Customer Reviews

Philips BTM630 Bluetooth Wireless Micro Hi-Fi System with iPod Docking Station

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Just got this the other day. Here are my thoughts:


* Gadgetry
Okay, this thing has all the technology - It's got bluetooth connectivity, including the ability to play music from another device wireless and answer phone calls (built-in mic). It has an SD card slot, and a USB slot for other devices (haven't tried this out yet). It has an iPod dock. It'll even rip your CDs. I haven't seen anything on the market with this many options.

* Ease of Use (Interface)
This is where things start to go a bit off. It's not the easiest device to use. The display doesn't show the most relevant information. For example, if you're looking at it in bluetooth mode, it just keeps repeating the words "BLUETOOTH" in caps on the screen. But that's redundant because I already know that fact due to the big flashing blue light in the corner. Also, though this thing looks like a clock radio, it doesn't function very well as one (it rarely shows the time throughout the various functions - alarm is hard to set).

* Sound
It's fair - Not a whole lot of bass, mids are a little muddy, highs are very nice. Having said that, I don't have a comparable reference - I'm comparing it to my home stereo system and the bose wave radio.

* Quality / How's it Look
A good looking device - Definitely doesn't look cheap. It's got a big back end on it, but overall isn't too large. Fits on my nightstand just fine. The buttons are a little plasticky.

* In Summary
I'm going to continue using it - if only because there's no stereo out there that has this mix of features. I bought a bluetooth adapter for my ipod touch. It's very cool that I can be sitting anywhere in my bedroom and picking music. And if it runs short on batteries, I can drop it right into the ipod dock. But... I'm going to have to dig my 15-year-old clock radio out of the closet.

I am very pleased with this purchase.I used it to dock my 160G Ipod Classic.Its not as loud as my hometheater but It does its job filling my bedroom with music.I don't need a hometheater loudness for my bedroom.It's not only an Ipod dock but it has a CD player and an AM/FM tuner.I tried using my USB 8G flashdrive,(I copied all my MP3 collection from my PC to to my flashdrive)and dock it to the usb on this machine and lo It reads all my MP3s and play it,I havent tried the SD/MMC slot yet.So many potentials.You can stream your music from PC via bluetooth.You can also answer cellphone calls on this machine.Cool!.

I received this yesterday from a Woot sale. I'm pretty happy with it so far. I was able to set it up quickly, and I have to say I'm impressed with the unit so far.

The Pros:
-Works with the 3G iPhone: I was a little worried that it might not work, as Phillips doesn't specifically say so. But when I got it, I was able to physically dock the iPhone and play my music through the system. I was also able to easily pair, and connect via Bluetooth. Furthermore, it charges the iPhone/iPod while docked.
-More connectivity than you can shake a stick at: We keep my girlfriend's mac in the kitchen, and this system was meant to replace that as a music player. We can now connect the mac via USB and play through here. We can listen to the radio, CD's, her iPod and even SD - though I'm not in the habit of carrying my music around on an SD card.
-The sound is pretty good: I'm not an audiophile, and the reason we got this was to have something that could put out music at a level louder than the mac's speakers. With that said, this system can get pretty loud (so much so that when I was setting it up in the kitchen, my girlfriend hollered from the upstairs bedroom to turn it down). The highs and mids are pretty good, and the bass is OK for such a small unit. It's not going to win any awards for the crispest, clearest sound, but I'm happy. Furthermore, this system will be perfect for the small get together's we have in our town-house when we're entertaining and have a group of about 8-15.

Cons:
-The bass tones could be stronger.
-The controls feel plastic-y, and without the remote the system would be a bit of a pain to deal with (volume through the remote is easy, changing radio stations through the remote is easy. Doing so through the system controls requires a lot of "click, click, click" to increase/decrease volume, or move up/down channels, change inputs).

All in all, I'd recommend this system for a small area. It's perfect for our kitchen/dining area. It's range of connectivity is what puts it over the top for me. Having the iPod/iPhone connectivity, Bluetooth, and USB options pretty much fulfills every possible requirement me and my girlfriend might want from this system.

