- 5 CD changer with AUX/game inputs
- 500 Watt amplifier with subwoofer
- Line-in for connecting portable devices
- Built-in Bluetooth receiver
- Clock/timer function -wake to radio or CD
Showing posts with label philips alarm clocks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philips alarm clocks. Show all posts
RCA 500W 5-CD Mini System with Bluetooth Receiver
Apple iMac Desktop with 15" M9285LL/A (1.0-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW D
- Thanks to some nifty hardware engineering, the iMac's dome-shaped base houses the entire computer
- Central processing unit (CPU), logic board, hard drive, optical drive, and power supply
- Fact is, inside this easy-to-use powerhouse, you'll find everything you need to make movies
- Music store that lets you sample, buy and download your favorite music in digital format
The trouble with entering a Mac store is not that it looks light and airy and full of designer fun, but that it's difficult to exit the store. It's almost equally difficult to choose which model to buy, once you're finally convinced that Apple's are no longer so different that they're incompatible with the rest of the world. The store is full of fun models and choices, ranging from the budget to the massively expensive. In terms of buying a perfectly servable computer that has all the bells and whistles you need, is affordable and has a little bit of a personality, the iMac is the way to go.
I love this computer. It has a 15 inch flat screen, that conveniently tilts in any direction you want it to, and comes attached to a small base which contains all your hardware (yes! no more huge lumps of iron under your desk that you knock your knees against). It even contains a DVD/CD-RW drive and if you want to go for a DVD writer, you just go up one model. In truth, this computer does everything I've ever wanted from a computer and more. I've never been one to get sucked into technology, but the iMac has adorable features, like iTUNES (I've completely stopped buying music on CD's and even bought an iPOD to replace my minidisk), iMOVIE (for editing film clips you made of your new puppy), and other fun programs.
If you are smart, you will by the mac.com package that costs only $70. This deal has given me more free software than I care to recall, and provides me with online support (not that I need it often in this user friendly environment), my own webpage and much more. For traditionalists, you can buy the Windows for Mac package, which has all the software you know and understand, such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Entourage (equivalent to Outlook). The advantage of this is that you can open the same files as everyone else, and send them the files as they are, without having to convert them first. This was a huge selling point for me on the new operation system OS X.
So what, if it takes you 10 minutes to figure out the little oddities that you're not used to, like clicking on the top left instead of the top right to minimize a window, or holding the control key in order to left click. All in all, the iMac software is MUCH easier to navigate than Windows once you spend 10 minutes on the Mac.
If you're fed up with the Bill Gates monopoly and the viruses Windows seems prone to, and wish for a little bit of umph in your life, the iMac is for you. I wish I could convert the whole world, but then ... the iMac wouldn't be special anymore.
Tenergy Centura AA Low Self-Discharge LSD NiMH Rechargeable Batteries, 1 Card 4xAA
- Very slow self discharge maintains 85% residual capacity after 1 year of storage and 70% residual capacity after 2 years of storage
- Apr. 4 time more shots than with alkaline batteries. High performance even at low temperatures down to -10 C during your winter vacation
- Designed for enhanced performance for high drain applications such as digital cameras, CD players, portable audio devices,
- Also designed enhanced performance for hand held games, 2-way radios, PDAs, and other portable high drain digital electronics
- Can be recharged for up to 1000 times, providing big saving by replacing hundreds of throw away AA batteries.
- Can be rapidly charged with any quick charger, smart chargers, plug in charger or universal chargers
Frankly, I don't have much confidence in Tenergy products. But the present low price (30% less compared to eneloop) is just too hard to resist. So here are my test results, using my old La Crosse BC-900 Battery Charger:
Right out of the package, the average remaining charge measured was only 520mAh, or 26% of the rated capacity of '2000mAh'. In comparison, Sanyo eneloop typically arrives with ~75% of rated capacity.
After the first recharge, two cells reached ~1250mAh, while the other two reached ~2100mAh. I'm surprised to see this discrepancy, because it never happened to other name-brand LSD cells I have tested.
After the second recharge, all four cells reached ~2100mAh. Subsequent charge/discharge cycles gave average capacity of 2108mAh. This is very similar to the capacity of Sanyo eneloop.
It will take a few more months before I can have any long-term self-discharge data. As of right now, the Tenergy Centura seems to perform as well as advertised at least after two full discharge/recharge cycles. So I consider Tenergy Centura to be a good low-cost alternative to Sanyo eneloop. But for mission-critical applications, I will still trust eneloop over all other brands.
[Aside]
Make sure you shop around for the best unit-price. Presently the 12xAA package is actually more expensive than three 4-pack, after you factor in shipping cost.
[Update on Sep 24, 2011]
Long term self-discharge data: After 3 months in storage, a pair of Tenergy Centurs AA cells retained 1770mAh, or 84.3% of original capacity. This number by it self looks great. But a disturbing finding is that, after two more charge/discharge cycles, the average capacity is now just 2015mAh, or 4% lower than what I measured before. I have observed this kind of capacity reduction previously in off-brand precharged cells (such as Lenmar Ready-2-Go R2GAA), but never in Sanyo eneloop cells.
[Update on Nov 27, 2011]
Tested another pair of Centura AA cells after 5 months in storage. The results are similar: They retained 81.0% of original capacity, but their new average capacity dropped by 4% to only 2030mAh.
[Update on Nov 19, 2012]
I re-tested all four Tenergy Centura AA cells again on the same BC-900. To my surprise, their capacities are back to normal between 2070 and 2110mAh. I assume my previously measured lower capacities were affected by different ambient temperaure? Anyway, I have to restore my rating to 5-star since I can find no faults with this product.
Buy Tenergy Centura AA Low Self-Discharge LSD NiMH Rechargeable Batteries, 1 Card 4xAA Now
I purchased Tenergy Centura AA Low Self-Discharge (LSD) NiMH Rechargeable Batteries, 1 Card 4xAA. These batteries are doing great for my first month using them. I use them in my Sony portable CD player to listen to books and they are much better than the Energizer Rechargeable batteries that I had been using. Plus they have held their charge longer than the Energizers. I guess the LSD[Low Self Discharge]is responsible for this. I, also, purchased the [Tenergy Centura AAA Low Self-Discharge (LSD) NiMH Rechargeable Batteries, 6 Cards 24xAAAfor my MP3 Player and use 1 battery in it (again listening to books)and 3 in my books light. They are doing better than expected. The AAA is holding it's charge very well...changing the battery every 24-26 hours of play for the MP3 player and changed it out after 6 nights in the books light (which I am using as a portable night light while staying with my daughter and new baby). I could have gotten more time out of the book light, however, the light was starting to get a little dim and I chose to change it out rather than see exactly how long it would take to wear it down completely. I am EXTREMELY satisfied with these products, especially since I read such poor reviews on the regular Tenergy batteries. The Centura has exceeded my expectations and the price made it well worth it. With that being said, I have only had these batteries for a month or so and can't comment on the long term wear of them. I can say that in this month, I have put them through their paces and the ear plugs in my ears....(two babies in the house, a 17 month old & 15 day old and when one cries the other picks up on it, so Grandma has the MP3 player or CD with books going 24 hours a day in one ear and the other ear listening to babies)I'm pleased to say the batteries haven't failed me yet!!! I hope that long term is the same.There are a lot of scientific reviews that provide a lot of data and I, too, find them valuable. However, sometimes things just come down to practical experience. I have had nothing but good luck with these batteries. These LSDs live up to their claims and will power just about anything I put them in even if they've been lying around for a few weeks.Currently I am using them in two Plot Watcher Pro game cameras. These are time lapse cameras and take a picture every few seconds as opposed to just when something walks by. These batteries have been running the cameras for weeks at a time, taking about 7,200 pictures per day. (They get assembled into an AVI for those wondering. It's very convenient.) I haven't seen the batteries go dead yet, but that's because I refresh them every few weeks whether it needs it or not. During the off-season I'll experiment to see how long they will go.
Given that they are operating for so long at temperatures of about 50 degrees during the day and 30 degrees at the night I have NO complaints about them.
I would/will gladly buy more of these.
Want Tenergy Centura AA Low Self-Discharge LSD NiMH Rechargeable Batteries, 1 Card 4xAA Discount?
Update 2012.08.17: I have only charged these batteries one time since I bought them and they are not even close to needing a recharge! I'm using them in a blood pressure monitor that gets regular use almost daily.These are the first "LSD" batteries I have bought and I have a few sets of Tenergy batteries and they've been really good and some are 3 years old with regular use and still going strong. I'll check back when I've gotten some use out of them for an update and rerating...
