iHome iA17WZC Color Changing 30-Pin iPod/iPhone Alarm Clock Speaker Dock

• Wake or sleep to iPhone, iPod or FM radio; charges and plays iPhone or iPod while docked;
• Translucent cabinet changes color at the touch of a button with five color change modesthat let you set the mood
• Works with FREE iHome+Sleep app or paid iHome+Radio app to get the most out of your iA17 with exclusive apps from iHome.
• Reson8 speaker chamber technology with passive subwoofer gives you big, bold stereo sound
• Also includes remote control, line-in jack, battery backup, Daylight Saving Time switch, 6 FM radio station memory presets, universal dock and universal 100/240VAC voltage AC adaptor

This is my second iHome alarm (the first one being the iHome iD84BZ App-Enhanced Dual Alarm Clock Radio for iPad/iPhone/iPod with AM/FM Presets (Black)). It was a little bigger than I expected, but not a bad size. The buttons aren't so much buttons as slightly raised bumps with labels. I was worried at first that this might make it hard to hit snooze in my early morning haze, but it worked surprisingly well, no problems. The snooze button is a little farther away then I would have liked (since it is behind the speaker), but it hasn't been a real problem so far. The remote is handy and has a snooze button on it, but it is a pain getting the battery in (you need a paperclip).The sound quality of the speakers is pretty good as far as I've noticed. The back of the alarm lets you do a time sync (you can do this through the app too) and set DST. It comes with one antenna for FM radio.

The colors are fun, but I was a little disappointed. I was hoping that the colors would go off with the alarm, but it is all or nothing with the flashy lights. They are pretty, but I like sleeping in darkness. There are three levels of brightness and off, and the lowest level probably is fine to sleep to, I just didn't see the point of leaving the colors flashing all night. But if you are just using the clock more as a speaker, then the colors are really fun to see with music. There are a couple different settings for the lights, such as one that pulses to the beat of the music and another that just switches the colors. The clock face also changes color.

The iHome can function without a device plugged in, but the app makes this device so much more fun to use. I love the app :) The iHome app allows you to add additional alarms (the clock has one, turned off by default), check the weather forecast, check sleep stats, + some more stuff. The alarms are fully customizable, allowing you to set a flexible repeating schedule, listen to music as you fall asleep or wake up, set the volume for the alarms, choose a nap or alarm type of alarm, set reminders, and post your sleeping habits to social media sites (I don't know why you'd use that, but it's there if you want it). The app is free so you could download it right now and give it a shot before committing to the device.

I do have four complaints thus far:

-One, the docking for the iPhone is a pain. (The dock is too close to the curve.) It isn't built to accommodate cases, and even has a warning against leaving the device in its case. I don't take my phone out of its case (it's a hardshell case that's not easy to remove). It still fits into the clock, but it is a little difficult to get in and I worry about damaging the phone. The phone even without a case isn't so easy to slide on.

-Two, when you set music to play while you go to sleep, it reduces the volume slightly every few minutes (actually, probably a percentage of the sleep timer). Which is kind of cool except that it gets too quiet. Right when I should be falling asleep I find myself straining to hear the last few minutes of music.

-Three, the remote is handy but not that easy to use in the dark. The buttons are all basically the same size and feel, and hitting 'mode' when you are trying to reduce the volume is not pleasant.

-Finally there has to be some way to fix this the snooze button (on the device) also doubles as the play button. Fine, except when I am trying to hit snooze and instead of blessed silence I find Hayley Westenra singing in my ear. More annoyingly, sometimes this DOESN'T happen. I don't really understand it.

But the pros far outweigh the cons with this clock and I find myself really loving it! iHome seems to produce really great products that look nice and are fun to use. They are kind of expensive, but worth the price I think.

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The iHome iA17WZC is a nifty gadget that puts a smile on my face. Poor sound quality proves to be the Achilles' heal of this otherwise promising product.

PROs

+ Interesting round shapefits great in a corner of a countertop.

+ Colorful built-in LED lights up the entire body of the clock in millions of colors.

+ Remote control.

+ Great integration with the iPhone/iPod. Syncs time with the push of a button.

+ Has a free iPhone/iPod app that could develop into something really neat.

+ iPhone 4 fits great on dock, even with iPhone bumper installed.

CONs

Has an ugly DC power converter brick attached to the plug.

Muddy, mediocre sound quality from the built-in speaker.

Not terribly loud.

iPhone 4

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

My iPhone 4 docked beautifully, even with the bumper installed. The phone charged while in the dock and any music I played through the iPhone played to the clock-radio's speaker.

I played local MP3 music and also ran both the Pandora and SiriusXM apps on my phone. Everything worked great and played as expected. Overall, I think this product integrates beautifully with the iPhone/iPod.

iPod Touch

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

My iPod Touch worked perfectly with the iHome iA17WZC. The iHome app installed and worked the same as it did with my iPhone. Charging works great. Basically it is the same as the behavior of the iPhone 4 described above.

iPad 2

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

This dock does not support the iPad. It doesn't claim to so that isn't really a problem.

Speakers

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

The speakers on this clock are fairly mediocre. I'm not impressed with the muddy sound. Also, when you crank them up, they don't get very loud. In my opinion, I think only a young kid or someone listening to talk radio would be pleased with the quality of the speaker. Speakers alone make this a 3-star product. With better sound quality, this would be 5 stars.

Clock

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

The clock display on the iHome iA17WZC is bright and easy to read from any viewing angle. Even better, the color of the clock changes to exactly match the LED inside the "orb" of the clock. Everything changes in perfect sync.

Miscellaneous

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

The absolute coolest feature of this product is the infinite color display of the internal light. This color glows through the body of the clock and can be configured to be a solid color, to slowly transition through the entire spectrum of colors, or to pulse to the beat of the music you have playing. This feature brings such a big grin to my face and if the unit only had decent sound, this would be a slam-dunk 5 star product.

Summary

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

I really wish there was a way to upgrade the speaker quality of this product. The ability to control the clock from an iPhone/iPod app gives a world of possibilities and the colorful LED backlight adds a lot of character to any room. I think this is a great product for a 1-14 year old (because I don't think they'll be as discriminating on sound quality).

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I have several iHome radios and have been reasonably happy with all of them.

The iA17's gimmick is the changing lights. I found this more enjoyable than I had expected. The lights can be set to slowly change through the spectrum, change quickly, change according to the beat of the music, stay at a particular color, or (most importantly) be turned off.

The dock connecter is of iHome's newer spring-loaded design that does not use adapter inserts (thankfully). My iPhone 4 attaches securely even in its case.

The iA17 is an app aware device and works well with iSleep. This allows you to control the device from the phone and set multiple custom alarms.

The sleep to music option is nice. This turns off the sound after a preset time,

FM reception is good.

The sound is mediocre considering the price point. The bass is anemic and the highs are muted. There is no equalization on the device. Stereo separation is poor.

The footprint is small. One additional problem I had was the plug. The transformer is part of the plug. I had planned to use this in my toddler's room, but the power strips are child safe and the plug does not fit. At least it is oriented so it only covers one outlet when plugged in.

In summary, the color-changing feature is nice, the sound is mediocre, and the price point is too high.

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Okay, I really love the iHome series of products. However they all have one flaw, including this one, (with one exception). All the ones I have tried are not capable of charging my iphone 4 with my Otterbox Defender case still on. It doesnt matter though, even if the case was one of those cheap silicone cases. I would still have to remove it. This is the reason for the 4 stars.

Now, with that out of the way, this is what I like about it. For such a small unit, it has a very good bold sound. Its not Bose Wave Radio sound, but it is also not $400 eigher. I am also impressed with the clarity of the sound coming from such a little system.

My kids really love the color changing light inside. They are mesmerized by it and constantly try to guess what color will be next. This usually causes an argument over who was right but then, they are only 6 and 3 years old.

Another feature I like is how it syncs the time with your ipod device for easy setting (you can do it manually too but why would you want to). This feature is almost too easy to use. Just put in the ipod and press the button to sync. Done.

The design of the iHome is not something I find attractive, it seems a little too Jetson's for my taste, but my wife likes it and so do the kids, so on this point, I get over ruled.

