rather, it's one of those flat, quarter-sized batteries you never tend to have on hand.

Other items worth mentioning you have two alarm settings. I've only used one, but in case you need two, there you go. There's a line-in option that'll allow you to run in a CD or tape player with a line-out. There's also a remote. Personally, I either never use a remote for a clock radio and tend to lose them, but in the event you have to set your clock radio up across the room, you'll be all set.

Over all, I'm very pleased with Logitech's iPod clock radio. They've made a nice sturdy device that'll look nice on your nightstand and last more than a few years.

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Proudly displayed on my computer desk next to my Apple Timecapsule router, and modem. Easy to set clock time, alarm. Has the iPod/iPhone charger on top, and this automatically updates the correct time, too. Plugs into regular power socket. Excellent concise instruction/assembly pamphlet included. Surprisingly light and easy to move around, but not so light that it gets easily knocked off onto the floor (like some of those cheap digital desk clocks). You can set the clock to wake up to tunes on the iPod or iPHone, your preferred FM station, or the usual noisy alarm buzzer noise. Has snooze too. Offers full stereo sound. In addition, comes with a tiny and handy lightweight wireless remote for easy control of music, alarm and volume from the comfort of your armchair for me, or the bed if you keep it on the nightstand in your bedroom. Highly recommended, as this combines clock/radio/iPod-iPhone charger all in one. Excellent!

I waited a little while to write this review to see how the "Logitech Clock Radio Dock s400i for iPod and iPhone" would hold up over time and to see whether it would work its way into our lives. Five stars on all points.

My wife and I are iPod users. Mine is the latest model; hers is one of the "ancient" original ones no longer used by one of the kids. Works great on both. She has to get up at two different times depending on whether she has to travel into the city, so dual alarm settings works great. Since this alarm gives the user the choice between FM, buzz, or iPod sound, she now wakes to the ultra cool sound of Mr. Barry White every morning, and what woman doesn't want that?

A few things other items not mentioned by other reviewers: the "Logitech Clock Radio Dock s400i for iPod and iPhone" comes with:

1. FM wire antenna so the user can adjust the antenna just so, to get the best reception.

2. There is a switch so the user may set the clock to Am/PM or to the European/military time from 0 to 24 (i.e., 10PM = 22:00).

3. There is a compartment underneath the clock radio for a backup disk battery (preventing the loss of setting in a power outage), which is a great example of Logitech engineering. The unit arrives with a small plastic tab sticking out of the compartment, preventing the battery from draining until its put into service. Yes, Logitech sends one of these batteries out with each unit. Our old clock radios used to flash on and off whenever the power went off without our knowledge. What will we do now? !!!

4. The instruction manual is easy to read. Comes in French, English and Spanish.

5. The unit has a very nice, sleek, shiny (plastic) appearance, that looks good in any setting.

I put my iPod in my pocket in the morning, and return it to the clock radio when I get home. Now it rarely runs out of power during the day.

I think the quality of the music is plenty for this application, at bedside. Recently, I've been playing tracks from my iPod of waves, streams, thunder and rain, which helps me fall asleep.

Another nice, daily use, quality audio product from Logitech.

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Nokia E72 Unlocked Phone Featuring GPS with Voice Navigation - U.S. Version with Full Warranty (Zodi

I upgraded from a Nokia E71 (which was an unbelievable upgrade from my previous experiences with Blackberry), and for some reason I was expecting that same leap from the E71 to E72. However, I soon realized, after using my E72 for the past couple days, that the E71 did in fact spoil me. The E72 is still no doubt an amazing phone -along with the E71 and other top Nokias, it's still in its own little league above the Blackberries and other smartphones -but I'll admit I was slightly let down.

If you are looking to buy a Nokia (or any phone) I'd definitely recommend the E72. If you are a huge Nokia fan, then fine, upgrade. If you're happy with your E71....then I'd really think about it (or at least get your hands on one in person). The E72 is much faster, the camera's awesome, and it's still a beautiful phone. BUT you should know a couple things:

-The construction is not quite as top-notch as the E71. It's a little lighter, with some metal replaced for a sort of heavy, hardened plastic. I've heard of the battery panel being loose, but I haven't run into the problem. Mine was made in China, while my E71 was made in Finland, although it seems there can always be problems no matter where it's made.

