scmrak's Full Review: Digital Products International iLive CI188 Clock R...
Up until recently, my total investment in iPod technology had amounted to twenty bucks (plus tax), the cost of one of those snazzy (and strangely expensive [no, wait, it's from Apple]) white dock cables that let you charge the device and transfer the files from a USB port. The iPod itself, an 8GB 2nd-generation Nano, was a street find - yes, I advertised in the local newspaper and on the local craigslist before wiping off the previous owner's wretched music selections - and the earbuds came as a freebie from Dell with my laptop. I did not, however, have any sort of speakers to listen sans ‘phones¹. In keeping with my low-budget approach, however, I recently picked up a GPX CI-188B clock radio with iPod dock - for free, in a "premium for purchase" deal. Unfortunately, it didn't work - but the people at Digital Products International honored their warranty and replaced it; though it cost about nine dollars to ship the defective one to St. Louis. Still, a clock radio with an iPod dock that also charges? I figger it's worth nine bucks - at least.
The CI-188B clock radio with iPod dock is a step or two above your basic clock radio, such as the seven-dollar jobbies you find in budget hotels. With a 6"x6" footprint, it's beefier, in a black plastic case that stands about 2½" high. It has a five-foot AC power cord and a separate antenna wire. Halloween-orange inch-high LCD numerals display the time (a well-kept secret is that there's a two-position dimmer switch for the numerals on the bottom of the case). Most controls are mounted atop the case, including selector switches for the music source (AM-FM-iPod) and alarm (Auto OFF-Music-Buzzer), buttons for setting the time and alarm time, and a square rocker switch that functions like the control disk on an iPod, along with a snooze bar that shuts off the alarm for nine minutes (odd choice, eh?). There's also a tiny dial that displays the AM/FM frequency. Volume in controlled by a disk on one side; the radio frequency is controlled by a disk on the other. Side-facing speakers - the grilles are oval, but the cones are 1½" round - create a minimalist stereo effect.
The iPod dock is top-mounted so that the device sits more or less upright while plugged in. According to the documentation, there are adapter plates that will allow the use of six different flavors of iPod: the mini, the iPod 4th generation, the iPod with color display, the iPod nano, the iPod with video (5th generation), and the iPod nano (2nd generation). The dock both allows playing the iPod and charges it (without re-initializing the shuffle on my gen-2 nano, unlike docking it to iTunes). There are ports on the back to connect the device - and thus the iPod - to audio systems (a 1.5mm pin plug) and video (an RCA plug), plus an auxiliary IN port (also 1.5mm). No patch cables are supplied. In theory, you can plug a video-enabled iPod into a television and watch your videos - since I don't have a video iPod, I have no experience with this function. I don't expect many people will find it useful, but then I'm not addicted to videos.
Operation and use: setting alarm and clock functions will be familiar to anyone who's owned a digital clock in the past few decades, as will turning the radio and alarm on and off. Docking the iPod requires that you select the correct adapter plate from the nine supplied. It may also require that you move the male connecter sideways to properly locate it in the adapter - it's designed for this, but there's no note of that fact in the owner's manual. Once the iPod is plugged in (and both it and the radio are turned on), the square rocker switch functions to stop-start and skip forward and backward through the songs.
The clock keeps time as well as any of our other digital clocks - it's neither gained nor lost a minute in the month or so it's been plugged in. That buzzer alarm is pretty nasty-sounding, though the volume escalates from nearly indistinguishable to fairly obnoxious over about thirty seconds. Tuning is actually better than I expected, with pretty good signal discrimination (at least on FM) and better sensitivity than I expected, which doesn't necessarily mean it's very good. The dial readings aren't very accurate, but analog dials rarely are at price points this low. There's no battery backup, so hope the power doesn't go out...
The GPX CI-188B has two speakers that are just 1½" diameter, so you expect mediocre, tinny audio. That's what you get. The sound distorts a tad at high volume but holds together well through the low and middle volumes, though the case on this one has a buzz at a couple of mid-range frequencies in loud passages. Bass frequencies are just about nil - that basso profundo in Othello will probably sound like his voice hasn't changed yet - but what do you expect for $25-30?
Overall, a functional device that will serve as a backup charger and perhaps an alarm clock for the guest room. Audiophiles will certainly turn up their noses at this rig, but the rest of us Philistines will appreciate a cheap little radio that does a bunch of things and doesn't flub any of them - a good return on your investment. That's assuming, of course, that yours works out of the box and you don't have to pay an additional nine bucks to get one that does...
¹ actually, I also have an ice bucket-style wine chiller with an auxiliary plug and a tiny speaker that lets me play the iPod while the wine is chilling - in time with a set of flashing, multicolor LEDs. I refuse to count the thing, however...
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.