Philips DC390 Dual Dock Clock Radio with Remote

Reviews for Philips DC390 Dual Dock Clock Radio with Remote

Customer Reviews and Ratings

3.0 out of 5 stars

Based on 42 reviews

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Good sound, works as advertised

    • Written by from Bloomington

    I've had this unit for a week now, and have not had any of the problems mentioned by the first reviewer. It basically works as advertised (but see caveat below about the alarm).

    Dock 1 supports an iPhone or iPod; Dock 2 supports an iPhone, iPod, or iPad. (This is all spelled out in Philips's documentation, available on their website.) My iPhone 3GS docks easily in its case, and my iPad 2 can be docked with its Smart Cover on (it can also be docked with the Smart Cover folded around to the back side). A bulkier case on an iPad might be a problem. Docking the iPad takes some practice to line up the connector just right (probably true of other iPad docks as well).

    Sound is very good for a unit so compact.

    I was worried about display brightness (I've found some clocks too bright to sleep when they're next to the bed), unnecessarily as it turns out. There are four settings--full, medium, dim, and off--and I can sleep fine on the dim setting. For some reason some actions make the display revert to full brightness, but it's easy enough to dim it again just before I go to bed.

    One caveat: Mostly the instructions are clear, but I find the alarm settings a little confusing. When I've set the alarm to play from my iDevice, it has usually worked, but a couple of times it hasn't come on--I think there's some requirement about setting up the iPhone or iPad that isn't clearly spelled out, and which I haven't figured out yet.

    252 of 270 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Stunning Sound, Beautiful Finish, Great features!

    • Written by from New Rochelle

    The sound on this unit simply blew me away!!!! I was expecting a nice alarm clock radio to charge our two iPhones but was not prepared for the amazing sound that this docking system delivered. I hope to get an iPad soon and the fact that this supports charging and playback from the iPad as well is a definite plus. I'm soooooo excited!

    So the sound was the first thing that caught my attention but there were a few other great surprises as well. I was able to dock my iPhone without taking off my phone case which is a huge benefit! The most pleasant surprise though was that when I docked my iPhone, the time was automatically set on the dock. No need to fiddle with the buttons trying to figure out how to set the time, the dock will do it automatically for you.

    I would definitely recommend this docking system from Philips as a must buy if looking for a dock for your iPod, iPhone or iPad. This is even more relevant for you if you share the dock with that special someone, as the dual dock and dual alarm functions will come in very handy...

    201 of 218 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Great Dock!

    • Written by from Washington

    I have had the dock for about 2.5 weeks and so far, it is working great. The dock I bought from the apple store did not have an Ipad 2 bumper (looks like it wasn older batch), but apple was able to put me in contact with someone at philips who sent one to me, which was great! On to the dock itself.

    Pros:
    Looks great
    Sound is amazing
    Docks an iphone and an ipad 2 (though making the connection is a little tricky, but I am getting better at it)
    Time sync feature is nice
    Remote control

    Cons (why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars):
    Price (a little high)
    The Ipad 2 dock connection (as I said earlier, a little tricky, but with practice it does get easier).

    Overall, I am really happy with the dock and the ability to charge both my devices at once.

    175 of 188 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    So far so good

    • Written by from Houston

    Just got this today and so far I really like it. Everything is working fine. I put in my iphone 2g and iphone 4 and they both work well. I have been looking around for a clock/dock for awhile now and finally made my decision to buy this.

    Pros:
    - Looks really nice and sleek
    - Sound quality is excellent
    - Supports my iphone 4
    - Has an auxiliary port so I can plug in other mp3 players such as my old Zune
    - Has a remote that works well even at far distances.
    - Did I mention the sound quality is really nice?
    - I'm able to dock the iphone with the case on it.

    Cons:
    - None so far, but I will update this after I have used it some more.

    55 of 59 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great all around!

    • Written by from El Monte

    Purchased 2 of these for my husband and myself when we went to visit the Apple Store at the Apple campus in Cupertino this last summer.
    Easy to use, excellent sound and wonderful feautures! I love the fact that i can charge my Iphone and Ipad at the sametime with ease and be able to keep the cases on them as well :) My husband loves the clear and crisp music from his Iphone/Ipad that comes out of the speaker. No complaints here!