One thing that will absolutely make or break your batteries is the charger! I've worked in broadcasting, medical, RF, computer, and telecomm electronics for over 25 years and part of some of those jobs was to know all the battery chemical types and chargers. I'd have to say that about 95% of the chargers out there are cheap primitive junk. Do yourself a favor and invest in a really good charger so your batteries will be cared for and last instead of going bad in just a few months or a year. I'm the type that has batteries that will last as long as 10 years so I think I have it down when it comes to knowing the technology of a good charger.
A few years ago I bought 2 of these Titanium MD-3000 universal smart chargers and I couldn't be happier! Read my review at the link below. Battery Junction is another place to buy them if they dry up here on Amazon. The price is $40 and worth every cent!
http://www.amazon.com/Titanium-Universal-Ultra-Charger-MD-3000/dp/B0035H59O2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336767613&sr=8-1
Right after 1st full charge with titanium 16bay charger, is't 1.42V I'll update review one day I find something.
Diameter:14.25mm. Length: 50.20mm.
Diameter is little big and it was hard to put them in 10 AA battery box, push it hard then it could fit.
Here's diameter of my NiHM AA diameter
GP ReCyKo+ self dicharge 2050mA(typ)= 14.30mm. it's also big for the AAx10 battery box.
Sanyo Eneloop(HR-3UTG) 2000mA(typ) =14.15mm
DLG 1800mA=13.95mm
Toshiba TH-3J,2150mA(min) = 14.15mm
Maybe AA's standard diameter is 14.00mm?
so be careful if it fits to your device or not.
Sony ICFCDK50 Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio
- Bass reflex sound system for rich, deep bass tones
- Built-in audio cable for digital music players
- CD player that accepts burned CD-R/RWs
- Digital FM/AM tuner with 15 presets; one-touch cooking timer
- Magnetic remote control for attaching to fridge
The sound quality is good for a radio in this price range and there is a handy battery backup for whenever the power gets cut momentarily (which is fairly common out there just because I'm always dinking around with stuff). I also love that my MP3 player hooks up so easily, which gives me acces to pretty much all my music when I don't feel like listening to the radio. I kind of doubt I will ever use the CD player.
Unfortunately, I immediately found that the quality of the FM reception was so poor I couldn't stand to listen to it (AM was fine). After a couple of days of playing around with the position of the power cord, I realized that the problem was feedback from the battery charger for my cordless drill that is plugged into the same outlet. Once I realized that, I changed how everything is plugged in and now the FM reception is very good :). It's too bad this doesn't just have an external FM antenna so people don't run into this problem I docked a star just for this reason.
I'll make one more comment about the more expensive version of this radio, the ICF-CDK70. When I was having all the reception issues, I thought I'd go give that one a try and I realized that this model (ICF-CDK50) is better in pretty much every way as long as you don't care about the CD changer. The ICF-CDK70 is bulkier, it does NOT have a battery backup, it still has the FM antenna in the power cord, it uses the same speakers, and it doesn't have the handy preset buttons for radio stations. In some ways, I can't believe they call it an upgrade! If you are considering one of these, I highly recommend sticking with this model.
Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase.
Buy Sony ICFCDK50 Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio Now
I installed this in my kitchen underneath a cabinet and it looks great. It's only about 4 inches in height or seemingly less, and was easy to install with the paper hole alignment guide provided. You put the paper guide into the cabinet and then you use a drill to make the holes through the bottom of the cabinet. I countersunk the screws into the wood by using a slightly larger drill bit to make small areas for the screw head. I didn't use the provided spacers, and instead just mounted the unit flush against the cabinet, and it looks great!Now about the unit, the sound is great for our kitchen. I always leave the megabass setting on, without it it does not fill them room as well. I can crank this unit way up and hear it in all the rooms of my house, and it does not sound bad or like the speakers are going to break. So that's great, you can crank this baby!!!
The CD player works great, just like you would expect. Clock is fine. Timer is fine. Also hooked up to my ipod through the audio-in cord provided and that worked great as well.
Five presets buttons (actually 10 FM and 5 AM) make it really easy to switch around. The remote controller is neat, but don't really need to use it as I can reach the unit just as easily. Controller does not reflect off walls or anything like that, so you need a clear line-of-sight to make it work.
Overall, this is a great product and my wife and I love it!
Read Best Reviews of Sony ICFCDK50 Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio Here
I purchased this radio after review of comments and other shopping services. It's being returned due to very poor FM performance.A FM radio can be judged by a number of parameters the most basic of which are sensitivity (how well can the receiver pick out a weak signal) and selectivity (how well it rejects adjacent channels especially when a strong station is adjacent to a weak one on the dial). This radio performs poorly on both scores.
Sensitivity: All other radios in our home have no trouble picking up KPBS on 89.5 MHz in San Diego. In every location in our kitchen the ICF-CDK50 barely pulled the signal out of the static with the power cord extended full length. With the cord neatly stowed no signal was audible at all. There's no provision for an external FM antenna.
Selectivity: When tuned to XHFZO on 92.9, a weak Baja California station, the radio pulled in KMYI at 94.1 (6 channels away!) instead.
On the plus side the performance on strong to very strong stations was excellent modulo the limits of FM broadcasting. AM and CD performance was excellent. Sound was deemed very good.
Want Sony ICFCDK50 Under Cabinet Kitchen CD Clock Radio Discount?
The installation of the ICF-CDK50 is a 20 minute task using the adjustable spacers to compensate for front lip of cabinet, screws provided and template to drill four 3/16" holes. The Aux input is a 10" pigtail stereo audio cable well concealed that can be used on any MP3 type player left in a clip-on hanger or any other device with an audio output jack. The sound, with the built in Bass boost far exceeds typical table top radios with speakers of this size, enhanced by facing down and being reflected by the counter top, sort of a bass reflex effect. In a 12x16 home kitchen, any volume level above 50% is excessively loud. The manual tuning is very slow, be sure to program favorites in the 5 preset's. The timer function is easily used, set to even minutes; it counts down in seconds and sufficiently louder than the radio volume to gain your attention. The remote thankfully is not a credit card type, it is more like a roll of nickels and while IR, it has a full 180 degree range, likely not used in an active place like the kitchen but convenient if kept beside the telephone if more than an arms reach from the K50. In store comparisons with the twice thicker and expensive Sony ICF-CDK70 model proved it to be total overkill unless used in a work environment like a machine shop or sheltered outdoor/patio location. The 4+" thickness of the K70 vs the 2+" of the K50 reduces the typical 16" counter top to cabinet space to 12-", a significant consideration where Canisters or counter top appliances must exist under it. Other brands found at local store's sounded like pocket transistor radios while the K50 is comparable to a quality boom-box of 4~6' speakers. The rear of the case includes dogs to wrap excess power cable if you must power it from a receptacle in the counter backstop. However, from a performance standpoint, it appears that the FM/AM antenna is embedded in the power cord and coiling the excess length reduces signal strength, routing it up though or outside the cabinet to above, ideally if a gap or plate rail exist atop the cabinets routing the cable up and extending to any available power (like in a range hood) greatly enhances performance. The CD player is adequate, easy to use and when installed under a cabinet with a lower lip, easily accessed. The K50 is the optimum choice as a kitchen AM/FM radio, while offering excellent CD and MP3 player compatibility in a kitchen environment. Of note; there are other radios presently on the market that offer AM/FM/TV/Weather. None advertize the fact that the TV is an NTSC tuner that will be obsolete in Feb 2009 when TV moves to digital ATSC or that the weather alerts become terribly obnoxious after the "new' wears off.Save 12% Off
This Sony radio/CD player has a wonderful sound and is able to get my favorite radio station, where other radios that I tried could not. I love that it goes under the cabinet and frees up counter space. It looks great also.
Revo AXiS Wireless Internet Radio with iPod Dock (iPod Sold Seperately)
- 3.5" colour TFT touch-screen display
- Advanced internet radio with Wi-Fi connection
- Compatible with all iPod and iPhone models
- *iPod® not included. Must be purchased separately.