-The optical pad is a nice touch (it takes some getting used to) and, occasionally, it can misinterpret your choice to click to the side for a sliding movement. But overall I'm getting used to it (and if you really don't like it you can always switch it off).

-I do notice the slightest high pitched buzz when the volume is turned up and the sound coming from the other end of the call is on the loud side. The E71 never had this problem. I take it the speakers were either downgraded or because of the extra plastic there's some sort of vibration (could just be my model). UPDATE: Seems the speaker just needed some "breaking in" (strange, I know). This problem is no longer present. However, still not the best volume in speakerphone mode.

***Overall, I'd say if you're looking at the E72 compared to any top smartphone, this is an excellent choice***

IF you're looking at the E72 and E71 side by side, it is THEN that you start to notice the little details that I mentioned above. True, there are a few more plastic pieces than the E71, but when I think about the Blackberries and iPhones, you're never going to get the same quality you got with the E71, and the E72 is just a notch below that.

E72 is a 4.5 star phone. E71 will always be the best phone I've ever owned.

With one word: NO.

After owning and E71 for over a year, which for me was by far the best phone that I have ever used, I was really excited about getting the new E72 since it featured a 600Mhz CPU which seemed to be my main and only issue with the E71. However the CPU was the only upgrade in this unit and almost everything else seemed to be in fact a downgrade. As mentioned by another reviewer this phone has serious stability issues. The FP2 OS is extremely buggy and crashes, reboots and freezes several times a day. Nokia really needs to work on a new firmware to correct this. Below is every quality of the phone that I could think of as compared to the E71.

HARDWARE

-----------------------------

BUILD QUALITY: Definitely not as solid of a feeling compared to the mostly metal E71. The D-pad feels like cheap plastic and it has some free play. The back cover tends to move occasionally when you are holding the phone to your ear.

SPEAKERPHONE: Very poor quality compared to the E71. There is very noticeable buzzing near the maximum volume, even with high quality music files. Calls on speakerphone at max volume are plain annoying due to the buzzing. On top of that the speaker is not as loud as the one on the E71.

CALL QUALITY: Excellent call quality except at the maximum volume where the call speaker also becomes distorted.

KEYBOARD AND TOUCHPAD: The keyboard feels slightly better than the one on the E71. The buttons seem to give out somewhat of a better feedback. However the E72 is slightly wider than the E71 which makes it a little harder to type on with one hand. The new track pad navigation provides a very inconsistent performance and it is not even close to the one on the newer blackberries. Scrolling up and down is perfectly fine but scrolling sideways becomes an exercise. The good news is that the original directional pad like on the E71 is still there so you can just disable the touchpad if you hate it just as much as I did after a week of usage.

CAMERA: It is still a cell phone camera so keep your expectations low. It takes decent pictures and the quality is about the same as the E71 but with 5 megapixel images and slightly wider lens. The camera application now has built-in panorama mode. Video at 640x480 is plain horrible. The flash on this phone is actually pretty decent. One thing that was very annoying to me is that it uses a very bright focus light(AKA The flash) which makes focusing at macro impossible if you are trying to take a picture of something with brighter colors that reflect more light. There is no way to disable the focus light either, not even in macro mode. Nokia should think about this as well.

BATTERY LIFE: There is simply nothing like it. Except the E71. The battery life on the E72 is also exceptional. I am able to get 2 to 3 days of very heavy usage on it, including 2 to 3 hours of talking, 2 hours of browsing and some text messaging. I have not seen any other phone in this category which gets even close to these stats.

GPS: Works great and it gets a position fix generally within 5 seconds. It seems a little faster than the E71. The E72 also has a compass.

SOFTWARE

-------------------------

This is the bad part.

FP2: Aside from unifying various internet connections I really did not see much if any of an improvement in this version of the Symbian OS. In fact it features some ugly menu transitions and it has a lot of stability issues. You would get out of memory error with a subsequent freezing at least a couple of times in a day and reboots and total freezes which require battery removal are not uncommon either.

APPLICATION UNLOCK: Yes, the phone is hackable with HelloOX 2 and up.

WEB BROWSER: The browser is definitely improved from the E71 afar as rendering and navigation goes. However I was never able to complete even ONE single browsing session without this thing crashing and just exiting in the middle of something. It would have been great if it did not crash.

