Performs as advertised, but the remote is as useful as a chocolate teapot.

[Updated after 6 month's happy ownership]

I was pleasantly surprised by sound quality (having been disappointed with an IH5), and every feature works as as advertised. Don't be expecting ultimate fidelity sound or rock-solid engineering feel; this is a consumer product at a consumer price.

The interface with my (3rd Gen) Nano works well but seems to suffer some"lag" in responding to the iHome - either the control panel or the rarely-functional Remote Control (e.g. it can take a second or two to skip to next track). Having said that I'm not sure whether that's the iHome or the iPod; certainly my car's docking interface displays the same"lag" when skipping tracks forwards and back.

The"Fade out to sleep" function works but is a bit less...subtle in use than I'd expected: it feels like it plays at full volume until the last 10 seconds or so of the sleep period at which time it ramps down to zero. The effect is also spoilt a little at shut-off by the iPod lighting up to tell you it's charging or charged but we should blame Apple not iHome for that feature.

The Alarm functions are very good, with a well-timed fade in of the music source. One thing I hadn't appreciated is that there are, indeed, 2 separate alarms on the box but one uses the Buzzer / iPod as the source and the other uses the Radio: you can't have both alarms use either the Radio or the iPod. The presence of a battery backup for the clock and buzzer alarm provides some comfort for those of us who've known power outages.

The 3-level (4 with"off") display backlight works well, although there's a little too big a step between dimmest and the next-brightest option for my personal taste: dimmest is hard for my ageing eyes to read across the room and the next-brightest option lights up the room

The (FM/AM) radio works well, and has auto-scan and 12 memories (4 AM, 8 FM). Reception is as good as any radio in our house.

The disappointment is the remote control: it *occasionally* works but never reliably. Even after replacing the supplied battery with a known-good one, operation is iffy and only likely if you're stood in front of the iHome pointing straight at it and prepared to push REALLY HARD on the buttons. To be honest, since it doesn't even reliably activate the only controls I really wanted -"Snooze" and"Off" - I haven't used it in months. The upside of this is that I have to get out of bed to turn the alarm off, which turns out to be a feature I need to get me going in the morning anyway...

In short: if you're after a classic radio/alarm clock and you don't need a remote control, then this is a very good choice for you. If you're after a HiFi solution for your iPod, look elsewhere.

Very good sound and easy to use: great value

My iconic Sony Digicube has woken me every day for three decades. But it turned 30 this year and was promptly killed by my two year-old. I chose this Tempus-1S over other alternatives because it's compact and attractive, with a wide range of features. You can pay more for the XT version but I have to say I couldn't see what the extra money was really for. With this I can plug in my iPod which is great, the alarms are easy to set, the clock dims well at night and, of course, the sound is excellent. The SnoozeHandle on the top is great and it does two extra things: if you have the display set to full screen clock, the handle brings up the radio station and date if touched while the radio is playing; and at night when the radio is off, touching the SnoozeHandle brightens the clock display which could be handy for the partially-sighted. Everything can be adjusted manually anyway - it's very user friendly. The"natural sounds" are a gimmick really. The"birdsong" is a plaintive robin, the"rainfall" and"small waves" make my wife run for the loo and the"thunderstorm" scares my kids. Neat.

Does what is says on the tin

Obviously Roberts have pitched this as a budget Bose but frankly most of us wouldn't be able to tell the difference in sound quality. I think it's a well thought out piece of kit and good value, it sounds good, is compact and has a robust feel to it. It struggles a bit when played too loudly and it certainly won't replace my hi-fi but in a small room, kitchen, bedroom it's ideal, can't fault it, very pleased with it.

Don't touch this product with long barge pole

This is in theory a useful ipod add-on which is in reality a poor bit of kit. It picks up a signal okay for me so I've given it two stars however there were a series of major flaws which became clear while using it.

1) Power usage - power is expended at a frightening rate. I was able to get 4 hours from my fully charged ipod touch. I felt this was poor.
2) The gizmo would not allow me to turn off the auto back lighting and i found that every 2-3 minutes even when stationary the gizmo would light up my ipod like an xmas tree needlessly expending lots of power. There was no way of stopping this happening even by playing about with the ipod settings.
3) The gizmo wire which runs into the ipod is way too long leaving lots of loose wire rattling around in my pocket. I couldn't undertsand why it couldn't have the option of pluging the gizmo straight into the ipod.

Not a good product.

Very nice little radio.

I am puzzled: unit is stated to be R9995, but picture and details are identical to that for R995, (also on Amazon)?

