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This story was printed from CNET Asia.
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iPhone speaker docks with alarm clocks

By Kelvin Low
04/05/2009
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilephones/0,39050603,62053758,00.htm

There are many speaker docks in the market for iPods, but not all of them are suitable for use with an iPhone. Those built for iPhones are magnetically shielded against cellular signals, so to avoid noise interference during music playback. We have put together five iPhone speaker docks that not only let you charge your Apple handset, and also use it as an alarm clock.

1.  Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus
 
Logitech's offering features omnidirectional speakers that supposedly increase the sound stage by radiating the audio output more uniformly from four individual drivers. As a portable speaker system, it comes with a carrying handle and is powered by six AA batteries. It has the simplest clock and alarm functions of the five docks in this roundup and does not come with an AM/FM radio, or a built-in rechargeable battery.

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2.  Sony C1IPMK2
 
Sony's speaker dock comes with a battery backup system to ensure the clock continues to function even if the AV power is disrupted. This also ensures that the alarm settings are not lost during the power outage. The C1IPMK2 also features Sony's Mega Xpand to increase the sound field by means of adding a faux spatial effect to the audio. It has a total speaker power of 6W.

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3.  iHome iP27
 
iHome's iP27 is designed to be portable and it folds flat for transport. This does not feature a radio tuner but it offers four drivers in its speaker unit--two active and two passive drivers-- to help improve bass response. This dock runs on either four AA batteries and will need an external AC adaptor for charging the iPhone. It also has a dedicated battery for powering the onboard clock and alarm functions.

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4.  iLuv iMM173
 
iLuv's special feature is the twin docks located at the top of the unit, though only one dock supports the iPhone. For that reason, it is the only dock in this roundup that is capable of simultaneously charging an iPod and an iPhone. It offers bass and treble control, a stereo headphone jack and a total speaker power of 10W.

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5.  Sony CD3IP
 
Besides being a speaker dock for iPhones/iPods, this Sony offering also comes with CD playback features and line-in connectivity. Users have the option to play CDs for the alarm function as well. It features a backup battery (rechargeable) that kicks in should the power from the mains fail. Unlike the C1PMK2, it does not have the Mega Xpand feature and has a combined speaker power of only 2W.

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