iHome iH9 Alarm Clock Speaker System with Dock for iPod (Black)
by iHome
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List Price: Our Price: $65.00 You Save: $14.99 (19%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of iHome iH9 Alarm Clock Speaker System with Dock for iPod (Black)
Customer Review: The Perfect Alarm Clock
Summary: 5 Stars
Finally, the alarm clock I've been waiting for! The first thing I want to do is talk about the sound: it's just fine. Now I don't buy alarm clocks because I'm an audiophile. I DO want decent sound, however... and this unit does more than I'd hoped for. The FM sound is more than acceptable, and with the iPod the sound is just amazing. I haven't tried the AM, because I don't listen to that band. Even so, it comes with a pretty nice external AM antennal that looks like it would do a good job. All that said, if you're in the same place I was... seriously trying to find a perfect alarm clock, and totally frustrated by the experience, then read on. The rest of this review is for you.
I got sick and tired of my clock radio with its lousy analog tuner that can't hold a radio station. If you've ever had a clock radio fail to wake you because its tuner went off the radio station, then you know exactly what I mean. -And every clock radio I've ever owned did that more than once.
My last alarm clock/radio, an Emerson, had a display that was so bright on its dimmest setting, that I had to cover it with a cloth. Otherwise, it kept me awake. It had come with Smartset, which automatically adjusted for Daylight Savings Time... a real advantage, until they changed the dates of the time change. The clock had no way to accommodate that change, so it became a real pain four times each year (yes, FOUR, because that's how often I had to manually change the setting to cope with the time change). However, I liked its ability to have separate weekday/weekend alarm settings, because I never had to worry about making sure I remembered to set the alarm on Sunday nights.
I went on the nearly impossible quest of looking for a perfect alarm clock. It had to have a display that could be seen easily, yet not shine a bright light in my face from its place on the nightstand (this seems to be the most common complaint I've seen in clock radio reviews). After that, I just wanted an alarm that would NEVER fail to wake me ON WEEKDAYS with some music, instead of an obnoxious beeping/screeching noise. That alarm had to be 100% reliable, and not prone to the failure of either the tuner, the operator, or even our sometimes unreliable power grid.
This must be a lot to ask of an alarm clock, so if this is what you're looking for, good luck! I spent countless hours researching stores and the Internet, and was frustrated over and over again by running across several units that failed to deliver in at least one crucial area or another. I'm SO glad that one reviewer on Amazon.com pointed me toward the iHome in their review of another brand they found disappointing.
I bought the iHome iH9 and found something that surpassed my requirements and expectations. First off, it's so user-friendly, you'd think it was invented by Apple. Along with the features I wanted (especially the digital tuner), I found some other real plusses: great sound, very good FM reception, and dual alarms that fade IN gently. You can find that in lots of units, but only with respect to the beep/buzz alarm. The iHome is one of the few that gently increases the sound of the radio or iPod music. You can also customize each of the dual alarms with regard to operating 7, 5 or 2 days a week (every day, weekdays, or weekends). -Perfect. It's equally easy to customize each of the two alarms' preferences for using the radio, the iPod, or even the beep sound (which isn't all that bad, either). Oh, and the digits of the display are large enough to be seen easily, yet you have 8 brightness settings (all the way down to "OFF") that will easily let you find the perfect one for you.
I wasn't necessarily looking for iPod integration in my alarm clock, but it turned out to be a real plus. I am now awakened by random songs from a huge playlist of music I really LIKE! The remote control is also handy and easy to use in all modes.
The price of this unit at Best Buy was $99.00, and was worth every cent. iHome IH9 Speaker System and Alarm Clock for iPod (Black)
Customer Review: pretty nice alarm
Summary: 4 Stars
I had wanted an alarm that would play my ipod for some time but they never had ones that a. let you pick the songs to play and b. you could customize the alarm to certain days. When the IHome finally picked up on those things I decided to pick it up (and the sale price got me, too)
This thing looks pretty stylish and has improved my mornings quite a bit from waking up to the annoying ring of my cell phone (which I'd been using for a year before this) In order to play customized songs you have to create a playlist on your ipod called "ihome" and it will randomly play songs from that playlist to wake you. There is no way to set the order, which at first annoyed me but now I've grown used to and appreciate waking up to not necessarily the same song every morning.
