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Philips AJB 1002
by JohnJoeSmith
When your work day starts at 6:45am you need to be up bright and early, and some days even before it's bright! With this in mind it is of the utmost importance that you have a good alarm clock. A mobile phone simply doesn't cut it, I don't know what it is but with a mobile phone alarm I always manage to press sleep 15 times before ... getting out of bed. Luckily my girlfriend was nice enough to spot this problem and bought me a proper alarm clock, a Philips AJB1002 Clock Radio.
The words "clock radio" conjure up images of old contraptions my father owned but nowadays it means something completely different. Out of the box you are greeted by a silver, almost mirror like finish and a glossy black display. I have to admit that it is a very attractive product and looks great on my nightstand. The time, date and radio station title are displayed in crisp grey lettering, which is very easy to read and with the adjustable brightness is not too harsh on your eyes at 5:30am! Pricing is very competitive too with models available on Amazon for £29, and about £40 in a brick and mortar shop.
Unfortunately that is about where the positives end. The user interface on this alarm is possibly the most infuriating piece of engineering I have ever encountered. Every time the clock is turned on it resets back to DAB mode, while I do listen to DAB more than FM it is very annoying that it can't just recall the last listened to station. Similarly if I want to listen to the radio a small bit before going to sleep it tkes about 20 different button pushes to get it all set up at the right volume and brightness. Maybe all clock radios require this amount of work but my god I am not able for that at 5:30 in the morning!
On a more positive note, the radio reception isn't bad at all. I have a larger set-top radio in my living room and the Philips can pick up just as many stations. Sound quality is decent enough as well, a bit light on the bass but the higher notes are clear without much distortion. It would probably make a real audiophile cringe but it's more than good enough for my uncultured ears!
This item is a tough one to summarise, it looks well, and sounds great but it requires you to have an engineering degree to set an alarm. For a radio it is sensational and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone, for a clock radio I'd only recommend it to someone as an April Fools joke. So there you have it in simple terms, no if only using the bloody thing was as easy.
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Philips AE 5200
by 2night
This is the Philips' AE5200 DAB Radio this currently lives out in my dads shed and looks a bit worse for wear, as it's speckled with different coloured paints and a little bit dusty. It gets used absolutely every day for hours on end as my dad isn't the only one that uses the shed. I use it around once a week to tinker with my bike, and ... this radio keeps me company during those solitary hours.
What does DAB mean?
DAB stands for digital audio broadcasting. It's the same as the difference between terrestrial television and satellite TV. It has a brighter, clearer sound and a huge selection of radio channels from all over the world. Think of this radio as the equivalent of a satellite dish, it can pick up channels from far away instead of being limited to stations from your country or area.
This can run off both battery and mains power, the battery option is good as when me and my dad go fishing we always bring it with us to have at the river side, although it takes six AA batteries and they will only last around nine hours of continuous play. The mains power option makes more sense when it comes to using the radio at home as the batteries wouldn't last very long with the amount of time this does be running on a daily basis.
Sound wise it's decent actually it's good, but it's more designed for radio listening, this doesn't have a sound system-like sound off it, and I don't think anyone would expect it to have.
The base output is good not muffled or lacking any depth. It's got good treble and when listening to talk radio it sounds great.
The majority of this little radio is made of the speaker, in fact the front panel is basically all speaker, bar the display screen. The volume and radio controls are in the form of rocker switches and are located at each corner. The display screen has blue characters on a black background not the easiest of colour combinations to see from a distance.
As with most radios there are also preset buttons, these are located right along the top edge this makes them the easiest of all the buttons to reach which is great. Preset really comes into it's own when it's a DAB radio as there can be a bewildering amount of channels to scroll through. So being able to just click a button makes it so much easier, especially for my dad, who wouldn't have the patience for it otherwise. There are twenty presets in total and these can be used for either FM or DAB.
All and all this is very handy, functional radio that's both portable and discreet.
Perfect for your kitchen or garden shed.
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Philips Docking Entertainment System DC315
by 2night
This handy all in one docking station from Philips electronics is a stylish all black picture frame-like design.
It's not only a docking station but also a clock radio so as you would expect this ended up in my bedroom. It takes up very little space on my bed side table as it's design is very slim and compact with a simple ledge at ... the back to keep it balanced.
I like to listen to music in bed and being able to have your choice of hundreds of thousands of songs is one of the best things about the iPhone and also the iPod touch, both of which can be charged and played through this system. At night I use my ear phones in order to not wakeup the entire house but first thing in the morning once everyone is up I play my music through the integrated speakers on this very handy machine.
This is called the Philips DC315 dock. The overall appearance of this station was obviously heavily influenced by the Apple devices it's designed to hold. The entire body of the unit looks like a mini iPad with it's black glass screen and silver trim. This results in a styling blend when docking your device.
The controls are all located right in the front and are easy to use. When you first plug it in you will need to enter the date time and year so the clock can get to work. The display has large red on black lettering and numbers so it's very easy on the eye as your trying to sleep yet still very easy to read. The same control buttons as used for setting the time also allow you control your iPhone or iPod touch once it's docked. There are two alarm modes one that can be set for weekdays and one for weekends. This is great as you don't have to bother turning off the alarm, because the last thing you want is to be woken up at seven AM on a Saturday.
The speakers on this device have a good sound they are two x 4 W RMS, doesn't sound like much I know but it's plenty, the sound is clear and crisp with a good punch to the base, while not destroying the other elements of the overall sound.
The radio tuner is great to and the sound isn't as good as through using the iPhone or iPod but it's still very clear. I have saved plenty of FM channels, this way I don't have to go searching for my favourite morning show when I'm half asleep.
Overall this looks great, with it's modern sleek design. And it works great, with it's high quality sound, whether it's MP3 or FM radio. pulse it's an alarm clock and while it's doing all of these things it's still charging my Apple devises.
I love it.
This can be purchased online at :
amazon.co.uk
for £68.98 + shipping.
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