Tivoli's iSongbook: Alluring front cover but no plot inside
Written: May 07 '07
Product Rating:
Pros: Superior build-quality; great sound; one of the few iPod portable clock-radios available.
Cons: It has a list of terrific features, but none have any depth
The Bottom Line: At $250 the iSongbook is overpriced given the weak performance of it's advertised features. Tivoli needs to either beef up the feature's functionality or lower the price.
green-z's Full Review: Tivoli iSongBook Stand, Docking Station, FM Transm...
The Tivoli iSongbook caught my interest when it was first released a couple of years ago but I never made the plunge because quite frankly the price, $250-299, just plain scared me. I’ve got my share of expensive gadgets, but I just couldn’t justify $250-299 for portable speakers/clock radio no matter how fantastic the reviews, and generally the iSongbook reviews during the product launch were fantastic.
Fate called me last week as my local CompUSA was in the last days of it’s going out of business sale. Miraculously they had two brand new iSongbooks buried in a display case at 60% off. At $120 I couldn’t resist. It had to be worth that much given a decent pair of portable Altec-Lansing iPod speakers cost that much at a minimum.
I was right. The iSongbook IS worth $120. If I were in need of a system like the iSongbook I’d even say $175 would be a fair value. But after a few days use I’m certain the iSongbook isn’t worth the usual $250+ price tag. It’s a solid, sweet sounding system to be sure, but just the same its features miss the bulls-eye.
Before going negative, I want to be clear that the iSongbook is a well-built unit, perhaps best in class. When you pick it up it you notice how light it is, yet it also feels like it will last a good while, unlike some of the lower quality iPod systems. All of the buttons and knobs have a great touch to them. Perhaps as equally important, the sound is as clear, crisp, and bright as you can expect a portable system to be. It’s not going to substitute for a home audio system, but its not intended to either. Compared to the leading iPod clock radio, the iHome iH5 and iH6, there simple is no comparison; the iSongbook is a songbird in that contest and easier to use as well.
When you pay $250+ on a clock radio, portable or other wise, you expect features. And facially the iSongbook delivers with:
• Swing out iPod dock
•AM/FM radio w/ 9 and 10Mhz switch for worldwide compatibility
• Sleep timer
• Aux port (works only when iPod is not docked),
• 5 radio station pre-set buttons
• Headphone jack
• Detachable/extendable left speaker
• AC/DC power including NiMH rechargeable (AC power adapter included)
• IR remote control
Sadly though almost all of these features lacks in their own way and detract from the greatness the iSongbook could really have been:
• The iPod dock charges, but does not sync. This is standard for most iPod clock radios, though there are many portable speaker systems that allow pass-through synching. In fact the only clock radio I know that also allows synching like a standard iPod dock is the JBL Time Machine, but that unit is clearly not portable. Personally I hate having to remove my iPod from the iSongbook when I want to synch with my laptop. Given that the iSongbook is a portable product it should have a synch pass-though so you don’t need to remove the iPod from the dock.
• When I first turned on the AM radio it was hard to pull in a local stations. The manual said to turn the radio in a different direction to find the reception sweet spot, so I did, and what do you know I pulled in some stations, but now my back is to the speakers. It’s no secret that AM radio waves can be hard to catch in a big city, so why didn’t Tivoli add an antenna input? FM radio reception was easier to get thanks to the built in retractable antenna on top. Both AM and FM sound was clear when I did get reception, and in the case of FM, even vibrant for speakers of the iSongbook’s size.
• I’ve wanted an easy access sleep timer for a long time. The iPod has a sleep-timer built-in but it’s kind of annoying to have to cycle through the iPod menu to turn it on every night. It’s much more convenient to press a single button as the iSongbook features. But like the iSongbook’s other features, sleep-timer makes sure to disappoint.
It only has a single sleep time: 20 minutes. Now where Tivoli figure this is the ideal sleep time I’m not sure, but it is not ideal for me. Sometimes it’s OK, but other times I need a longer time…or a shorter one. The iPod’s sleep timer has several time options. Heck, I’ve got a 1982 Panasonic clock radio in my guest bedroom which can be set to any time desired in ten-minute intervals. In 2007 the chip allowing for such an option surely is a minimal cost, so why did Tivoli choose to restrict user options here? It’s inexcusable for a radio in this price range.