Lastly, the numbers are real easy to read which is nice when you are waking up and eyes are hard to focus. But the buttons on top are a little tough to navigate by touch alone. So it is easy to hit the wrong button when the alarm goes off then causes you to want to chuck the whole thing across the room. Oh well, guess that works too since it seems to work to get me out of bed.

So, overall this is a real nice solid unit. If it left room for the case on the phone it would be a 5 star product.

I bought this dock for my 12 year old's birthday. We were surprised at how good the speakers are! And my daughter loves the colors. She still hates sleeping in complete dark, so this works excellently as a night-light. The instructions for setting up the alarm, time, and color options are a little confusing, which is the only reason I have 4 stars instead of 5. Overall, we are very pleased with this purchase.

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CD Clock Radio with Dual Alarm and Digital Am/fm Tun

• Philips AJ3977/37 CD Clock Radio with dual alarm and digital AM/FM tuning w/preset stations

This clock is nice looking, it has two independent alarms, CD and radio playing capability, sleep mode, and a 5 minute snooze. Either the CD or radio or high-pitched beep (simple beeps, not that screeching buzzer that still makes the hair on my neck stand on end) can be used with either alarm.

That much is great, and if you are looking for those features, buy this clock radio.

The cons:

--Usability is poor and unintuitive. For example: when you're setting an alarm, you hit the Alarm 1 button once to bring up the blinking time setup. You also see which alarm mode is currently active. If you set the time, then notice you need to change the mode (beeps, CD, radio) and change it immediately afterward, the time goes back to how it was before.

--Button to turn alarm off (not snooze) along with other buttons used to activate alarm settings are small and impossible to use in the dark, even if you have a good idea of where they are.

--No gradual alarm volume increase. When I get blasted out of bed by a sudden horrific onslaught of noise I'm much more likely to scramble for the snooze rather than actually get up. This is a feature all modern alarms should have as an option.

--CD wake mode can only play first track of CD!!! If you don't want to wake up to different tracks of your favorite CD you have to reburn the CD in a different track order.

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I hate this product.

I recently moved and wanted some kind of small, simple CD player in my bedroom. I also wanted something relatively inexpensive. After a lot of shopping around, I settled on this CD player/clock radio. The clock radio aspect was a nice bonus, as I wanted another clock for the bedroom as well.

The unit takes up very little space on my nightstand with the vertical form factor. The unit doesn't look exactly like the product picture on Amazon, but it's similar. The controls are mostly easy to figure out, and it has a battery compartment in case the power goes out (two AA batteries). The display is readable from a distance, and overall the unit is attractive. It is also inexpensive.

Unfortunately, the goodness ends there. The negatives:

1. To play a CD, you must turn the unit on. Pressing 'play' without turning the unit on doesn't work.

2. The display is so bright I have to turn it away from my bed at night--even on the dimmest setting it is far brighter than my bright red LED clock radio.

3. The speakers are terrible. Even playing simple acoustic guitar music (Windham Hill variety) causes a lot of vibration. I am surprised by this: Yes, the unit is cheap and has small speakers, but I am still disappointed--I wouldn't expect Philips to make such a bad sounding unit. My 10 year old $20 clock radio sounds better than this. Even turning up soft piano music to a volume audible more than 4 ft from the unit results in very bad sound.

4. The unit makes a fluttering noise when the CD is rotating, with a grinding-and-hiss combination noise when it spins up the CD. In the morning, I am usually awakened by the grind, rather than my music. Sometimes it makes a lot of noise as it switches from one track to another. All of this happens with various CDs that have been treated well and handled carefully.

5. When manually starting to play a CD (such as to fall asleep to), there's a good 30-45 seconds that it's impossible to check the time of the alarms! Pressing the alarm buttons just don't do anything. This is just silly.

I have bought some pretty poor products from time to time over the years, but I do think it is fair to say that this is one of the worst uses of my money ever. I wasn't expecting a heck of a lot, but I still ended up very disappointed.

It's not clear the competing products are much better, but I would not recommend this product to anyone. :-(

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cd player worked great... dual alarms and battery back-up worked great... but you can't read the stupid thing in the dark. i have perfect vision, but even when it was just a couple of feet from my face it was unreadable. the alternative is to turn on the backlight... which lights up the room like a christmas tree and makes it impossible to sleep. whoever designed it should be demoted to the janitorial staff. mine went in the garbage after less than a month because i would have felt bad dropping it off at goodwill to torture someone else.

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I own two Philips CD/Alarm Clocks that work great. When I needed a 3rd, the original one's I owned had been discontinued. I found this model and thought that since Philips made it and the other models I had worked great, that I would go ahead and purchase it. Bad move.

The lighting is horrible. The functionality is poor. Most important, the sound quality is beyond poor. I would compare it to what I would imagine speakers from a 62 Nova that has been sitting out in the rain for the last 40+ years would sound like. I would recommend not purchasing this item.

The blue display light is far too bright. Also, radio reception is poor and Am is constantly hissing. I highly suggest buying a different model

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LG 800G Prepaid Phone With Triple Minutes (Tracfone)

This is an excellent step-up from the flip-phones that those of us who rarely use a cell phone were stuck with if we wanted to pay low amounts for a cell phone and usage. There's also a similar Motorola model at Tracfone but it doesn't list under my zip code so I haven't compared the two phones.

I'll upgrade this report after I've become familiar with all the bells and whistles: for example, the specs call for a max. 8 GB micro SDHC card but supposedly the software will only handle 4 GB. The software has been upgraded (see "1" below) and I'm going to test the limits. Meanwhile, here are five key things you may not know about:

1) Software Version:

When you get your phone, make sure you have the improved software version (V10e as of this writing) and not the older, buggy one (V10d) that might be sitting on a seller's shelf for some months:

A) From the main screen press the square with 4 dots at the lower right.

B) On the next screen, press the "Settings" icon in the lower right.

C) On the next screen, press "Phone".

D) On the next screen, scroll down with your finger on the red bar to the very bottom, then press "Information".

E) On the next screen, press "Device Information".

F) At the very bottom, under "S/W Version" it should say "V10e" (or later). It must NOT say "V10d" V10d is the buggy version.

2) Screen Size: The 2.8" (diagonally measured) screen on the LG-800G is 2 5/16" vertically and 1 3/4" horizontally, held in the standard "portrait" position. For comparison, the view screen on my 2"x2"x4" camcorder is a typical 2 1/8" x 1 1/2", only 79% as much screen as the LG-800G.

3) Needed accessories not included with the phone or Tracfone's Universal Accessories Kit:

A) Micro SDHC card to provide extra memory: the specs say 8 GB max, users say 4 GB max: I'll update this after some testing with the latest software version (V10e). It's needed if you want to store a lot of apps, vids of your kids playing music, soccer, presenting their science project, etc. A 4 GB card is only $4+ with free shipping on Amazon as I write this. The "internal memory" built into the phone is 20.4 MB (0.0204 GB) of which 18.8 MB is free when the phone arrives. That is fine for some pics, messages, a couple of apps, etc. but not a lot more.

B) Cable for phone to computer USB connection ($2.34 with free shipping on Amazon as I write this): Since you can treat the phone's memory like a hard drive from the computer, you can use the internet service on a computer to download apps, etc. instead of using up cell phone minutes. You can also transfer photos, videos, etc. to and from the computer.

C) many recommend a screen protector: a thin transparent film that statically sticks to the screen. They're anywhere from $1-$6.

4) Comparison Shopping:

If you buy directly from Tracfone and pay the full price, you get an additional "Universal Accessory Kit." But there's not a lot of info as to what it contains so here it is:

It contains a car cigarette-lighter-receptacle charger (the AC charger comes with the phone itself), an earbud with mike for hands free use and adapters for any LG phone, and a clunky, cheap, but shirt pocket wearable pouch with a permanent belt loop attached to it -but whose weak closing strength I'd never trust on a belt loop: it does offer good protection of the display screen, though, in case something would rub against it or it fell our of a shirt pocket.

5) For Existing Tracfone Customers Transferring Phone No. & Minutes:

A) When you transfer phone number and minutes: your expiration date is transferred and 60 days added to it and your all your minutes, no matter if they come from the most recent minutes you bought or from rollovers, are transferred and 10 minutes added to them.

B) It may take an hour or more for the transfers to take place, so don't activate/deactivate the phones if you'll need your cell phone in the following couple of hours. They have a temporary number assignment workaround if you have to do it that way, but there's a charge. All that said, it only took about 10 minutes or so for my new phone to become activated after the old one was deactivated.

