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July 25, 2006
Memorex Mi4004 iWake Clock Radio for iPod
The Mi4004 iWake Clock Radio for iPod (shown) is a new accessory from Memorex for use with all dockable iPods. It comes in black and white.
I bought one of these ($70) and tested it quickly this morning to see how it sounded. The radio function worked well; reception was pretty decent and sound quality was acceptable. Not great (little bass), but acceptable.
However, once I docked my wife's iPod Mini, I noticed that the speakers gave off a weird hum that seemed to correspond to the Mini's hard drive seeking (during start-up and menu functions). It was easily audible even with the unit's volume all the way down, leading me to think it's some sort of shielding problem. When music was playing from the iPod, I didn't hear the hum/noise, but the sound quality was still nothing exceptional.
And that's too bad. The unit is aesthetically pleasing with plenty of options/functions and a nifty white LCD time display. If only it sounded as good as it looked, and didn't have that pesky shielding problem, it'd be a keeper. As is, however, it'll most likely get returned.
So...any suggestions for an iPod-friendly clock radio?
Update: I just got off the phone with Memorex and they suggested that it's likely a defective unit and that I return it and test another in the store. Will post here when I get a chance to do that, so stay tuned.
Update #2: I tested another unit at the store and it exhibited the same noise associated with hard drive activity, although it seemed a bit less (hard to tell as the store was considerably noisier than our bedroom at home). To be fair, I'm not sure if this is an issue with our Mini's connector or an issue with the Memorex unit -- if anybody tries one of these iWakes with something other than an iPod mini, let me know. Thanks.
Posted by Craig in Home A/V
and Music & Audio
Comments
I believe this model was rushed into production with many flawes. The sound is good considering it is a clock radio. The unit will NOT charge all dockable Ipods as claimed. Although it does charge new Ipods, it will NOT charge a 3rd generation Ipod. Therefore, it is not usable with a 3rd generation Ipod. Further, the worst aspect of the design lies with the wake up alarm. There is NO wake up volume adjustment! Once the unit reaches the wake up time, automatically it slowly increase in volume from 0 until it reaches the FULL volume! If you hit the snooze alarm, the sound stops and resumes the full volume sequence after the snooze timeout has finished. Good luck if you want to listen to some QUIET music on your day off. And won't you be surprised if you hit the snooze alarm and hop in the shower. You will come out of the shower to find the volume at FULL volume!!! What a joke design! Don't buy the unit until the design has changed!!!
Posted by: Dr of tooth ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.gearbits.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 16, 2006 10:07 PM
I bought one of these in December 2007 and I just reported a similar problem to Memorex, when my iPod Classic (80Gb) is docked in the clock radio, all my AM stations below 900 are completely filled with static. If I remove the iPod the stations come in perfectly clear. FM stations and iPod tunes sound fine, and like the reviewer above, I like the style and controls of the radio, especially the headphone jack which I looked long and hard for as a feature in a dockable clock radio before I settled on the Memorex. I'll keep mine even with the limitations since there is a workaround (remove the iPod when I want to listen to AM stations) but I might have kept looking had I known there was a problem.
Posted by: Tim at January 4, 2008 11:50 PM