Customer Reviews
A few tips for H5 Alarm Clock
To my Amazon friends who are having issues or want to buy the H5 Alarm clock. Here is my experience with it since I received it as a Christmas gift in 2005.
Yes, the wake up feature gets way too loud. Luckily, I wake up very easy and can turn the volume down in seconds as it is less than a foot from my head. But I do admit, I would prefer it to start at a low volume, then gradually get louder after a few minutes.
I do not find the clock too bright at its lowest setting. If you feel the lowest setting is WAY too bright, I suggest seeing an optomotrist or sell the clock to Stevie Wonder. I keep it tilted away and just gently move my head to see the time if I have to in the middle of the night. Besides, I hate waking up at any time to see a clock in my face letting me know I have a half hour to sleep until I have to get up for work.
Reception problems...since I do really listen to AM/FM radio any more I have my Sirius Satellite receiver play the signal through 87.9 setting and sleep to that. Then have wake up set to buzzer or have the satellite receiver come on with the alarm clock at the same time. But when I do listen to WCBS as a gentle wake up, the recption is fine.
Remote control...the remote control is in the styrofoam casing on the side of it. I looked and looked for it, then I was going to throw out the styrofoam casing, and saw it packed in it. Very bad idea, I bet many remotes were thrown out this way. But its really smally and cool. Most remotes should be so small
IPOD hard drive crashes....If you have read any reviews in the past with any IPOD plug in accessories, you should know by now that many reviews have said the hard drives crash at one time or another. But not all the times. Here's a tip, take it out when you are not using it. I only plug my IPOD in if I know Howard Stern is off for the morning or if I have to wake up for something other than work. I am not a big wake up to music fan, not matter what the song is. Plus, when the IPOD is plugged in, it charges your battery at the same time. That's another thing you should be aware of. IPODS should only be charging when its almost out of power, not constantly. It assures long life of the IPOD before you have to eventually get the battery replaced. My guess is people who are not tech savey or who do not read about the problems that can happen with the IPODS (as well with all electronic items), they are having the most problems. But if you know how to treat electronic devices, and with a little TLC, the H5 should be a great little toy.
Besides, if you have ear buds, or hook the IPOD up to your computer, why would you want to listen to your IPOD through a clock radio all the time anyway. Silly rabbits....
Versatile Radio/Player Combo, but with Faults
After six weeks of use, I enjoy falling asleep to the iPod. Very convenient for that. I appreciate being able to fall asleep to the iPod and being able to wake to a preset radio station or alarm. Many devices will awaken you to whatever sound source put you to sleep.
However...the alarm time is tricky to change. Lots of "keystrokes" and knob-twisting. Also--and this is a big problem in our house--you cannot seem to set the radio volume for the alarm. It increases in volume to become VERY loud, and will force you to turn it down if you want to listen for a while. You can set the sleep volume, and the radio volume (for normal listening), but cannot control the alarm volume. If it is next to your head, it will be very intrusive when you awaken, and is sure to bother your partner who awakens at a different time (but from a different clock, since this has but one alarm setting). If the ihome is not next to your head, you cannot turn it down because you can't reach it (oops--did you not buy the remote control at extra cost?).
Middling audio quality, poor radio reception, dangling AM and FM antenna wires (including a clunky AM loop antenna at the end of a wire--great for a 1930s-vintage crystal set, for those of you who know what those are).
I am looking for a scrap of window tinting material to tone down the way-too-bright display. It disturbs even at the lowest brightness setting.
The main problems with this are in the software, and all could be fixed with a few revisions. This is a very versatile player at a pretty low price. Don't expect a Bose.
A great clock & song player to have anywhere in your home!
You know how you've always wanted a compact digital clock and song player in one unit? Well, this's perfect for you! Don't have an ipod? No problem! The unit comes with a cable to attach to almost any other mp3 player or portable cd player. The sound is great, and you can set the alarm clock to a song! This is a great gadget to have. I've always wanted one, and I was pleasantly surprised to recieve the ihome as a present. This really cool unit is at a reasonable price. I don't mean to sound like a commercial or anything, but you should get yours today!
