Customer Reviews

iHome ZN9 Dual Alarm Clock with Speaker Dock for Zune (Black)

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I recently bought the 80GB 2nd Gen Zune (which I love) but I knew I wouldn't just want to listen to it via earbuds all the time. So I finally found this device. And let me tell you, it is worth every penny.

Features I love:
--It is LOUD, I can hear this all over the house pretty much and I haven't even tried the highest volume setting.
--It is sleek looking. Nice design and easy to read display with multiple brightness settings for the clock.
--I like the dual alarms. Have one set early for during the work week which it knows to only use M-F, and one set for later on the weekend days.
--I like that it has two volume memories. One for just normal play and one for when you have it on the sleep. So crank it up during the day, and if you want to fall asleep to it, that volume can be kept lower.
--And the sleep timer is available for up to 2 hours long which is nice. Most units only do 1 hour.
--Adjustable snooze time length, anywhere up to 30 minutes of snooze time.
--All display buttons light up, making it easy to use even late at night.

Features not so great:
--Does not include a remote control to operate the unit. That is available via an offer inside the box direct from iHome for $20 more.
--Only 6 preset radio stations per band. I have close to 10 good stations near me so I had to narrow it down a bit. But then again I didn't really buy this to listen to the FM radio much.


The 2 cons are not that big however. The option to get the unit for $100 and buy a remote is fine and the other one is just me being picky so I would have something negative to say!

All in all, this is a great product and if you are a Zune owner, it is nice to have something specifically made for Zune products! Highly recommend!

PS - Since Amazon.com doesn't seem to actually stock this item, get it direct from iHome for $99 with no shipping and tax (at least to where I lived) and it arrives fast, plus you get a free set of pretty nice earbuds (although I still prefer the premium buds I got with the Zune 80...) The included 10% coupon in the box can save you $2 more on the remote if you order that... Not bad...

Okay, so I got the 120G Zune, which I love. But then soon realized that if I'm going to have all my music collection on it, it'd be a waste to only be able to listen to it when in the car or travelling on a plane. I also do not have a stereo at home so there was nothing to connect it to.

After some research, I opted for the iHome dock made for Zune. It is very compact in size, but the sound quality is surprisingly good. The thing does have an equalizer to make adjustments, but honestly, right out of the box everything sounded great. Even at high volume, there is little to no distortion and it can be heard throughout my house.

The alarm clock features are also great as there are many options such as 2 separate alarms, both of which can be set for 5 days, 2 days, or 7 days. And the sleep to/wake to functions are also nice. The alarm itself, should you choose that option, is not terribly jarring or annoying since it starts softly and gradually builds.

The battery-back-up has already proven itself very useful. We tend to have power outages where we live, and I've lost count of how many times I've overslept because the power was out. So this week, when it happened again, the alarm woke me up on time. I also liked the fact that the time automatically sets--when you take it out of the box, there is no need to set the time; just set the time zone and the thing does it for you!

There are a couple of downsides, albeit minor. First, if you want to listen to am radio, you will need to plug in an antenna which is cumbersome and awkward since there is really nowhere to hide it. This was not a big deal for me, though, since I don't really listen to am radio, and I didn't really buy this to listen to the radio--seriously, why listen to commercials when I can listen to all my music collection commercial free?!

The second downside is that this does not come with a remote control. At first, I didn't think it would be that big a deal. But since I have the thing on one end of the room and work from other side of the room, a remote would have been handy. A remote can be purchased from iHome for about $20, so I might just have to cave in and get one.

Other than those two caveats, the iHome dock is a great thing to have if you have a Zune.

Features are great with the dual alarms and 5 day/week alarm option. Lots of settings for the back light so it's not too bright. The problem is that it will randomly reset itself. The time will change to 12:00 and the alarms will also reset as if it had been unplugged. Not only has it been plugged in the whole time it has a brand new back up battery in it too. The reset seems to be triggered by docking the zune. The last thing i want to do as I'm going to bed is reset the day, month, year, time and alarm on this stupid thing.

We love the iHome Dual Alarm Clock with Speaker Dock for Zune. There are so many products out there for iPod and virtually nothing for Zune, so we were very pleased to find this for the Zune. It charges and plays the Zune, the only drawback is that the remote doesn't come with it, there is an additional charge of $19 to order the remote. And it is rather expensive to start with, I guess because it is the only product of it's kind out there. As more become available, I am sure the price will come down and they will have more accessories readily available with them.

