Customer Reviews

RCA Universal Dock for iPod Clock Radio (RP5512i)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I read reviews that other people have written about this item saying that it stopped working for them, and don't understand why mine works great.
I travel with the Phantom of the Opera as a crew member, and I pack this thing all around the country with me in my carry on bag. Yeah its kind of big, but it charges my iPhone and is a great alarm clock. There is a sliding switch at the bottom for you to choose your US time zone, and a button for DST (I ran into areas that don't do DST in Canada allot). The alarm will also go off without being plugged in for those times you accidentally plug into those pesky switched outlets in hotel rooms. Another great feature is if you adjust an alarm time, it will automatically turn on activate that alarm so you don't have to remember to turn it on after setting it. It also has a NAP button. Opposite of a SLEEP button (which it also has), it will do increments of 10, 15, 20 etc min. without having to reset one of the two alarms you can store in memory. I do charge my iPhone and listen to music with no problem other than if you have airport mode off on the phone, you hear all that 3G data buzzing before a call, txt, email etc. When you drop it on, it will say to you that it isn't a compatible device, but that is just because it does not filter out the noise from the cell service.
When I pack it into my suite case and travel with it, the display turns off (of course). The coolest part is when I plug it back in, it displays the time after about 10 sec. I have had the two AA batteries in it since Aug '08 and it is unplugged for about 5 days a month.
I have had mine since Aug of '08, and it has been working flawlessly. If I forget it in a hotel room or accidentally drop it and see it shatter into a million pieces, I will defiantly by another one.

I have never reviewed a product in my life, so bear with me.
I wanted to wake up to my ipod music, rather than my annoying alarm clock, so I did some research and read many reviews about other ipod alarm clock products. I had certain features I wanted, such as being able to dim the light on the unit for nightime sleeping, and I wanted to be able to set the waking volume of the music and a few other features. This RCA fit the bill nicely, there is a switch on the right side to dim the blue light and the digital numbers on the clock, and there is also a volume knob on the right.
You can wake to alarm sound, radio or ipod music and what is great is that there is two alarm settings, if you have a spouse or want to wake at the different time on the weekend and I found that a great feature. The unit has buttons on the top to quickly turn Alarm 1 or 2 on and which feature you want to wake up to.
It has a sleep feature that allows you to fall asleep to music or a nice nature soundtrack from your ipod.
I really like that the Ipod dock slides in when you are not using it, to avoid getting cat hair or dust on the dock.
It also has a nice snooze button right in the middle on the top of the unit. The only thing I found slightly difficult was setting the time on the alarms, it has a knob that you feel like you might break if you turn too hard, but you have to turn hard to get the numbers to change.
This unit was inexpensive and had all the features I wanted and has been working nicely. The only other feature that might be useful and none of the others had this, is a button to press so that you can dock you ipod all night and wake up to it, but NOT charge it. I feel like I am ruining the battery life of my ipod by charging it too much.
Also wanted to mention that if the alarm is set to wake to ipod and your ipod is not docked then it automatically reverts to alarm sound.
Thanks for reading and I hope this review was helpful to you.

The first one I ordered from Amazon didn't charge my ipod. I sent it back and the next one worked fine. This clock has many features and I really like it. It was a great buy for the money, much less than the iHome. I would recommend this eventhough the first didn't work.

I bought this clock about 4 months ago to replace my existing clock (there was nothing wrong with it - my cats kept walking on it and changing the time in the middle of the night or turning the alarm off completely) I bought this one specifically because of the time setting option - you have to turn a knob on the top.

It worked great until about 3 days after my 90 day warranty was up. I would hit the snooze and it wouldn't go off again or it would go off 45 minutes later.

I finally (after 2 weeks) I discovered that it had developed a fault in the top knob where it never stops changing the snooze time. It's constantly rotating. And you can't use both alarms because if one is on snooze, the other wont go off. :(

Plus sides - the speaker isn't bad and I love that the time shifts over when you pull out the iPod drawer.

It's being relegated to radio duty in my kitchen.

I was dissatisfied with my previous iPod clock radio, because the (blue backlit) display was too bright and difficult to see except from directly in front of it. It also would not charge my 4th generation iPod nano, because of the hardware change made by Apple so that they will no longer charge through Firewire (which I didn't know about until doing a bit of research online). After doing a significant amount of research on Amazon as well as the websites of Target, Walmart, and Best Buy, I narrowed my options for an affordable iPod alarm clock radio down to this one, two Emerson models, and one from Memorex. I finally decided on this one, although I was a bit nervous because I wasn't 100% sure that it would charge 4th-gen iPod nanos. When I received it, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Not only does this device charge my nano, it does it in style. The LCD display is clearly visible from most angles, and for those who are light sensitive, there is a convenient button on the side which will dim it significantly (as well as turn off the iPod indicator light, which is also quite bright). Even when dimmed, the time display is easy to read. I wear contacts, but I keep the clock radio right beside my bed, so there isn't an issue there. I'm not sure if it would be as clearly visible from across the room. There are also loads of other features included, which makes this a super deal. Two separate alarms can be set to wake to buzzer, radio (AM or FM), or iPod. I haven't used them a great deal yet, so I can't say much about the alarm volume level. I use the sleep function every night to fall asleep to my iPod, and I am very satisfied with it. The volume range is great - it quiets down enough for me to sleep even with my head only about 2 feet from the speakers, but it also goes loud enough for me to hear it clearly two rooms away - and I don't even think I've maxed it out yet. It doesn't seem to lose sound quality at either end of the volume spectrum, and overall I'm very impressed with the speakers, because I've heard complaints about a "tinny" or "flat" sound from similar devices. Of course, I'm no expert and I've never had the opportunity to experience truly high-end speakers, but these work just fine for me.