E-MAIL: About as bad as the client available on my first T-Mobile Pocket PC with Windows Mobile 2002. Although that one was a little better than what Nokia has provided. It is almost 2010 and Nokia still does not have an e-mail client which supports in-line HTML. The Nokia messaging software and service is plain horrible. After 3 days of usage I just cancelled my account and went to using webmail. It is really that bad and this is unacceptable for a supposed "business" device. As an alternative, I would recommend Emoze. Their software even partially supports in-line HTML. If you have Hotmail, you can download Windows Live for Symbian. It works really well.

PODCASTING & INTERNET RADIO: Missing!!!???! Very disappointing.

SIP CLIENT: Missing!!! The SIP settings are there, but there is no client. So forget about gizmo or any similar service unless you are using a third party client like Nimbuzz or Fring.

OFFICE APPLICATIONS: This is one positive category. Quickoffice features a free upgrade to open and edit Office 2007 documents. Nokia has also added Wpresenter, Multiscanner and Font Magnifier as standard applications.

--------------------

Overall the E72 is a mixed bag for me. It delivers on speed and the browser is well improved but the stability issues, missing software and some other quirks make this device seem like a downgrade. If I was aware of these issues it is likely that I would have stayed with the E71. So if you are in doubt, my advice would be save your money or at least wait for a firmware update which fixes the stability issues. I hope this was helpful.

Buy Nokia E72 Unlocked Phone Featuring GPS with Voice Navigation - U.S. Version with Full Warranty (Zodi Now

The E72 is one of the best phones ever created.... I am a proud owner of tons of phones and tons more over the last 10 years. The Nokia E72 is a beast.... and I save that category for the rarest of gadgets. Let me explain why (briefly).

Right now I have an Iphone 2g, Ipaq 910, Bold 9700, and the E72. All of my phones serve a purpose in my ever changing lifestyle.

The Iphone is probably the best pda device ever madeemails, sms, mms (now), apps, shortcuts, games, and ease of use. But its still lacking, to me, in various areaslagging, running multiple apps, camera quality, and battery. Most importantly, I hate going in and out of appswhen closed its closed.

The Ipaq 910is probably one of the worst devices ever purchased; yet when running, its the king of pocketpc's. It was tethering at speeds of 10.2 almost 3 years ago. Now everyone is trying to include 3.5g speeds. Sadly, the battery life sucks and it crashes more than a toddler on training wheels. I still have it and refuse to part ways.

The BB 9700 is hands down bb's best effort to me; I would say its the best mobile device on the market. I even added the droid interface and the droid ringtone to spice it up. The track ball is gone and the track pad is even more addictive. It now has a 624 processor and all the bells and whistles, needless to say the best email system going. However, I just get bored with it. I cant figure it out.

Now E72 is my second Nokia... I bought the N97 in June but the price wasnt worth keeping. Nonetheless, it was a quality device. I read about the E72 recently and fell in love with the specs.

Pros-

Battery lifeis unbelievable! None of the aforementioned phones can last a day without dragging out a car charger or a wall charger. The E72 can last 2 days with running: emails, taking pics, creating videos, tons of sms, apps, and tons of phone calls.

Camerais great. I love the quality of the 5mp pictures. The quality changes at night I might add. I almost forgot the front facing camera too.

Phone qualityunbelievable calls...with headphones, bluetooth, or device calls.

smssure its not threaded sms but there are programs that can change the UI if needed.

Operating systemyes its outdated but its solid as a rock...I will take that all day long. Whats worst than having no phone? A phone that crashes... the symbian 60 is like a old BMW, period.

Track pad/clickertrack pad is not as good as the bb but combined with the usual Nokia E series clicker pad make a great combination.

Web Browserexcellent.. The best in its class.

Video Callingrecently Fring added skype video calling... I was blown away.

Audio messengingevery now and then when I am in a hurry I like to record audio messages oppose to sms...great addition.

Contacts, calendar interfaceits smooth...if you can marry with google sync...its even better.

tetheringno need to purchase a program, it does it for you. You can even add a 3rd party program to make it a hotspot....

3.5gits the fastest phone its class... and if you can buy it unlock, you can take advantage of the various network speeds. No need to buy wifi while traveling.

