English playwright William Congreve wrote in 1697, “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast / To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” There may have been a Freudian slip when Congreve meant beast.
Fast forward to the 21st century. We can certainly be savage grumps when it comes to waking up to an alarm clock with an obnoxious buzzer or worse, annoying morning chatterboxes with Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs as the musical selection to reside in your head all day.
Get you someone really to pull the wool with you What?I say it’s time to bookend your sleep cycle on your own terms with the music you want to fall asleep with or wake up to. Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO) has the exactly the item to soothe one’s savageness with the iBoom Travel.
It’s a 2-in-1 portable iPod speaker system and travel alarm clock.
Let’s see what’s inside the box:
There’s a travel pouch for the iBoom with an outer pocket for the compact AC adapter, iPod fit inserts for the Nano, compact AC and a manual with coupons for Rolling Stone magazine and eMusic songs.
The iBoom is designed to take along for travel (might as well since the iPod is coming along!) with its compact size and weight. The size is 8.6 x 4.6 x 2.4 inches and 15 oz.
I like having some ear bud relief, so I find the unit useful for a portable stereo player whether it’s on my desk, a guest bedroom, outside on the porch or ideally on the nightstand. I just create a play list for for night night or wake ’em up music; of course the option remains for FM radio with the four presets or alarm.
Along the top of the iBoom from left to right, power on/off; volume controls: min-max; sleep button; a slide switch for radio or iPod mode; another slide switch for the alarm: on-set-of; memory button to set the four FM presets, tune down/hours button; tune up / minutes button and a bass boost button.
On the backside the base folds down and contain 4 AA batteries. There is a rest button, a CR2032 backup battery compartment and the AC adaptor plug.
The iPod drops right in to the connector; there are clear plastic adaptors to fit 3rd, 4th & 5th generation iPods; and the iPod Nano 1st generation and 2nd generation.
The iPod sits firmly in the cradle without any danger of toppling over. The on/off button is to the far left, and I like the fact the snooze / light button is underneath the large LED light. If the iPod is set to wake you up, then each snooze press gives you 5 to 6 minutes to process the wake ’em up music of your choice, up to three times. So you could enjoy songs like Shake Me, Wake Me, (When It’s Over) or Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go or even Wake Me Up When September Ends rather than a screaming car commercial.
The numbers are 5/8″ tall and easy to read against the soft blue light that can be turned off by pressing the snooze button. The softness of the backlite LCD screen and the lower frame of the iPod housing can also serve as a night light.
Having an output power of 2 watts + 2 watts through the dual speakers, the sound is actually pretty decent indoors and outside. The FM Tuner pulled in a good signal strength, but I suspect that most users will gravitate using an iPod for output. Obviously the iBoom Travel is not designed to fill a room with big sound, but the portability of playing your iPod sans ear buds around the house is a welcome break.
DLO offers other setups such as the HomeDock Music Remote for playback via a home stereo for a desired big sound (look for an upcoming review soon here at GearDiary.)
With the iPods being ubiquitous, the DLO iBoom Travel is a handy alarm clock radio small enough to take along on trips with the travel bag for a guest / hotel room while serving as a charging station. I think the DLO iBoom Travel would make for a thoughful leave behind gift for being one’s house guest… (iPod NOT INCLUDED!)
Available in two colors: Graphite and Classic White
The DLO iBoom Travel is available via Digital Lifestyle Outfitterer’s DLO website
MSRP: $89.99 USD
What I Like: The complete package of a iPod charger, alarm clock and radio with a good sound.
What Needs Improvement: Maybe an FM antenna, but the tuner pulled in the stations I wanted.
Available at Buy.com (GearDiary affiliate store)
