I own an ancient and evil digital clock radio. It has a tape player, an alarm, and at times a radio. The radio hates me. The clock set controls loathe my very existence. This clock and I hate each other with an ancient and reverent passion. It’s done well waking me up for at least a decade, but begrudgingly I’m sure. These days it’s finally outright refused to do is play a radio station with any sort of reliability. What’s more, it mocks me. As I move about the room, the volume and tuning fight with each other — a screaming match of deafening static and distorted NPR. The time has come for a change.
Shopping for a desktop radio these days is somewhat laughable look into three generations of audio technology. They span the spectrum from cassette tape, to CD, to iPod dockable. So being the tech geek that I am, I figured that were I going to shell out for a radio alarm, it ought to be able to talk to my iPod. But then I took that a step further. It really should talk to my iPhone.
iPod speaker docks abound. iPhone docks, not so much. And it isn’t as though you can just plug an iPhone into any old iPod speaker dock. It either doesn’t work at all, insists on “Airplane Mode”, or all you hear is GSM static through the speakers every time the phone reacquires the tower. So you’ve got to go with a dock actually designed to work with the iPhone. There are a few options, some that even include speaker phone capability, but those run in the $200 range. Since what I’m truly looking for is a desk radio first and foremost, spending “two hundo” just isn’t worth it. After searching both the local Apple Store, the interwebs, and finally Best Buy, I nabbed a Sony ICF-C1iP Dock with Clock for iPod or iPhone.
After playing with it for about half an hour at Best Buy, three things really cinched it for me with this dock.
- Real iPhone integration with full remote control of the iPhone’s iPod functions and menus
- A deep and adjustable docking station with enough room in its base to allow me to dock my iPhone without removing it from its hard case.
- Its $99 price tag — at least $50 less than its nearest competitor without lacking in any important features.
Setup
As I expected, getting set up was pretty much simply getting it out of the box. No big deal. But in plugging it in, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it sets its own time. All you need to do is tell it your GMT+x time zone and it somehow knows exactly what time it is. Score! The infuriating time setting buttons on my old clock radio are a big reason why that thing is going to be ceremonially destroyed.
Functions
The display is clear and easy to understand. I really appreciate its simplicity. The designers didn’t try to get clever, which would be a big temptation in an iPhone peripheral. Clear numbers, intuitive controls, and a handy remote. Not too shabby. You can set two separate alarms, choose iPod, radio, or buzzer as your alarm noise, and even choose a separate volume level for the alarm as you set it. You can’t set an alarm from the remote, but that’s not a huge shortcoming.
I especially appreciate the adjustable back rest on the docking station. By twisting a knob behind the speakers, a back rest pushes in or out to adjust to and support whatever size iPod or iPhone you’ve docked. All the way in, it supports my iPhone in its hard case perfectly. All the way out, it would surely support one of the super thin last generation iPod Nano models. Pretty slick.
Audio Quality
With such small speakers, sound quality is always the big “if” on gadgets like this. As I docked my iPhone for the first time and cued up The White Stripes, the sound was about what I expected. Nice highs, strong mids, and lows simply adorable in their pitiful little attempt at being thumpy. Although initially it seemed a little rough and sloppy in the sound, I switched over to U2 and was relieved that it was just Jack and Meg that sounded scratchy. With a little trial-and-error on the iPod EQ settings, Bono was belting out a Vertigo and the sound filled the room and my entire upstairs very nicely. Though the bass response is not at all thunderous, the sound is full and especially clear. These speakers paired with a small sub would be a great combination.
What really impressed me, however, was the radio. Switching over to NPR, the clarity of the signal and sound was just fantastic. I had to check to box to see if this was actually an HD radio receiver. It sounds that good. Which is perfect, since wake-up radio this was my principle reason for buying the thing.
My only gripes
First, the power chord is too short. It’s not quite three feet in length and that means that if you don’t have a power outlet real close, it’s extension chord time. Ick.
Secondly, the Sony remote control for this dock missed out on a real opportunity. Since its iPod/iPhone integration is its key selling point, why not arrange the controls to mirror the controls on an iPod? Granted, there are additional functions to say, the Apple Remote that’s used in Apple’s universal dock, Apple TV, and Apple computers, but why not group the iPod-specific functions in the way people are used to them? It isn’t as though the Sony remote doesn’t work, it’s just disappointing that this remote doesn’t seem designed intentionally for iPod use. It’s probably a shared remote with other Sony products. Not the end of the world, but a real missed opportunity.
Final Rating: 8/10
This is a great little dock, an even better radio, and a very nice addition to my bedroom. What it lacks in punch, it makes up for in clarity. Speakerphone would be nice, but it’s really just not worth $100 extra.