3.5mm headjack outletI ran my jbl desktop speakers and last.fm... unbelievable.

Nokia Office is a great program with Office and Pdf capability...

GPS with OVI maps is superb... now that its free, its a must have with any Nokia.

OTA upgrades,no more using the usb port to upgrade....

Cons-

*Email interface is cumbersome... but now that there is Nokia Email, its a lot better. However, I added Seven push email and its comparable to having BB push service.

*Email Links from BrowserI hate that I cant email a friend a good article from a website... maybe I am missing it some how.

*Nothing is in alphabetical order...when changing apps... Most are all over the place.

*LED flash is on the keypad not the top...I kinda miss the blackberry flashing light.

*On screen function icons too small-like sending a text or email, alarm, and bluetooth... are too small and if you need to know if a email is sent, you have to pay close attention to the sent icon or check the outbox...

*Must use signed aps if not, you can forget it unless you spend hours trying to get it signed...

*Usb jack and phone charger jack different....

Overall I still say this is the best gadget phone out...its a thinking mans phone because a lot of the capabilities are hidden and require work. However, once you have mastered it, you have a mp3 player, an entry level 5mp hotshot, great phone, pda, pocketpc, video camera, great gps, social networker (Nokia Facebook and Twitter Gravity, video caller, and a hotspot.

I highly recommend the Unlocked version oppose to ATT bloatware crasher versions....

Read Best Reviews of Nokia E72 Unlocked Phone Featuring GPS with Voice Navigation - U.S. Version with Full Warranty (Zodi Here

I was waiting for this phone since last 6 month after it was announced in Singapore. I had E51 and wanted to upgrade to a QUERTY business phone. I liked E71 and when i was about to buy e71 I found the news of E72.

I was one the first few to purchase this for almost 450$, But i am very happy with it till now. The features i liked most are

1. The digital compass. This is the most essential hardware/software you require if you really want to use GPS.

2. The Optical nav pad, This makes the scrolling really easy and enjoyable.

3. The latest 600 Mhz processor which makes it the best performing mobile.

4. The camera, finally Nokia's cameras are going to be useful. (I never liked Nokia's camera quality).

5. The accelerometer which can be used in step counter software.

6. The host of all the E series features.

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Coming from a Windows mobile phone (HTC tilt), I love this phone. I have been considering the Tilt2, but wanted to try something other than a WinMo (I didn't find myself using a lot of WinMo features/apps that called for another similar one). iPhone was out of question as I wanted tethering, better battery life and dedicated keyboard. I have been using it for 3 weeks now and liking it more day by day. Few things before moving to Pros and Cons of the phone This phone is not for people that like simplicity of touch screen phones (like iPhone). There is a learning curve in using this phone's features and the shortcut keys. But, imo once familiar with the functions/shortcuts one can do things a lot faster than a touch screen phone.

Pros

****

1. Looks sleek and professional. Call quality is excellent and plenty loud.

2. Keyboard feels very good even though the keys are slightly smaller. They have a nice feedback when pressed.

3. Shortcut keys! There are quite a few shortcut keys on QWERTY keyboard to control phone functions and inside applications. While this feature has a learning curve, I found it very useful once learned.

4. Snappy performance. Very fast and responsive.

5. OVI MAPS for Free! this is simply awesome. Now you can have a GPS with maps for as many countries as you need, for free!. Below is a mini review for this feature to explain it better.

a. The GPS locks on the position very fast while using A-GPS. Most of the time within 10-15 sec I have a lock on the signal.

b. GPS interface is very good and user friendly (I have used the latest Garmin and Magellan).

c. Features include lane assistance, auto zoom in/out based on turns/directions, voice guidance, Speedometer, 2D/3D maps, route overview etc.

d. The map size while getting driving direction is a bit smaller on E72, due to smaller screen. Pretty much only 2x2 inch space is used to show the

map and rest is used for other information. It might look better on Nokias with larger touch screens. In spite of this, the auto zoom in/out makes it

easier to view the map details.

e. I compared it side by side with my Magellan and found it to be pretty accurate. E72 was faster in getting the signals (perhaps due to A-GPS)

6. Wifi Works wonderfully and connects to my home network with WPA2 security without any problems. Once connected, I can turn off scanning to save battery Life

7. Screen is very bright and readable in direct sunlight.

8. Battery life I can wait for 3 days (may be 4 if I wait for the phone to die on me) before I have to connect it to charger. I use Push emails (18 hrs a day) and stay connected to my home wireless network most of the time and occasional use of phone for talking. Even with heavy use I expect it to last at least for 2 days.

