Customer Reviews

Homedics SS-6510 SoundSpa Fusion AM/FM Alarm Clock Radio with iPOD Docking Station, 6 Natural Sounds and LCD Display

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I needed a replacement for my iHome iPod alarm clock which gave up the ghost after two years and stopped recognizing my iPod. Rather than drop $100 for 2 years again, I decided to try this partly because it was small and because it seemed simple, both of which ended up being true. Overall, it does everything it's supposed to and has two big benefits - 2 alarms that can be set separately or simultaneously and those soothing new age-y sounds. The negatives - it takes a few tries to figure out the best way to set the alarm (especially if you're a snooze button addict like me) and the display light is annoying as it only comes in off, super bright and oh my God I'm blind! This is a big difference from the iHome clock which had a very light display light that was perfect for falling asleep. Otherwise, it's a better, more compact product for a great price.

I received this as a gift for my birthday last year (2008). I still have it, use it every single day (I listen to the radio every morning, and my ipod at night), and I have had no complaints. While the alarm system took me an extra couple of minutes to figure out, once I did, I realized it's not that complicated. I really liked the fact that this product charged my ipod, so I could listen to music while it charged. I also liked its size and design. The reception for the radio is not excellent, but it's pretty good. I listen to NPR, and have no problem hearing what they're saying.

WIth all that said, the only problem is that my ipod classic was stolen recently and I downgraded and replaced it with a 4th generation nano. While the nano plays on the product, it does not charge. In fact, the nano itself says, "Does not charge with this product," or something to that extent. Since this is the most convenient way to charge my ipod, I will have to replace my Homedics player.

If you don't have a 4th generation ipod, I would highly recommend this product.

1. Alarm only works on FM no matter what you set.
2. Display is ridiculously bright, even on 'low' setting.
3. Reception is poor.

sounds are OK

I bought my 6 year old a 4th Generation iPod Nano and also bought this docking station. I had to take it back because it can play the music but CANNOT charge the iPod. I found out through tech support that this only supports 2nd Generation iPod Nano's and older.

The clock works great but the buttons are not very intuitive. I invariably shut the alarm off instead of snoozing. The light is too bright to sleep by but you can turn it off but then you can't see the time in the dark.

Disappointments:

*cannot set different volume for alarm vs what I fall asleep to...it takes a lot of volume to wake me up and that's too loud to sleep

*cannot set dual alarms to different modes both have to be the same; I'd like be able to set an early alarm with a soft nature sound and my "oh no last minute" alarm to the loud loud radio

Pros:

*quality of nature sounds not so bad

*this was the only nature sounds alarm I could find with a charging iPod dock

I was looking specifically for a sound-generating machine that is iPod compatible. This is the ONLY device of its kind in this price range. I reluctantly bought it and have been pleasantly surprised. The sound quality is crisp and true. The sound effects are also of great quality with a long enough loop that it's hard to pick out. (Something I was concerned about during my research.)

I definitely recommend this product.

I agree with the other reviews here:
1) the display is way too bright, and you can't read the clock at all if you turn it off
2) you can't see the buttons at night, even with the annoying display light turned on
3) the buttons make a loud and annoying click sound
4) the operation of the various features is not very intuitive, and often requires pushing several buttons - even just turning the alarm off in the morning takes 2 or 3 buttons

Also...certain of the LCD display bars on mine starting cutting in and out within 2 weeks. Makes it pretty difficult to read the numbers sometimes - and resulted in me accidently setting the alarm an hour early one day!!

I do really like the timer feature so that you can fall asleep listening to the nature sounds, your ipod, or the radio, and it will turn off after the designated time (up to one hour). I also like the 2 alarm feature, and each can be set to a different source, which can also be a different source than what you fell asleep with (i.e. I fall asleep with my ipod, and wake to the radio).

I do wish that you could set a different volume for the different sources, so that you could fall asleep with your ipod on a low volume but have the radio alarm set for a louder volume.

I got it as a gift for purposes of the nature sounds, but the person thought the integrated ipod dock would be a good option because I could download more sounds to my ipod. That's exactly what I did, and so I don't use the built-in nature sounds anymore.

So....my suggestion to anyone looking at this product is to just go with any other ipod docking alarm clock, and download the sounds you want. Not only will you likely get a better quality product - you can just pick the kind of sounds that work best for you!

p.s. I am using this with a very early generation (circa 2004) ipod click wheel that I had completely retired - so that was actually a bonus to find a use for it!

Setting the alarm is 100,00 x more complicated than it should be, so much so that I actually use my ipod alarm clock instead of the one here.

The clock basically has three brightness levels: 1) super crazy bright 2) still crazy bright (too bright to sleep next to) and 3) practically off... can't read it when you roll over in the middle of the night and wonder what time it is.

It's really only good for 2 things: charging your ipod/iphone and playing music when you want it

On a sidenote, occasionally the cat steps on the buttons and the darn thing will suddenly start beeping in the middle of the night (somehow the alarm goes off). It's a nightmare to figure out how to shut it off.

It's great if you want a cheap way to charge your device at night... but you can't even count on it to function as a clock since the brightness settings are pretty much either "glaring" or "invisible."

Good luck!

I love this clock radio. The features are wonderful and it is really a great value for the money. It is simple to understand and the sound is very good. Yes, for some who like to sleep in complete darkness, the light may be too strong. But for many of us who sleep with a night light, it is no different than that. I would not hesistate to reccommend it as long as the buyer did not have a problem with the light.