I'm somewhat annoyed that you only have three options for the alarm days, just weekdays, just weekends, or every day. Why not allow you to pick which days? My cell phone does that. It works out alright for me now but I used to work odd days and being able to set the alarm for only specific days would be awesome.
You can program the length of the snooze which is really nice. The buttons feel really cheap, especially the turn wheels you use to rotate through the menu options and adjust the volume. It's supposed to mimic your ipod controls but instead of whatever they use on ipods where it senses your finger this is actually a plastic disc that rotates and just feels really really flimsy.
Speakers are horrible when played at louder volumes but sound fine at lower volumes which is all I really wanted this for. Also it comes with a remote that lets you control your ipod which would be great except there is no way you can see the display from anywhere that would make the remote practical so it's kinda useless in that sense unless you just want to skip songs or go back in your playlist.
Concerning the display, there are several levels of brightness you can set it to. The brightest one is way too bright to sleep to, but when you get it to a comfortable nighttime level you can't really see it very well during the day. In the picture the numbers are bright with the background dark but on my unit it's reversed and there is no option in the instructions to switch that, nor any obvious way that I've found. It's rather annoying if they switched this on certain models without a way to change it as I much would have preferred it the other way.
So bottom line, if you need a nice alarm clock that lets you wake up to your ipod this is a pretty good option. Don't expect it to replace your stereo in terms of sound quality, however.
UPDATE:
I contacted the manufacturer about the display differences and apparently there are two models that have different power levels for the speakers (and apparently the display is another difference) I ordered this from amazon and as you can see in the picture the display is black background with light numbers, but the product I received is actually the reverse of this (light background with black numbers) so you might want to make sure which model you are actually getting (they are both IH9 models as far as I can tell)
Customer Review: Brick for your buck
Summary: 3 Stars
iHome has the budget iPod alarm clock market fairly secured. This was a gift a couple of years ago, so I've put it through it's paces. I'll start with the pros...
1. Best sounding alarm clock/iPod alarm clock. Loud enough for use while showering 5m away.
2. Dual alarm with 2/5/7 program is great (assuming you work weekdays), especially given this price-point.
3. Snooze button easy to find.
4. Lots of dim levels for display.
5. DST adjust with a simple switch on the back.
6. Battery backup works better than most clocks I have owned, and we have lots of brief midnight outages each winter.
And now the cons...
1. Not the easist clock to set and/or operate if you don't do it all the time (like my wife when I am out of town) especially if you mix your use of iH9 and iPod controls.
2. Remote layout is terrible for iPod. Push the logical (for iPod device) button and who knows what you will get. No "home" bump to find your way around the remote in the dark. Takes forever to scroll one-button-press at a time. (You have to be close enough to the iPod to see anyway, easier to just use the iPod's click-wheel.
3. Remote uses same codes as my Toshiba TV. Pressing VOL-UP for my TV turns alarm-2 on/off. You have to be listening for the "beep" or you could be in for a surprise in the morning. So many remote issues, I don't even use it any longer.
4. Things get out of whack if you use a combo of iH9 buttons and iPod buttons, making it necessary to undock/redock to make things right again.
5. Now can only use the buttons on the iPod itself (using 4G, classic160 or nano5G) for iPod functions. Only play/pause work on the iH9 or remote. Still charges and plays.
6. AM radio worthless, which is bad, because I like to hear local weather and traffic while I'm getting ready for work. (Good thing I have that TV).
7. The 1800mA AC adapter weights about three pounds! I don't see how it passed UL, because it can fall out of a wall socket and has no support screw. I have to use a short extension cord, which isn't a big deal, but maybe have the transformer brick on a pigtail, like every laptop on earth (with smaller supplies).
8. Huge footprint, about 3x the sq-cm of a traditional clock radio (and twice as tall, but that is ok). Nice that it doesn't slip around, but nightstand real-estate is limited along with lamp, house-phone, cell-phone charger and anything like a book or glass.
