We blushed when we received the Philip’s ShogBox, a rather, um, suggestive name for a portable alarm clock with built-in speakers that plays MP3s. Waking you with a buzzer, FM radio, or your own imported music, it’s the perfect accessory for traveling the world in search of a better MP3-playing alarm clock.

Where to begin? You can’t use the FM tuner without the included antenna, as if you’re going to remember to bring that when you’re packing. A travel alarm clock should certainly have an FM scanning function, which the ShogBox does not—you can’t even manually wander the FM band. There’s a line-in jack for listening to another player through the ShogBox’s speakers, but doing so disables the alarm, so you’ll have to remember to remove the line-in source before you doze.

The sound is brawnier than you’d expect from a cucumber-size gadget, but severe distortion creeps in above 75 percent volume. You must use MusicMatch Jukebox to load the ShogBox with MP3 or WMA tracks (including protected WMA), and transfers are limited to USB 1.1 speeds. Good grief.

The ShogBox can play protected WMA files and exceeded Philips’ rated battery life at slightly more than 12 hours at 75 percent volume, but as is, we’d still rather not get Shogged.
--Logan Decker

Month Reviewed: Holiday 2005

Verdict: 3

+ Yaks: It might beat the alrm clock in your hotel room.

- Tax: And then again, it might not.

URL: www.philips.com

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