Tivoli Audio SongBook AM / FM Alarm Clock Travel Radio, Green
by Tivoli Audio
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Tivoli Audio SongBook AM / FM Alarm Clock Travel Radio, Green
Customer Review: Travel radio? Not really.
Summary: 3 Stars
Cool design, good sound quality, but if your travel plans require a passport, definitely not the radio for you. Not mentioned anywhere on the product specifications is the fact that this radio (as seemingly do most, if not all, Tivoli products, including the expensive iSongBook "travel" radio) requires a standard US external power source, so if you were to try to plug it in, say, in your hotel in Europe, most likely you'll have one less thing to worry about when packing to return home. And of course the warranty will not cover any damages from such "improper" use. Which makes me wonder whether advertising it as a travel radio and trumpeting its AM/FM radio features made specifically "for North America AND Europe" isn't a bit misleading, if not downright fraudelent. Look elsewhere if you really need a radio to travel with.Customer Review: OK but could be better
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a fan of the Tivoli radios owning three. I wanted a travel radio with decent sound and reception - the hotel radios are too tinny. The Songbook works great and sounds great. However, it lacks a weather band forcing me to also take along a weather radio. I don't need the alarm feature, have never used it so no comment on that. I don't even mind the bulk of the radio though some might. One irritant though is that after several trips the radio doesn't play unless the volume control is constantly depressed, which means I have to lean something up against it. I am still looking for the perfect radio. Until I find it, the Songbook will have to do.Customer Review: Quality, quality, quality
Summary: 5 Stars
Tivoli Audio's SONGBOOK is just plain quality. It's ability to pull in the classical stations I listen is excellent. The sound coming out of this small radio is wonderful. And the quality of the physical product itself is outstanding. So quality, quality, quality makes the SONGBOOK the portable radio to have.Customer Review: Insomniacs need not apply...
Summary: 1 Stars
Well, the Songbook is a great radio. But I needed a clock radio with an alarm, and it just so happens that sometimes I can't sleep and so in the middle of the night I turn on the radio--BBC and better news and all that. Believe it or not, that cancels the alarm. Once you set the alarm, that's it for the Songbook for the night. Then there's the problem that if you just leave the radio on all night, it's the radio frequency that takes up most of the readout. The time is teenyweeny in the corner of the display. I pretty much know what station I'm listening to without looking, but I might want to know what time it is in the middle of the night. Like I said, buy it for the radio, not the clock. Customer Review: The Tivili Audio PAL is a much better radio
Summary: 2 Stars
As a long-time enthusiast for the Tivoli Audio PAL radios (and owner of four of them), I was eager to try the new SongBook. But when I tried the SongBook next to a PAL, I discovered that the SongBook is inferior in every way.
(1) The SongBook is WAY too big for a travel radio; you can't tell from an isolated picture, but the SongBook is as tall as the PAL, and actually larger (the volume of a PAL is only 85% of the volume of a SongBook). The SongBook is very easily tipped over, and hard to pick up in one hand without changing the station; the PAL is very stable, and has convenient depressions for carrying it with one hand. A PAL fits into most briefcases more easily than a SongBook. [The PAL is 82.5 cubic inches (1,360 cc); the SongBook is 94.0 cubic inches (1,540 cc).]
(2) The SongBook is also actually heavier than the PAL! I weighed my PAL against my SongBook, both with batteries installed, both without power cord. The PAL weighs 1 pound 14 ounces (850 grams). The SongBook weighs 2 pounds 1/2 ounce (910 grams). A very curious "travel radio".
(3) The legendary audio quality of the PAL has been eroded in the SongBook. The SongBook does not have the same clear sound of the PAL, and has an annoying hum (the PAL does not). I notice the hum in the SongBook particularly through headphones. (Comparisons were made with a PAL and a SongBook side by side, tuned to the same station.)
(4) A small but important design blunder is that the SongBook does NOT charge its batteries when it is turned on; by contrast, the PAL charges its batteries whenever it is plugged in, turned on or not. This means that you can run the PAL all day on batteries, and also listen to it all night while it recharges. The SongBook won't do that, you cannot listen while it charges; if you turn it on, recharging stops. You have to stop listening to the SongBook to recharge it. This is both irritating and counter-intuitive. The PAL "just works".
(5) The alarm and time functions of the SongBook are very basic; you will do better with a very small travel clock. And the display for time and alarm is far inferior to most small travel alarms. (Also, if you run out the battery completely listening to the radio, you will lose your time and alarm settings for the clock--a bad interaction of functions, since if you run out the battery while sleeping your alarm won't go off.)
(6) Other functions of the SongBook are not improved over the PAL: it has the same headphone jack, the same AUX input jack, the built-in battery charger using a cord and wall wart, the same telescoping antenna. The PAL is every bit as useful as a powered speaker for a computer, MP3 player, CD player, etc. (more useful because it's easier to move around and handle). The nice "weather-resistant" rubbery coating on the case of the SongBook (also useful inside, and easy to clean) is the same as used on the PAL, no advantage.
(7) The SongBook does allow you to save stations on five preset buttons. This, however, is partly offset by the fact that when you pick up the radio you will likely hit one of the buttons and change the station. The PAL uses a round dial to control tuning, but actual station-tuning is just as digitally-precise on the PAL (and a real pleasure).
(8) The PAL includes a special rechargeable battery, installed in the radio at purchase, replacements sold by Tivoli on the web. The SongBook uses six AA rechargeable batteries, not included, but widely available. This opens the possibility of using AA alkaline batteries in the SongBook in a pinch--but what sort of pinch makes rechargeable batteries stop working suddenly? They wear out slowly; so that's not very useful. And in order to use alkaline batteries in the SongBook, a tiny and nearly invisible switch hidden inside the battery compartment must be moved (which seems easy to overlook), so as not to damage the radio. For what it's worth, the batteries in my PALs seem to last much longer on a charge than the six AA rechargeables I got for the SongBook, even after half a dozen complete discharges and recharges (different AA rechargeables can vary, but mine are supposed to be good ones for this use).
(9) Curiously, the SongBook requires that another nearly invisible switch hidden inside the battery compartment be moved in order to change the spacing of AM stations for tuning in North America versus Europe. But I have carried PAL radios both ways (bought in North America and used in Europe, and bought in Europe and used in North America) and listened to AM stations without needing to make any such adjustment.
The Tivoli Audio PAL is such a wonderful product that it would be hard to improve on, and the SongBook definitely is no improvement. By all means, buy a PAL! You'll love it.
Buy a PAL, and along with it buy a travel clock which is smaller than 11 cubic inches and weighs less than 2 1/2 ounces. You'll have a setup superior in every way, for home, for business, and for travel.