Buy Revo AXiS Wireless Internet Radio with iPod Dock (iPod Sold Seperately) Now
This is an elegant, capable device. It linked to my WiFi within 30 seconds out of the box. I have never experienced station buffering of over 30 seconds. It is simply an incredible, easy to use and powerful product. I wish I could give it 5 stars, but there are some issues: 1) even at minimal brightness, the screen lights up the bedroom, not good for sleeping, so I have to cover the screen which is not cool; 2) the "sleep" function is buried in the menus, unless you buy the remote; and 3) there is an occassional slight buzz in the speaker. If they fixed #1 I'd go to 5 stars.Read Best Reviews of Revo AXiS Wireless Internet Radio with iPod Dock (iPod Sold Seperately) Here
I purchased this radio after a very favorable rating by "What Hi-Fi" magazine. I don't know what they were thinking, I was very disappointed and can't see how this would win anything. First, the output volume is VERY low. If this radio was in a room with even a small amount of ambient noise it would be easily drowned out. Second, the menus are difficult, with icons that are far from intuitive. For internet stations the buffering time can be excessive. It has been trying to buffer a station for the last ten minutes to no avail. Also, no Pandora or access to Sirius online. It did function well with my iphone 4, but who cares? I could have gotten a much cheaper and better sounding ipod dock for the money.If you are in the market I would skip this product.
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I did so much research before purchasing and I thought this seriously was supposed to be top quality. The sound is excellent but it spends most of its time buffering internet radio streams. The Logitech Squeeze Radio has been so superior to this that I wish I had not been fooled by the positive reviews for the Revo. I will be putting mine up on Ebay and will not be purchasing a Revo product again.
Sangean DT-200X FM-Stereo AM/FM Digital Tuning Personal Receiver
- Drift-free, PLL synthesized tuning, 19 FM/AM memory presets with auto station scanning
- Removable belt clip, stereo ear buds, trailing antenna included
- Auto 90-minute shut-off, high-impact ABS case
- Measures just 4.375 x 2.625 x .75 inches
I'm writing it as a basic comparison to both Sangean portables, which in themselves are excellent radios, but if the traits and features of both could be fused into one... then we'd have the HOLY GRAIL of pocket portables! I'd also like to make some comments that other reviewers have failed to discuss regarding the DT 200.
Let's begin with what the DT 200 is constantly touted for, perhaps more so than its cousins... AM reception. When comparing the DT 200 and DT 210 for AM reception, there is NO DIFFERENCE! Both perform equally well. This is for standard daytime listening, when comparing the selectivity/sensitivity for both and the ability to null locals for capturing a weak or out of town station. Basically ANY radio can receive double to triple reception on AM after dark. So in this catagory, they're ALL the same. Turning to FM & TV audio reception in a large metro area: the DT 200 seems slightly MORE sensitive on both bands than the DT 210. Although unless you're trying to get a more obscure station, I seriously doubt most people would notice a difference. Selectivity in the city (for both radios) on FM can be tricky. I have never found a portable of this type to do a satisfactory job of cutting down on the serious bleeding and overloading effect caused by strong FM locals (within 10-20 miles of towers) that a good car stereo or CCRadio type unit can.
TUNING & MEMORY: What is unique about the 200, is that its 19 presets are NOT band specific! If you want, you may have 19 AM presets! OR... 19 FM presets, OR a combination of AM/FM & TV presets... as long as it's 19 or less! What is also good, is the way only 1 button is needed to "flip through" your presets. The downside to this, is that it flips through ALL bands back & forth, if you've selected memories from each. Or, it can be used to automatically "scan" though them... either up or down (but it won't stop on a weak or static-laden signal). The 210 allows 30 presets (10 on each band) which I think is the better way of doing it.
SOUND: The external speaker on the 210 sounds BETTER than the 200! (less like a "transistor radio") The 210 has bass-boost to use through the earplugs, the 200 does not. Both allow for stereo to be switched on and off.
BUTTONS: Generally good for both. The placement of the setting controls is easier to use on the 200, but the actual "tuning" buttons are in a difficult position for holding the radio in your right hand and trying to change channels with 1 finger. This operation is far easier with the 210.
BELT CLIP: Easier to use on the 210. It swivels! The 200's clip (although more snug) doesn't budge.
Bottom line: If audio is everything to you, the DT 210 may be a better choice. If ease of use regarding memory settings is your concern, then you might want the DT 200. Regarding AM reception, just remember this; for everything you may of heard about the DT 200... don't let ANYONE tell you it's superior to any other Sangean portable! I have NOT used the DT 300, but can swear that reception between the 200 and 210 is IDENTICAL. If price is your concern, you might get the 200 a bit cheaper. That's it.
OK, now YOU decide.
Buy Sangean DT-200X FM-Stereo AM/FM Digital Tuning Personal Receiver Now
I've owned 4 of these amazing pocket radios over the past eight years. They are solidly built, take a beating when dropped, battery life with the newer metal-hydride batteries is superb, and the sound quality with nicer headphones is excellent. All members of my family have one (so there is no argument over who was the last one with the radio), and I keep one at my cabin.It fits perfectly on a belt on shirt pocket, and with nicer earbuds (Etymotic) and a strong FM channel, one feels like they are really at a concert. The size of the radio and its abilities to pull in TV channels never leaves one too far away from the latest news or radiowaves. The presets are easy to use, though when you remove batteries you must replace within 30 seconds or the memory of the presets disappears.
I could go on, but the hearing, portability and durability is quite amazing for such a small unit with a great price. You won't be sorry on this purchase.
Read Best Reviews of Sangean DT-200X FM-Stereo AM/FM Digital Tuning Personal Receiver Here
I was very excited to purchase this portable radio but am returning it after only a few days. With my job, I often will get stuck on a job driving heavy machinery for several weeks at a time. To pass the day, I listen to various talk shows. Recently, while using my battered (but still working!) Sony AM/FM/TV/WeatherBand portable radio, I was disappointed that one of the stations I can usually get wasn't coming in that well. While I was far from my normal working area, the station still came in with my pickup's factory radio.So I began searching the internet for the "best portable radio" I could find. I quickly came across the Sangeon 200. After reading the reviews, I was very excited to have found the solution I was looking for! I even picked up some new headphones to go with my purchase.
While the reception on all bands was good, to get the most out of it, you really need to be able to set the radio on a table and rotate it "just so" to lock into an AM frequency. Don't get me wrong, the unit is great at what it does and we have certain laws of science here limiting what it can do, but for my application, I needed something I could just clip to my belt and forget about. (I'd still like to know why factory radios in cars don't need to be rotated to get their internal antenna to tune in.)
But, like I mentioned, the DT200V IS an improvement over the Sony in pulling in stations. The Mono button is great at getting rid of static on FM stations too. Even clipped to my belt, the performance was better. But what really made me return this thing was the user interface. I had to read the instructions (just a tiny paragraph) three times in order to learn how to program stations into memory. I'm a gadget geek and that's unusual for something to be so counter intuitive. The root of the problem is that there simply aren't enough buttons on the radio! Programming stations is one thing (how often do you need to do that?) but the fact that switching from one preset to another can take SO many button clicks in inexcusable. I often like to switch from program to program during the commercial breaks, but with the DT200v, you'll find yourself listening to the commercials anyway because it's too much of a hassle to change.
It's almost as if this thing was designed in the late 80's or early 90's. Especially the "feature" requiring you to replace the batteries within 3 minutes or else you lose all of your programmed stations. Back then, electronics WERE this hard to figure out. But now, when you can have a product like the iPod come to market and be such a success, mainly because of its easy to use interface, the Sangeon doesn't live up to standards. The iPod came out YEARS after portable mp3 players had been available from other companies. But it took off because it was EASY TO USE.
So, the bottom line is that if you can settle for a hard to use unit that is GREAT at pulling in stations, the Sangeon DT200V is for you. Perhaps you like to listen to the radio while sitting at the pool, beach or sporting event. Features like the built-in speaker make sense for such an application. But if you are going to be active while using your radio, and you like devices that you can operate with one hand (while barely looking at what you're doing) keep looking!
Want Sangean DT-200X FM-Stereo AM/FM Digital Tuning Personal Receiver Discount?
This little radio is the first thing I've ever bought out of the "Gold Box" and I'm glad I did. My old walkman was getting a little long in the tooth and I was looking for something lighter and more powerful. This is it. It arrived today and I'm happy to say it's small and lightweight, and for the first time since I moved to the boonies, I can get my two favorite AM stations. I can barely get them on my Bose wave radio. They're not crystal clear, but that was in my kitchen (worst reception area), so hopefully when I get outside for my run, it will improve. Even if it doesn't, it was good enough. TV channels were perfect. Also, I didn't realize when I bought it that it has a built-in speaker, so you don't need headphones to use it. I'm very pleased.Save 16% Off
Sangean DT200 radios have been in production for quite a while (late 80's), and are still considered by many to be the best of their type. Using more modern technology, it may be possible produce a better radio in this size class, but I have seen no indication that this has occured. The Sangean DT210V and DT300VW are a little smaller and lighter (the 300 also has weather band), but no review states that they provide better AM reception. Both of these smaller sets use AAA cells rather than AA. I consider use of AAA cells to be a distinct disadvantage (the AAA cells are much less cost effective).For a slightly larger set, with a larger/better sounding speaker, whip antenna and backlight, see my review of the Sangean DT220V
The first one that I received did not work, but Amazon replaced it in one day....THANKS Amazon!