C) For those Tracfone customers who upgraded and say they didn't get their minutes transferred:

That INITIALLY happened to me: the phone number was transferred but not the minutes. A call to Tracfone several hours later required about 10 minutes time for them to verify I had had minutes left on my old (now inactive) Tracfone and transfer them. An excellent sales rep who corrected the problem for me said their system is buggy and sometimes cuts off the minutes when the phone number is transferred.

My husband and I have owned Tracfone's for 8 years. He's not a big cell phone guy therefore I haven't been able to talk him into phones like and Antroid Touch or an iphone, which I'd love. So I have to settle for what Tracfone has to offer. After losing my newest phone (LG 500g) I deceided to go with what I really wanted and that was a touch screen phone. This model has not disappointed me. I call it the "poor mans touch screen phone" because the size obviously doesn't compare to iphones or Androids but if your looking for a phone like that with extras such as web browsing, games (with game download capability), camera, video, and a few other things like an alarm setting ect. then this just might fill that need. The thing I like about it compared to a phone like the LG 500g is that it's a full screen and not a keyboard taking up half the available screen space. I downloaded the Facebook app and it's actually worth using the web browser to check Facebook & email. Texting it easy. Not any more difficult then trying to hit the right keys on the small LG 500g keyboard. I'm finding the screen very responsive to touch as well. I ordered a memory card as well because I needed to get some video of my son's piano sent to me from an iphone but my LG5 500g said there wasn't enough room to receive them AFTER it deducted my units for them:( Had problems with accidently hitting the browser button with my LG 500g and I lost a lot of units that way. Shouldn't be a problem with this phone. That was the deciding factor when choosing between this phone and the Samsung 404g. I hope this review helps. I would also recommend a phone cover because these phones are quite slippery, which is how I lost my last phone.

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I recently got this LG800g Tracfone to replace an older LG225 flip phone, primarily because I wanted a cookie type phone that could also serve as an mp3 player. I purchased a data cable, 4 gb micro disk (the max for this particular phone), and silicone gel case from Amazon, so for under $70 I have everything I need to make this phone function for all my needs. When connected to a docking station, the sound is awesome--and welcome--since our local radio station decided Central California residents are no longer interested in classical music. Transferring my number and minutes over to the new phone was easy with Tracfone's customer service.

As for transferring music onto your Tracfone, just be sure you connect to "Mass Storage" so the device icon shows up in "My Computer". Then it's a snap to cut and paste or copy/paste from one drive to another.

If you are new to the LG800g, Google tutorials for an impressive list of tasks. I did this to create playlists for my phone so I can separate the classics from the Celtic and so forth.

With the triple minutes for life option, I will never run out of minutes. Neat!

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For the last year I've been cell-less, one because I could no longer justify a $30/month bill for something I used maybe 30-40 minutes a month on, and two when I did purchase a prepaid phone it felt cheap and the sound quality wasn't that good. This is the prepaid phone of my dreams. I love the touch screen display, it's big enough for me to see what I'm doing and it looks and works like every other contract feature phone I've used. The sound quality is great it reminds me of a land line, no one can even tell I'm using a cellphone it's so clear.

I've never used a tracfone before but I'm overly impressed. This phone gives you triple minutes for life and if you're a person who doesn't talk much a 400 minute card tripled to 1200 minutes can last you a year for $100. I love I can use those minutes how ever I want whether on texting, internet browsing or calls. I forgot to mention that the same 400 minute card gives you 2400 minutes of web browsing or a whopping 3600 text, I was even able to use the phone to text my votes on american idol last week. It charges .30 minute to send and .30 minute to receive a confirmation of your vote. That's still less than calling and wasting a whole minute.

I live in an area that's prone to rolling blackouts during the summertime and now I'll be able to browse the web to find where the nearest cool zone will be without spending a arm & leg in data charges. That's something I can't do once the electricity is out and my wifi no longer works, plus this phone doubles as a well organized mp3 player. I'm set. I purchased this phone from HSN with 1500 minutes, a case and car charger for $100. Every now and then you can catch it as a TSV for that price. I also purchased a screen protector and 4 gb micro sdhc card to go with it. I literally feel like I won some kind of jackpot with this phone.

BTW this phone does not have a flashing light to tell you when you have missed a message. I just realized if you go into settings, then profiles, and select normal, outdoor, silent, etc, there is a secret menu where you can set a audible message reminder of once, or every 1-10 minutes. Make sure you get a good ringtone from the tracfone website and your set. I really love this phone!!!

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If you buy this phone for other reasons than using it as a communication device then you should buy the 4gb Micro SD memory card and the LG Micro USB Data Cable. If you want to be able to upload your music or download your videos and pictures you must set up your External Memory. Here are some steps I went through:

1. Install the 4gb Micro SD card,

2. Connect the USB data cable,

3. The screen should say Connect to Mass Storage,

4. Choose yes.

5. I then made the choice to exit.

Something else you may have to do is:

1. Click the MENU icon.

2. Then select the Settings icon.

3. Then select the Phone icon.

4. Then select the Memory Info icon.

5. Then select the Primary Storage Settings icon.

6. If a check mark does not appear next to the External Memory icon,

click on the box to have it selected.

Now when you connect the cable to your computer and say Connect to Mass Storage, you should press Start and select My Computer. Now You should see a Removable Storage Icon. Click on this and your music, video, documents etc. folders should be there.

For a while I thought LG stood for Looking Grim but life's good when you can get things working your way.

Good Luck.

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Supersonic SC-7272UC Car Audio with AM/FM Radio, USB, SD/MMC Card Reader and Detachable Panel

• * ID3 tag function

this stereo sucks the MP3 stuff doesnt even work it just says USB and doesnt play any music except for on the radio which is always static.

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this product was great it was just like they said it would be and it even came a little early thankyou

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Sony Ericsson K550i Cyber-shot Unlocked Cell Phone with 2 MP Camera, MP3/Video Player, Memory Stick

The k550i phone is a great small feature-packed phone. The camera on the phone takes excellent pictures, suitable for making 4x6 prints. The phone has a panorama mode that allows you to stitch together 2 or 3 images with a very good stitch guide. Also, there is a nice image editor built into the phone that can do auto-levels, contrast, brightness, and a bunch of other nice tools. You can see many full size pictures by visiting flickr and searching on "k550i". The MP3 player works great ... sound quality is excellent, though volume is soft and some may find the max volume is too low. You will want to get a micro memory stick if you want more than a few songs. I like how the included headphones double as a handsfree set and transition from music to phone back to music effortlessly. I found creating a few playlists very intuitive and easy. Battery life is very good, even with lots of music/radio playing and picture taking. The radio features trackID, which takes a sample of the song you are listening to and looks up the artist, song title, and album ... actually have found it very useful(requires data plan). The web browser is a good WAP browser for basic use ... I like that you can change to landscape screen orientation browsing.

OK, now for the annoyances: When the flash is turned on, the LED lights stay lit constantly, and they are very bright ... human targets usually complain. I was surprised that digital zoom for the camera is only allowed at VGA resolution, and not at 1MP. There is a workaround ... after taking a 2MP picture, you can zoom in on it and save the visible area to a new picture. I take pictures and immediately send them to flickr ... the phone presents a nag screen warning that the file is large, which cannot be turned off. The "take picture" button is a two-step button like most cameras, with a focus step then a snap step, but the second step takes a hard press causing you to shake the camera and get a blurry picture. Instead, I use the center joystick button on the face of the phone, which focuses and immediately takes a picture. Sending a picture as an email immediately after taking it requires some kooky steps: (press joystick in, select "view", zoom out one step, then select More->Send As->Email).

Despite the flaws, I am very happy with the phone considering the price and features.

The pro's

* very compact design, almost too small for my big hands, but over time one gets used to its dimensions, AND enjoys the small design. Fits into the front pocket of my jeans! The center button (the one which looks like a 5-way) and its surrounding ring (this ring has the four directions) feel very sturdy, they seem to be made of actual metal. The ring has four tiny dots of light, where four arrows could be, signaling each one direction, and look very cool when they glow along with the keypad, in dark environments.

