Altec Lansing InMotion Moondance Glow iM402

Not only has Altec Lansing set out to optimize the sound of its latest iPod speaker and clock-radio systems, but it's also made a conscious effort to throw in a couple of bonus features that it hopes will set its products apart from the competition. The latest result of that focus is the Moondance Glow (actually, the full name is the InMotion Moondance Glow iM402), a compact iPod clock radio that sounds pretty decent and has a mood-lighting option, as well as an extra RF "snooze" remote that allows you to turn off the alarm from across the room without pointing the remote at the unit.

The key thing to note about the Moondance's design is that it's been engineered to look thin--it's sort of the flat-screen version of an iPod clock radio--and it's actually fairly trim, measuring just over 3 inches deep, a little over 12 inches wide, and a shade less than 6 inches tall. It's fairly light (2.7 pounds) and has a spring-loaded, hideaway dock that pops out of the front of the unit.

The buttons on the unit are touch-sensitive and backlit in orange when the Moondance is powered on. Altec Lansing decided to make the LCD screen pretty small and wants consumers to see this system as an audio system first and clock radio second. OK, great. More practically, if you have bad eyesight and need an iPod clock radio that has a large display that you can see from across the room, you'll probably want to pass on this one. But the display is readable from about 10 feet away (take that from someone whose once good eyesight is now only OK after having to stare at a screen for all these years and write hundreds of reviews for CNET). Just as important, you can dim the display or completely turn it off. The screen also displays song and radio station info (it supports RDS). You can opt to make the clock even smaller and highlight song info, or vice versa.

As for the mood lighting, it, too, can be turned on and off, and you can choose between a variety of colors, depending on, well, your mood, or the company you're keeping. I've been out of college quite a while and haven't been single for years, but I guess I can see the appeal of a little background lighting to go along with your Barry White. It doesn't do anything as fancy as Philips' Ambilight--like pulsate to the music--but that's probably a good thing.

The Moondance Glow isn't the most intuitive iPod clock radio we've tested, but once you dig into a bit (it's a good idea to peruse the manual), you'll realize it has many of the right features we look for in a good clock radio. You can set the alarms to go off once, every day, on weekdays, or just weekends. You can also set the volume on the alarm and you can wake up to your iPod, FM radio, or the buzzer. (News, talk, and sports fans take note: AM reception isn't supported.) We were a little disappointed with the number of presets for the radio (there are only four; we like to see six to eight) and they can only be accessed from the remote.

Owners of the iPhone should note that this model doesn't offer GSM shielding, so you'll have to put your iPhone in airplane mode to avoid introducing any cell interference noises. Likewise, this product lacks any sort of video output, so don't expect to use it to watch any iTunes videos on your TV.