iHome iP39 Kitchen Timer and Alarm Clock Radio Speaker System for iPhone/iPod (Silver)
Review by A. Mark : Exactly What I Needed...

I was searching and searching for something to allow me to listen to my iPhone when I'm in the kitchen... I initially looked at other iHome products and they were just too big - and I did not want to mount anything. I found this model and thought - PERFECT!

I love the magnetic remote, the size and don't let the size fool you - this model does allow you to play your music relatively loud.

I loved it so much I bought this for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day.

iHome iP39 Kitchen Timer and Alarm Clock Radio Speaker System for iPhone/iPod (Silver)
Review by Erica J. Walton : LOVE this iPod compatible player

I didn't expect a lot from this, but it has great sound! I love that it charges my iTouch as it plays music too! The remote works great with the unit and the iTouch, I have no issues with it.
I gave it 4 starts because to use the FM tuner you need to move an antenna around to get good reception...for $100 I would think they could have one built in...

iHome iP39 Kitchen Timer and Alarm Clock Radio Speaker System for iPhone/iPod (Silver)
Review by RobKell "Evolution Through Truth and Knowledge" : Almost perfect for the kitchen ... that's about it

Ok, so I picked up this item given it's description that it is good for kitchen / home / office. The kitchen part got my attention. Ok, so it has "two cooking timers," small counter space design, etc etc. Trying is believing ... and here is a run down of this unit:* I like the two cooking timers: Timer 1 and Timer 2. Timer 1 serves as a 1-minute button, and Timer 2 doubles as a 5-minute timer. It was a bit confusing at first how these work since the two buttons serve more than one function, but I have them figured out now and this is the best way I figured how we'd use it. Technically both timers can be used for ANY AMOUNT OF TIME but this is the best way to remember it due to the way the buttons are assigned. Use Timer 1 for anything less than 5 minutes, and use Timer 2 for anything that takes more than 5 minutes. Let's say you want to boil something that takes only 3 minutes. All you have to do is push Timer 1 four (4) times. Why 4 times? The first time it throws the timer in the "ACTIVATE MODE" when it flashes to let you know it is ready to accept timer setting. Pushing it three more times is the same as saying +1 +1 +1 on your timer 1. The screen will show 3:00, still blinking, in case you want to add more minutes. If you are happy with the setting, leave it alone for 5 seconds and it will begin counting down. That's all there is to it and it is way cool. Now let's say you want to cook something for 7 minutes, then I'd use Timer 2 instead of timer 1. They both do the same thing and wake up the same way so it doesn't matter which you use. The idea is that you can have TWO timers going at the same time instead of one if you need that many. The fastest way to do a seven (7) minute countdown is press TIMER 2 twice, and then quickly push timer 1 two times. That is the equivalent of saying ACTIVATE TIMER 2, +5 +1 +1. It's that simple and I like it! I'm sure from this you can figure out how to do any amount of time effectively, including "adding" extra time while the timer is already counting down, as in you just decided whatever time is left is not going to cut it and wanting to add an extra five minutes to what is left. Well, this is really cool but the best part is NEITHER of these timers STOP alarming you when it is time, unlike the digital timers on most ovens that give up on you within a few minutes. These will keep sounding until you hit OFF. That makes them PERFECT for when you are in a shower or in the backyard and coming back in possibly more than a few minutes after the time kicked off. Now, don't ask me what happens to your food (if you used the timer to help cooking), but I often use these timers for non-cooking events so the "persistent alarms" are a must since nothing really gets burnt in those cases. If you haven't figured this out already, the way the TIMERs activate and add minutes makes it a breeze to set, unlike other timers that require you to "type in" the digits on a keypad, taking much more work and discourages frequent use. Five stars for the timer implementation.* I like the space-efficient design of the unit where it doesn't take up that much space in a kitchen, especially.* Now, the part that I don't like ... I don't like the fact it doesn't have radio station presets, as mentioned by others already. However, I am able to forgive this for the timer functionality that I have not yet found anything else that can replicate in such an efficient manner. After all, how often do you need to change radio stations in the kitchen? I'd imagine most people can live with just using their IPODs, IPHONEs and play back their favorite playlists instead.* I also don't like another thing, and that is the ALARM feature on this unit. I liked this unit so much in the kitchen (at first) that I got another one for a bedroom, but I soon found out that the ALARM feature on this unit really is misimplemented. Let's say you set the alarm to go off at 7am in the morning. After the alarm goes off, the alarm does not reactivate itself unless you push the ALARM button again for the following day. Well, this just won't cut it for a bedroom (or any other use) that requires self-repeating each day. I'm not sure what were they thinking when they did so well on the TIMER features they failed to recognize that a bedroom use generally is for "repeating" alarms, not just one time use. Needless to say I returned the bedroom once I found out about this limitation.In summary, I kept the one for the kitchen due to the above reasons. If I find another unit that has a similarly useful TIMER function, the one in the kitchen stays -- since it makes using the timers such a "joy" (dare I say).UPDATE 11/19/2011:After having it for about a year now, I discovered that a few times when you push the timer button the screen would go blank. At first I thought the unit died. Upon closer examination it appears that the display went DIM as if I had inadvertently pushed the DIM option, resulting in the LOWEST brightness setting. Since I always leave it at the highest brightness, the next push would always rotate back to the lowest level going back up with each push. Anyway this may be because the buttons are just plastic "coverings" over electrical contacts and the dimmer button is right next to the TIMER 2 (5-minute) button, which I use most of the time. This does not change the rating on this unit for me and in fact I am considering getting another item similar to this to serve the timer needs.

iHome iP39 Kitchen Timer and Alarm Clock Radio Speaker System for iPhone/iPod (Silver)
Review by K. Goria "Kauaigirl" : very useful!

This kitchen timer/alarm clock is a great addition to my kitchen. The timer is loud enough to hear in another room. I can listen to the radio or my ipod and I love that it is also a charger for my ipod. So easy to use. It is compact and doesn't take up a lot of counter space. I definitely recommend this product. Great gift idea as well.