Update May 7 2007:
This new improved version, DT200VX has a backlight !
Update April 16 2008:
As a result of the switch from analog to digital TV in the US, the analog channels will be turned off Feb 19, 2009... The TV Audio band of this radio, and others like it will no longer receive TV audio!
PURE Siesta Flow Bedside Internet and FM Radio
- Internet and FM radio
- Flow technology for listen again, podcasts, PURE Sounds and media streaming from a computer
- Touch-sensitive controls
- Four quick-set alarm buttons - Up to 365 different amazing, weird and wonderful internet alarms
- Sleep and snooze timers
Overall, not bad at all... but some points you are going to want to be aware of: this is not for the inexperienced wifi user. Definitely not one for the parents. The interface is just too challenging. And any unit with those "touch and wipe" controls is going to frustrate a novice.
Next is the sound. Fine for bedside. But this is not a unit for primary listening. Essentially it is as advertised: "a bedside internet radio". And for the price, you can't go wrong. Just take a deep breath and use patience. The manual is ok.. it's executing the sequences that will lead you off the Ambien.
Enjoy.
Buy PURE Siesta Flow Bedside Internet and FM Radio Now
No station presets, what were they thinking. Ok if you want to listen to the same station 100% of the timeRead Best Reviews of PURE Siesta Flow Bedside Internet and FM Radio Here
I paired the Siesta Flow with a computer speaker and subwoofer system to have a cheap Internet radio for my patio. I did not need the clock radio function, but this was the cheapest option I could find that also had built-in FM radio and auxiliary jack so I could also listen to songs on my phone. I was pleasantly surprised that this clock radio also has a USB charger.Downside: The touch buttons to navigate are kind of a pain to use. I will probably also order the Pure One radio with radial knobs that should make changing channels easier. A remote would have been nice.
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Strangely, this radio is advertised as a bedroom radio. Yet it sorely lacks many of the desirability of bedroom functions. To start with, it MUST have physical bottoms for memory presets to be accessed even in the dark. None! It needs some physical controls that one can "Feel" and use in the dark when his/her better half may be fast asleep. Not only does one need to turn the light on to find the controls, but, while intuitive, it simply is way time consuming to bother when one is ready to go to bed or trying to go to bed. The so called auto diming while not that bright, it does not dim to darkness like many of the competition do. What were the engineers thinking when they provided 5 physical buttons for Alarm settings and none for favourite presets? Lastly, while many people may like its size, I like to have a radio that won't slide all over whatever top it is placed on when one is pressing the control buttons. It is too small for my taste.Save 61% Off
Very effective as an alarm clock and internet radio. The Pure website has pure sounds, which are a great feature in addition to the thousands of stations.
UNLOCKED QUADBAND DUAL SIM FULL-QWERTY MP3 CAMERA VGA GSM CELLPHONE BLACK T5
Ok I was skeptical. A new cell phone for under $40. Well why not? What could happen? I could be very impressed and amazed is what. This phone has it all. Slip the Sim card in and your off. I don't do internet so I am not sure how it works, but text and phone work flawless. I am seriously thinking of trying to become a dealer. Easy to make and load ringtones. Camera works well. FM radio. I mean for a replacement phone or kids cheap phone, this is the deal. I am going to order some of the other models just because of the cost, but I love the T5. Will see how long it last but first impressions, this is my choice for unlocked dual Sim phone.
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Works good, has plase for sd card to balance lack of internal memorya a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a aNice phone for the price paid. Haven't tried all the functionalities as yet, gave it a 4 because I had problems accessing the call logs but I can access it most of the time now. Wish the manual was more helpful, the information is limited.
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Boston Acoustics Duo-I Plus iPhone/iPod Dock AM/FM Stereo Radio and Clock Functions (Gloss White)
- Works with iPhone & Made for iPod
- Integrated iPod dock with video output charges your iPod or iPhone
- Precision AM/FM stereo tuner
- Dual high performance 31/2-inch full-range speakers
- BassTrac audio processing for clean bass at all listening levels
Positives:
The radio produces surprisingly booming lows for its size, and exceptionally detailed high end. The clarity of the speakers is stunning. The radio can easily fill a room with sound. Besides an iPod dock on the top, the radio offers two auxiliary inputs for flexibility. I use the rear aux RCA inputs for my bedroom TV, and the front aux 1/8" input will come in handy if I ever want to run my other MP3 players through the radio. The auto-dimming display is a novel touch, too.
The BIIIIIG negative:
The radio has booming lows and very clear high end, but there's not nearly enough in between. Apparently Boston Acoustics tried too hard to give this radio a big sound, and, in the process, forgot that a radio this size still needs a natural midrange presence. The radio seems to lack terribly in the 600Hz-3kHz range. Music is reshaped to sound like it is being run through a smiley-faced graphic equalizer. And to top it off, there's no mid-range level control.
As a result of this deficiency, all music, whether from your iPod or FM radio, is affected. The average person on the street probably wouldn't notice, but a discerning listener (like me... an audio engineer by trade) would notice. If you listen to pop, rock, dance, R&B, modern country, etc. then it may not be such a big deal. But of you listen to jazz, big band, classical, ethnic, etc., then you will miss the warmth this radio cannot provide.
Weak midrange means that dialog in television/movie audio lacks clarity. In order to get acceptable sound when running my TV's audio through the Duo-i, I have to leave my TV's cheesy, little, internal speakers turned on. They compensate by providing some of the desired mid frequencies that the Duo-i lacks.
But the biggest victim, believe it or not, is AM radio. It's rendered absolutely useless. The Duo-i simply doesn't possess any of the midrange frequencies in the AM radio bandwidth. As a result, talk show hosts' voices are nothing but boomy and muffled, even with the treble all the way up and the bass all the way down.
The low end is too loud relative to the rest of the radio's sound, so I experimented by loosely plugging the rear bass ports with my fingers. The bass response suddenly tightened up and became more natural-sounding. So my radio's bass ports are now permanently corked. (I even wrote to Boston Acoustics and suggested they begin shipping their radios with a couple different sets of "port corks" for discerning listeners.)
Summary:
If you always listen to your stereo with a smiley-faced graphic EQ, and you're one of those people who can never get enough bass, you'll probably love this radio. But, if you're a discerning listener who prefers a more natural frequency response and/or listens to AM radio, the Duo-i is NOT the radio for you.I recently purchased this product for use with my iPhone 3GS. The sound quality is superb, rivaling that of Bose systems. The alarm clock feature works brilliantly and the remote is the icing on the cake. I really enjoy the touch-sensor 360 Snooze Bar, an intuitive design that keeps you from smacking the dock when you want to snooze. There is even a plug-in slot on the back for a sub woofer upgrade, just in case the bass isn't enough for you. Oh, and did I mention? The display automatically dims according to the lighting in your room, and you can adjust the overall brightness to suit your liking in the dark. Genius! If you want a nice dock for your iPod/iPhone with second-to-none sound quality, the functionality of an alarm clock, and state-of-the-art features, then I strongly recommend this product!My first impression of the Duo-I Plus surprised me -it's impressively well-built, with a beautiful gloss finish, solid weight, stable rubber feet, and smooth rubberized knobs that don't wiggle (unlike a lot of competitor's clock radios). There is a nice long power cord with no "wall wart" power supply to deal with. It comes with a thin remote control, an FM antenna, a decent manual, and an assortment of iPod/iPhone dock adapters. The overall design is very well laid-out, with a recessed area on top to store the remote (in front of the ipod dock), plus a magnet on the back of the remote which allows you to stick it to the speaker grill. You can even special-order new grills in designer colors to match your decor. Even without the designer grills, it blends in very nicely in a bedroom or kitchen.