    42 of 45 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    won't work with iPhone 4s

    • Written by from Huntington Beach

    I bought this to charge my iPhone 4s and play music at the same time and to someday own an iPad to charge at the same time too. So far my iPhone charges in the dock but I get the music to play intermittently. Most of the time I get a, "this accessory is not supported by iPhone." I've tried my 3rd and 6th generation iPod Nano and they have no problem charging and playing music from the dock.
    Another nuisance is the setup. I can't believe I actually had to look at the manual to set the time, and alarms. I'd always just play with it a little and be able to figure it out after a while.

    36 of 38 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Sending this back

    • Written by from New York

    One of the most frustrating products I can remember. I was excited to find this product because it's hard to find a clock radio/iPhone dock w FM radio -- and the presets and iPad dock seemed like huge bonuses. But the user experience was just plain awful.

    - I could not figure out how to set the alarm -- and no, I'm not electronically challenged. Here's an example. I like to wake up to the radio, but when I toggled through the "source" options, it only offered waking up to dock 1 or dock 2. It does not toggle to Tuner, though the manual says it will.

    - Next I tried to play music thru the dock and got no sound -- even though the phone was charging. The remote would play, pause, toggle thru menus...but no sound. Finally I jiggled the phone in the dock, and it started to play. Problem resolved, right? Wrong. Now that the unit was playing, the controls no longer worked. I could not pause or resume; I could not skip tracks; could not go back to the beginning or a track. Nothing. Not w the remote, not with the main unit.

    - Radio tuning is the worst I've ever encountered. You can "search" for the next signal on the dial, but to tune by number. To go from 93.9 to 90.7, you have to click down each 1/10th. 93.9, 93.8, 93.7....32 clicks down to 90.7. You can not press and hold to scroll down. I won't even describe how flawed the process of settin presets is.

    -iPad is hard to dock. Philips says it will work w the smart cover, and it does, but w the smart cover closed, you can't easily linr up the port w the connector. I tried it w the cover flipped back, but could not get it to dock that way at all. So to dock the iPad and then view it (a slide show would be nice, I thought) you have to dock it w the cover closed, then manipulate it past dock 1, and then weave it thru the ckear plastic support. It's doable - but you wouldn't bother very often.

    This is a clock radio, for God's sake. You should even need to -look- at the manual, but I found myself going back to it again and again .... and the functions didn't even work once I figured them out.

    I'm truly dumbfounded by how poorly this thing is designed: a winning combination of a defective unit and a ridiculously difficult UI. Too bad.

    44 of 56 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    returned two defective radios

    • Written by from Jacksonville

    I was looking for a radio that would play music and charge both our iPhone and iPad 2. This unit looks stunning and the music quality is good and comes with a handy remote. It is a little difficult and unintuitive to use and program, but eventually we were able to get the clock radio setup for two alarms - one using the alarm feature and one playing from a playlist on the iPhone. The first radio I could never get to turn off once the alarm would go off without unplugging the clock from the wall. I returned it and the second radio worked fine for at least a week before the same problem occurred; alarm also would fail to turn off regardless of whatever button you would push (alarm on/off, snooze, power). We unplugged it from the wall and then 30 minutes later the clock radio went off at the proper time on the Alarm2 setting only using the backup batteries which then had to be removed to turn off the second alarm. Not a pleasant way to wake up! Needless to say I returned it and will pass on this product.

    33 of 37 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Started my iPhone on fire

    • Written by from Los Altos

    I liked it because of the speaker quality, but I never learned how to really set it up so I just used my iPhone alarm clock.

    One night in the middle of the night it totally fried my iPhone and melted the entire bottom of the phone and melted the clock.

    I am getting my money back!!!

    31 of 35 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Beautiful design, great sound.

    • Written by from Brooklyn

    Philips really thought this product through. It looks great in almost any environment, and compliments the Apple product design. In the league of clock docks this dock takes the cake with sound quality. The mids, highs, and bass are all pretty good.

    The only thing that kept me giving this one the full five stars was that I noticed when both an iPhone and an iPad were docked only one seemed to be charging at a time, and they would often switch back and fourth. I don't know if there is a reasoning to this or not, but its slightly annoying.

    27 of 27 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Very hard to set up...

    • Written by from Orlando

    Still don't have the clock set up right. Very confusing. Hard to get iPhone on to charge it also to position iPad is also difficult. After 3 days can't get date right also the clock runs slow. Sound ok.