Another convenient thing about this device is that is automatically sets the time when you first plug it in (after you select your time zone and whether Daylight Savings Time is in effect using switches on the bottom). After that, it keeps the correct time by use of a back-up battery (which is included) that should last at least a year before it needs replacing. Unfortunately, the time zone thing only works in the US (the only options are Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern).

The one complaint I would have about this device is that when you are setting the time or alarm, you have to turn a knob on the top, and if you are playing your iPod at the same time, it will begin to move through your songs as well as changing the time, which is annoying. Of course, the solution is simple, which is to turn the iPod off while you change the time or alarm. No big deal, and the good definitely outweighs the bad in this product. I have had it for only a little over a month, but I couldn't be more satisfied with my purchase. Now to see whether it is as long-lasting as it is feature-packed...

After 6 months, I could read only the top half of the lights. Worthless and a waste of money. Now I'm shopping for another ipod alarm clock and hopefully the next one won't be a waste of $40+.

This is a great product. The main reason I wanted it was for the docking station and the sound is great. All the other features are bonus. The only downside sometimes is that the radio reception isn't the best. I have one of these on my bedside table and one in the bathroom. The bathroom one gets worse reception than the one in my bedroom. I think it might have something to do with the fact that there are no windows in the bathroom, but I'm not sure. It does get some stations really well,even in the bathroom, just not always the ones that I want. But even with that I make do. But if you want good radio reception for many channels this is not the product for you. If you want a good docking station then go ahead and pull the trigger. Oh, the clock feature is awesome. You just plug it in and the right time comes on. It's got its own batteries too. It's very clever. I've only recently noticed that when you have the iPod in, the clock is to the left of the iPod. But when the iPod's gone, the clock is in the middle of the screen! I just thought that was clever.

I've only had this for a few days, but my initial impression is good. Here are some pros and cons to consider when buying this item:

+ Easy to use. The rotating dial makes it easy to set the time and alarm, and I like that the front has separate buttons for selecting radio, iPod or aux input (most items have one button that cycles through). The nap button is a nice extra, and the snooze and alarm buttons are easy to find and tell apart in the dark.

+ Programming options. Some dual alarm clocks use the same audio source for both alarms. This one lets you select different sources, which makes more sense in a "his and hers" situation.

+ Nice design. It looks modern, but not overly techie or attention getting. I like that. This is also one of the smallest iPod dock alarm clocks I've seen. It fits well on the 4" shelf above my bed.

+ Auto setting. Just plug it in and it shows the correct time. Cool!

- Bright blue light. What is this obsession with putting bright lights on alarm clocks? The time display on this one doesn't light up my room, but the iPod dock has a very bright blue light that serves no useful purpose; this light also makes a low humming sound when it's on. The "dim" setting turns the light off, but also dims the time display so that it's harder to read.

- Lesser sound quality. For me, this is a good compromise for the size, but I would appreciate an external antenna to take some of the static out of the radio reception.

UPDATE: I've been using this for a year now. It makes my new iPhone flash the annoying "this device is not optimized for the iPhone" message every time I plug it in, but I consider that a fault of the iPhone, not the clock, and am hoping Apple addresses it. Otherwise, no problems.

I just recently purchased this clock and I'm extremly impressed with its quality. Unlike a review that I had read, this dock is compatable with the fourth generation ipod nano.
The pros for this device are almost endless, but the major ones would be that there are two different alarm time settings; three different choices as to what to wake up to (alarm, radio, ipod); it CHARGES the ipod; and it's compact.
The cons, which aren't really a problem for me, are: the gradual increase in volume for an alarm is only availble of the alarm setting (not the radio or the ipod settings); and when using the sleep feature, the volume set will be the volume at which the alarm will be at.

After a lot of research and comparison shopping, I ordered this product. But, I just returned it. Overall, the quality is fine, the sound is good and I liked the nap button function. However, I like to listen to public radio a lot and the radio reception was very poor. I also like to look at the time when my alarm goes off and when this alarm goes off, the display shows the radio station I'm listening to, not the time. If these items are not important to you, then this is a good product. It just did not fit my needs.