The first thing I did after unpacking the Duo-I Plus was to test it out in my living room with the iPod docked. The sound is truly remarkable for such a small stereo. Nice full bass and crisp highs. As some other reviewers have noted, there is not a whole lot of mid-range but the overall sound is still very balanced and natural. When I plugged in the FM antenna wire and tried the radio, I was surprised by the clarity of reception I got. Another nice touch for radio listeners is that the antenna jack can accept a coaxial TV cable for even better reception. There is also a wire clip for an AM antenna, though I don't listen to AM radio. On the front panel, there is an 1/8-inch auxiliary input and an 1/8-inch headphone jack; on the back, there is a stereo RCA second auxiliary input, a stereo RCA subwoofer output, and a single RCA video output. Pretty flexible for a clock radio!
Aside from five small radio station preset buttons and two small buttons for setting the alarms, all the stereo's functions are controlled using three digital rotary knobs; these knobs can also be pressed like a button to make selections. The largest knob in the middle turns the power on or off with a single press and controls the volume. The small mode knob on the left selects the input, as well as other functions: iPod, FM radio 1 (presets 1-5), FM radio 2 (presets 6-10), AM radio, Auxiliary 1 (front input), Auxiliary 2 (rear input), brightness, info, sleep, bass, treble, alarm 1 set, clock set, alarm 2 set; depressing the same mode knob will also cycle through all the available inputs. The small tuning knob on the right tunes the radio, changes mode values (brightness/info/sleep/bass/treble/alarm time/clock time), and skips ipod tracks backward or forward. The ability to skip iPod tracks with the tuning knob is wonderful, since it is often inconvenient to wake an iPod Touch or iPhone when it is docked. The remote control can skip tracks as well.
The small alarm buttons provide a quick way to change alarm settings without having to use the mode knob to select from a lengthy menu; there is a separate button for both alarm 1 and 2 -a single press sets the respective alarm to alarm mode, music mode, or off; hold the button down and you can change the respective alarm times backward or forward using the rotary controller directly below it. Changing alarm times has never been easier! Unfortunately, you can only wake to whatever music and volume level was last playing. This is a serious oversight on the part of Boston Acoustics' design team. Like many people, I go to bed with relaxing music but like to wake up to something more energetic. This is not possible with the Duo-I Plus. The alarm sound fades in after a few seconds, which is nice. I also love the snooze bar -just touch anywhere on the metal outer rim of the radio to sleep another ten minutes; hit the snooze bar repeatedly and it adds increments of five minutes to your snooze. I have not experienced any of the bugs with the snooze bar that other reviewers have reported.
The backlit display is probably the weakest part of the design of the Duo-I Plus. I wish Boston Acoustics had chosen a color besides cool-blue. Many reviewers found the display too bright even at the lowest dimmed setting. There is however a fix for this that is not mentioned in the owner's manual. If you unplug the unit and plug it back in while holding down the alarm 2 button, you can adjust the dimming sensitivity using the tuning knob. This allows you to turn the display completely off if you wish. The down side to this is that it makes it difficult to make selections using the mode knob because you can't see what you're controlling. The auto-dimming sensor, while wonderful for sleeping, only makes this problem worse. I still have not found a happy-medium that is dim enough for sleeping yet bright enough to control easily.
The other controls are fairly self-explanatory: info mode chooses what to display when the unit is idle; sleep mode activates a sleep timer in five minute increments up to 90 minutes; bass and treble EQ's the sound, plus or minus 7 steps. It's unfortunate that there is no midrange control since the midrange could really use a boost, but overall the controls are very usable. I have to say that, while I love the concept of the simple three-dial face, in practice it is a bit cumbersome to use. There are simply too many menu items, which makes navigating through them tedious. Setting the alarms, on the other hand, couldn't be any easier.
I have to say that despite a couple nit-picks, the design team at Boston Acoustics got everything right. I absolutely love my Duo-I Plus. Unfortunately, I ended up sending it back. Why? The unit I bought was used, probably an older model, and it would play but not charge my 4th generation iPod Touch. I doubt those who buy new units will experience that problem. In any event, if you're looking for the perfect clock radio, you will not be disappointed with the Duo-I Plus.
UPDATE: After sending my unit away for repairs, it now charges my 4th Gen. iPod Touch without any problems. Unfortunately, now the snooze bar doesn't work right. Sometimes, the snooze bar doesn't respond at all when I touch it; other times, it "snoozes" itself, incrementing all the way up to an hour for no reason at all. As a result, I don't trust the alarm to get me out of bed on time. Other comments after owning this for six months... The knob controls are the most annoying part of the interface. Trying to set the sleep timer function takes several precise knob turns, and if you miss the "sleep" setting (which is easy to do in dim lighting) you end up changing the input (FM/AM/aux) inadvertently. Very annoying when you do this every single night! Also, some users have complained of a low humming when the unit is on with no music playing, and I have noticed this as well. Overall, I really wanted to like this clock radio because of the sound quality, but for day-to-day use, it really falls short.I purchased this item for my wife. I was limited in that it needed to be white, charge and play the iPhone (not just the iPod), have FM radio, remote, and small enough to fit in a book shelf. There aren't too many similar items with all of these attributes with an acceptable to great sound.
We are using it in a 20' x 13' family room. The sound is excellent. It can liven the room without appreciable distortion. The remote covers all corners of the room. Whether we want to play the iPhone music or FM radio, this little guy's got it covered.
This iPod dock / tabletop radio offers remarkably good, crisp, mellow sound for such a small device. In my view, this is the #1 consideration when buying a tabletop radio I will listen to frequently. The BA Duo has good, though not outstanding radio reception and an up-to-date iPod dock. By that I mean that my brand new Verizon iPhone works without any difficulty, as do my older generation iPod Touch and iPod Nano devices. All get charged without problem, and none of the Apple devices complains that the BA Duo radio is not compatible with all the features of the Apple device. In contrast, less than two weeks ago I purchased a Sangean WR-5 iPod dock / tabletop radio. Although my older Apple devices work with the Sangean tabletop radio without problem, my new Verizon iPhone, when inserted in the Sangean iPod dock, gives the following message: "This device is not optimized for the iPhone. You may experience a decrease in cell signal strength." In other words, I may get weaker cellphone reception when my iPhone is inserted in the dock. The iPhone gets charged when inserted in the Sangean iPod dock, and the iPhone / Sangean combination delivers fine musical sound, but I do not know whether or not I'm missing some cell calls. There are no such problems with the Boston Acoustic Duo.
Let me make some comparisons of the BA Duo and the Sangean WR-5 iPod dock / table top radios. The Boston Acoustics Duo undoubtedly delivers better sound and offers a more up-to-date interface with iPod / iPhone devices. The BA duo and Sangean WR-5 offer approximately as good radio reception. The Sangean WR-5 has a smaller footprint and, because its iPod dock is more spacious, I do not need to remove the rubberized protective bumper from my iPhone before inserting onto the dock. (In contrast, the rubberized bumper must be removed from the iPhone before it is inserted onto the dock for the BA Duo.) Both devices accept input from a standard audio jack linking the radio with, say, a portable CD player. The instructional booklet for the Sangean WR-5 was worse written (I assume because its authors were Chinese rather than Americans), but the Sangean's set-up was faster and a bit more intuitive. I find that without wearing glasses it is easier for me to read, say, the time and radio frequency on the face of the BA Duo. That information is less clearly displayed on the face of the Sangean WR-5, and this may be an important consideration if you are using the device as an alarm clock.
The biggest difference between the two iPod dock / tabletop radios is the price. As of this date (late March 2011), the Boston Acoustics Duo costs about $250 on Amazon while the Sangean WR-5 costs $100. Determining whether the better sound and more up-to-date Apple docking of the BA Duo are worth the $150 price difference is obviously a personal matter. I like both devices and give both of them equal ratings (4 stars), but that is because the price differential compensates for the somewhat worse sound and more out-of-date Apple docking interface on the Sangean WR-5. For a number of years now I have noticed that I actually listen to music much more frequently through my tabletop radios than through my far more expensive sound system. The better sounding tabletop radio -the BA Duo -is in my kitchen where I listen most often to music. The Sangean WR-5 is in our bedroom where it doubles as a tabletop clock and Apple iPod / iPhone charging device. I suppose other people discovered this fact long before I did: The availability of these iPod dock / tabletop radios means that you never have to worry whether your cell phone or MP3 player has a charge. If you listen to music through these docking stations for about an hour or so a day, your Apple device is substantially charged virtually all the time -it gets a charge at the same time you are using the device for one of its main functions, namely, to play music. In addition, of course, both the iPhone and iPod Touch devices can be used to listen internet radio, Pandora, podcasts, etc., partly depending on whether you have a WiFi system in your home. This means you worry less about the quality of your local radio stations: The internet offers a huge number of attractive alternatives.