    25 of 26 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Great Alarm Clock

    • Written by from Toronto

    No issues with this alarm clock. Once you figure out how to set all the alarms and what not, it's a breeze to use. Would definitely recommend it. Plus the sound is pretty good for an alarm clock. I use my iPhone 4 and my 'New' iPad on it. Works great!

    26 of 28 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Quality unit with great sound, but not perfect

    • Written by from Toronto

    I use this in the kitchen and charge our iPhone and iPad with it. It has really excellent sound and feels like a quality product. There are a few rough edges, regrettably. I don't care about the lack of AM radio at all. But the clock display bugs me. You can't read it from a high angle, e.g. if you have the unit at table height. The angle thing is annoying, hence the 4 not 5 stars. I really like this unit otherwise.

    29 of 34 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Something Extra ?

    • Written by from Chula Vista

    After 3 months of research for a unit to work with todays newest Apple media, this one meets my demands. Except, and here it is, if you own an iPhone with a Otter Box case, be prepared to purchase at lease one "30 pin pass-through extender". Both connecting plugs on the docking unit are not tall enough to make contact with the internal male connector in your iPhone, unless you remove the Otter Box case completely ! Wish it had a earphone jack for those private moments of listening. And read the manual carefully and experiment with the unit. It will solve problems you may have in the middle of the night or waking up at the wrong time with no music. On a happier note, the sound is great. Surprised to see 2 rear-mounted bass ports. Not bad for the price. Enjoy.

    25 of 28 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great speakers

    • Written by from New york

    I bought this because I wanted speakers, and this seemed sturdier than the portable speakers. It looks and sounds great! And I love that it can charge both my iPhone and my iPad at the same time! It's solid and has a great clock in addition.

    23 of 25 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    a mixed bag

    • Written by from Dayton

    Pros:
    * great sound for its size
    * easy to set the time with iPhone
    * flexible alarm times, weekends and weekdays
    * two separate alarms
    * MP3/Aux input if you don't want to use the charging cradle
    * wake to a special "PHILLIPS" playlist on your iPhone

    Cons:
    * LED is too small to see more than 6 feet away
    * Not enough contrast on the LED screen
    * Using the iPad dock with my iPhone caused iPhone to reset

    A nice idea, undermined by a poorly executed LED screen that's too small, with poor contrast making it too hard to read from across a room. With bigger LED number size, this would be a 4-5 star product.

    22 of 24 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    You Get What You Pay For!!

    • Written by from Robertsdale

    I honestly have never heard a clearer sound come out of any speakers I ever had! This is a great product and I strongly recommend this for you to buy. It is so nice because I can charge my two devices at once.

    19 of 19 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Phillips dual clock

    • Written by from Temecula

    Love the sound, remote,quality of this unit. Only problem I have is it's sometimes hard to dock the iPad if you're not directly on center. It's also hard to slide the on switch on the iPad bc it's so close to the iPhone. If the iPad dock were more offset to one side it would be easier to get to. Also, that plastic piece behind the iPad dock sticks up when not in use. Afraid it may break off if bumped. Otherwise, I love this unit!!!

    21 of 24 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Mixed bag

    • Written by from Camden

    I bought this for a bedside alarm clock that can serve as a radio/music player.

    Pros:
    Looks great!
    Great sound for its size (just don't push it too loud)
    Lots of options for setting alarms (example: alarm loudness)
    You can dim the front panel
    Searches and sets preset radio stations

    Cons:
    Poor design had me grabbing for the manual to set the alarm
    It needs a iPad/Phone app for setting the alarm or alarm options (It would be allot easier)
    When using any of the music options on the unit it resets the LCD brightness
    FM radio only (no AM signal tuner, not a big deal)
    LCD is hard to see at angles and lacks contrast

    Just not a well thought out product, example: buttons for setting system time (labeled time) are not the same for setting the alarm time? Wha? Looks great but usability is lacking. It's sad because it could be a knock out hit but feels like the company rushed the product to market too quickly. It is desperately needing a app that can interact with the radio.

    I give this four stars but really it should be three and a half stars. I wish there were more options for radio/alarm/ipad clocks but since I have not found any better than this, it'll get a begrudged four stars.

    21 of 24 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Does it work with ipad2?

    • Written by from İSTANBUL

    I bought it last week i can't get it to work. 19 out of 20 times I get "The accessory is not supported by iPad" error message on my iPad2. Looking at other reviews, some other people experience the same problem. Anyway, Can you help me Please?no problem with my i phone 4'

    19 of 25 people found this useful

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