9. 3.5mm headphone jack

10. Comes with a 4GB micro SD card.

11. Decent 5MP camera and nice outdoor photo quality. Indoor photos are just OK (most cellphone cameras are the same).

Cons

****

1. Screen resolution is not great when compared other similar type phones (E.g. Blackberry bold). Would have been nice to have higher resolution on such a bright screen

2. Speaker phone volume is not loud enough

3. Mail for Exchange The version on phone is not bad, but it could be better. This is the only application that runs slow on this phone. It takes good few secs for it to open a mail. As it does not load the mail in HTML format automatically, the readability suffers. I had to scroll 2-3 pages to read a few liner mails. Got Roadsync (version 5) for discounted price from OVI store and loving it. It addresses all the problems with Mail for Exchange.

4. Optical trackpad is not very useful (even after setting sensitivity to high). I found using the D-pad quicker.

5. Micro USB connector and shortest cable the USB cable that came in the box is approx 7inch long. For such highly priced phone it would have been nice if Nokia included a good quality longer cable. Also, I would have preferred a Mini USB instead of Micro. Micro USB feels a bit fragile and I feel like I might break it if I'm a bit careless when connecting. Perhaps, the thinner case was a limitation to include a mini USB.

The phone crashed only once till date and that was when using the Mail for Exchange. I blame it on the application for the crash and not the S60 platform. Browsing experience is not as great a touch screen phone/phone with larger screen. But, there is always a compromise on size vs. features.

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Sony ICF-CD555TV 7-Inch Under-Counter LCD TV/CD Clock Radio

• Super-Slim Under the Cabinet LCD-TV
• 7" Wide-Screen LCD Color Panel Display
• TV/Cable Tuner (w/Auto Channel Search)
• TV Stereo/Auto SAP Function
• Mega Expand/Mega Bass Sound System

I have been shopping for several months for an under-cabinet LCD TV to replace our 18-year-old 5" RCA tube-type TV in our kitchen, which has served us well but has developed annoying on/off button problems and now looks old, clunky out-of-date.

Our requirements for a replacement unit were as follows:

1. Small, sleek, unobtrusive, LCD design that would blend in under our white cabinets

2. CD player so my wife could enjoy her books-on-CD in the kitchen (DVD and radio would be a plus but not essential)

3. We wanted to be able to view both local channels as well as satellite channels without needing to also install a DirecTV decoder box (this would take additional space -defeating our compactness goal -and require more complicated wiring, not to mention monthly charges).

4. Quality (and warranty) that would ensure it would last several years.

5. Price under $500.

6. Given the limited selection and the poor quality reviews on other models, I needed to be able to examine it in person before buying.

I looked at these options:

1. Audiovox VE-1020 (and its older/smaller siblings). It way too pricey at $600-700 and read too many `poor' reviews on audio quality and overall durability.

2. RCA BLC524: Screen too small, and `poor' quality reviews, plus could not find it in a retail store.

3. Motorola/Moxell Tech KA-A13: Sounded good, reliable manufacturer, but could only find its announcement as it is not yet available.

4. Standalone 13" LCD (Gateway, Aquous, Sharp) with a separate swivel mounting bracket. I eliminated this option early because it would be too large, too expensive (~$100 for the bracket alone!), and it most cases would not include a CD player.

I bought the Sony as soon as I found its availability was advertised at a local electronics retail store. Bought it with an inexpensive 5-year extended warranty.

It's been in place for 2 weeks and we *like* it it is living up to expectations, despite a couple of design flaws -the absence of which would have earned the unit *five* stars.

First the flaws-all minor:

1. Fit and connections. As an earlier reviewer on this site pointed out, its installation is a tight fit under our cabinets, leaving only about an inch clearance to plug in the coax and a/v connectors. But this was easily remedied by purchasing right-angle adapters (Radio Shack, $4 each) that can be screwed in after installation with the 1" clearance. These redirect the cable and RCA connectors downward, making attaching the cables post-installation easy. Sony would do well to include these right-angle adapters.

