iLive IJ308W - Karaoke system with iPod cradle - CD+G - white Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This karaoke machine is everything my 5 and 7 years olds could want. However, I find one advertised feature missing and some simple standard features lacking.
iLive as a CD+G karaoke player:
This product does a great job playing CDs or CD+G. It comes with one mic and has an input for a second. It has device controls and a remote control. These controls include a volume, mic volume, and singer volume. The singer volume allows one to turn down the singing on a regular CD (or iPod or any other audio input). The iLive plays music on a mono speaker. There are also audio and video outputs to play music and lyrics on a TV. One disappointment was that the mic did not come through the audio out; it can only be heard through the iLive itself. Another big disappointment is that the iLive has a single mono speaker. It's a great portable player that can run on AC power or batteries, but stereo was created in the 1960s and is a pretty standard feature these days. When I played a couple songs with lyrics on my TV, some of the video was blotchy. That could be attributed to the CD+G disc quality or the iLive player quality.
As a cheap, portable karaoke player I'd give the iLive 3 stars.
iLive as an iPod player:
It plays music and photos or video (through the video output) from the iPod. At this time, iPods do not support a karaoke format. This is an iPod shortcoming, not an iLive shortcoming. What you can do is play your iPod music, turn down the vocals, and sing along on the mic without lyrics. My kids really enjoy this as they have a great song selection to choose from. However, the same shortcomings - mono speaker, no mic through the audio output - apply. One other advertised feature is actually lacking - the unit does not charge the iPod. Lack of this feature makes the iLive a very poor iPod port.
Although cheap and portable, lack of iPod charging capability and false advertise lead to 2 stars as an iPod player.
Because the above functionality is combined into one unit at a low price, I give it 3 stars overall. It's great for kids, but lacking in quality and features.

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