* I just changed to the K550 from my previous nokia 6820, which has an expandable flip qwerty keyboard, and missed the nokia keyboard at the beginning. However, the predictive text interface is almost perfect (read con's) and I almost do not miss the keyboard anymore. Predictive text also allows you to create your own dictionary entries (this is more or less a common feature of cellphones) and allows you to enter your dictionary to maintain it: edit or delete entries (this is very uncommon and useful!). The predictive text has several modes one of which turns on "national characters". when I sometime type a message in spanish, comes handy since it allows the use of spanish accents.

* very large memory for contacts, and the fields used in contacts are very compatible with outlook, which means you will not lose data when synchronising your contacts into your PC. When I synchronised with outlook from the 6820, the mapping of fields was different, so one got lost or misplaced information in the process.

* at 2 MPixels, very good definition for a camera that is always with you, for that spontaneous snapshot.

-

the con's

* the chrome finish of the center ring is starting to wear off after only three months of use! the entire surface of the ring, starting with its perimeter, is wearing thin and leaking blue light. looks cheap and old, too bad for a set this expensive.

* The "national character" feature behaves strangely, in the sense that when I turn it on, it changes the message length limit from 160 down to 60 characters, for no good reason. And when you turn it off, the limit is still there, you would have to start a new message from scratch for the limit to be 160 again. Also whe you turn teh feature off, the phone "forgets" the words one has created with spanish characters, literally hiding a portion of your custom dictionary. I dont think of these as design flaws but more as software bugs, but they are real, limiting and annoying.

* the light of the camera, two very bright and white LEDs, is good as a lamp to fing your way walking through a dark place, but is a terrible, almost useless flash for taking pictures in the dark, which is what it's suposed to be. The camera works well only under good natural light or decent room lighting. Not worthy of the cybershot name.

Buy Sony Ericsson K550i Cyber-shot Unlocked Cell Phone with 2 MP Camera, MP3/Video Player, Memory Stick Now

I had a Sony S710a which I unlocked when I was in Prague, but it was not a quad phone and I had problems when I travel some countries like Turkey and Poland. So I decided to purchase a small quad phone which is AT&T compatible. With K550i I found the phone I was looking for. It is doing everything S710a was capable of and more much more. The reception quality is very good. I always have more bars than my S710a at the very same places. The Gmail client, Google Maps client and Opera Mini version 4 (great browser for a mobile phone) works flawlessly can't run Yahoo GO (it display the wierd message of not available memory, even I have 67Mb on the phone) but who cares. With AT&T unlimited media package, I can surf the internet, use Jajah for VOIP international phone calls and more. Picture quality of the 2MP camera is very good, have a 2GB miniSD card and have no problem with spacing. Have not used the radio too much but it is there if you want to listen your favorite FM station and it requires carrying the plugin cable/head phones. The commercially available or free application for the phone are numbered. But I have been using it as a router to the internet via bluetooth and my Microsoft Vista Dell XPS 1330 laptop because AT&T unlimited package on the cell phone plan (only 20$ per month), it is an excellent way of using your laptop anywhere. I am also planning to purchase the new Nokia N810 web tablet next year and use K550i as router as I do with my laptop. With Nokia 810 and K550i, you don't need no iPhone. The combo will do everything I need (including Skype video calls ;) The phone is very stylish and light I am very happy with it after 6 months and I highly recommend it to anyone. I hope this proves useful.

Regards

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The SonyEricsson K550i is a fantastic phone, great camera and has a great form factor.

The only thing that may be questionable is the key size. The camera is awesome and unlike some SonyEricsson models, the camera lens stays closed at all times!

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Nice Phone. I bought it unlocked to use with cingular (now AT&T). used sonyericssons for a while now, starting with t68i, t610, t637, w600i, w810i & now k550i. I have to agree with one of the other reviewers that the reception if slightly less compared to, say w810i. In office where I'd always get 5 bars, now I get 4 bars. But that doesn't bother me much.

There was a continuing problem with the "4" key not working sometimes but that seems to have been resolved by sonyerisson via their new firmware update. Make sure you update the phone, either over the air or by connecting to a computer. It upgrades JAVA, the camera software version & this annoying "4" issue.

Overall I like this phone & hope that SE will move towards making all their phones 14mm slim. On a similar note don't forget to check out W580i as well if you are looking at this phone.

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Pharos PTL600 Unlocked Phone with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM Tuner, and Digital Camera--International Vers

I read all the reviews of the Pharos 600 and bought it anyway. I'm glad I didn't listen to the people who disliked it. The Ostia navigation software, contrary to a review I read elsewhere, is easy and intuitive to operate. I programmed in a house address and followed the prompts while driving, and it got me there perfectly. I was early for my meeting, so I kept driving, and Ostia kept calculating new routes to get me back there!

The phone sounds crisp and clear, and it's easy to use. The only thing I'm reserving judgment on is the camera, since I haven't fully tested it yet. The images I've taken so far don't impress me, but as I said I haven't mastered all its settings.

It connects to the nearest WiFi for internet access, and even displays the week's weather forecast on the home screen. I downloaded Google Maps, and when using the GPS it can show the satellite image with traffic report overlays.

My goal was to have one compact device to carry around, especially on trips, that had a phone, camera, internet, basic computing (MS Word), and GPS all in one, so my briefcase wouldn't be cluttered with crap and all the power cords and adapters necessary. The Pharos 600 does it.

Very disappointing. I had hoped for a full-featured Windows smartphone plus a substitute for an in-dash car GPS. I got neither.

First, the good parts. Nice feel, small form factor. Crisp screen. The windshield mount worked well, and the belt clip is nice. Deserves at least a star for that.

However, the small form factor kills ease of use, as the 1.25" X 2.75" screen is far smaller than an in-dash car GPS. Many important features require tapping tiny icons or pull-down menus not linked to buttons and you have to pull the Pharos out of its carrier to get at the stylus.

It is difficult to add waypoints to force it to take a certain route on the way. The manual barely covers this. I guess I'm spoiled by google maps, the Ostia zoom-in/out requires 5-6 diagonal strokes to get to city level and street names don't show. While moving the map with finger or stylus I often accidentally zoomed in to some part of the city I couldn't recognize and had to start over. It appears the designers thought of this and put in a Power User feature to display the entire route, but that menu item was always grayed out for me. Only alternative is to check the route in turn-by-turn text form.

And check it you must. In Houston we have these feeder roads that run alongside the interstate. The GPS often thinks you're on the feeder when you're on the interstate and vice-versa, and gives bogus instructions accordingly. More than once I was told to exit travelled along the feeder road through a light and then back on the same interstate! If you didn't spot this before departure, it's too late when you're driving to try to zoom out and see where your GPS is sending you.

The area I live in also has some new roads and exits since 2003 which aren't on the map a minor annoyance when you know more than the map, which squeaks and squawks in protest until you come into an area its familiar with again. POIs out of date and incomplete, and Live Update takes too long to load to be useful here. Also, if you forget to turn off the GPS after arrival you might not have enough battery to make it through the day.

As a PDA the Pharos 600 is unstable and memory-starved. I think that comes from it being an ETEN 500 repackaged by Pharos with GPS stuck on, and they tried to squeeze all the maps into memory. Getting MS Active Sync to work was an agonizing troubleshoot I'm not sure that is all Pharos' fault, though their technical assistance was zero help unreachable after 5.30pm and don't return calls. The website is for marketing with one screen of FAQs masquerading as support. True, I do have 6500 contacts but I never had a problem with the Palm, which synced in minutes, not overnight.

I've never really played with any of the other features like email or internet, if it can't do rock-solid contacts it's worthless to me. In fact, right now it's locked up again and even a hard reset isn't bringing it around. If I can get Tech Support to pick up the phone I'm reluctantly returning this what a potentially nice device.

My advice: skip the Pharos. Spend slightly more for an in-dash GPS for the car, and a Palm for contacts. And spend more time with the kids, rather than listening to hold music.

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First of all the Pharos 600 is manufactured with a major flaw that when it does break the motherboard will be useless. The power plug/usb connector in the phone is made with a gap, space, void area that allows preassure on the soldered connection to the motherboard inside. At any time, the slightest preassure will break the soldered connection with forseen leverage on the usb connector. This is not the case with every other phone on the market. Other manufacturers do not have this planned designed defect.

Then you have to deal with the company that will acknowlege the defect, unconcerned of the effect on the customer. You will have to pay for basicly another phone or walk away with your broken one.