• I don’t really have a problem with the iPod sharing the aux function. What I do have an issue with is that to get the aux function to work one must remove the iPod from the dock. It just doesn’t make sense to advertise a product expressly as an iPod accessory and then require user to remove the iPod completely if you want to use another external audio source. Tivoli really is giving the user a feature with one hand and then taking it away with the other. Thumbs down. All they had to do was put a switch on the dock, or better yet, just separate the iPod and Aux options. You can only listen to one input at a time, but why punish the user by requiring the iPod be physically removed? Lazy engineering perhaps?
• Every two-bit iPod speaker seems to come with a remote of some utility. The one that included with the iSongbook is fairly complete function-wise. It mimics almost every iPod function as well as all the iSongbook functions. But Tivoli should have made the remote radio frequency (RF) instead to make it stand out among the competition. Odds are you are going to be listening to the iSongbook either when you are in bed trying to relax or across the room. In either case do you want to have to aim your remote at a tiny IR sensor? I sure do not. I’d like to just press the remote button and let the airwaves do their magic. Too bad Tivoli didn’t think of this.
• The small display of the iSongbook bothers me. Why does a radio approximately 7-times the size of an iPod have such a small display? It is silly. Even with all of the existing buttons and knobs there is a way to layout the radio to accommodate a bigger screen. The consequence of keeping the screen so small means all the information, time, input mode, alarm setting and so forth is crammed into a 2” x 1” area. It also makes it impossible to see the time from across the room.
Perhaps the screen was kept at a minimum to prevent excessive battery drain when on DC power. It’s my understanding though that as long as the backlight is not on the screen isn’t going to cause poor battery life. And on the iSongbook the backlight is off by default. You turn it on with a button, and it only stays on for about 30 seconds. There is no way to just turn it on for an indefinite period of time, which is another miss in my mind. A $200 iPod allows you to adjust it’s backlight timer; A $250+ Tivoli iSongbook does not.
• Finally, I have to take issue with the alarm function. For a clock radio of the iSongbook’s price to only have ONE alarm is a disgrace. You can go into Target and get a two-alarm alarm clock for $20. I’m really not sure what Tivoli was thinking here other than maybe they thought people were going to buy their product for “snob” appeal, not utility.
What I paid for the iSongbook was a steal. Truly. And if I were reviewing it based on the $120 it cost me I’d give it 5 stars without a doubt. But odds are you won’t be able to buy it for $120, so I didn’t review it that way--and for $250+ I expect a little more perfection. Certainly sound-wise its there, but its just not the whole package its advertised to be. The functions are there and yet still missing.
Consider this: an average Altec-Lansing portable iPod speaker system costs, on average, $150. The sound of an Altec-Lansing speaker vs. the iSongbook is roughly equivalent and both come with IR remotes. The Altecs even come with a travel case, which is extra cost for the iSongbook, and some even have iPod synching pass-though. So the extra $100-150 you are paying for the iSongbook is for the clock, the radio, and the sleep-timer (a function still available with plain speakers via the iPod). There is also the detachable speaker on the iSongbook, but most of the Altecs fold up well for travel, so no points to the iSongbook for that. Finally there is build-quality, which, yes, is clearly a strong point of the iSongbook.
Personally, I don’t think the “value” is there when you have good speaker alternatives, and for less money. I have to say, given the hype I read about this clock radio I’m sorely disappointed in the shallowness of all its features. I expected more, not less. So I say, if money is no object, then sure the iSongbook is the best portable iPod clock radio made, but that is a small category too. However, if you demand value then skip the iSongbook and buy a pair of good travel iPod stand-alone speakers with a remote. The iPod has a clock, an alarm, a sleep-timer all built-in, so what you are really sacrificing is very little. What you are gaining though is $100-150 that stays in your wallet.
The iSongbook includes:
• iSongbook system with built-in iPod dock (available in either white/silver or all black)
• Universal dock adapters for every previous dockable iPod.
• AC power brick
• IR Remote control
• Manual
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