Sony ICF-C7IP Clock Radio

Begin and end your day with your beloved iPhone or iPod tunes

323 of 325 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars Best iPhone/iPod Docking Clock Radio, June 4, 2009
By KWJ (Los Angeles) See all my reviews This review is from: Sony ICF C7IP Clock Radio for iPod and iPhone with Hidden Sliding Dock Tray (Electronics) I searched a long time for a combo clock radio and docking station for my iPhone. Though there are some number of on the market, I wanted something that took up as little space as possible on my night stand, had a display with big numbers, could charge my iPhone, play music from my iPhone as the alarm instead of the radio, and was easy to use.

I FOUND IT!! This Sony clock radio is great, and has TONS of features. I like the big illuminated display, which has different settings based on how bright you want the light at night. Setting the alarm is easy (you can go forward and rearward through hour and minutes, without having to run totally through the cycle like most clocks), and there are TWO alarm settings. You may be able to set an alarm for weekdays to get you up for work, , then a separate alarm for the weekend. Pretty cool.

The snooze button is nice and big over the unit, and let us you take the standard ten minute snooze, or you may be able to keep pressing the button and lengthen the snooze time up to 60 minutes in 20 minute increments. A nice feature.

There’s a sleep feature timer so you may be able to listen to radio or iPhone/iPod music while you fall asleep. For the alarm, you may be able to have a buzz, AM or FM radio, or a tune from your iPhone, and it works great.

Buttons on the front and side are nice and big so you do not have to grope in the black, and there are a range of customizable settings.

The best part is the hidden slide out docking tray. Pop it out when you want to charge your iPhone/iPod or listen to music through the clock’s speaker, and push it back in when you do not need it, making the unit’s footprint as small as possible. The docking tray comes with adapters to fit iPhone or iPod. I use mine without either adapter because I have a protecting case on my iPhone, but it still fits in nicely.

In reading back my review, I sound like a Sony employee, but I am not. Dont have connection to the product, other than I am a pleased buyer, and could recommend this unit greatly to anybody looking for a docking station/clock radio for their iPhone or iPod. There are too many other features to go into here. Have fun discovering all the great things Sony thought of to include on this unit.

Thanks for a great unit, Sony!

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345 of 360 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of five stars Radio reception is weak, otherwise a great iPhone/iPod clock radio, August 6, 2009
By Franklin (Los Angeles, CA United States) See all my reviews This review is from: Sony ICF C7IP Clock Radio for iPod and iPhone with Hidden Sliding Dock Tray (Electronics) 1st off, I want to say that I like nearly everything about this alarm clock and that I went to a Best purchase 1st and tested it (music and all) right beside its bigger Sony sibling (the one with the CD player, called Sony ICFCD3iP CD Clock Radio for iPod and iPhone) also as the iHomes and Logitech and other competitors. Generally this one came out the winner in every way IF what you are looking for is an ALARM CLOCK. This isn’t a speaker system by any stretch (it’s not stereophonic, one speaker), it is not intended to party to or have it produce big bass sounds. I know this is evident to most of you but there is generally many imbecile who does not seem to realize that a little alarm clock barely bigger than your iPhone can not possibly be a stereo system.

As an alarm clock, I loved this little system exactly because it does so much and takes up so little space. The LED lights aren’t too bright when you go to the lowest setting, the sound is certainly deafening enough for you to hear if you are in the next room at high volume, the iPhone dock is easy to use and may be used with a case on your iPhone. It also looks good and it is nice that the dock cradle slides in, in general it seems A+.

Since I also compared this one in person to the Sony ICFCD3iP CD Clock Radio and tested them both at the same time, I offers you these observations if it is useful to you. I ruled out the iHomes, by the way, because all systems that make you stick your iPhone on top like that are awful looking, maybe that was cool in 2007 if you thought having an iPhone is cool and you want it brandished like it is a trophy, but that now looks tacky, dated and cluttered. This comparison is between this Sony product vs the one with the CD player:

Size: I liked the CD player another because I really thought this one looks a bit too small. This is only personal preference, if smaller is better for you then go for this one.

Layout: I call this a draw. One thing that is better on the CD player one is that since it is bigger, there was room to put the tuner and the predetermined switches on the sides of the device rather than on the back which isn’t as convenient. You most likely will not use these two switches much though so this most likely does not matter much. One thing I liked better on this one is that hitting the snooze as you are groggy is pretty safe, but on the CD one, since the opening for the CD player is right in front of the snooze button, you may be able to well accidentally open the CD tray violently if you hit the snooze and are not cautious.