See my review for the R995, written after having had the radio for much longer, similar and a little more critical.
____________

Original review of"R9995":-

What the details don't seem to tell you that this is about 50 x 90 x 16 mm and weighs about 62 grams. (Laugh at the 5KG boxed product weight in Amazon's details!) Good sound. Very easy to use, even in the dark (except perhaps for tuning). Having presets is wonderful. Simple and logical display, although I would have liked a signal-strength indicator.

The phone cable acts as aerial. We are in an area of moderate reception, and occasionally there is a need to position the receiver in a good place relative to your head to avoid hiss or break-up.

Maybe I am only telling you something about the shape of my ears, but these are the first in-ear phones I have ever had that are comfortable (was expecting to use my larger headphones, but don't have to). Perhaps oddly for a"Sports" radio, phones have a 40 mm rod to point downwards keep them located in the ear rather than a curled piece to wrap around the earlobe - fine for me but I wonder if they would fall out in joggy activities!

Strange feature: by default, unit switches down automatially after 90 mins. This can be disabled, but only by holding the power button for five seconds EVERY TIME you turn it on (although it remembers just about every other setting). Now how often are you likely to leave on a radio that only works through phones?

There is a sort of tone control called"Deep Bass Boost". Maybe my ears are wearing out or I listen to the worng kind of music, but I can barely detect its effect!

I actually followed the link on Amazon and bought this from HomeVision - a tad cheaper and much lower postage. A delay due to supply problems was partially compensated for by good customer service keeping me informed of progress.

a solid radio, worthy of the Marshall logo

This is my 1st DAB radio purchase, being a"metal head", the moment I saw the marshall logo (and the pos reviews here), I knew this was the one. The sound is great, it almost has that"Marshall tone" (guitarists will know what i am talking about) the sound is nice and thick, not"tinny" like some small speaker units. It will go really loud (like, 11 loud), so if you work in a small office or in a mechanics garage it will cover it all.
Its mega easy to set up, the instructions were frighteningly short, but this is due to everything being setup for you already, so the manual is really there if you wish to change display settings etc. Solid build quality, great sound, worth every penny.

Nice device at a good price

It does the basic functionality well - clock, radio, CD player with 2 alarms. You can even play your mp3 player through it. The sound quality is OK - but obviously not hi-fi. It's most suitable for use in the bedroom. The build quailty is good, with solid simple controls.

Godd price and quality

Bought one as a Christmas present for my husband. He is using it every day and finds it very easy to use. The radio has a nice design and is lightweight. Easy to operate and switch between DAB and FM. Will recomend.

Nice keyboard action - usual low Logitech build quality

Logitech is a very frustrating brand because they seem to specialise in creating 'nearly' perfect products that exhibit a single fatal flaw.

I love the key action on this keyboard which makes for very comfortable typing. However after just 14 months of use the key labels have completely worn off 5 of the most commonly used keys. This is the first time I have seen this happen on any keyboard, let alone a premium priced one such as this. I use my laptop's built in keyboard just as much as the Logitech and there's no sign of any wear at all.

Other Logitech examples: the Harmony Remote (nearly perfect, but won't charge without being weighed down in the charging cradle) or the Laser mouse (nearly perfect, but I have to tape the battery cover shut because the flimsy catch broke off after 7 months).

Come on Logitech, all of these products would be perfect if you just did a bit more medium to long-term product testing to weadle out the inevitable fatal flaw.

In summary: Premium price keyboard with a premium key action but with the usual less than perfect Logitech build quality.

Tired of the unplanned midnight wake ups

I bought this unit because, after 20 years of flawless Dreamachine use, when considering an upgrade to DAB, Sony way my first choice. I like the style of the unit, and the sound of the DAB audio is amazing. I also love the automatic setting of the time, even if it does not sync with the BBC. (To be fair I don't know if this is the unit, the BBC or the time signal being sent over the DAB"airwaves" so I won't blame Sony for that one.)

But I do have some gripes:

1. Like a number of previous reviewers have noted, this thing goes off randomly at midnight, for no apparent reason. I'm going to contact Sony about it to see what they do. My guess, given my recent experience with Sony after-sales service, is that they will do nothing.

2. Sometimes the bottom display which displays things like the alarm time scrolls off the visible display to the right, so that the minutes cannot be seen. This makes setting the alarm impossible. However I recently discovered the powering down the unit and powering it up again fixes this. Quality this low from a Sony? Hmmm....