If less stars than one was available it would have been my pick ... for customer service at Pharos headquarters.

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I have been their customer for a while ( I should say almost 5 years). But since then their customer service has become hopeless. Recently I purchased this phone and found out some features that are standard to Windows Mobile is missing. I have sent them several e-mails for support and yet no response. Not even a single automated mail stating that they received it and assigned a case or doing something about it. They have just gone down hill.

Regarding the product, it's fairly ok with many features. But the processor is slow. I have to reboot it atleast once a day. If you have the phone , wife and gps on , most time it hangs. Some phone features that are standard to Windows Mobile will be missing because these guys reprogrammed the ROM I guess. For e.g auto answer and setting # of rings etc. Not worth the price.

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Got this for free for getting an A in an online college course from the Naval Academy.

Loved the device! Works great on the ATT network checked email, created powerpoints, and even wrote papers using the MS word program. I reccomend buying the external keyboard sold seperate.

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Samsung Exhibit 4G Android Phone, Black (T-Mobile)

I got this 3 weeks ago on contract from T-Mobile for $80 with rebate. I had looked at the other premium Android-powered smartphones they had (LG G2X, Samsung Galaxy/Vibrant 4G, HTC Sensation, My Touch 4G, Sidekick 4G), but their prices turned me away to the Exhibit 4G.

Here's the run-down on the Exhibit 4G...

This is my 3rd Samsung handset and like the others it is high-quality and loaded with features. It's compact for a smartphone just 4.6 in. tall, 2.2 in. wide, and .5 in. thick, and lightweight at 125 grams. It's made almost entirely of plastic, but that's not all bad because it has great heft, and is easy to hold thanks to a soft-touch coating on the battery cover and part of the front and sides.

Hardware-wise the Exhibit packs some features found on high-end devices. The 3.5 inch, 16 million color support 480x800 LCD capacitive touchscreen looks great and has very high pixel density. The resolution and color reproduction and saturation is very good for an LCD unit, I'd say on-par with the HTC Sensation's S-LCD display. Pictures, graphics, and videos look great. Granted, it can't go blow-for-blow with the Super AMOLED displays, but for the price you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one. It is also very sensitive and responsive to inputs.

The Exhibit has a 1 GHz ARM-A8 Cortex Hummingbird processor, 512mb of RAM, and 1 GB internal storage, expandable to 32GB by a MicroSD card. There's also b/g/n WiFi, multi-touch input, an accelerometer for UI autorotate, gyroscopic sensor, and compass, proximity sensor to lock the display, and an ambient-light sensor to adjust display brightness.

There are only three physical hardware buttons and they are responsive and sturdy. The up-down volume rocker on the left side, a power/lock/unlock button on the right, and a large home button on the front. Interestingly, unlike other Android phones there are just three capacitive Android keys for menu, back, and search under the screen. Another plus is that the memory and SIM card are both accessible through a spring-loaded slots. The SD card is on the left side, and the SIM is just under the battery cover, so you don't need to remove the battery to access them. Way to go Samsung!

The software feature set is also impressive for a sub-$100 smartphone. Thankfully, the Exhibit isn't loaded down with bloatware like some other handsets. You do get exclusive T-Mobile software like AppPack, T-Mobile Mall (to browse and buy T-Mobile apps), Highlight, Name ID (costs $3.99 a month), T-Mobile TV (to watch popular TV shows), and Quix Video Chat. You also get the preloaded Google Apps like Maps with Navigation, Places, Search, and other Apps like Slacker Radio, TeleNav GPS, navigation,The Exhibit is feature packed, almost bursting at the seams when it comes to software.

It runs "Gingerbread" Android 2.3.3 with Samsung's Touchwhiz interface, which is a good one. It's easy to use and I got the hang of it pretty quickly. It's well-laid out and arranged so all the functions, menus, and "Widgets" are easy to find and use. Thankfully Samsung didn't choke out and destroy the stock Android OS, so it's customizable as well.

The small-for-a-smartphone screen does make typing on the portrait keyboard a little difficult. I have ham hands and it took me a while to get used to it. the landscape keyboard is a different story though with large keys. You do get Swype input functionality though, which is useful. There is also voice text input which works pretty good!

I really like the organizer, plus you can sync your calendar and event notifications to other Android-powered phones and Gmail accounts as well as share media and files (you can't share ones you had to buy) through the AllShare app. As a plus, T-Mobile lets you allow the installation of virtually every 3rd party App on the Market.

One area you can tell Samsung cut corners to keep costs down is in the Exhibit's camera. You don't get a 5 or 8 MP camera, and you can't shoot 720P or 1080 HD video from the Exhibit. You're stuck with a 3.2 MP (2040x1536) camera and D1 (720x480) video recording, which isn't too bad. Pictures in daylight come out good. Colors are a bit soft and you don't get nearly as many details as with a 5+ MP unit, but they are good enough to print. Low light photos suffer from lots noise which destroys pretty much all fine detail, but thankfully the LED flash is very powerful, illuminating out to 10 feet, so you can take some servicable images. Thre's a front-facing camera for video calling or photos as well.

The flash is also a video light, so videos are also servicable, but only out to about 5 feet. Like all of the Samsung devices I've used, you get a good camera interface with 13 scene modes(candle light, WDR backlight, firework, text, sports, etc.), 3 shooting modes (single, panorama, burst), exposure metering, negative, monocolor, and sepia mode, image quality, adjustable color balance and saturation, exposure value, contrast, and sharpness. Most all of those are also found in the camcorder interface as well.

There's no physical camera shutter button (like most Android phones, touch to focus and shoot), or digital zoom, and the shooting performance really needs improvement. It takes about 3-4 seconds to acquire focus and shap the picture, and I've noticed that shot-to-shot times are a bit slow, so don't count on it to get fast follow-up shots. But remember this cost $80.

The Touchwiz media player is very good and easy to use. There are 9 settings (one customizable) for equalizer, visualization, effects, and file management. Sound quality with media and calling were pretty good. It does what a phone is supposed to do and does it well with good voice quality and clarity. The earpiece and speakerphone could be more powerful though. I have to turn the volume up high to hear callers over the speaker even indoors. Although it's adequate, the media volume could also use some improvement as I had to turn up the volume when listening to a video or song. Plug in the headphones and it's a different story. I enjoyed the sound quality and loudness.

Web browsing is very good. The Exhibit supports both 3G and HSPA+ 4G connectivity which is a theoretical 21 mbps, but I only saw 6 down and 2 up using Speed Test app running on the network with good signal strength, and about the same on WiFi. It has full Flash support as well, but sometimes pages with lots of Flash content load slow and even stall. To avoid this, you can set the Flash setting to on demand.

Battery life is great. You get a 1500 mah. Li-ion battery that gave me about 3 days with moderate use before it beeped at me. Heavy calling, camera/camcorder flash use, Web browsing, and media player useage will quickly drain the battery, but you'll still get a day and a half out of it which is impressive.

So there's the major stuff.

Pros:

Ridiculously low on-contract price

Samsung's Touchwiz interface is customizable and easy to use

High quality construction and good feel

Impressive handware and software feature set

Camera flash/video light

Android 2.3

Adjustable camera settings

Good display

No need to remove battery to access MicroSD and SIM card

4G support

Competent Web browsing

Good call clarity

Good battery life

Front-facing camera

1 Ghz processor

Cons

Smallish screen makes using portrait keyboard difficult

3.2 MP camera and subpar D1 video

Poor shooting performance

No digital zoom

No AMOLED display

No physical shutter button

Web browsing could be better

Wished it had Dolby's DNse 5.1 audio enhancement feature

Speaker phone, earpiece, and media volume could be louder

I am being a little picky here, but for $80, you can't beat it. If you want a high-end phone but don't have or want to shell out $200 or more, take a look at the Exhibit. You will find most of the premium features for a very un-premium bottom shelf price. I was sold and after living with it for a few weeks, I am glad I chose the Exhibit.

I'm a tech lover, but didn't really need a smartphone yet. When I went to upgrade, I noticed this device and it's low price. I ended up getting it because it has many of the same specs as the Galaxy S, but cheaper. The screen is smaller than most smart phones, but I actually like it that way. The smaller screen makes the phone size more manageable for me and fits in my pocket better. If you want the latest and greatest phone, then this isn't for you. If on the other hand, you are looking for an introductory smart phone that can do most everything the "big boys" can then I would seriously recommend the Exhibit.

