Logitech Pure-Fi Dream

Good sound quality – Easy to use, love the sound quality, but it does have a habit of forgetting the time which means we keep having to set the time. This can be a problem when it drops out the time setting and it the middle of the night as the alarm doesn't turn on. It also has a strange sound coming from the power transformer. Great sound, easy to use

Excellent – I'd been looking for a dock for my iPhone that had good sound, clock and alarm. The pure-fi dream has it all! It has remote and motion-activated backlighting. You can even preset playlists on ur iPhone/iPod like you would a radio station which is awesome. The customer support people are helpful too which to me is important. Other than that it has a great design and they provide adaptors to support whatever kind of iPod/iPhone u have. Only thing is e.g if i put the iPhone adaptor in it my phone won't fit because if cover, which is fine, I just took the adaptor out. If ur looking for a docking station for iPhone, make sure you test it because I've found some other units aren't iPhone compatible Great sound, reasonable price and great features An error came up a couple of times but just emailed support and they authorized a replacement

OK – The sound quality isn't that good that it justifies the price. No digital radio either. Shop around & I think you'll find something better. The sound is quite good. I have struck two main problems: After the radio has been on for a little while, the volume decreases and the sound becomes very distorted- to the point that I can't hear what the announcer is saying & music sounds appalling. I haven't had the same problem with the iPod function. It's quite random- I don't know when the sound will be ok again. This makes it virtually useless as a clock radio.

Setting the alarm for the clock radio is tricky & it took me ages to do because the unit kept freezing and I had to switch off at the wall & start again several times (luckily I hadn't put the battery in, or I would have had to unplug that also)

None of the inserts fit for my iPod 8G or 4G Nanos either.

Good – As an ipod, iphone docking station it is awesome and although my iphone4 advises that it is not compatible it still charges and all functions work. Awesome sound. Poor radio reception and there is interference that comes through the unit that is very annoying. Although the display at the front of the unit automatically dims when it is dark the light is still bright at night and I have to cover it.

Excellent – I heard a friend's Bose SoundDock and wanted one, but couldn't justify the price. I did a bit of research and found that the mid-range and upper Logitech products sounded pretty good. I went shopping and compared the sound to any products that I could find in the same price range, including the Altec Lansing iM600 and iM310, some Sony and TEAC systems, the 'lesser' Logitech products and a Grundig GDR710DABIP. I like a range of music (who doesn't) and tested the players with Manchester Orchestra, The Who, Loreena McKennitt, Mozart, Built to Spill and Massive Attack. The iM600 was perhaps a little better with the tinnier tones of Manchester Orchestra, but not significantly so. With the remainder, the Pure-fi Dream gave a much richer and complete sound (and that was before I bought it and found the Stero XL button which throws the sound even better). I couldn't compare it with the Bose or a Kicker, but I don't need to share my music tastes with the neighbourhood and I liked the sound of this solid little player, so I looked no further. Yes, it's aimed at use in the bedroom, but it desn't have that look, and it sounds much, much better than a clock radio. I picked the player up for $270, I use it in my large living area every day and I have not been disappointed. A couple of tips for iPod or MP3 player dock buyers (perhaps blinding glimpses of the obvious): 1. Take your own iPod with you and play a few styles of music at different volumes. Hearing a few of Mozart's horn concertos, The Who's 'Baba Orielly', Loreena's 'Marco Polo', Massive Attack's 'Angel', and Built to Spill's 'Strange' were what sold this player to me. None of the others came close in my humble opinion. 2. 'More expensive' does not always mean 'better sound', nor does 'big-name-brand'. I was a little shocked at how poorly some of the other systems in the $150-$350 price range sounded. I have only three 'complaints', and they are not worthy of being 'cons': 1. All my TV and DVD remotes have volume control buttons in horizontal positions (left is sound-down, right is sound-up) and channel changers in the vertical positions (top channel-up and bottom is channel-down). This remote has those functions swapped over (volume is in the up and down position)and this gets a little frustrating as I instinctively press the left and right functions to change the volume, changing the song instead. I know that the remote matches the iPod with the track change position, but when I pick up a remote shaped like a TV/DVD remote, I am already programmed to use it like one. 2. I would have liked an audio out socket to allow the use of a subwoofer or remote speakers, though since I have found the Stereo XL function, I don't feel the need for that so much anymore. (Again, this system was designed for a bedroom, so additional speakers would not have been in the design brief). 3. There is a menu button on the remote that lets you get to, e.g, the bass and treble control. It works as it should, but unless you have committed the menu function order and controls to memory, you need to be at the player to read what is happening. It's not a big problem, but separate bass and treble buttons would seem to fit easily on the remote and they would make the remote a lot more useful. Bottom line? I love it! I wish now that I had waited before buying a mid-sized stereo for the living area last year! The Logitech sounds a little better, is less than half the size and with all my CDs on my iPod Classic (bought after the stereo), it is much easier to play the collection this way. Great sound

More than just a bedroom appliance - good for lounge or living area

Remote is a good size and provides most functions

Bass and treble control

Stereo XL function (sound enhancement)

Auxilary input socket

Mains or battery powered (not a portable - it will run on the battery, but it is more for back-up use)

AM/FM radio Nothing worthy of recording as a 'con' - see comments below