Sony ICFC05IP Radio Alarm Clock with iPod dock

I bought this clock radio/dock for my wife and it is very compact and functional. My wife wanted a compact unit that would serve as a clock radio and would be able to play and charge her iPod. It manages all these things very well in the most compact unit that I could find available on Amazon. The build quality appears to be good, the sound quality whilst not being outstanding is certainly acceptable, although it would not fill a large room (hardly surprising at this price and in this small a unit).

The display is slightly unusual as it is black on grey, it can be dimmed at night such that it is no longer visible so good for anyone who likes no light at all to go to sleep. The medium setting would probably suit most people as the brightest does light up a significant part of the room.

As we now have 3 units of this type in the house it seems fair to do a bit of a comparison:
Phillips DC190 - cheaper than this unit but bigger and less solidly constructed - sound quality similar as are features.
Phillips AJ300/DB - more expensive but by far the best and biggest sound. Better laid out controls and good build quality. Display will be too bright for may in the bedroom but we have this in the kitchen and the sound it produces in quite a big room is terrific.
Sony ICF05IP - Most compact and decent build quality as mentioned above. This is also the most like a traditional clock radio but with an iPod dock added on top, which may suit many people.

Having provided 4 star reviews for all these units on Amazon based on what you get for your money I think the choice is down to what you expect and are prepared to pay, as all 3 do a good job.

After much searching, and a huge amount of bother with a DAB version, this little box does exactly what it says on the tin. It is simple to set up, simple to change alarm times, you can turn down/off the backlight (so that you can actually sleep), it is reliable, and has a battery back-up so you will be woken when there is or has been, a power cut. It will even charge/wake you to an ipod/iphone if that's your thing.
The sound quality is fairly average, but if you need to be woken by John Humphreys in full high fidelity you may want to reassess some other aspects of your life. As a bonus this really does look quite good, it is clean, smooth and unobtrusive.
Overall, this does tick all the boxes; it's a radio/alarm for people who just want to know the time and be woken by the radio. But do look elsewhere, it's remarkable how nobody but Sony seems to cater for this demographic.

Two more things worth mentioning...

A most useful 'BST' button on the back which toggles the time an hour forwards / backwards to avoid having to fathom out re-programming the clock twice a year for British Summer Time changes.

... and a built-in rechargeable lithium cell to cope with power cuts - in case you forget to regularly change the 9v battery back-up that most other radio/alarms use.

Really good product. Love the fact it's got 4 settings for the brightness of the clock. Charges your iphone and the sound is very good. Recommended.

Amazon never fail to amaze me with their speedy service.I reported a fault on the Sony alarm clock and presto my replacement was with me the following day.They deserve all the success and only hope they continue for many years to come.My new ipod dock/alarm is great which means much better sound when we go on holiday.Thank you Amazon.

I bought this to replace my old clock/radio which no longer displayed the time correctly. I am very pleased with this purchase. I am somewhat technologically challenged, yet I found it easy to set up. I use it mainly as a radio to listen to when I'm in bed, and it has a very good tone, and stays on the station much better than my old one did. It's "Sleep" function works well, so I need not worry about switching the radio off before I fall asleep. I like the dimmer function, so that I can sleep without the time glaring out brightly all night.

This is a smart but discrete unit that does everything it says on the box. The only minor criticism is that the instructions tend to over-elaborate what are quite straight-forward procedures. Once set up, the controls are logical and very easy to use. I do not use an iPhone but have an iPod classic in the doc instead. The neat touch is that when you come into the bedroom, you can just touch either the 'iPod' button (and have instant music) or the 'radio' button and you instantly have whatever radio station the unit is currently set to. You can simply swap from one mode to the other or switch off by pressing the adjacent con-caved 'alarm reset' button. The position of the controls is logically laid out and very easy to navigate in the dark (black buttons on a black surface are difficult see at the best of times). They have an almost braille-like feel with raised 'pimples' on certain buttons to indicate what you are pressing when half asleep. The 'snooze' button is the nearest to you and spans the full width of the control panel (you can't miss it) It also acts as a 'tap up / tap down' graduated illumination level on the digital display. At its brightest it will light the room but the lower settings give adequate illumination for that trip to the bathroom! The sound quality is good, it's not going to shake the foundations but is perfectly ok for a normal sized bedroom. The tone is not 'tinny' or harsh, just pleasingly soft. I'm very pleased with it as it is the first one I have found that looks good AND has easy logical functions - Excellent!