In sum: the Boston Acoustics Duo radio is a wonderful tabletop radio / docking device. The only reason I withhold a fifth star is that I anticipate the arrival someday of a similar device that is (a) a bit cheaper and (b) a bit easier to set up and use. Until that day comes, this is an excellent investment. If you're strapped for cash, the Sangean WR-5 is also a first-rate product.
COBY MP828-8GBLK 8 GB 2.8" TOUCHSCREEN MP3/MP4 PLAYER WITH SPEAKER & CAMERA - MP828-8GBLK
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We bought this MP3 player for our 9 year old son and it woris fine for him. I didnt want an expensive one that would matter if he lost it, but I also didnt want one that was so cheap that it would break or not work. This one was reasonable priced and works great for him, it is easy to use and understand. He loves to play with the camera and video player. I would recommend it for someone who isnt looking for the world within an MP3 player.This Mp3/Mp4 player feels and looks very cheap. The quality is terrible and the touchscreen is ridiculously unresponsive at times! You have to press very hard sometimes, and even then it won't do what you want it to do. I highly recommend getting an iPod instead, it will cost much more but it is definitely worth it. This is a piece of JUNK!!!! The camera takes the worst pictures ever, and the video quality is not much better. When Coby describes it on there website they make it sound so Awesome, but really this player isn't worth 5 dollars! The built-in speaker is worthless it is so quiet that you can barely here it. I had to buy a separate pare of speakers. Do not buy this, it looks like it is good but it's a lie! Don't make the same mistake I made!
Philips AJ3540 Clock Radio
- Alarm clock with extra large display
- Features AM/FM radio
- Dual alarms for multiple users
- Wake up to radio or the buzzer
- Fall asleep to your music using the sleep timer
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Was looking for a soft purple alarm clock to match my bedroom and had difficulty finding one until this one. Loved the price and the feature of dual alarm clocks since my husband and I awake at different times. Clock is very loud or has a radio option to wake you. Only dislike is the numbers are very bright especially when you're trying to sleep but if you turn the clock away from you it's hardly noticeable anymore. I would recommend this clock to anyone. Also for an alarm clock it has a very nice look to it and the dual setting prevents two alarm clocks in one room.Read Best Reviews of Philips AJ3540 Clock Radio Here
I think it is a good value for the price. The numbers are very large but I like that I can see them without my glasses :) Easy to set too.Want Philips AJ3540 Clock Radio Discount?
Just a basic clock radio (albeit with dual alarms) which works well for what it was designed to do.(Not sure why some folks are having problems with the controls they're pretty generic and easy to set).
The dual alarm is a plus for me since as a substitute teacher I have to get up at two different times during the week (depending on where I'm teaching) and this clock does that at the flip of a switch.
The radio is not hifi (mono, pretty basic) but it gets me up and the tuner is much more sensitive that the clock radio I just retired (so I can now rise to classical music instead of the local C&W noise).
The only area that could use improvement is the time display. Big enough to see easily, but the display segments are unevenly lit. Not a problem at night but it can be a problem to read the time during daylight, especially if the clock is viewed at an angle.
The price is right.
When I was looking for a new clock for our guest bedroom, I found this one. It has all the functionality with a more modern look. I love the large numbers on the lock, it has dual alarm functions, and the buzzer will wake you up just as quickly. The radio comes in clearly, although I admit we don't use it often.
The default setting for the clock is very bright (and will light up a dark room). However, the brightness is adjustable so that you can tone it down. The numbers are just as clear regardless of which brightness setting it is. If you're like me, and all you need is a good clock and basic alarm function, this is a great choice. It's attractive and functional.
Audiovox SIR-CMB3 Sirius Satellite Radio Receiver and Docking Station
- Large, front-panel LCD screen shows channel, song, and artist's information
- Small, low-profile receiver works great at home or on the road
- Built-in wireless FM transmitter turns any FM receiver into a Sirius radio
- Delivers more than 120 high-quality, Sirius satellite radio stations
- Includes cigarette lighter power adapter, roof antenna, and mounting bracket
I also really like the quality of the Sirius service. I've listened to XM before and the quality just isn't as good. Being able to listen to my school's college football games is a great bonus.
Highly recommended!
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I purchased this item primarily because I knew it matched up well with a particular Motorcycle mount I was buying. After receiving the purchase, I activated the unit and could not get a consistant signal. The antenna was always disabled and searching for a signal. Before returning it, I purchased a sirius system and it worked perfectly. I, then was sure I had a defective unit. I must say, Amazon was great in allowing me to return the unit, even though it was past the 14 day return period of the company that shipped it to me. I was greatly pleased in Amazon's coorporation with me and I will continue to purchase from them. In all the times I've bought from Amazon, this is the first time I had a problem at all. Thank you Amazon for your assistance. I will continue to be a loyal customer.Read Best Reviews of Audiovox SIR-CMB3 Sirius Satellite Radio Receiver and Docking Station Here
I have had sirius for two years, and have two friends that I give 3 subscriptions to as gifts (each additonal subscriptin is about 8 dollar a month) they all love them. I have a life time subscription. My original audiovox got ripped off, so I needed to get it replaced and they don't hold it as one of the three changes in radios I am allowed. For the money, the third version of the Autiovox is best it gives good fm transmistion that has had to be toned down per the FCC in other models. Unless you want to record the shows with protable models that are more expensive, this is the way to go. Sirius content is better than xm esp. if you love nfl football, nba basketball, etc.Want Audiovox SIR-CMB3 Sirius Satellite Radio Receiver and Docking Station Discount?
I've been using the radio for about a week now. In that week, I've driven through southern Ontario, western NY, PA, WV, MA, and VA.Radio itself: Seems well built, solid. Has a nice FM transmitter. I haven't experienced any of the problems other people seem to have with the newer radios (i.e. week transmitter). LCD is clear and bright, even during the day. My only complaint is the number of 'motions' required to change the frequency (Menu button, scroll down 4 or 5 options, select FM Frequency, scroll down to 2nd option, select it, etc...). As I was traveling through several States, I ended up changing about three to four times. If you end up staying in one area, then this won't be as important to you.
Mount: It works. I 'stuck' it to my dash and will not end up screwing it in I don't need to from the looks of things. It's a bit tough getting the radio out of the cradle. Also, the first time I changed the position of the cradle, it felt like I was going to break it. Other reviews, however, had prepared me for this and I wasn't worried too much.
Sirius service: I bought this in the States (I currently live in Canada) because I wanted the US service (why does everything in CAN appear to be a watered down version of the comparable product/service available in the US?). However, I needed a US credit card...hrm...so I signed up for the CAN service instead. It looks like I lose a few channels and the service costs more ($20 for start up, $15 for service PLUS GST!!!). On the good side, however, the CAN service worked flawlessly in the States as I expected and I experienced no hickups when crossing the border. Also, I was told by Sirius CAN that because I have a US radio, that I will be able to get the US stations when I move back down (and acquire US service plan). Otherwise, if I had bought a CAN system, I would have had to re-purchase a US system in order to get the US specific stations.
Ok I made a believer out of my wife. She was a bit skeptical about me spending 15 a month on this, but with 28 + hours of driving behind us, she's now impressed with the station quality and selection. So am I
UPDATE: APRIL 13, 2007. Here's something I just found out. I purchased a US radio with the intent of using the US Service in Canada (see watering down comment above). That didn't fly because I don't have a US credit card. Fair enough, so I sign up for the CAN service. Just found out that I won't be able to pick up some CAN stations because my radio is a US model. Also, I won't be able to pick up many (by my count 10) US stations because I have the CAN service. It's the worst of both worlds in my mind, for now. I still get about 95% of Sirius stations, so I'm not too upset. Plus, when I move back down to the States I won't have to re-purchase a new unit.
So, just be aware of where your radio is coming from and which service you intend to use.
My confusion comes when trying to get the boombox accessory. Dose the sir-bb3 boombox work with this plug and play? The reason I am confused is because when I went to purchase the boombox I was told it only works with the sir-pnp3 plug and play!?!?!?! They don't explain that very well.
Yamaha PDX-30BL Speaker Dock for iPod and iPhone, 1 Each (Black)
- You can plug your iPod or your iPhone right onto the unit
- Is light weight and easy to carry around
- Uses Yamaha's original digital amplifier with extremely low noise and distortion
- Card type remote unit for additional convenience
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This speaker dock does only one thing: It plays your iPod or iPhone. There's no clock, no radio, no CD slot, not even an audio-in jack. It's not cheap, either.But what it does do, it does *really* well. I tried out numerous iPod/iPhone speaker docks in the one to two hundred dollar price range, and I strongly preferred the sound of the Yamaha PDX-30 to any of the alternatives. The sound is not tinny, buzzy, or boomy, but clean and balanced. The unit sounds good at both low and high volumes. I've used it on low volume in a small bedroom and on higher volume in a large classroom, and it sounds great in both settings.