2. Installation instructions. The alternative is to connect all your cables *prior* to installing the unit something the instructions did not point out. In fact, the instructions could be improved in various areas. For instance, while the unit comes with variable-depth spacers so that installation under cabinets with doors that overhang the cabinet bottom, if you have flush-mounted doors (as we do), you *don't* want to use the spacers at all. Well, the instructions don't suggest this option, leaving you to think that the spacers are required in all cases. For me, this meant re-installing without the spacers, a minor hassle.

3. No built-in TV antenna. Unlike our old RCA, this unit does not have a built-in extending-wand antenna. This makes it a *requirement* that you connect TV and/or A/V inputs to another signal source to receive *anything* on the TV. While many people may be planning to do this, it *does* raise the ante on hooking it up. Sony would have a more versatile product for less experienced people if they included an optional "single rabbit ear" antenna that could be plugged into the TV/cable connector.

Now the good features:

1. TV: Sharp, noise-free wide-format picture, with settable options for standard 3x4 picture size and two wide-format variations. Just the right size. When not in used, screen is easily folded into a cavity under the unit and latches mechanically (more securely than magnetically, which may also wear out).

2. Sound: Perfect for TV viewing and CD story listening, and quite decent for FM or CD music, both in volume and fidelity. Two 3" speakers main the sound forward and downward, and the bass extender works as advertised. As long as you don't expect home theatre quality sound from this unit, you should be quite satisfied.

3. CD Player: Quality feel of its slide-out tray. Plays commercial and my home-recorded MP3s flawlessly.

4. Remote: Small, intuitive, well-constructed. Its bottom magnet attaches to our refrigerator nicely.

5. AM/FM presets: 5 of each, easily set, with manual tuning buttons on the unit and the remote.

6. TV/Video switch: Easily switches from the antenna/cable input to the a/v inputs. This is important, as the way we wired the unit, it only takes my technology-challenged wife one button click to switch from local channels to satellite channels coming in from our home theatre system.

7. Clock: Intuitive and easily set.

8. Timer: Doubt we will use or care about -this feature.

Bottom line: We like it a lot, both how it looks and how it works. The Sony name (and their 1-year manufacturer's warranty) coupled with the inexpensive 5-year extended warranty we bought should give us several good years of service...until it is again technologically out-of-date and needs upgrading again!

Buy Sony ICF-CD555TV 7-Inch Under-Counter LCD TV/CD Clock Radio Now

Bad points:

1) As all of the other reviewers have pointed out, this unit is almost exactly the same depth as a standard cabinet -with about 1/2 inch to spare at the back. Very funny, Sony... No room to connect the cables to the back. I would like to thank the previous reviewer who pointed out that you can buy a right angle coax adapter at Radio Shack. It works good with that.

2) The LCD screen is 'wide screen' format. In other words, it is not the shape of a normal TV picture. This would be good if you played DVD's in letterbox format, I guess, but who is doing that under a kitchen cabinet? You end up having to decide if you want the TV picture to be a) kind of stretched widthwise (even in what they call Full screen mode), OR b) with a smaller square 'normal shaped TV' picture in the middle of the screen with about 1/2 inch of black bars on each side, OR c) in a slightly ZOOMed full screen mode, with a little of the top of peoples heads slightly chopped off sometimes.

3) The screen should flip down to end up in a more forward position (and not half-way under the cabinet) in case you are standing closer the the cabinet with the TV.

Good points:

1) Good picture and sound. Good quality.

2) Very compact after it is installed.

3) It's cool.

4) Sony's Zoom mode can make up for the odd shape of the screen.

Read Best Reviews of Sony ICF-CD555TV 7-Inch Under-Counter LCD TV/CD Clock Radio Here

I was in the market for an under cabinet TV to replace an old GE Spacemaker. I considered the Sony. But this thing is HUGE! The dimensions are: 15 3/4 H x 4 1/8 W x 12 3/4 D inches. The width dimension was a problem for my desired corner installation but I could have made it work. The depth was a more serious problem.

