I like to wake up to my favorite music in the morning. Since I'm not a morning person, I need something happy to get my day going. Up to this point, I've been using the alarm clock function of my iPod, connected to a pair of computer speakers, but this setup is less than ideal for two reasons: it adds more cords to our headboard, of which we already have enough, and since the alarm doesn't have a "weekday" setting, the iPod will start even on Saturday when not connected to anything if I forget to turn it off.

So we decided to get an iPod alarm clock. Being, ahem, frugal, we picked up the Merkury Portable Alarm Clock for iPod, as it seemed to have the features we were looking for, namely, it works through the dock connector and needs no external cord. It also charges the iPod, which is a bonus but not an uncommon feature.

The small stereo speakers give good enough sound quality for a wake-up call or listening to music in bed before drifting off. The problem is that you can't do both. You have to set the alarm switch to either "iPod" or "Auto" (or "Off" or "Radio"--yes, it does have a radio so you can listen for school closings without getting out of bed.), but if you have it set to "iPod" to listen to music or watch a quick video before going to sleep, you have to remember to switch it to "Auto," or it won't wake you. Well, I like watching a short video clip before going to bed, and given that I'm usually pretty tired by then, I usually forget to switch it before bed. I've kept my old buzzer alarm clock to make sure I get up in time, but the whole point of this device was to clear space on the headboard, not add more.

The form factor is small, which is a plus. The whole thing is about the width of two iPods, which is much smaller than most I've seen, and it can work via battery or AC power, so the "Portable" in the name is an accurate description.

The clock has a backlight that can be activated via the snooze button, so you can't glance at the LCD screen in the dark and see the time. I personally prefer LED clocks for this reason. I also found that the "snooze" button doesn't snooze--it turns the alarm off completely, so if you're a clock swatter like I am, this will get you into trouble.

The volume level is plenty loud for evening listening, but when the alarm starts, the volume level is reset to a lower level, so make sure you're using a loud song to wake to. Why it doesn't stay loud is completely beyond my comprehension.

Overall, I'm not impressed with this device. If you can deal with all the quirks, it's an inexpensive way to wake up to your favorite playlist, but personally, I'm looking for something a bit more foolproof.