Gear4 PG295 iPod Dock - AlarmDock

 

 

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This Gear4 dock originally bought for 56 Euros is a steal at this price .
For travellers its so light to pack it doesnt count. 110&220v with interchangeable plug make it great for Europe. Its a clock radio NOT a hfi or disco so sound is basic but a reasonable sound next to your bed while reading .
It is for Ipod and seems to charge all my Itouch, nano old & new and classic ipods. Brilliant Illuminated clock and wake up to your favourite tracks - i'll accept another one for Xmas !!!!! DJEJ
Make sure Amazon's stock rating is real before you order- wish we could call and reserve. It could be out of stock today!

Very good delivery and just what I wanted. Didn't come with a 5th Gen. nano adapter, but great size and sound. Thanks!

THE GOOD:
It's beautifully compact, just 10 cm wide, 7.5 cm deep and 3.5 cm high, so takes up little room on a bedside table which is just what I wanted. The buttons are simple and nicely laid out. The all important SNOOZE button is bigger than all the others which is a must for fumbling around in the dark. The display is bright but dimmable. Some may find that it still gives off a bit too much light but it doesn't bother me. In fact on brightest setting you could use it a handy nightlight for those midnight trips to the loo!
To keep the units footprint to a minimum the speaker is in the base facing downwards. Whilst this does reduce the volume a bit I find that 'bouncing' the sound off the bedside table reduces the harshness a little.
For such a compact unit it's well spec'd. You can wake to buzzer, radio or ipod. There's a variable Snooze function and Sleep settings from 10 - 90 mins.
Obviously you can charge your ipod, sync with your Mac (or PC for the less discerning), or play your ipod through the built in speaker (volume controlled by the Dock).
Comes with 6 dock adaptors so most ipods should be a snug fit. Not too sure about newest models/iphone/touch, but I think manufacturers RELY on some models NOT fitting existing kit so they can flog new stuff.

THE BAD:
It's called AlarmDock with good reason. It's an alarm clock with a docking station. It's NOT a Radio. Sure, there IS a radio which is fine to use as the alarm but reception is incredibly feeble, not helped by the standard flimsy bit of wire that passes for an aerial. I live in a moderate reception area but Heart FM is the only station the AlarmDock picks up to an acceptable (listenable) level. Luckily it's the station I choose to wake up to for the local traffic news. (Well no-one with any taste would listen to Heart for the music would they?).
However, when using the Radio it permanently displays the frequency NOT the time. Not too much of problem you think until the Radio alarm goes off, you're still a bit dozy and the 'clock' says 96.9!! Major oversight. In alarm mode at least it really ought to display the time instead. Again, for me not too much of a problem as breakfast radio tends to give frequent time-checks. Could have done with 3 or 4 radio pre-sets (but as it only picks up one station there wouldn't really be much point)

THE UGLY:
Nothing major; it's actually a nice, simple, fairly minimalist bit of kit unlike most that cram in lots of bells, whistles and unnecessary buttons. The only slight niggle I have is that the display can be a little hard to read from certain angles - the non-active elements of clock and other functions can sometimes be slightly visible. Having said that from normal viewing angles - ie at bed level and up to 45° to either side it's fine.

CONCLUSION:
I give it a 4 star rating though 3.5 would be more accurate because of the poor radio performance.
I paid £13 inc delivery for a refurbished unit from a well known auction site. Anything under £18 for a brand new one would be fair. I believe they were selling for about £35 when they first came out. Way too much, but most similar products are similarly overpriced.
If you want a compact ipod dock/clock and alarm it's the bees knees.
If you want a better radio or a beefier sound, get a DAB radio or a mini system with an ipod dock.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Nice size but..
Nice size with an alarm clock but the sound was crackly as if it broke off..

Published on 28 Sep 2009 by R. Bansal

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