I believe I have typically sized American style cabinets. My kitchen was remodeled about 10 years ago. My base cabinets are 24inches deep and my upper cabinets are 12inches deep. I have a tile backsplash that reduces the depth under the cabinets by about 1/2 inch. The cabinet doors are about 1/2 inch thick. What this totals up to is the Sony sticking out 3/4 inch past the front of my cabinets. Ugh! Now if you want to add space so you can attach the cables to the rear, add another inch. Barf!

I wonder if Sony even bothered to research the dimensions of the kitchens they were trying to fit into. I would really have loved to put a Sony in my kitchen (much of my hifi equipment is Sony) but this is plain bad design.

I got an Audiovox VE640 instead. It is not the greatest but it does the job and it fits in the kitchen space allocated for it.

Want Sony ICF-CD555TV 7-Inch Under-Counter LCD TV/CD Clock Radio Discount?

First off, I can't fathom how people can review an item based on their lack of research. For those who didn't think to measure their cabinet depth, I refer you to the specifications....

Secondly, who buys an undercabinet TV for the radio? Maybe that's just me...

Okay, on to the review:

I replaced my completely horrible Audiovox (also purchased through Amazon) when it finally gave up the ghost (it was my 4th replacement). Let me just say right off that the difference is night and day. The controls are easy, the remote is nice and has actual buttons, and the sound isn't tinny. Oh, and the TV itself looks fantastic.

Here's the good:

Picture excellent. The Regular, full (expanded regular TV to wide), and Widescreen all look good. It's too bad it doesn't come with HDTV, but I suspect that's why I got it for $50 off the lowest price I had seen. The picture is bright, colorful and can be seen at steep angles.

Sound excellent. I can't say how much this is worth after having suffered the Audiovox's tinny, fading, and static-filled speakers.

Controls simple to understand and use though a little tough to access if you recess the TV from the front of the cabinet.

The remote is well integrated and about the only thing I would ask for is that they ship the 2 AAA batteries for it.

The TV screen rotates to almost any viewing position as well.

Includes CD player and Radio, both pretty much nice add-ons to me as I bought it solely for the TV. Both sound good.

It works. Unlike almost every other unit I've seen in the store, it doesn't look cheap and it functioned out of the box. We had degenerated into slapping the Audiovox when it would simply cut out. We got to the point where it functioned less than 30 seconds without hitting it... I can't speak for the rest of the crowd here, but having decent Sony quality means a lot.

Here's the Bad:

No external antenna hookups for radio pure silliness, and given the size of the unit, unforgivable that it wasn't included.

Bulky yes it's deep, that wasn't an issue for me since I read the dimensions and put it under a corner cabinet, but it's seemingly 1-2" too thick.

No Battery backup for stations or time settings.

No MP3 minijack input.

TV screen is a bit small.. about 4" for regular 4:3 ratio shows but it's livable. If the shows are in widescreen, it looks fantastic.

Although Sony's recent shenanigans with rootkits and the PS3 debacle and general difficulty of navigating their customer service made me wary, I've never really had trouble with their electronics components. I'm happy to report that although we are still a bit twitchy over the last unit and fully expecting the Sony to fall apart any second, it has remained beatifully functional.

For what it is, it's fantastic. Their next model may improve in many areas including size, inputs, and HD support, but for now, there is no other TV on the market that looks or sounds as good. You'll notice on many of the other under cabinet TV's that there are 5 "decent to good" reviews from 5 people who haven't reviewed anything else. Obviously someone was loading the deck. Don't be fooled as I was. Spend a little extra to get something of decent quality or you'll be replacing it in a year. I've now spent over double what I would have if I had simply gotten the Sony to begin with. Now that it's price has dropped, it's simply a no-brainer.

I purchased this unit from Amazon and it was shipped from Vanns. My experience with this product was outstanding and I was able to install this unit in a corner cabinet in the kitchen. Since I installed it in a corner, I experienced no installation problems as mentioned in other reviews. The instructions were very clear, the template provided for installation was perfect and allowed for easy installation. The TV quality is excellent and the sound produced using the radio and CD are good considering the size of the unit. The unit has a few sound options depending on the preference of the user. I set the sound to stereo with a higher bass setting. Overall, I would recommend this product depending on cabinet size and position. Not installing in a corner cabinet might provide some installation challenges considering the size of the unit.

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