Buy Samsung Exhibit 4G Android Phone, Black (T-Mobile) Now

I just purchased my phone and I just have to say that I love it! I've been a Blackberry user for quite sometime, however my Blackberry was starting to fizzle out with me. My text messages were being deleted BEFORE I could read them and several other problems. This phone is just the right size for me. I'm still tinkering with it to get it to my specifications but I have time, no rush. As long as I can call out and hang up when necessary, I'm good. The web is pretty fast which is great asset. I'm not really big on tech speak but I recommend this phone for the look, the size and especially the price!

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I'm old fashioned and the primary function of a phone for me is for making voice calls. Smart phone functions like having a calendar, calculator and camera are nice extras and being able to check email and do web searches and check weather updates is nice too. But it all has to start with good call quality and that's where the Exhibit really shines. Another plus is that the battery life is very good if your primary use is as a voice phone, just keep wifi turned off when you don't need it. I actually bought a used Exhibit on eBay to keep as an extra phone but the call quality was so much better than my HTC HD7 that I'm using it all the time. I have to say that I prefer the Windows Phone 7 os much better than Android, but Gingerbread is more stable and usable than earlier versions of Android. For a relatively inexpensive smart phone the Exhibit is a keeper.

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As a full-featured Android touch-screen smartphone, I was impressed with the features. Fast web browsing, good quality photos and videos, the ability to upload attachments at will, voice operated text, a million apps to choose from and all for a really low price with contract.

I wanted this to be everything, but it still falls short. I've had it about six months now, and it freezes fairly often, which is nothing short of frustrating. The battery has half the life it once did. (I suspect the tethering feature killed it don't forget to turn it off when you're finished using it!) The touch screen keyboard is annoying and awkward, but I suspect it's no worse than most other Android phones. The camera, I realize now, isn't THAT good it has no zoom capability, and captures low light/shadows terribly. More significantly, all the pictures have a subtle fish-eye lens tendency to them, which makes none of them actually accurate! (It also makes your face look too big!) That's probably the single most annoying characteristic of this phone, next to the system freezing of course.

So, judge for yourself I guess. I chose it as the best compromise between ratings, price, and radiation level. I'm sure you have different options now.

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iLive iH328B Dual-CD Home Music System with iPod Dock (Black)

• Supports most iPhone and iPod models with Universal Dock Connector
• Docking station for iPod with 2-disc CD player
• Digital tune AM/FM stereo radio
• Blue backlit LCD and full-range speakers
• Includes remote control to operate docked iPod and player

When my brother found out Santa was bringing my teen-aged daughter an IPOD nano 4th genApple iPod nano 8 GB Purple (4th Generation), we talked about it and decided a stereo for her bedroom would be just the thing. We wanted a stereo that had the following:

1) full control of IPOD functions through remote

2) one with enough sound to fill a bedroom, but not enough to shake the house down

3) CD and FM radio with presets

4) good looks

The iLive seemed to fit the bill and since my brother is a dedicated Amazon Prime memberwho has recently converted me to Prime as wellhe settled on the iLive.

The iLive is one of those products that the instruction manual can be lost on day one and never missed. If you are part of the electronics generation(s), you certainly won't need it for the 5 minutes set up or for operations. If you can operate your IPOD thumbwheel, you can easily operate the remote. The iLive comes with about 8-10 dock adapters, but it didn't have the one for the iPod nano 4th gen chromatic, so we had to use the one packed with the iPod, which is white and if the door is open you may notice the white adapter. If it bothers you, close the door, I guess.

When I received a rather large Amazon gift card for Christmas (the amount was large, the card was the standard size), I liked my daughter's setup so well, I decided to duplicate it. Having the IPOD stereo system beats having my computer hooked up to a stereo, as now I can just punch the remote if I want to skip a song instead of going over to the computer to advance songs or just being lazy and deciding I don't want the song skipped badly enough to get up and walking over to the computer.

Be aware that the iLive iH328B doesn't have the punchiest bass around and its wattage is low. If you are looking for a main home stereo for a medium-large home, this isn't it. It has an equalizer you can change if you need to. The factory setting seems okay on most songs.

If you want good sound for the money for a bedroom or small home, this is it. This is a very good looking system and the overlapped CD's with blue LEDs behind them give it a very up-to-the-minute appearance.

One con: The remote is very small. I only lose mine twice a day.

One last thing. The compatibility list doesn't include some of the newer iPods. My guess is because the product description hasn't caught up and because iLive doesn't have docking adapters for all of the latest iPod models. Just use the one that came with your iPod. If you've lost that one or use it someplace else, no sweat; the iPod would work even without the adapter, it just wouldn't be as stable.

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I bought two of these for Christmas gifts. The setup is easy, and they look nice wherever they are set up. I noticed then, however, how cheaply they seem built. And now, 4 months after Christmas, the CD player no longer works in one, and sporadically works in the other.

The controls are not intuitive, and with the shabby construction I could not recommend this to anyone.

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I recently purchased this stereo for my 9 yr old son. It's the perfect all in one stereo system for a child. Plays his ipod, the radio & cd's, and also protects them inside the vertical sliding panel. For those of us that watch Nip/Tuck, it is similar to the one in the operating suite on the show. As far as sound quality...eh, its really not so great. But it fits the bill for an inexpensive, cool looking stereo...

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I've been looking for a product like this for quite some time. Since I rarely buy a CD anymore I needed an iPod dock stereo, but I also own a lot of CD's so I also wanted one that could play CD's when desired. This item is awesome, I can keep two CD's and my iPod in the unit for easy listening. My iPod stays charged while not in use or while listening to one of the CD's. The unit has pretty good sound for the size and type of stereo.

I don't want to really call these cons, but I guess the areas for improvement they could make to future models. The remote is quite small for a stereo, and it uses those small flat batteries, that do last longer, but are generally more expensive than say triple or double A batteries that most remotes would normally use. I haven't lost it yet, but it is one of those little remotes that would be easily lost if it falls on the floor! And the other area of improvement, would be more customization for sound. It has four or five presets for bass/treble equalization which is fine, but sometimes it just nice to be able to adjust those yourself. Oh and the blue LED lights around the CD's cannot be dimmed or turned off, which is fine for the most part, but if you're someone that listens to music while you sleep, the lights are kinda bright depending on where you have the device setup.

Great item, would definitely recommend to anyone that is looking for an iPod Dock/CD stereo!

After 30 days the product died. Won't turn on. Sending it back for replacement (my cost). Waiting two weeks for theiLive iH328B Dual-CD Home Music System with iPod Dock (Black) replacement. Not cool for a birthday gift. Not happy

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GPX HM3817DT Home Music System

Perfect office radio/cd player. Ipods/mp3 players can be plugged in to the LINE IN or AUX inputs with the included line in cable. Very versatile, affordable player with everything you need.

My husband bought this system brand new for me in 2009, the unit was manufactured July 02, 2008. I just threw it away tonight because it suddenly went haywire. I have used this unit many times in the last 3 years and never had any problems with it. I have moved it around my house several times and it has always performed perfectly. I moved it to a different room in my house last week and now suddenly it has started to malfunction. The remote control has stopped working even after a battery change, the volume adjusts to the highest level of 32 as soon as I turn the unit on and will not come down with the remote or manually, it plays 15 seconds of a song then shuts itself off. I have reset it, unplugged it, moved it back to the room I moved it out of, taken it apart, checked the wiring, nothing is burnt, scorched, loose, out of place. It is a mystery to me and the only other thing I figure can be wrong is it is simply a malfunction of the control boards inside. Oh well, it was great while it lasted but I will not be buying another one. I'll spend the extra money on a better quality and well known product this time.

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This is the worst product I have ever bought. I wanted something simple...it wasn't; I wanted to listen to the radio; I couldn't. I didn't even try the dvd player. Every radio station I tried could not be found. It would play the same station even hand tuning to another station. This is junk.

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Timex T300B Digital Tuning Clock Radio with Nature Sounds

• Wake to AM/FM radio, buzzer, or 4 nature sounds
• Triple-alarm system
• Digital AM/FM radio
• 18 preset station memories, 12 FM and 6 AM
• Amber-glow LCD screen with backlight

I don't know why everyone is having such a hard time using the clock, I'm not Bob Vila, but after reading a few pages in the manual, the clock was very easy to program.

