Pure Chronos iDock Review - Wake to DAB!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
It seems like I cannot sing the praises of Pure Digital enough lately, but when a company continually produces such high quality products, I think I am excused. The Chronos iDock combines a DAB/FM stereo clock radio, with an iPod Dock, plus a certain style that just shouts quality, so let's take a closer look.When first unpacking the Chronos iDock, the shape stands out as a little different. Rather like your favourite Quality Street, the triangle shape has smooth rounded corners and feels like it will melt in your hand. The build quality really is superb, everything fits nice and flush, and the buttons are well arranged and very tactile indeed. Available in white or Black, we were sent the latter version. It has a silk finish to it, so does not attract the usual fingerprints. In the box you get dock adapters suitable for all dock connecting iPods, even the latest iPod touch is catered for. You also get a nice little remote control.
The first time you switch on, the unit auto-tunes, grabs the time from the DAB signal and sits there waiting for you to play. The first thing I tried was docking and playing back some music from our iPod touch. The audio reproduction is very rich and full bodied. Some cheaper docking affairs sound tinny, but the Chronos iDock really sounded great. A nice amount of detail int he sound, good mid-range, and plenty of bass tones. Switching over to DAB delivered much the same and proved to be a really nice listening experience. The FM tuner is put in for good measure (in my opinion) for those who cannot receive DAB broadcasts. That said, I did try it and it sounded very good indeed, with the odd crackle that is inherent with FM.
With the Chronos iDock you can chose to wake up to the radio (DAB or FM), or to your docked iPod. Setting the alarm is very easy, as are all the other controls on the unit. Having your iPod docked, not only means that you can wake to your fave tunes, but also that you can grab your iPod and it is fully charged every morning. A nice large snooze button is located on the top of the unit, which is easy to find and press when you are half asleep. The display is really nice too, it shows the time, signal strength, volume, DAB text, now playing etc. and even has an auto-brightness sensor, so it dims when you switch the lights off... it is nice touches like this that make it stand out from the crowd.
For £99 you get a really polished product. I would pay this sort of money for a dock/speaker combo of this quality. The fact that you also get DAB/FM and alarm features too, make the Chronos iDock a real bargain. This superb combination certainly deserves our prestigious Gold Award.Product: Chronos iDock
Price: £99.99
Supplied by: Pure Digital
Contact: +44 (0)1923 277488
Labels: Apple iPod, iPod Touch, Review
4 Comments:
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At 8:34 pm,
said...
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Is it compatible with the iPhone?
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At 7:04 pm,
said...
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yes - works with my iPhone 3G.
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At 3:56 pm,
said...
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do you put your iphone in flight mode? Mine seems to be messing up if I dont put it in flight mode....thanks for your help
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At 12:26 pm,
said...
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Question: Can I switch off the display (light) complete?
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Dave
Dave has been in the graphic design industry for 14 years. Long time reviewer of technology related products, he is Owner/Editor of Geekanoids.
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