Hits
- Simple, elegant design
- Highly functional remote control includes iPod menu functions
- Great sound clarity, especially at this price point
- Good price point at $99
- Real iPhone integration and very little GSM interference
- A truly universal dock with enough room for my iPhone to dock in its case
- Sets time itself
- Fantastic radio reception
- Dual alarms with lots of options
Misses
- Could use a little more bass
- Remote will control iPod functions, but the buttons aren’t iPod intuative
- Power chord too short
I always liked Sony products and as a former CRT TRINITRON color TV owner of 20 years I have come to appreciate the quality of their stuff. I think Sony is coming out of a “dry” product period that started sometime in the 1990’s until a year or two ago. I think their most successful unit has been the gaming console business. Just two weeks ago I purchased my first ever Sony Playstation 3, the new “Bundle pack” model with the 80GB hard drive and wireless “Shock 3” controller. It is an impressive little machine. I didn’t buy it just for the gaming aspect of the console itself (Which is sensational I might add while playing Gran Turismo 5 Spec II) but it also comes with a Blu-Ray Disc player (Spec 2.0 update), wireless network support, Bluetooth remote control, etc. For $399 I have gotten myself a fully integrated entertainment system like no other. Blu-Ray playback is excellent, and according to CNet, the Playstation 3 is hands down the best Blu-Ray disc player in the market today and future proof due to its wireless capabilities (It can receive updates on the fly).
Going back to your review, I like this iPod dock night stand solution. Looks a little big for my tastes. For $99 you can’t really ask for much, really. I have the now defunct Apple iPod HI-FI speaker cube/dock and doesn’t have a radio or a better remote control integration. The HI-FI has one thing going for it: Great sound…Fills the room like no other iPod speaker dock based solution out there. But Apple did not conceived the product well and they priced it way too high. I paid for mine $350 in late 2006. What killed it, aside the price, was the lack of bundled wireless networking support. A lot of people agreed that if the HI-FI would have come with wireless support, it would have been a hit and the $350 admission price would have been better justified. Too bad Jobs gave up on it fairly soon and allowed it to die a quiet death. I often wonder about the potential of Apple’s own iPod dock solution had they spent the time and money fixing some of its shortcomings.
Enjoyed your review and will definitely check out this Sony iPod solution.
PS: Oh the Irony! Sony, the company that invented the Walkman, lost their market to Apple in 2001 with the release of the iPod. Now they have had to join the enemy!
Ha ha! That is pretty ironic. I’ve got an old Sony Walkman tape player laying around somewhere. Man I had a love affair with that thing when I was a kid.
One thing about the size, it’s really not big at all. It looks kind of sprawling in the photo, but it’s really pretty compact in person.
You may have wondered what gaming console I had before the Playstation3? Well, my last game console purchase was a then brand new Sega Genesis 16-bit console that came bundled with a ROM “Sonic the Hedgehog” cartridge. It was a pretty cool and respectable game console for its time (Circa 1993). Before that, I had an Atari 2600 (I owned 2 of them, the first one was given to me as a gift in 1981).
So here I am at 37 years old, I have owned probably 3 of the most notable game consoles in history…. An 8-bit Atari 2600, a 16-Bit Sega genesis and the state of the art Sony Playstation 3 with the Cell processor.
What a ride its been!
I have NEVER owned a gaming console. To this day. Although I have had a computer since I was three years old. Now I want all three of them but can’t bring myself to buy one. I’ve thought about the BlueRay thing, but I’ve got an up-rez DVD player, so DVDs look great on my HD TV. Maybe someday. I also avoid them just because I know what a monumental time suck it would turn into. TV is bad enough. I’ve got to sleep at some point.
I remember when the first Sony Walkman compact cassette players first came out in the 1979-80 time period. That was the iPod of the post-disco era. They were bricks, with big earphones but you were a trendy guy or gal if you had one and strapped it to your waist. I think those things were like $100-$150 at the time (A lot of greenbacks back then).
Sony had the Walkman market mostly to themselves for the better part of the 1980s and early 1990’s. But they fell asleep at the wheel and Apple completely took away that market from under their feet. I honestly don’t think they’ll ever get it back.
I hear you. My “hardcore gaming days” were in the eighties with the Atari 2600. That thing is ancient by today’s standards but back then it was a lot of fun and the game library was impressive (And it is still to this day). The Sega Genesis had a more realistic “Arcade” flavor to the games but It did manage to bore me a lot quicker than the Atari ever did. After that came the falling of Sega from the gaming console business and the advent of the Sony Playstation 1-2 and the original XBox. I missed all of those.
The Playstation 3 also up converts 480I/P native DVDs to 720p and 1080p respectively and it does a fine job with the upconversion. Since the HD DVD vs Blu-Ray format wars were decided in January ’08, the idea of upgrading from my very trusty but decidedly outdated 1999 Panasonic A-120 DVD player was very palatable. I could now get not only a respectable gaming console with cutting edge technology but also a solid and virtually future proof Blu-Ray disc player. hey, what’s not to love?
But if you are happy with what you have, enjoy and wait and see what else will be coming down the pipeline. Then again I tend to change my TV and entertainment systems every 8-10 years.
Oh I certainly wouldn’t cry if my TV were bigger and had multiple gaming consoles plugged into it. My original setup with this TV actually used a Mac Mini as the DVD player. The up-convert on Quicktime was stellar. I just used the Apple Remote and Front Row. The rest of the time, I had a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and so I could check my email from the couch, then switch over and watch Mythbusters. Those were the days. Couldn’t justify having $600 laying around under my TV though. I may go back to that someday.