iLuv HD Radio & Dual Alarm Clock - Black (I168)
by JWIN
Our Price: $199.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: JWINFormat: CD
Model: I168
Product features:
- Please see the above description.
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of iLuv HD Radio & Dual Alarm Clock - Black (I168)
Customer Review: Practically Perfect (but give it a day or two)
Summary: 5 Stars
If your expectations are in line, and if your broadcasting area has desirable "content," this is a good performer with some added features not found on more expensive HD units. In fact, I'm amazed that this J-Win/i-Luv product, a brand I normally would instantly condemn, has worked out better than more costly Boston Acoustics, Sangean, and Tivoli clock radios on my bedstand as well as the original, comparably priced Sony HD tuner.
I realized I'd have to ditch the conventional FM radios when we suddenly had 24/7 jazz and radio-classics theater available only on HD bands in my community. I started with the Sony HD-tuner but found it inconvenient for attachment to an amplifier-speaker in my music space. The J-Win iLuv stereo clock radio is an attractively-priced HD clock radio, especially for a technology that a couple of years ago was bringing 4 times these price levels (with the exception of the Sony HD tuner, which has held its original low price). Moreover, I personally find the present J-Win unit rather attractive and not as large and space-robbing as the pans by previous reviewers would suggest. And it's a heavier, more solid unit than I would have expected from a manufacturer with a reputation for lightweight, cheap, practically disposable equipment. It fits in nicely between the two walls of my small corner nightstand, with plenty of space left over (for a lamp, a book, a drinking glass).
Pros:
The reception, as even primarily negative reviewers have conceded, is quite good--it picks up standard AM (monaural) and FM frequencies (monaural and stereo) as well as HD bands (FM) from both Milwaukee and Chicago (I'm located between the two cities). Being able to select between monaural and stereo signals--not an option on many other radios--allows for a significantly greater number of stations, since stereo is a much weaker signal, unable to lock into fringe stations. Of course, the claim on the outside of the box that the HD broadcasts of this radio are "of CD quality" may raise the eyebrows of a listener accustomed to an ordinary monaural FM broadcast on, say, a Tivoli Model One or Sangean W-2 radio. A standard FM broadcast on these latter radios (costing twice the price, along with Boston Acoustics, Cambridge, Eton) has greater fidelity and power, with deep and resonant bass tones. Still, the sound of the J-Win/iLuv is certainly adequate--better than those cheap radios with the irritating, paper-thin quality. The sounds of the acoustic bass are tight and distinct, the ride cymbal is sufficiently bright, and the mid-range is natural and pleasant if lacking the "deep bass" timbre that a Tivoli might produce.
Potential negatives:
As for the other features of the radio, the clock will not give you the time while the radio is on (doesn't a sleeper awakened by the radio or its alarm instantly check the time?). And as others have pointed out, it's impossible to read the time or station number let alone some of the tiny icons unless you're viewing the read-out from an overhead angle, however bright the setting. All of the settings are based on push buttons (even coming down to which portion of the button to push), so the learning curve may be a day or two for some users. And of course a single button is frequently employed for multiple functions (e.g. "Sleep" and "Brightness" are controlled by the same button--no consolation for the light sleeper who is both sound- and light-sensitive). And it's still somewhat unclear to me how to un-do and re-do station presets. Initially I had considerable difficulty getting the unit to preset a 2nd or 3rd band of the same HD station. After several nights, I had it down. The instructions, while clear, could be a bit more complete for some of us older users who still depend on them.. (Can you set both radio and buzzer alarms or must you choose? Can you awaken to a specific band of an HD station? Can you set the alarm tuner to go to "sleep" on one station and have it "awaken" tuned to another? Can you check your alarm settings without having to reset them?) I would encourage the user to keep the instruction manual close at hand.
Final verdict:
Regarding some of the above "problems," I'll acknowledge that I've had similar difficulties with recent, highly-rated Sony and Sangean clock radios whereas younger users seem to have a more intuitive sense for setting all of these perplexing devices. A few more pluses: the unit has both an input (for connecting an iPod, CD player, etc.) and output (for using with headphones or a pillow speaker). Another reviewer suggests that the output, when connected to an amplified speaker, yields full-fidelity HD sound, much like the Sony HD tuner (which is half the weight and size). The absence of yet another remote control is a non-issue, as far as I'm concerned. Finally, you can be assured that the product is a genuine HD radio (I've encountered some individuals who assume that all I'm talking about is a radio that has a digital read-out). Look for HD followed by ")," the official insignia for HD. Without the HD, it's still a potentially decent clock radio, with more features than a 10-20 dollar model but probably not worth more than 40-50 of your hard-earned capital.
For the money, it's a five-star performer, with the difficulty of seeing the read-out from anything other than an overhead angle the main drawback. It does appear to have graduating-volume for the alarm, a nice touch. The audio quality is somewhere between low-fi and high-fi with, of course, narrow stereo separation. After a couple of nights' practice, it's a solid all-purpose radio with a bonus: genuine HD) capability. Without the HD, a Sangean W-2 at twice the price or Tivoli Model One at slightly more are likely to satisfy listeners seeking full, resonating bass frequencies. But compared to a Tivoli iPal, which is currently going for over $200, the iLuv is definitely the better value. I should add that the positioning of the input and output--on the front rather than the back of the radio--is another point in the favor of the iLuv. In short, I see no reason to avoid this radio simply because it's an iLuv / J-Win product. In fact, I'm wondering if the JLB HD version can match it--especially the convenience of having aux inputs and outputs on the front panel.
Finally, since this unit is a good all-around clock radio even without HD, you can't go wrong. The primary problem with all HD radios actually comes down to "content." Manufacturers aren't going to allocate funds to high-quality HD radios until the public has cause to give them reason to do so, and the public isn't going to be shopping for HD radios unless there's not merely a greater diversity of HD content but simply a lot more of it. As it is, most commercial FM stations are content to settle for a simple simulcast of their regular programming rather than take advantage of all of the additional channels available to them. All of which should explain why, since its arrival five years ago, HD radio has not reached its potential as a free service capable of multicasting to all tastes.
Description of iLuv HD Radio & Dual Alarm Clock - Black (I168)
Iluv i168 hd radio & dual alarm clockclear digital stereo for am/fm hd radio & multicast stations ; displays station, song name, artist & more; programmable presets for 30 stations ; aux 3.5mm input; full-feature dual alarm clock ; pll tuning with lcd display ; 12w.Digital Cameras and Photo Categories
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