I prefer to wake up to the babbling brook sound (even though it sounds more like an aviary than a brook) and I love the fact that you can go to sleep with one radio station on at a certain volume and wake up with a different station on at a different volume. The digital tuner works great, I always had a hard time getting "dial radio" reception on my old, clock radio but the tuner on the Timex is superb. The sound quality of the speaker is nice. I agree with another reviewer-the ocean and the wind sound very . . . how do you say . . . creepy, like something you'd hear in a bad Dr. Who episode.

THE BIGGEST DRAWBACK: The display is way too bright. I'm convinced that it's screwing up my melatonin production! There are three settings for the brightness, 1) forest fire 2) day at the beach or 3) staring at the sun. And the color of the display is very annoying. Perhaps if it was tinted blue instead of orange it may be a little more soothing (like an alien ship stopping by my room in the middle of the night rather than the feeling that you get if you left every light on in the house before you hit the sack).

THE BEST FEATURE: Definitely, the alarm options. I haven't slept through my alarm yet (something that I consistently did in the past with my old Panasonic clock radio).

WOULD BE SWELL IF THEY COULD...: Change the display and had some better "nature sounds" or added a Zen chime.

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I am happy with this alarm clock. Period. It has some awesome features that I haven't seen on any other alarm clock. It also has some less useful features, but even if these were magically eliminated, you would still be left with a great clock.

UNIQUE and terrific features: 1. Sleep function: 90/60/30/15 min countdown at Normal/Low/Very Low volume. Here's the best part: the volume control on the side is over-ridden by the 3 sound levels. So if you want to fall asleep to low volume, the wake to radio alarm is at normal volume. (I don't know what Denys was talking about in previous review) Also, it can be a completely different station than the one you fell asleep to. 2. 3 alarms: radio or buzzer or nature or any combo. Easy to set a sort of progressive wake sequence: 1st alarm nature sound, then later radio, then last brain-splitting beeping. (see drawbacks below) 3. digital tuner. Try to find this feature in another clock for this price. Great reception. 12 FM presets (lots), plus 6 AM.

Other good features: decent sound from single speaker, three light levels from backlit display (though I would have preferred Indiglo), date on display, unlike others here I found it to be very easy to set all features "Buzzer" very much resembles the "beep" of a Timex watch, but much louder. The rhythm of the beeping increases every 10 sec or so. I'm a deep sleeper, and this works well.

DRAWBACKS (that would not keep me from buying this clock again, but why I gave it 4/5): 1. buttons a bit cheap feeling... whadya want for this price 2. clock/alarm set is forward only (bad), although you set hour/min separately (good). My last alarm clock had fast/slow, and you had to count around the clock to set something earlier this drove me crazy. How hard could it have been to have up/down buttons? And there are already tuner up/down buttons there! 3. I was hoping (but not really expecting) that there was a bit more flexibility with the 3 alarms: ie. possible to set buzzer for all 3. Alas, the 3 alarms are one each of radio/buzzer/nature. 4. Nature sounds. All resemble white noise, as if recorded with a bad microphone. Not great for relaxing prior to sleep. However, surprisingly unobtrusive way to wake up in morning. 5. Backlit display on the lowest level is still a bit bright after your eyes have adjusted to dark.

Cheers Stink

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This clock radio has great radio sound (thats why I bought it). However, the buttons are way too small and there are too many of them so changing the alarm is too complicated. I am never sure if I have set it correctly. The time is large enough but the backround color is strange looking in a dark room. Also, it is difficult to see if the alarm is set while I am in bed.

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I bought this clock and tried to use it without reading the operating manual. BIG MISTAKE! Whatever logic there is to the labels of these buttons and what they do is not clear to me. And NEVER try to change ANYTHING in the dark. It is actually easier to change the time than to change the alarm settings. But, after getting used to the buttons, I still could not get used to the sounds. I don't know what planet they used as a model for the ocean sounds but it wasn't Earth. The waves crash on the shores at least TWICE as fast as real life. Instead of being relaxing, it's actually stressful. The only sound that doesn't play at light speed is Forest. By the way, the manual mentions casually on page 14 that the volume control for the radio also controls the sounds level. Late for work that day!The good things about this clock are its two-level lighted face and the fact that each alarm type can be set independently and all three can be used at different times. I don't recommend this clock because it's too much hassle for so little return. Two coworkers overheard me complaining a few days back and they mentioned that they have the same clock and the same problems. Seems this was a popular seller but not a popular item to own.

When I received this clock radio I was pleased by its size and general arrangement. The price was right. It took a little doing to get everything set up but not too bad.

On the plus side is the digital radio tuning and the presets much better than an analog dial. The radio sounds ok. I did not have the unit long enough for an in-depth analysis of the radio.

But the first night using this clock radio destroyed any illusions that I might have had as to keeping the thing.

First of all, the display, even at its dimmest, was still a night light much too bright. And in the daytime I could not see the time on the display from further that a few feet away. In the future I will avoid all LCD displays and, instead, look for a large red or green LED display.

Second of all, the "natural" sounds were anything but relaxing. I had figured that this would be ideal for lulling me to sleep. But of the four, the Brook, Forrest, and Wind were very obtrusive and annoying. The Brook starts out with an explosive blast of bird chatter that is more akin to several large parrots fighting than anything else. The Ocean sound was a little better but of such a short duration that the repetition of the short sound byte rapidly became annoying. It sounded much like a record that was skipping and repeating itself. I had to turn it off as there would be no lulling off to sleep with these sounds.

I just cannot recommend this product.

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Timex T035WW4 Color Changing Alarm Clock with Soothing Sounds (White)

• 7 changing colors on cabinet and display, with simple and convenient controls for easy operation
• Wake to 4 soothing nature sounds or buzzer alarm; 24 Hour Set-And-Forget Alarm that has auto repeat and auto shutoff
• Large, easy-to-read LCD shows hour, minute, month, date and day of week; as well as 12 or 24 hour time display
• 24 hour countdown timer for appointments, meetings, naps, etc.; as well as an adjustable snooze from 1 to 60 minutes
• Indoor thermometer (Fahrenheit or Celsius)

As far as I can tell, the colors only change when 1) a button is pressed or 2) you play the "soothing sounds". Otherwise it looks like a clear plastic sphere with a white faceplace/insert. The silver "button" on top apparently does nothing (I thought this would be perfect for snooze!). The soothing sounds are very digitized, but for the price I wasn't expecting much from that feature. I had thought with an "INDIGLO night-light" that the clock would remain backlit at night, but that does not appear to be the case--at night you have to press one of the face buttons (which always BEEP when pressed, annoying!) and then you get a brief backlight.

The pros...it's cheap, it tells the time/date/temperature (though I have yet to understand why anyone needs their room temperature readout on their clock), you can wake up to a pseudo-nature sound that is not a buzzer, and it runs on batteries so it is small and compact without needing a trailing cord. I think the design overall is cute, but the functionality could have been much improved.

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I almost sent this back because it's battery powered and very small. But when I saw all the things it does, I decided to keep...changes colors, gives you soothing sounds to go to sleep by, gives you the room temperature, has easy to use settings for alarm and snooze....very neat little gadget. I just wish it was AC and twice as big.

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You can't get the "soothing sounds" with the countdown timer. The countdown timer has only a harsh beeping noise. The "UP" button did not work, which meant I could not turn up the volume -it was stuck on lowest volume forever -though I could adjust the time by pressing the DOWN button for a long time.

The clock is cute, the changing colors are cute (though they light up & change only when you press a button). I liked the soothing sounds, though they are "computer-like," but I needed them for the timer. I returned the clock.

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I decided to buy this clock based on everyone else's "bad" reviews. So glad that I did! I wanted a small white or clear clock for my baby's nursery. I needed something that was battery operated, so I could move it around the room and not have to worry about finding a free plug. I really like that the color changing lights don't stay on constantly, only when the "nature sounds" are on. (My baby seems to enjoy listening to those sounds and watching the lights.) I also like that you can set the amount of time until the sounds shut off (one hour or less), so that it doesn't stay on all night. Seeing as how this is used in my baby's room, I also love the thermometer function. Bottom line, this is a nice, small, inexpensive, simple clock. As long as you read the manual, operating this clock is not confusing at all. Perfect for what I was looking for. However, I do not use it as an alarm clock, and not sure that I would. I am a sound sleeper and I don't think that the nature sounds would wake me up. There is a beeping alarm option, but it isn't very loud compared to other alarm clocks out there.