All I can saw is WOW!!! what a neat idea and great sound, great features.. I am so glad I found it.. It has changed my whole experience of music between, cell phones, ipod and pc.. now for once I can enjoy all of it through this awesome all in one sound system.. I can login to my sirius acct online and bluetooth to this unit while I am online or cooking or whatever while my laptop is on nearby.. I can also plug my Ipod right on top and get full access to all the ipod features via the remote control (menus, play, playlists, back, volume...etc..) and the sound is even better than the sirius radio.. Then I can play regular am/fm radio (which I have not done yet) I can play cd's, which is also awesome and I can even burn my music to a USB device.. I haven't tried it yet, but I assume I can burn to my external hard drives that have USB.. I will try that..My only wish would be for it to burn to cd and dvd of my playlists.. but my computer can do that so that's ok...

Well I can see a future for this box...I can imagine the next one will play video from an Ipod on a larger screen, or play video from an external source like satalite, cable or dvd.. but I just wish it had a tivo/dvr type pause feature...even if just for sound...Just some wishes..but I can't complain for $159 at Sams Club..pretty awesome...I am happy...:)

PS: I should also mention that this is one sharp looking box, it's compact, yet very stylish. It doesn't look or feel like a typical "boom box" It looks like something high tech and fits very nicely on my kitchen counter.. :)

The problem I have with this system is the sound. Overall the sound is muddy and harsh. We also have a Sonic Impact I-P23 Portable Speakers for iPod and the sound is far better for half the price.

If you want a cool looking clock radio to play your IPod at low volumes, get this. If your looking for a higher quality stereo sound, buy something else.

This Beautifully made iPod speaker is one Great Buy. It features an iPod Dock, SD Input, Aux Input, iPod input, Bluetooth Input, and even allows you to use the integrated microphone for making and receiving calls.
The Picture I admit is a little deceptive, because the front of the speaker looks like cloth, but none the less, it is still a beauty, just a little more suceptible to fingerprints.

Just watch out for the Bluetooth, because it can be a bit of a trick to set up with your iPod.

Overall, besides the little design flaw of how the clock will not appear while an ipod is docked, this speaker is well worth the price tag.

I bought it for my living room. It has a lot of features and the sound is good, mas i has little power for a living room. For a bedroom or an office it would be great!!!!

Don't buy it for patios and other outside uses!

I got this for a gift last february, this thing is amazing. The sound is great for me, i am not an expert but it sounds great to me. It works with my macbook pro to stream music via bluetooth, or my verizon cell phone...can even use it as a speakerphone. AMAZING. I have 3 ipods a shuffle, 5g ipod, and a 2G ipod touch. The shuffle can connect with a aux cable. The 5g ipod is controllable by remote and charges when docked. The same is true of the 2G touch. A bonus with the ipod touch is that downloadable apps like pandora work on the stereo while the remote is able to still control pause, skip and play so you can listen to streaming music through your ipod touch on this stereo. The stereo has so many features, still finding them almost a year later but has yet to disappoint. I can't say enough good things about it. Good job Phillips!

great radio!
not too loud tho, thats its only flaw. everything else is great. easy to use everything. good for a lil reunion of about 5 but not good enough for a party.
the bluetooth feature is awesome!

I bought this expecting it to act as a clock radio/ipod dock - mistake. The LCD display automatically turns off after 15 minutes of non use. I've checked Philips website and it states this is an intended feature: "this is not a failure" is in their FAQ list. Obviously an oversight if it's a frequently asked question. Just a dumb engineering choice. It's intended to be a green device I suppose, it consumes less than 1 watt of power when not in use, so I guess they want to market to people obsessed with the "green" movement. But, I just don't understand the alarm feature on this device if you can't even see the time.

For the few seconds I actually listened to the sound, I really liked it, compared to my Bose Wave Radio. I would love to use this as a clock radio, but it's useless to me without the time display.