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An iPod in every room: XtremeMac Luna

In my last installment of "An iPod in every room" I reviewed the iHome iH36W under cabinet iPod player. In today's installment I want to look at another room that is a prime candidate for the iPod – the bedroom.
Written by Jason D. O'Grady, Contributor
XtremeMac Luna
In my last installment of "An iPod in every room" I reviewed the iHome iH36W under cabinet iPod player. In today's installment I want to look at another room that is a prime candidate for the iPod – the bedroom. 

Most people use some sort of an alarm clock to wake them up each morning unless; a) they're independently wealthy, b) have newborn/infant children, or c) they go to bed at 8 p.m. and wake up naturally at 5 a.m. For the rest of us working stiffs there's the horrible shrill of the "buzzer" setting, awful FM DJs with their commercials, or if you're lucky, NPR. 

One of the best things I did recently was dumping my US$9 Target special Sony Dream Machine clock radio (those things never die!) in favor of the beautiful Luna iPod clock radio (US$149) from the folks at XtremeMac

Luna is like a standard clock radio because it wakes you up in the morning, but that's where the similarity ends. I love the fact that it has two separate alarms so that you can have one set at, say 6:30 a.m. for weekdays, and the other set at say 9:00 a.m. for the weekends (unless, of course, you have kids) – which beats resetting the alarm every Sunday and Friday night. The other nice feature is the display dimmer which ranges from solar bright to barely visible. I can't have any light in my bedroom at night so I love the extremely dim setting. Luna also features a gradually increasing volume setting that starts off low and slowly gets louder. The remote control is quickly becoming my favorite feature. Instead of sitting the (admittedly large) Luna on my night stand, I am considering moving it to the dresser across from me and operating it via remote. This prevents those horrible water spilling accidents that destroy bedroom electronics.

Oh, I forgot to mention the best part – It works with your iPod so that you can wake up to your music. Being an iPod dock also turns drab and depressing alarm clock into a personal music player that can be used any time you're in the bedroom. (Insert Barry White joke here)

It takes a little time to get used to Luna's unusual button/knob controls which isn't helped by the lack of a printed manual (you have to download it). Luckily XtremeMac includes a cheat-sheet quick reference card on the top of the unit. Keep this, you'll be referring to it for about two weeks. The other thing that bothered me is that Luna doesn't come with any iPod dock adapters, you'll have to buy them separately for between US$9 and US$20.

Luna is a bit spendy at US$149.95 but the features and excellent sound quality justify the price. Check it out at an Apple store near you.

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