It can even function as an alarm clock using the iPod's alarm clock feature. A bonus is that even though this is not a "portable" unit -there's no handle or carrying case -it's small enough to fit in a backpack or messenger bag.
Highly recommended if sound quality, iPhone compatibility, and an under-two-hundred-dollar price tag are your top criteria.
Edited December 2011: Over two years after purchasing this dock, it still sounds great. But it recently stopped charging my iPod. Given that it worked flawlessly for two and a half years, I guess I can't complain, but it's kind of a mystery!
Read Best Reviews of Yamaha PDX-30BL Speaker Dock for iPod and iPhone, 1 Each (Black) Here
I spent about 2 weeks in search of the right iPod speaker. I'm not an "audiophile" by any means but I wanted a rich sounding speaker dock with good bass for my bedroom and also to bring into the living room for background music when I had guests. I don't think it's too bassy, btw, as some reviewers have said but maybe it's because I have a preference for a little more bass. The quick general fix is to set your iPod EQ to fit your mood accordingly.I also looked at the Kanto SYD 4 and 5 (80 watts!), Klipsch iGroove SXT (kind of wimpy looking although seemed to have decent sound at the Apple Store), Philips dc570 tower (maybe too bulky looking but 100 watts) & the clock radios DCM250, Polk iSonic (seemed nice and booming, but expensive & people think the LED screen is too bright at night), and JBL On Stage 400P (seemed to provide really solid and powerful sound but I find it kind of ugly), among others.
This provided the best combination of sound, power (30 Ws) and sleekness. I am a minimalist and you can't beat this Yamaha speaker dock for how clean, sleek and compact it looks. For power in a self-contained iPod speaker, I'm convinced that the Kanto SYD 5 is the way to go and I was thinking of buying it. But I'm not 20 anymore (I'm 39) and I don't need to blow people (or myself) out of the water any longer. Plus the SYD 5 is pretty stinking huge and this Yamaha, is compact and sits on my bedroom nightstand beautifully.
There are a couple of foibles. It doesn't have an aux line in. Why in the world they wouldn't just put that in is a headscratcher. But it wasn't a dealbreaker for me. It doesn't have radio, which is fine since I can just stream stations and use Pandora from my iPod Touch. But the most significant foible is that the remote only controls your own music library. If you are playing Pandora, the remote does not operate the controls for the next song or to switch categories. I forget but some iPod dock speakers allow you to use the iPod Touch/iPhone as its remote control so you can have full control of the streaming music, not just your music library.
But all these foibles do not overcome how much I like this unit. And at $169 with saver shipping from Amazon.com to Hawaii (shipping is routinely an issue for us), this was a great deal. I may one day buy a SYD 5 for dual use with iPod and maybe my TV, but for now, I'm really glad I bought this and it was exactly what I thought I was getting.
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My Bose Soundock system died for reasons not clear to me. The Bose system is okay but is grossly overpriced at $300. I spent an inordinate amount of time looking at and listening to potential replacememts. I came on one of these at a BestBuy and a b'd to everything there. In my view there is a lot of bass produced but I think it still has a better overall response level than most and I'm pretty particular. The Soundock may seem smoother as it is all midrange but this system beats it hands down for overall sound reproduction. Keep in mind that Yamaha has long been a high end audio brand a much higher end brand than Bose or KLipsch or any of the others out there so the sonic performace of this unit should not be surprising. No problem with power either the unit can fill my large garage with ease.I've liked this unit so much I have also purchased the clock radio/CD player unit for my master bedroom which is also excellent if you need the additional features.
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I read all the reviews of the black model, and there seems to be a consensus that the sound quality of this Yamaha is overly bass-heavy, so when it arrived last week I was expecting to be slightly disappointed in the sound. Far from it! Although I agree with another poster who suggested setting your iPod's EQ to the "jazz" setting for a brighter tone balance, the reality is this unit sounds exceptional right out of the box.The ease of use is typically brilliant, and the remote is as intuitive as the iPod itself. And in case you care (as I do), this until hits harder than you'd expect for such compact dimensions. I live in a 1300 sq. ft. apartment, and it's the only sound system I need even for parties. It easily has the muscle to overpower a condo packed with revelers, and the distortion even at high volume levels is commendably low. Factor in the Japanese minimalism of the design and the funky blue color scheme and the PDX-30BU scratches me where I itch. I love the thing.
Admittedly, if your tastes run toward gadgety features on a speaker system, this definitely isn't the unit for you. It doesn't do anything except play your music. But if you're looking for sound quality and muscle that puts something like the (woefully overrated) Bose SoundDock on the trailer, then this is the best bang for the buck anywhere.
Get it. You'll love it.
Nokia X6 Unlocked GSM Phone with 5 MP Camera, Capacitive Touch, GPS with Voice Navigation, Car Holde
I upgraded from a Nokia N95 and couldn't be happier. Feature-wise, the two phones are almost the same, but the performance of the X6 is vastly improved. Sure it's not hard to beat an old phone, but this one leaves me wanting for nothing.Like all top-end Nokia phones, it has great built-in features: GPS, camera/video, music player, FM radio, wifi, 3g.
Apps load very fast, and the native browser loads really quick too. Wifi reception is great, and the GPS locks on within seconds.
The glass touchscreen is very accurate and easy to use; the display is beautiful. The haptic feedback is a little inconsistent or delayed, but it doesn't distract.
Menu layout is improved too, and once you figure it out, everything is within a tap or two. The Contacts layout on the home screen is hugely useful.
My one complaint is headphone volume is too loud or soft; the controls are not fine enough. That was true on the N95 too.
At first, the X6 seemed like a winner. 5MP camera with Carl Zeiss name (which indicates good quality), capacitive touch screen, tried-and-true Symbian UI, a decent video recorder (30fps), and a tremendous amount of storage space (16gb) built in. And really, the spec sheet is very good, but in reality the phone comes up short.
First, the camera was absolutely terrible. This was one of the primary reasons that I returned the phone. The phone that I used before ordering the X6 was the Sony Ericsson W995a which had an 8.1MP camera. It was very good. The phone before that one was a Nokia N82 which had a spectacular camera (5MP) that was even better than the W995a (it's not all about mega pixels I guess). My thought was that since this had the same MP rating as the N82, and that they were both "Carl Zeiss" lenses, and both were Nokias, that they would perform at least similar to one another. I was very wrong. I know that the N82 has a xenon flash, but I'm not even talking about night shots. The X6's pictures were grainy during the day, un-focused, and had lots of noise. This was the first thing that made me reconsider.
Second, and perhaps the worst thing about the X6, is that the phone is really, really slow. Transitioning between landscape and portrait takes a second or two. Opening a program can take as little as 2 seconds to as much as 5 (like when you're opening your music folder). This doesn't seem like a long time, but believe me it is. Perhaps this is because I had 10GB of music on the phone, but isn't this a music phone? That comes with 16GB storage?? But it wasn't just the music folder that took time to open. Any program that you clicked on simply took too long to just open and work. I don't remember the N82 being this slow...
Third, the build quality was quite poor. The plastic battery cover is pried off. It doesn't have a latch. You literally pull it up with a finger nail and keep pulling until it comes off. The quality of the plastic used (and the whole phone is plastic) is really bad. There is room between the screen and the edges of the phone. It was accumulating dust after just a day after being in my pocket. The buttons at the bottom are in reality just one big button, and you press on either side if you want to end a call, take a call, or in the middle if you want to go back to the main menu--the button drooped on the left side.
That being said, the phone wasn't all bad. First, the music player was excellent. The sound, with the 3.5mm jack, was truly very good. Even the headphones that came with it were excellent. The software to put your music (and pictures and videos) on the phone is excellent and very user friendly. The capacitive screen was responsive, and the call quality was excellent. It has a proximity sensor that locks the phone when its near your cheek so you don't inadvertently end a call. Also, the screen was bright and really nice, it came with a few fun games, and it wasn't too heavy or too light. Just perfect in terms of weight and form factor.