It sounds like a cool, relaxing clock, but it is really a piece of junk. It is SO confusing to operate and unreliable as an alarm. There is no backlight, and it wont stay lit unless the sounds are playing. Disappointed. Atleast it was inexpensive.

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Emerson iTone iP500BK Portable Audio System for iPods (Black)

• Portable, boombox-like portable sound system designed for "dockable" iPods
• Built-in, front-mounted iPod docking station; digital AM/FM tuner
• Heavy-duty, wide-ranging 3-inch speakers; credit-card-style remote control
• Auxiliary input connects to older iPods, MP3 players, and more
• Measures 12.6 x 6.4 x 3.0 inches (W x H x D); 90-day warranty

I bought this for my kitchen to mount under our cabinets. It works well for the space and is easy to use. Installation was okay we had to reinstall twice to make the mount work correctly.

Pros:

Good sound for my mid-sized kitchen. The sound is clear and easy to here even in another room.

Remote is convenient and easy to use.

Under cabinet mount gets the unit up and off my counter top so I don't have to worry about getting the unit wet.

The unit can be removed quite easily and used on battery when needed.

Cons:

When my iPod (30) is sitting in the cradle it does not seem stable it is very loose so I am worried about the mount connection becoming damaged. I don't know if another size iPod would be more stable.

The FM antennae is a wire that is screwed into the back (can be removed) so it is inconvenient to move with the unit.

The unit can be snapped back and out of the way and the clasp is not as strong as it should be if we bump the unit it will fall down easily.

Overall I am satisfied with this product. As you can see from my review, the Pros outweigh the cons for me.

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Recieved this speaker system for my Ipod 30G video. The unit is very small and looks nice. The display is bright and easy to read. It's a simple system that plays your Ipod's music or tunes in FM or AM radio. I haven't used the wall mount kit so I can't comment on that.

Pro's: Small in size, looks great, FM and AM radio comes in very clear, lots of preset stations.

Con's: No bass or treble settings, Ipod does not lock into unit very securely-it docks in but never seems fully secure while attached to unit, the controls can play, stop, FF, or RR your Ipod's current playlist or album but if you want to switch playlists or albums you'll have to manually set it up on the Ipod.

Overallit's a decent system but really needs an equilizer, a more secure dock for the Ipod, and full control over the Ipod.

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this combo radio and ipod player is great. has decent sound and has a considered design that looks good while working.

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Yes my husband purchased one for me and I absolutely love it. It functions as an alarm clock as well as a docking station and radio. My kids liked it so that he bought four more. My kids are between the ages of 10 and 5 and they dock their ipods and set their alarm and I have more troubles with them waking in the morning for school. God Bless Emerson.

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I use this product in my bathroom. The master bath has a lot of extra counter-top space, and this sits in the corner and is tuned to the local AM news station in the morning while I shower and brush my teeth, etc. It works well for this purpose, though the AM antenna is actually inside the case (inaccessible), which means to adjust for the best reception, you must adjust the whole thing rather than just moving the antenna. The radio reception isn't stellar, but it's not bad either, just your average radio as far as that's concerned.

I like it because I also every once in a while decide I want to listen to some music while I'm in the shower, and I can just drop in my iPod and let it play. Sound quality isn't the best, but it's not bad enough to make me dig into the manual to find out how to set the EQ. This is just a pretty good all-around radio/iPod/clock with a conveniently small and handy little remote.

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Energizer Watch Electronic Watch/Electronic Battery

I went to many stores, from Sharper Image to Best Buy to Circuit City to Radio Shack and a few online spots to find the CR2025 batteries for my clock radio remote and air conditioner remote. The stores either did not carry the exact battery type or wanted over $6 per battery. When I checked Amazon, the Energizer battery ECR2025 was available for less than $4 for two. I was concerned if ECR2025 was the same as CR2025; I took a chance, and they turned out to be the same, so the E probably just stands for Energizer. The batteries have been working fine because the remotes work fine. This was the best deal for this battery. Delivery was free because I bought the batteries along with something else from Amazon. Amazon seems to carry many things with excellent prices, and the free delivery is great.

I've been using these in one of those counter-irritant conductor devices that zaps you with electronic jolts to reduce or eliminate temporarily what ails you. I've tried several other 2025s, but the Energizer is definitely stronger and longer lasting. This price represents a 33% reduction compared to Walgreen's.

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I' got this battery installed in a remote control. I press two keys on the remote every day and the battery last 10 days. I can say they are non functional after 20 key strokes.

I expected something better

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A battery either works, or it doesn't. These work fine, and they've been working for over a month since I received them. The non-Amazon dealer sent them fast, in their original Energizer packaging, with a far-distant expiration date.

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I definitely read the reviews on the items I view on here so decided to leave one too.

Some reviewers mentioned receiving old stock batteries and that some just didn't work. I went ahead and ordered this battery, hoping to avoid having to buy a new digital watch, which I only wear rarely. Well, to get straight to the point, it works! My watch works along with the illumination feature so I am happy spending what I did for this battery than buying another watch that was around $20.

Hope this helped you out!

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iHome iH7 Dual Alarm Clock and Radio for iPod (Black)

• Wake or sleep to iPod, AM/FM Radio or buzzer
• High-fidelity stereo drivers in specially designed Reson8 speaker chambers deliver astounding clarity, depth, and power
• Gradual Wake and Gradual Sleep increase/decrease Alarm/Sleep volume so as not to startle
• Extension speaker for expanded stereo sound to really rock in your bedroom or any other part of your house
• Compatibility: iPod nano (1G and 2G), iPod mini, 3G iPod, 4G iPod with click wheel, iPod Color, iPod Video, iPod shuffle (1G only)

We already had been using the iH5 which was the first iHome iPod/AM-FM/alarm clock unit. Gave that to our son for use at school and upgraded to the iH7B.

(Why is the iH7 only available in black as opposed to the other iHs which come in B or W?) This unit has presets for the radio and a dual alarm clock. MOST IMPORTANT, the separate speaker allows one to truly sense stereo which is not the case with the iH5 or iH6 well woth the extra $$. Separate AM antenna makes for good reception. FM antenna is a long wire which requires careful placement to keep if away from interference from adjacent AC power line. As will all iHomes, it has built in iPod charger with inserts to accomodate various iPod models. Also has a second charging 'slot' but this only works with the Shuffle ideally this would be a full-service charger. Also has a line-input to allow one to connect a CD player (remember those?) or a non-iPod MP3 player.

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This is the best thing ever. looks cool, awesome sound, handy remote, and just plain awesome. Personally, i dont think the display is too bright. theres a button that controls the display light ranging anywhere from lighting up a country, or no light at all, and everything in between. Basically, its amazing!

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Not that the display has anything to do with the sound (which is good)...it's that even at the lowest level of brightness, it is still WAY too bright. The whole background panel is lighted. It can literally light the whole room, which is a problem if you want this near your bed.

What were they thinking?

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good controls, dual alarm feature is nice, excellent reception even though I live in a rural area. I purchaased the three speaker model as reports indicated this would improve sound quality. The third speaker merely cancels one of the two internal speakers and allows you to get more phsyical separation between the left and right channels. The sound quality of the speakers is unacceptable, tinny, poor range, sounds like a cheap tabletop radio. The good news is you can connect external speakers, I purchased a set of Kipsch 2.1 and the sound and feautres are now excellend. Of course that adds another 150.00 to get an adequate device. If the speakers were improved, it would definitelg earn five stars.

This was purchased for a man who seems to have everything. This is a not the basic alarm clock that buzzes or plays music, it is so much more! The features that he likes the most is that he can insert his ipod into the iHome and it can play selected songs or just random songs from his list. The part that I like most is that we can go to sleep listening to music, but I can set it on sleep so it gets softer and softer untill it finally goes off so it doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night. This was a great gift and he loves it. I would recomend this to anyone who 1)likes music 2)like new gadgets 3)if you just need a new alarm clock.

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