chretiensucks's Full Review: Memorex iWake™ Mi4004-BLK Docking Station, Speak...
Let’s just get one thing straight. I hate Ipod. But I don’t have any control over what my wife gets hence she’s got a black ipod video. My opinion? It’s a complete waste of money, but at the time that she bought it for herself over a year ago, there was nothing else out there that would let her watch movies on something that small. We’ve (I’ve) subsequently converted many of her movies over onto it’s 30GB hard drive. I can’t stand the Itunes software. But since then (I’ve lost the battle), I’ve given up complaining about the Ipod and decided to get her something for it for Mother’s day. I thought the most suitable accessory for her would have be the Memorex iWake alarm clock since she’s had her existing one for 10 years now, and all it did was produce an annoying beeping noise.
Appearance
The two only color choices available at the time of my purchase are black and white. I went with black. I don't like white on almost anything from cars to computers, to electronics. Although the Memorex iWake is your basic rectangular box shape (3"H X 8"W X 6"D), it is as streamlined as a box is going to get. At least the corners are rounded. All the buttons are of a membrane variety. Therefore these are no raised surfaces (This is actually a bad thing – I’ll explain later). The good thing though is that there are no crevices on the surface for dust to get in. Two speakers sit face towards the front with a large LCD display for the time in the center.
Virtually any dockable Ipod will fit into the dock. Depending on the model Ipod that you have, you would used one of the included plastic inserts to account for the varying sizes of them. The instructions indicate which of the 5 included inserts correspond to the type of Ipod you are using. Our Ipod video did not require one of the inserts because it is physically the largest model so it fit directly into the Alarm clock, even when we leave our neoprine case over it.
Main Functions and operation
Because the Memorex charges your Ipod, we were able to put away my wife’s Ipod charger.
There are two alarms so it can be used by two different people and set independently. You can also have either or both on with each alarm selecting either FM, AM, or IPOD. All this is displayed on the large backlit LCD screen. Unfortunately, this LCD screen is extremely bright. Even when we have it set to the dim setting, it keeps us awake. Basically, it's like putting your head two feet away from a night light. We’ve had to put something over the display. I’m thinking of getting some plastic tint material to cover it up.
When the alarm sounds, the volume gradually increases every 5 seconds until it reaches maximum volume. Problem is there is no way to turn off this function. So you either hit any button when the alarm goes off to shut off the alarm, hit the snooze button, or it is blaring full blast if you want to continue listening to the music in bed.
I don’t know about you, but I like to turn on my alarm and maybe change the time it goes off at night. These membrane styled buttons make it extremely difficult to do that because there are no contours to feel for. Basically you can’t feel any of the buttons. So you better make up your mind while the lights are on before you go to sleep otherwise you won’t feel like making any more adjustments. One exception however is a raised, wide button - and that's the all important snooze button!
That snooze button also serves as a sleep button which engages the sleep function allowing you to play music in 10 minute increments up to 1 hour before it automatically shuts off.
Sound quality
Simply said, it’s good for an alarm clock. But don’t expect any more than that. You’re not going to get a lot of bass or high frequencies at this price range. Basically it’s mostly undistorted mid range. Sure it features SRS WOW technology but I'd be surprised if you can actually hear the difference. If you like the sleep function and listen to your Ipod on it a lot, you may pine for more.
Supplementary Features
- There’s an option to put in 2 AAA backup batteries in case there is a power outage. That way you’ll have no excuses for getting up late (maybe that’s a bad thing)
- There’s no need to adjust the time forward 23 hours in the fall because there’s a daylight savings time button in the back which changes the time by or -1 hour.
- Why you would need a LINE IN jack for an alarm clock with tiny speakers is beyond me but it’s there nevertheless. It's basically there for non-ipod MP3 players but there's no way to use it effectively as an alarm clock in this case because you'd have to leave the external source on.
- A tiny IR remote control is included which allows you to adjust volume, play/pause, and select the track on the Ipod, or tune to the FM/AM station that you wish to play. This remote actually has a belt clip. I really hope people don't sleep with that thing attached to their pajamas. That'd be really frightening.
Conclusion
This is a very feature rich alarm clock but it does have a few obvious flaws. My main gripes are the feel-less buttons and the halogen headlamp like LCD display. Ok maybe I’m exaggerating but if you like pretty-near complete darkness, this won’t be the alarm clock for you. So for those two flaws, Maybe if they used some of the lighting powering the LCD to illuminate the impossible to feel buttons, it'd be perfect? I’m knocking off two stars even though I love all the other features of this clock. I'm starting to think this item is probably more appropriate for a kitchen. I’m still recommending this thing but maybe I’ll change it in a few months if the tinted plastic doesn’t seem to do anything.
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