So, to sum it up
THE GOOD
1. Excellent call quality
2. Excellent music quality
3. Bright and beautiful screen; capacitive tech is very responsive.
4. Software bundled with the phone is user friendly.
THE BAD
1. The camera is awful.
2. The build quality is worse.
3. The UI is very slow. The phone drags when you do just about anything.
Sadly, a very slow phone with a very bad camera is not what I was looking for. I wanted a great camera, a fast phone, and an excellent mp3 player. I only got the excellent mp3 player!! I returned this phone and ended up going with a Sony Ericsson Aino. The difference is really unbelievable (but it costs much more too). Hope this helps!!!I'm gonna start my review telling you I bought this phone 2 months ago, so I have experienced most of the features the phone has on it, and also have unfortunately had the consequences of a couple of 1mt downfalls and other common issues of a 2 month phone. I'm going directly with the Pros and the Cons:
PROS:
The capacitive touchscreen is simply fantastic. The response to any little contact is stunning, but at the same time, by being capacitive it prevents the virtual buttons to be accidentally activated. (Try using your nails, a pen or something different than a finger and you won't get any result)
The camera is pretty good, 5MP, Carl Zeiss lens and double led flash allows you to take very good pictures even at night!
The accelerometer, though it's too sensitive for me some times, works great and allows you for example to switch quickly between alphanumeric keyboard with predictive text to qwerty keyboard when sending sms or writing something on the internet (One of my favorite features by the way)
Very good and free GPS from Nokia (Ok it's not Garmin but works very well)
Internet browsing is nice, can open the webpages in full mode and not mobile modes. You can also set it to ask you what connection you wanna use (Wifi or your service provider), which is good for me cause I'm always looking for free conecctions to save some money!
Great sound, even listening to the radio.
Almost all features work in portrait and landscape mode (one exception is the phone call screen)
Tons of apps can be downloaded, you can find almost everything you want.
So much other Pros...good bluetooth, adequate size and shape, 16GB of internal memory, etc., etc., etc.
CONS
The material of the case is plastic, looks a very nice opaque black, but it feels too fragile in the hands (and it effectivly is, a 30cm downfall and it left a huge scratch in one of the corners)
The Symbian operating system works good, but sometimes is a little slow and it shows some limitations when using few programs at the same time (but I have to point that is sooooo much better than any blackberry device or even the Iphone, it just doesn't make it as good as the Nokia N900)
The lock screen button is located in one side of the phone, is some kind of switch that you have to move down to lock or unlock. It makes you use a different finger than your thumb to move it, which can be bothering when you're typing (though after 2 months you get used to it). I'd prefer a slide unlock as in the iPhone (you can download an app to do that).
The contact bar (where you can put the pictures of your favorite contacts in the homescreen) doesn't respond to the touching as good as the rest of the screen. It lasts a lot to load and makes the start up longer, which can be very bothering. Fortunately you can deactivate it.
For some actions you only have to press the buttons once, but other options need you to press the buttons twice. There's no logical sequence to learn when to press once or twice, you simply have to remember it (you also get used to it after two months)
That's what I remember now...but in general, it's a great phone, high usability, it's a stunning experience, I highly recommend it
Hope this helps
iHome iP38 Portable Stereo Alarm Clock for iPod and iPhone (Black)
- Compatibility: iPod mini; iPod nano 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G; iPod classic 4G, 5G, 5.5G, 6G; iPod touch 1G, 2G; and iPhone 1G, 3G, 3GS, 4
- Play and charge your iPod
- Alarm clock lets you wake and sleep to your iPod
- Housed in protective travel case
- Auxiliary input for use with external devices
The set up was incredibly simple and there were various docking inserts included for whatever device you will use for music. The clock is somewhat small (approximately 1x4 inches) but nice and bright and easy to read.
The clock has an available beeping alarm or it can be set to wake with music.
There is the drawback to needing to add AA batteries in order for it to be truly portable (my husband and I both wondered why it was not rechargable in some manner) and I have not checked to see how long the batteries will power the device on their own. There is a button battery backup for the alarm (included) but if you were camping, or using this for any other means where you don't have a power source, this could be an issue. I personally would plan to use the AV adapter, but that does require that you carry it along wherever you go or just enjoy it only at home.
The size is not that of a mini "travel" clock (it's about 14x6x3 inches), and because you need to bring the chunky power cord along for long term use I don't know that it is ideal for frequent travelers unless they really want to enjoy their music from their iPod or iPhone while away and have lots of room in their suitcase. With batteries installed it won't be lightweight, either. It does fold flat and zip shut, but will not hold anything inside and has no "pocket" or storage area on the outside. If it had a way to stash the iPod and adapter, it would be clunkier but more efficient, in my opinion.
That said, I am going to thoroughly enjoy it plugged in wherever I'd like to listen to my iPod. It may even replace my aging alarm clock in my bedroom. When my husband and kids saw this arrive they were mildly interested in it, but once I plugged it in they began to fight over it. So, there may actually be a battle over who gets to use it the most often unless we get one for each of us.
Bottom line: It's good-looking, easy to use, sounds great and isn't a bad price for the obvious quality.
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Out of the box this looks like a great unit. It's feels heavy and packs nicely. The clock is clear and big enough to be easy to read. Everything is well packaged and the only thing you might want is batteries.My first annoyance is that you get a collection of plastic adaptors so you can choose which iPod base you want to support and you clip that in and you are good to go. For that iPod. If like in my house you have a few iPods and none of them are the same model you'd need to switch out the base support or the connector doesn't engage and the unit doesn't function. These aren't easy to swap out, and even less easy to keep track of once you've taken it out of the unit. Just something to know.
The sound quality isn't amazing but for a travel stereo it beats the internal speaker and having a clock right here is really nice. The sync function is also pretty cool. I do think the case design could be more stable for desktop/nighstand use as it's easy to knock backwards or have the lid snap shut when you undock (or try to dock). Overall I've seen nicer units if you are planning to leave something in place for a long period of time but for travel or hot-desk type applications this is a nice unit.
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Holds it's own when compared to the high-rated Logitech S715i Rechargeable Speakers.My husband loves the Logitech speaker but finds it too large for the extensive travel he does. The iHome iP38, however, is perfect for travel, has great sound, and gives him the lighted clock to boot.
Took about a minute to put in the five batteries, set the clock, stick in the ipod, and push play. Really appreciate that it has a power adapter so that the batteries are only necessary for remote circumstances.
Maybe the next generation will be a little more compact but this works for him.
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My main criteria when selecting a docking station is sound quality. Second is design quality, and third, form factor. This dock is good to excellent in all three, and while not perfect, is a solid choice in a travel dock.SOUND QUALITY: 3/5 Stars
This dock has decent sound quality, but with insubstantial bass response. Music is crisp, if a bit on the warm side, and only gets tinny when at higher volumes. I don't expect the listening experience to rival much more expensive models--in my estimation you are getting about what you pay for here. It's listenable, and it a travel dock with other excellent features, that's all I really expected. I should mention that I tested it with my iPod classic, using a variety of media files from lossy Mp3s to Apple's Lossless format. Higher quality source material get's marginally better results, but ultimately the speakers are the bottleneck for the iP38.
AESTHETICS / FORM FACTOR: 5/5 Stars
Where this dock really excels is in it's design. Using a clam-shell hard case (like an over sized glasses case) to secure and protect the dock, the iP38 really is a travel dock. No worries about it kicking around in a suitcase on a long trip. It closes tightly and stays closed. It's also pretty nice to look at, with the sort of minimalism that is cohesive with a similarly minimalist iPod or iPhone. The dock is very nicely designed across the board.
INTERFACE / FEATURES: 4/5 Stars
Everything is laid out as it should be, and works intuitively as well. Setting the alarm is easy, as is accessing the 'sleep' function when you're still groggy. You can set the alarm to play anything you like, including all the music files on your device. I was disappointed that I could not get it to play Pandora (streaming from an iPhone) as a wake-up option however.
The LCD is bright, easy to read, and adjustable, allowing you to dim it if that suites you.
The dock can be powered by both AC or batteries, making the iP38 a great option for camping, trips to the beach, or anywhere else you want a music dock or alarm clock but don't have access to an outlet.
OVERALL: 4/5 Stars
Compact, well designed, and with reasonable sound quality, the iP38 travel dock and alarm clock is a reasonably priced option for iPod or iPhone owners. The sound quality will not blow you away, but for a travel dock it's acceptable. The quality of the case design and features make this a great choice if you do a lot of traveling and want a hassle free dock.
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I ordered this ihome product for my son's 3rd generation iPod. He is a resident in a long term care facility and really loves his music. The portable stereo works great. Because of both AC and DC use, it can be relocated to any area of his room.