3. Why is the sleep setting so complex? My two previous Dreamachines had a one-touch hour-on sleep setting, something I used daily. Yes, the new unit does have a sleep setting, but to use it I have to touch 2 different buttons, one of them twice. Why?!?!?

I agree also about the default brightness setting, but you only have to tap the display button once or twice and it no longer is visible from Pluto. I can live with that.

Top Presenter

I am an experienced presenter of formal lectures, papers and seminars. This Logitech presenter is brilliant and I cant fault it. My presentations are often complex and this device gives me finger tip control over what is on the screen. The vibrating timer is an invaluable cu to start wrapping things up without apparent haste. I strongly recommend buying ones own such device for anyone who uses Powerpoint regularly. However, it requires the owner to practice and become skilled in pointing the laser at the right point on the screen!

Brilliant little indestructalbe things.

We bought a load of these radios for use at work. They're quite tough and can handle being dropped down stairs and getting bashed off walls and beds and being dropped in the occasional mop bucket hasn't seem to have done them any harm. We've had them for a few months and they still look good as new despite the abuse they get. They are really simple to use, only taking out staff a few seconds to work it out. The have a good range on them and we've hand conversations going from the basement to the roof of the 4 story stone building we work in...we thought that was impressive. The only problem we've had with them is that the unless your really careful, it's easy to drop them as the clips aren't that secure, but they don't get damaged very easily so that fine.

Does the job

Generally a good clock radio. Nice interface and well-built. The sound quality is good enough, though as other reviewers have said its not amazing.

Two minor issues:

1. The iPod interface is disappointing. You can set the iPod to wake you up, but can't choose which playlist etc it will start on from the radio - it will just start from the last thing it was playing.

2. You can't choose radio stations from the presets from the remote control. This makes the whole preset feature a bit useless.

good radio

what a very good little radio ordered on a friday delvied on saturday
with 6v abapter.Sound of speaker crystal clear picks up local radio stations with ease the wind up handle turns very easily
2 mins of wind up = Roughly 2hrs+

Overpriced and avoid.

This really is one to avoid - so much so that it's on onroute back to AMazon for a refund. The sound (from the radion and CD) is not would you would expect from SONY,in fact put me in mind of those cheapo Binatone makes of years ago. Unit itself is more bulky than it needs to be and whilst the blue lighting is impressive it does not dull enough to just be aware of the time it felt as if it was lighting the whole room - handy I guess if you need to find your way without switching a light on but infuriating when trying to get to sleep!Once my refund has been given I will be looking for an alternative unit at the moment my 23 year old Sanyo has been ressurected!

unsceduled alarms

I like the look and feel of this radio....but,
The first one I bought kept switching on at 4AM even though the alarms were either switched off or scheduled for later in the day.

I replaced the radio within a week and the second radio is doing the same - this time at 2AM!

I am returning the radio and choosing an alternative brand.

don't bother

i needed a cheap dab radio for work, nothing fancy. I read the negative reviews and thought it cant be that bad but this radio is a shocker.

the speaker must be made out of a beer can, it's tinny and annoying to listen to for more then 30 mins. any tunes that you have heard before take 30 secs to recognize because anything over than high range is lost. i would liken it to the little pocket radio you take to football matches to check the scores.
my advise would be to spend 20 pounds more and get a decent radio or keep with the one you have because it can't be any worse than this.

Not quite as described

This has proved a well-designed and accurate device, but on the product description it says"features seasonal tides". It doesn't, which is disappointing. The seller has been contacted about this incorrect statement.

Give your ears a treat

Just got a pair as a pressy and I am very pleased with them. Much much better than my AKG wired headphones in all respects. Sound quality is excellent. What freedom! No wires! I am used to being glued to the chair when listening via headphones and trying not to trip over the wire when I do move around - these let me move around as I wish and still get great sound quality.

Sound quality. Bass is quite tight - not boomy. Lots of detail in the highs and mids. It has a good stereo presence with instruments properly placed and differentiated. For the money these punch well above their weight.

Setting up is easy. Find a mains socket for the base unit (If needed you can use an extension stereo lead for the connection to your sound source). Twist off the ear pad on the left ear phone and insert the two batteries. The phones have a volume control and a tuning control (to tune into the signal) on the right. On the left is the on/off switch. No problem using them with my PC. You can alter the reception channel if needed and retune - so lots of possibles to get them to work well.

Just a thought, if they do move forward when you bend down, then use a bit of string or big elastic band across the earpieces such that it fits around the back of your head. But in normal use they do stay in place.

Whatever, just plug in, turn on and tune in...