Philips HF3490 Wake-up Light with Dock for iPod Review

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(More customer reviews)I own this product (the Philips HF3490), although most of the review also applies to the Philips HF3480 as well, with the exception of the iPod functionality, of course.
First, let's cut to the chase: this product does one thing really, really well. Luckily for this product's rating, its single proficiency is its main selling point: waking you up with a gentle progression of increasingly brighter light. Over the course of 30 minutes, the lamp in the alarm clock will get brighter until it reaches the maximum brightness setting you have selected previously. I find that the amount of light that I need to wake up varies - sometimes I wake up about 15 minutes in, other times, it takes the full 30 minutes to wake me up. So, I just leave it on its maximum setting (20) and wake up when I wake up.
BRIGHTNESS INFORMATION: I find that the technical information that Philips provides on the bulb is a bit difficult to relate to, without any context. This bulb is rated at 300 lux - not bad, but that brightness is typically given without context. It is 300 lux at *45 centimeters* - only about a foot and a half of distance. 300 lux is a pretty standard indoor room brightness. However, since brightness drops off by the square of the distance, a doubling of the distance (to 3') will halve your brightness. What this boils down to is that the light inside the lamp is roughly equal to a 60W incandescent bulb - good enough if the lamp is on a bedside stand, but because of the covering on the lamp, it might not be bright enough for you if you place it on a dresser across the room.
BULB REPLACEMENT: The reviews here that are claiming that this alarm has a LED lightbulb are clearly mistaken. You only have to look inside the holes in the top of the unit to see that it has a compact fluorescent (CFL) lightbulb - not an LED lightbulb. The manual that comes with the unit even says not to throw it away with your household waste - I can only assume because of the mercury inside the bulb. Now, I haven't disassembled the unit, but it does look like a standard (14W?) dimmable CFL - the sort of thing that you *might* be able to replace at the end the bulb's lifespan. I can't say for sure, of course, since I don't want to void my warranty.
Unfortunately, I think this product does quite a few things poorly, so the list of Cons is pretty long:
* iPod Functionality: The iPod functionality is pretty limited. It basically just plays whatever you're currently listening to on your iPod. I purchased the HF3490 over the HF3480 because I wanted an extra dock to charge my iPod Touch in at night. When you plug the iPod in, the unit will always switch to the iPod input and start playing whatever your iPod had last left off at - even if your iPod was stopped. Whenever I plug my iPod in for charging, I have to stop the iPod and then switch back to the radio. Needless to say, this is pretty irritating.
* Alarm (Wake-Up) Sounds: I really want to like the wake-up sounds - especially the birds and the drums. The birds are cheerful and the drums have a good beat. However, the clips for these sounds are annoyingly short - I would be surprised if they are longer than 30 seconds in length. As such, they tread that infuriating middle-ground between purely repetitive (beep beep beep beep) and music - after hearing the same clip a few dozen times, you will really want to get up and MAKE IT STOP. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing in an alarm clock is purely a personal preference. :)
* Sound Quality: Why they chose a rear-fired speaker is completely beyond me. Now, maybe I'm just spoiled by the sound from my previous alarm clock (a Tivoli Audio Model Three), but the sound emerging from this alarm clock is just bad. Pushing the alarm clock up closer to the wall improved things somewhat, but in general, the sound is muffled and muddy. There's a reason why audio systems fire bass from the rear/side and other frequencies from the front/top - because it sounds much clearer.
* Button Layout: This is a complaint that a lot of reviews here have, and it's true: the way the button/knob/lever system works is far more confusing than it needs to be. I've had this alarm for a while now, and I *still* press the wrong buttons from time to time.
* Radio: I get surprisingly good reception with this unit's built-in antenna. My house is made out of stucco, and it can be difficult to tune into radio stations without static. However, this unit has no AM tuner(!!) - only FM. If you're like me, and like to lie in bed while reading a book and listening to the baseball game on AM, you're out of luck. No AM for you!
To sum it up - this product is great for waking you up on those dark, winter days. I live in Minnesota, and it's a real treat to wake up in the morning and not feel bone tired because of the darkness. Just be aware that it's a good wake-up tool, and pretty poor at everything else. I would absolutely recommend the dockless version over this one.
UPDATE (11/3/2010): I've had this product for about 14 months now, and the bulb has died on me twice. It appears that issues with reliability are widespread.

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Introducing the new Philips Wake-up Light, a more pleasant and natural way to wake-up in the morning.Light gradually increases for 30 minutes before your wake up time to gently prepare your body to wake up and feel more energetic at the start of your day.With optional FM radio, nature sounds or music from your iPod or iPhone, waking up will be a pleasant experience.Its innovative design includes a light that can be adjusted to 20 different brightness settings, making the product suitable to use as a lamp in any bedroom. A detachable dock for your iPod or iPhone allows you to charge your device as well as play your favorite music.At the end of your day, set the dusk simulator to drift you off to sleep by gradually dimming the light and sound.

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