Customer Reviews

Cambridge SoundWorks 745i CD Radio W/ iPod Dock [Black]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was looking for a second Bose CD/radio and read another review that had my same frustrations with the Bose. (No Bass/Treble adjustment, lose the remote and you don't have a usable device..). I ordered the Cambridge and here is my comparison. It is slightly larger and Much heavier than the Bose, the sound is comparable but does not have the clean volume range of the Bose. The radio station reception is not good without a lot of tweaking. I do appreciate the exteranl controls on the Cambridgte along with a user friendly remote that operates all the components. The ipod dock is a big plus and EASY. Overall the Cambridge is a close second with user features that make it preferred as my 2nd radio/device player. The price difference is also substantial. That said, I will keep one Bose on hand, but Bose should be listening to why I am buying the Cambridge instead of a second Bose.

I started out buying the wave from just going by the comercials. Not wanting to spend as much as the wave for one of the spare rooms I went on line looking for a cheaper item and came across the Cambridge Table Radio 740 with CD player. Less than one min of listening to this Rocking machine it did not take much to figure out this Cambridge blows the wave right out of the water. It was like night and day the differance plus all the other features that you get for less than the wave radio. Now to sweeten the deal even more they improved it by adding a I Pod dock. I have sence bought the new Chambridge 745 and just like the 740 it Kick you know what. I have the 745 in my bedroom and the 740 in my daughters room and for the Wave, well that thing is in the guest room. I don't know why Cambridge doesn't advertise, there product is a winner.

Because this product appears to be the same as the CD 740 radio, with an iPod dock added, I'm reviewing it based on my experience with the CD 740, which I bought directly from Cambridge Soundworks in spring 2006. I agree with the other reviewers that in many ways this is a competitive product to the Bose Wave radio. I also own the Bose [edited to add, it's the older one that has buttons on the top, not the current one which only operates by remote] so I've compared them in my own home. I can't tolerate cheap radios although I'm not a world-class picky audiophile. I find the sound each of these radios produces to be very good, strong, and room-filling.

The Bose is lighter and smaller and more attractive, and I like that its alarms start off low and increase in volume, which the CD 740 alarms do not. The CD 740 has more radio station presets than the Bose, and where I live six FM presets (what the Bose has) is not enough. The CD 740 has a total of 16 FM presets, and 8 AM presets.

But sadly, after 21 months, my CD 740 seems to have fried a chip or something - all the time-related functions are kaput. And it's out of warranty, so to have it repaired I'm out of pocket $65 plus the cost of shipping it to Massachusetts. I think the unit is not adequately shielded against static electricity, a common household problem especially in dry climates. My Bose radio is a lot older than the CD 740 and has never had any problems like that.

I am going to send the CD 740 back to Massachusetts for repairs, because that is cheaper than buying anything to replace it, and I like this unit overall. But I may never buy another Cambridge Soundworks audio product, based on this experience: this radio is too vulnerable to static electricity, and the warranty is not long enough.

Pros:

* Excellent sound
* Price
* Nice remote, can also control the iPod
* iPod dock with video out (composite and S-video)
* On-board control buttons
* Dual alarms

Cons:

* Ugly and cheap looking (compared to the Bose Wave radio)
* Horrible blue light on the iPod dock that can't be turned off and is bright enough to keep you awake at night. Worse yet, it is an utterly pointless light: it gives you absolutely no useful information.
* Non-existent radio reception without an external antenna, marginal reception with one, even on local stations. If you're thinking of buying this primarily to use as a radio, don't.

I buy this item because I read a review telling that it is better than bose wave. That is not true.But it's ok for the price.

I bought this unit in July 2008 and I also had a problem with the remote's functionality with the 3rd Gen Nano. Cambridge support claims that the unit only supports 1st and 2nd generation ipods and I did not see this explicitly stated anywhere before I bought it.
The remote is either not working ( the Next Track (>|) button does not work, nor does the play/pause) or the remote is defective.

Sometimes the remote does not work for the radio or cd either. You have to press and press again or get right up to the unit. I changed the battery and it did not help either.

I'm waiting on a reponse to see if it will be replaced.

UPDATE
Cambridge replaced the remote and the new one works fine woth the Nano 3G.
Overall i'm pleased with the product and the customer service was great.

Ordered on-line. Unit defective- no FM reception- Took 11 phone calls and 4 emails to get one inadequate response from " customer service" over 10 day period. They would however, happily accept another new order but no one to handle problems or returns. Be careful, so far unable to obtain adequate credit or replacement

Bought this in Nov'08 directly from Creative over the Internet and I was very pleased it initially. However on the 12th Jan it stopped working - the CD player just stopped.
They agreed to replace the unit so I returned it and they sent a 'new' one to me. This didn't work out of the box, it turns out that it was a 'reconditioned' unit that was faulty too.
So i returned that and after much arm twisting they agreed to refund me money.
It is now the 7th May and after 4 months, 20 emails, 2 broken units, several telephone calls, many broken promises and apologizes, I've not yet received my refund.
Forget Sky and NTL, these guys top the poll and are the poster boy of bad customer service.
NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THEM
(I'd give them zero stars but I can't on this website)

Mine did not work with the latest (4th) generation iPod Nano (Cambridge unit ordered Oct 2008) - but does work with 3rd generation - so I kept it - was good enough - (so also question if will work with iPod Classic 120 GB (contemporary released with 4th generation nano)) - so if you need that functionality (4th generation) specifically ask about it.

later addition - unit does work with iPod Classic series - but probably not iPhone - have had the unit now about 2 months - like it a lot - good big sound and function from a small box - including big thumping bass if you want (however does not have HD radio if you want that).

This is just about the most awfull thing I've purchased. Getting tired of Bose I decided to try this because of their supposedly reputable lineage.
The CD eject button didn't work from day one. The remote began to falter at day 10. Most of the unit's front buttons ceased to respond at day 20. FM only worked with odd-numbered stations ( odd number after the dot: 95.7:0k; 97.6,doesn't tune).
Contacted all the time CambridgeSW. Got illeterate answears. Two problem e-mail strings ended with the phrase: " you should contact Cambridge SoundWorks" (!!!!!). Any one interested I'll send a copy of the mail closing the case with such a phrase.
Beware.