I purchased the ihome Z9 in January. After only 5 months my display became unreadible. Variouse segments of the numbers and letters on the display began to fade and brighten at random, making the time and date impossible to read. The clock has been plugged into a surge protector the entire time I have owned it, so it is on a clean power supply. It is just poor manufacturing. I have read about others having this problem too. To make it worse, the manufactures warranty is only 90 days! Wow, ihome really does not back their products!
Sound quality is about a 6/10. The Zune and radio sound okay, but there was no "wow" factor. I was not overly impressed with the sound quality, but my wife and I did not mind listening to it when we were in the bedroom.
Bottom line, I recommend buying something else.

i own a 30g zune and i absolutely love this product. its got some awesome features that make this a must have zune product
-crystal clear sound with all songs
-costomizable equalizer with decent bass quality. wont shke your car but u can feel it in u.
-almost impossible to blow out the speakers. i actually think u would kill your ears b4 the speakers.
-nice to sleep to my music
-even better waking up to my music
-very low profile, can put almost anywhere

there is one problem with the machine and i think it may be universal, so dont call this a deal breaker
-some electronics near the device cause the music to "skip" or "crack"

all in all this is a very ingenius product, a must have for zune owners, and will last u a very long time, keeping u happy at the same time.

So I'm a huge Zune fan, and I have a lot of products made by them and I haven't had one go wrong yet. So I wondered if there were any other products I could find to make life easier and go figure I found another product that doesn't disappoint. I would go to iHOME to get this product because average shipping time is 1 to 2 months and nobody wants to wait that long. iHOME will get it to you within a week at best. I got the Zune Alarm Clock and here are my reasons why any Zune fan should get this product.

--- Sleek, and stylish design / Different settings for brightness for a better undisturbed sleep. Also multiple mounts for different Zunes.
--- User Friendly / Button placement is easy to understand and use.
--- Alarm Functions / 2 different alarm functions 2-5-7 days setting, Wake to Zune, Buzzer, or Radio.
--- Sound Quality / For the alarm itself the volume starts at 0 and gradually goes up to make sure your able to hear it. It's nice to not have to set your alarm volume and have the problem that it's to loud or soft. The overall sound quality is just great I haven't had an alarm clock that was this good for sound.
--- Remote accessory / I think it's a tad overkill for a alarm clock but it's nice hit snooze via remote. Also for just listening, like with the stereo docking port with remote package.

Notice: I don't think it's a bad feature but to ensure your Zune plays the right music for your alarm, make a playlist called alarm or alarm clock, and make sure it's on that playlist or song before you you go to sleep so that suites your waking needs.

I personally think this is a great product and a lot better than the CD Alarm clocks. The reason why I say this is the ones I've had when the volume is to high the CD will skip or not play but if you're using an MP3 Player then there's nothing that'll skip or not read. All in All this is a great product and I would deffinatly say buy it.

I have an 8GB Zune. This product has good sound quality and can go way louder than I would ever need while maintaing decent sound quality. It feels well built, and has several good alarm clock feature that I enjoy. The AM and FM gets decent reception. It was easy to set up. Overall a great purchase.
Some small things take away from a perfect rating:
The Zune plug in port seems weak -- probably because it needs to adjust to fit many Zune sizes. I worry if I ever bump a plugged in Zune I will break it.
The brightness setting of the display. It has 7 settings if you include OFF as setting 7. 1-5 are like having a night-light in my room. Setting 6 is pretty dim, and can't be seen when the room lights are on. A dimmer may have been a better option.
The styling is pretty vanilla...for an all black device.

It's about time a worth while device was made for Zune. I have had a Zune 80 for about a year, and the only time I could really use it was in the vehicles. I just got this iHome ZN9 yesterday, works and sounds great!
Don't waste your time or money on that Altec Lansing peice of *#$! Zune dock.
Would have been nice if the remote came with it, instead of having to order it after receiving the device.

After two months of using the ZN9 it still works great. I recently had shoulder surgery and spent alot of time propped up in bed, with remote in hand this thing was a great help! I'm hoping to receive another ZN9 for Christmas to put out in the garage.
Only changes that could be made...A back-lit remote would be nice. It's hard to find the right button in the dark on a remote the size of a credit card. And it would be nice to be able to dim the Zune itself while using the sleep timer, makes a nice night light until it shuts off!
Overall you won't be disappointed with this device.

We purchased this product to replace an older alarm clock, mini-stereo, and Zune charger to streamline the amount of stuff on the stand next to our bed. Although stylish, it does has plusses and minuses:

+ Accepts both the older 30GB Zune, as well as the newer 80 and 120GB models (a big plus at our home)
+ Two alarm settings
+ Sleep mode up to 2 hrs
+ Volume does carry a good distance

- The sound quality somewhat lacking. Bass is weak, although this is not a unit used for audiophiles (critical listeners). As long as you plan to use it as advertised, it is acceptable.
- It only plays Zune files under the 'music' menu. I'm a heavy podcaster and would have enjoyed being able to listen to some of my audio podcasts while docked.

In the end, I'm a satisfied customer - well worth the $.