JVC RA-P10 Portable Audio System for iPods review

A couple quickies before I get to my review:

- I love helping people in finding hot deals. I really enjoy spending other people's money! Unfortunately, sometimes shopping for other people has its drawbacks. Case in point: my cousin is looking for parts for a new PC, and I'm more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, shopping for these parts is only tempting me even more to build myself a new PC! Argh!

- Ultimate Bet, a poker site that I used to frequent--before online gambling became illegal--now offers Roshambo, or Rock, Paper, Scissors. As silly as the thought of playing Roshambo for money sounds, the "Remembering Roshambo Rules" section of that page is ten thousand times more ridiculous:

Rock
Beats – Scissors
Loses to – Paper
How to remember – Drop a rock on a pair of scissors, the scissors will break. A piece of paper, on the other hand, has rock covered.

Scissors
Beats – Paper
Loses to – Rock
How to remember – With its sharp blades, a pair of scissors can destroy a piece of paper. But drop a rock on the scissors and there’s a good chance you’ll break the scissors.

Paper
Beats – Rock
Loses to – Scissors
How to remember – A piece of paper can wrap a rock. But a pair of scissors will cut right through it.

LOL!!!

I still think it's stupid that paper beats rock. Throw a rock at a piece of paper, and the rock goes right through it, right? The people at Budweiser sure agree with me.

On to the review:

So I picked up the RA-P10 Portable "BoomBox" a couple weeks ago, because my sister wanted an iPod speaker system with alarm clock functionality. For months, she's been wanting an iHome iPod speaker system, similar to this one, but for less than $99. So when I found the RA-P10, she gave me the OK to purchase one for her.

The RA-P10 comes complete with an iPod dock connector (iPod not included :P), as well as little plastic bases that are fit with whatever flavor of iPod you're using: the regular iPod, the 30GB Video, the 60GB Video, the Nano, or the Mini. The RA-P10 also features a bright LCD display with a built-in clock/alarm, as well as a calendar and thermometer with Celsius and Fahrenheit readings. Also built in to the RA-P10 is an FM tuner; I've not played around with the FM tuner, though, as I hardly listen to FM stations. The RA-P10 comes with a handy little remote control, and when I mean little, I mean little. I find myself misplacing that remote frequently :P.

The RA-P10 itself can be powered by the included AC adapter or 6 AA batteries. Should the main power be cut off to the system, or the master power button not be depressed, the clock/alarm/calendar settings are retained by a single CR2025 "button" battery (included). Note that the only way to charge the iPod while using the system is with the AC adapter plugged in. Songs playing on the iPod can be changed via the remote, the back/forward buttons on the RA-P10 itself, or on the click-wheel of the iPod.

One really neat feature of the RA-P10 is the fact that you can set the alarm to a different volume setting than that of normal playback. That way, you could listen to your music at a low volume (say, before you doze off), and have the music play at a much louder volume to wake yourself up.

(Tangent: I haven't had a new alarm clock in years, and perhaps this is a feature that currently exists in newer alarm clocks.)

The RA-P10 also has a buzzer, if you prefer a buzzer rather than an FM station or music from your iPod.

Sound quality is pretty decent; the two speakers output a cool 4W of power. All in all, the RA-P10 is a pretty nice system, albeit a bit bulky; it's quite wide, and a tad on the heavy side, especially if you have AA batteries installed. Then again, how often will you be moving around your alarm clock?