Speaker, sound: just a draw for me. The Sony descriptions on Amazon, and indeed on the boxes of the two merchandise, tell you nothing about power. I had to look under the devices themselves (which got me bad looks from the salespeople) to learn that this alarm clock’s speaker is rated at ten watts. The CD player’s speaker rated at 16 watts. Usually I’d say that means the CD player clock is better, but oddly at alike volumes in the store, I really found this alarm clock’s speaker to be better defined than the bigger one from the other Sony, and nearly as deafening. The bass was somewhat better on the other one though. But because this is an ALARM CLOCK and not a speaker system by any stretch, I Truthfully did not care either way, they are both plenty deafening to wake up to music or the radio to and close enough in quality in spite of the different wattage.

IPhone dock: here I projected them both to be the same, but I has been surprised that the iPhone dock trays aren’t intended the same, and that this Sony’s design of the tray was really better than the CD player’s. The CD player’s tray hangs in the air, in that when it opens up there’s space under. So when you put your iPhone in you kind of have to grab the tray or else the whole thing tilts, it is not a good setup. The tray that comes out of this clock, on the other hand, has the end of it flush with the clock’s bottom and whatever table it is on. So it is more secure and you may be able to just dock your iPod on it with one hand and not worry about a thing. So the clear loser is the CD alarm, as this one is better intended. Both can fit an iPhone with the case on by the way, just do not use the tray inserts that come with this.

LED illumination: here too this Sony beats out the CD Sony. Both clocks have three light settings. I put them side by side and tested them both. The upshot is that the bigger one has much lighter LED lights. When I compared both at the lowest setting, the bigger clock was still pretty bright and could be annoying in the black (unless you are afraid of monsters at night and want a night light). At its lowest setting, this Sony here was still just a bit lighter than I could liked, but not almost as annoying as the CD player’s light. This is a big reason why you see good reviews of this Sony here while the CD player’s reviews are usually bad with lots of complaints about the light level.

I did purchase this alarm clock and all in all, I really wanted to love it, but over the past two weeks it infuriated me with one BIG design flaw that’s making me return it because it’s deadly. It simply can not reliably stay tuned to a radio station so as to wake you up to it.

Now if you do not care at all about waking up to radio, think about this a 5 star review and move on. But I like to wake up to NPR, a strong FM station in my area. I have had an 9 year old CD player alarm clock next to me before this Sony, and not once did it fail to wake me up to a strong NPR signal when the alarm was set. This brand new Sony, on the other hand, comes in and out! you may be able to test it before going to sleep and the sound is 100 clear, and still when it comes on in the morning it sounds like it’s barely tuned to the station unless you play with the ugly and unsightly antenna cable that sticks out of the back of it. If you did not touch that unsightly cable all night.

Even WORSE, when it comes on like that in the morning, if it isn’t receiving the FM station well, you do not get static sound (which at least could still wake you up), you get nothing but a faint buzzing that does not wake anybody up! I have already been late to work three times on account of this clock’s failing to maintain a lock on a station. I have tried testing the position of the ugly antenna before going to bed and having the volume high, still still for no obvious reason at all it on occasion fails to lock on in the morning and you sleep peacefully to 8:30 am to a low audio buzzing sound that looks to lull you into an deeper sleep.

The culprit is that Sony really cheaped out on the FM receiver.

How they can make such a colossal design flaw on a product that costs more than competitors like iHome that are bigger and with better speakers is inexplicable. I really wanted to love this, but it is an ALARM CLOCK and if it simply loses connection to a station in the morning in spite of the ugly antenna cable and can not wake you up, what good is it? Shame on Sony for having such a design flaw by cheaping out on interior parts. Whoever was in charge of approving that’s incompetent and should be fired because he does not understand retail merchandise, this isn’t a $20 alarm clock on which you may be able to use cheap transistors to save 50 cents. This is an alarm clock aimed at a somewhat higher market and there’s an expectation that at the least it may be reliably counted on to wake us up in the morning.

REVISED REVIEW FROM HERE ON OUT

I am revising my review, going from two to four stars, because as time as gone by the radio reception looks to improved (but only after cautious placement of the antenna cord and ensuring it is never moved), and I decided that all the positives and the lack of a good competitor warrants better than two stars. It is still the most compact, economical and best looking alarm clock out there. I just wish they used better parts for the radio receiver.

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51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars Great clock and antenna, June 15, 2009
By L. Ziegenbein See all my reviews
(REAL NAME) This review is from: Sony ICF C7IP Clock Radio for iPod and iPhone with Hidden Sliding Dock Tray (Electronics) I wanted to add a fast note about this clock radio because most of the other reviews for clock radios do not address the issue that was the most vital to me the strength of the antenna. I looked for an alarm clock that could get better reception in our bedroom than the one we presently own. This clock can pick up stations that are either too fuzzy to hear or do not come in on our current clock.

I also like that the iPod dock slides out, so that I do not have a big part of machinery sitting on my bedside table! I’m happy with this clock radio and my husband is going to be thrilled on Father’s Day!

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