Bottom line, if you don't need hi-fi sound and x-10 interface, this isn't bad, but it is complex and buggy enough to make it a pain. I'm now shopping for an iPod clock/charger for my daughter and I think I am going to look beyond iHome products this time.
Customer Review: Good features, perfomance and package
Summary: 4 Stars
The iPod function is excellent. The tiny remote will probably get lost, but it works well until you lose it. The radio works with recent iPods and with iPhones. The iPhone 3G displays a message when you first plug it in saying that the device (the iH9) isn't designed for iPhones, but the phone charges and the iPod features work perfectly. Just one thing doesn't work: you can't leave the phone function on because the GSM signal causes interference. So if you rely on your cell phone for home or office phone service you'll need the iH99 model, which has shielding that prevents the interference -- but that model costs almost 3/4ths more. Since we don't get cell phone reception in this house, the iH9 is just fine.
The radio is surpsrisingly good. We're in using it in a house in rural NH with a standing seam metal roof. AM reception for most radios consists of static, broken occasionally by louder static. With the supplied external AM antenna plugged in, the iH9 picks up a few nearby stations during the day and pulls in stations in Hartford and Boston at night, when AM reception is always better. (Without the external AM antenna, we got the static we do with other AM radios.) The FM antenna works well if you take the time to orient it properly for the signal
We've been using a Sangean CCR radio that is designed for fringe reception areas and the iH9 works almost as well on FM and better on AM.
The design is clean looking and the controls are labeled well, including the clock radio functions. The glossy black plastic case shows finger prints easily. White would probably be better. The "dials" for tuning and volume are flat discs designed to look like iPod click wheels. Theys have a matte finish that makes them easy enough to turn, but real raised dials would be easier to use.
We expected that there would be adapters for multiple iPods in the package, but the radio we got has only one, already installed. Apparently you can get additional adapters from iHome. Having the right size adapter makes the iPod more secure and makes it less likely that you'll knock it off the connector by mistake. Fortunately the adapter that came with our radio fits large iPods and the iPhone OK. The package also included the exteranl AM antenna and a little stand for it, a connector to plug into MP3 players that don't fit the built-in iPod connector, the remote control and a reasonably clear instruction leaflet. For the price, it's a good unit with reasonable sound and good features.
Customer Review: Well Near Perfect iPod Dock
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm impressed with this clock radio / iPod dock. This device shares a room with a Bose Wave Radio. $90 David versus the $300 Goliath. David wins on the critical counts, sound, radio reception, and cost. The iHome iH9SR is way better than I ever expected.
This is a complete rebuild (I think they threw out the horrible plans from the iH8) of the previous model. The controls are smoother, the display better, the sound infintely better (stereo to start with), and the heft is wonderful. I just spent 2 weeks with an iH8 in a hotel, it was good. The iH9 blows that older model away.
Honestly, I've read the other reviews of this unit, and I frankly don't understand them at all. The sound is clear. The clock is perfectly visible, the dimmer works exactly as reported in the owners manual. The AM and FM reception is way better than anything I own (including that Bose Wave connected to a roof antenna). The sound is clear and very tunable to your taste. iPod integration is wonderful. I love the two alarms with play list, radio, buzzer, or iPod; and 2, 5, or 7 day settings. The unit includes every battery you will ever need (two double A's in the base, and the remote battery). Even the remote - you almost have to close your eyes and not think to use it correctly. The remote is actually a nice size, not credit card thin, but not TV big - just thick enough, just large enough to be usable.
My only complaint? The wall wart is big and it is heavy. But if they made it smaller, the amp would be less powerful and the sound would suffer. So it's essential.
Oh packaging - this is hilarious. I think the company must own stock in 3M scotch tape. I've never seen so much tape in one box in my life. And the little iPod inserts (you know those nasty little plastic inserts for different iPods), come in two separate bags, and then each is individually wrapped in a bag. Kind of a waste.
The box says it big and bold - this unit will not charge or control a Series 3 iPod. Dec. 15 update: It will not control or charge the Third Generation iPod Nano, and it does not include an adapter for the iPod Touch (just got this from the www.ihomeaudio.com website). And after 6 months with this dock, we still love it. Would gladly buy it again.
Bottom line - I love this baby, great price, great sound, great iPod dock.