Bose Wave Music System - Graphite Gray Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've had my Bose for about two years. I'm very glad to have received it as a present because, despite some of its fine features, it certainly does not merit the hefty, comparable-to-a-small-home-stereo price tag.

I like its design and its sound.

I don't like the following "features":

1) It is the most sensitive CD player I have. It will not properly play a number of CDs, especially CD-Rs. If a disc is slightly thin, the unit will either not accept it (you have to give it a push) or not eject it (you have to open up the unit, turn it on, hit "eject," and pull the disc out). This is especially annoying when my $70 boombox plays them without a problem. Refurbishing by Bose did nothing to change my unit's sensitivity.

2) It is not programmable! It doesn't program songs at all. The best it can do is "shuffle," "shuffle repeat," "repeat track," and "repeat disc." The cheapest boombox these days is programmable.

3) The lack of buttons is annoying: I found I had to order a second remote ($10) and keep it by the box. When I called Bose about this problem, the tech suggested getting the second remote and added that a lot of people had done that. My boombox is more user-friendly (it has buttons as well as a remote).

One can argue about the merits of elegance vs. user-friendliness. But the lack of programmability and the oversensitivity of this box make it a poor buy, in my opinion.

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Product Description:
CD music system

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Philips PSS110 GoGear ShoqBox 256 MB Personal MP3 Sound System Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I got this little guy hoping it could be a good alarm clock replacement, but I've found that it doesn't work so well in that regard. That is not to say that it is a bad music player though, it's just not meant to be an alarm clock.

It looks like it would be perfect as a portable speaker set for an iPod or something, due to it's size and rechargeable battery. Or if you didn't have a computer at work and wanted something you could bring in to play music files on. It's very portable.

The good:
1. sound - puts out some pretty decent sound considering the size.
2. size - smaller than I thought it would be. not pocket-sized, but not prohibitively big or heavy either.
3. looks - very polished design.
4. accessories - comes with cord antenna, line-in cord & carry case, all good add-ons that complete the function of the unit.
5. firmware upgradeable, so more (or more improved) features may be yet to come.

The bad:
1. clock displays in 24hr format all the time. I'm guessing Europe is the primary market for this thing.
2. When plugged in and turned off, the LCD backlight is on all the time. Might bother some people who are light sleepers. and when you have the unit on, the backlight has a 5 sec timeout? it would seem to make more sense the other way around to me.
3.alarm snooze is only 10 minutes, and automatic. I prefer it to only go into snooze when you hit a "snooze" button, so I can leave the radio running while I get dressed and stuff in the morning. as it is now, you have to turn it off after the alarm goes off, then turn it back on again, or else it will automatically go into snooze mode after 10 minutes.
4. you have to use musicmatch jukebox to upload music to it. well, you can upload music manually, like it was a flash drive, but the device uses a SQLite database, which needs to be updated or else it won't see any new music in the music folder. there are some third party apps for updating this db for you, but they are flaky at best. I just hate having to use an app to do something as simple as moving files.

The good news about most of these bad things is that because the unit is firmware upgradeable, Philips could release fixes for them eventually, if they are on the ball.

So, I will still say I like this thing, even if I do have to still stick with my older, uglier alarm clock for now.

UPDATE: the latest firmware for this has fixed two issues:

1) it now does 12 hour time display as well as 24 hour.
2) the backlight will dim after a short timeout period when it is plugged in.

Just an FYI.

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Product Description:
Philips, Personal Sound System MP3/WMA/DRM, 256mb, FM radio, clock/alarm, AC/DC, unique styling

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iLive CD and Radio Home Music System with Docking and Recharging Station for iPod (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great radio for the price.I wanted an am/fm radio and a clock in addition to the Ipod dock...the cd player was a bonus! Love the remote too.I was pleased to discover that the speakers are not attached to the unit so they can be placed anywhere you want.

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Product Description:

Enjoy your favorite tunes on this home stereo system with docking and recharging station for iPod. The IH319B features a vertical-load CD player with motorized door, AM/FM stereo radio with digital tuning, and a play/recharge circuit for iPod.


Home stereo system with docking and recharging station for iPod. Click to enlarge.
Motorized door opens to reveal iPod dock and CD player.
Full-featured remote control included.
Vertical-Load CD Player
The IH319B is a great CD/iPod combo, with a motorized, dark plastic door that raises to reveal the CD player. Throw in your favorite CDs and burnt CD-R/RW discs and enjoy. You can program up to 20 tracks if you want a specific playback order. Dial in just the right sound with the preset EQ controls.


Docking Station for iPod
What's that hiding under the door? An iPod dock. Keep your iPod charged and keep the tunes coming with a Universal iPod dock. Includes brackets to get the right fit for each model. Once it's docked, you can control playback of your iPod from the front of the system, or on the included remote control.


AM/FM Radio
When you need some live programming, turn on the digital-tuning AM/FM radio, pull up your favorite preset and enjoy.Backlit LCD Display
Check the time or station on the white backlit LCD display. The digital clock features a handy timer function, useful for cooking/etc.Wall Mountable
The IH319 is wall mountable; on the back of the main unit and each speaker are screw slots for mounting on walls.Auxiliary Input
Connect non-docking iPods, MP3 players, and other audio devices.What's in the Box
iLive IH319B Main Unit, AC Adapter, Remote Control (Battery Included), iPod Brackets, User Manual

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