Recommended ipodtouch(1stgen) speaker with alarmclock and fm radio with decent sound?

[ayinaim]

I'm looking for recommendation on ipod touch-compatible speaker that has the following functions

- fm radio
- alarm clock
- decent sound (doesn't have to be as good as bose or whatever, but not as bad as cellphone speaker too)
- not too expensive (below $100)

I've tried looking around but there just so many of them on the market i really dont know how to choose. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all for your advices!

 

[4DThinker]

I've tried looking around but there just so many of them on the market i really dont know how to choose.

Exactly!

Many places that sell them have an assortment lined up on a shelf and all plugged in. Take your iPod with you, and try all of them out. Eliminate any that sound crappy first. Then get more picky by considering how easy the display is to read, the controls are to use, the snooze bar is to hit, etc.. In the end there will be one left, and that's the one you should buy.

Good luck.

 

[MTI]

A JW Marriot hotel stayed at recently had the iHome clock radio in the room. Took about 30 seconds to figure out how to set the alarm, choose which device was going to wake (alarm, iPod, or radio). Nicest thing about it . . it looks like a clock radio when the iPod isn't sitting on top.

 

[ayinaim]

Exactly!

Many places that sell them have an assortment lined up on a shelf and all plugged in. Take your iPod with you, and try all of them out. Eliminate any that sound crappy first. Then get more picky by considering how easy the display is to read, the controls are to use, the snooze bar is to hit, etc.. In the end there will be one left, and that's the one you should buy.

Good luck.

Yeah i totally understand what you're trying to say. But the retail stores that i'd visited tend to stock up with those high-end expensive speaker (ihome, griffin brands) which never cost less than $200.

So if anyone has any experience buying or trying other models that cost less but does a pretty decent job, i might be able to hunt them online where the choices are more varied. Thanks for the advice though.

 

[4DThinker]

You can thank Apple for the high prices. They force those manufacturers to pay licensing fees to put an iPod dock port on anything.

Try discount stores. Most of the accessory manufacturers make a solution for all price points. Look in a Walmart, K-Mart, Target, or whatever you have that is equivelant where you live. My local Target almost always has an endcap with 3 or 4 under-$50 docks displayed. Don't be surprised if cheap docks sound cheap though. They have to leave out something to keep the costs low. Usually it's lengthy audio research and testing.

 

[Moocher]

Don't buy this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ICF-C1IP...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1250906088&sr=8-5

Numbers are too small and the volume is not infinitely adjustable: only in steps.

Look in stores. Buy on line.

Mooch