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Or choose its predecessor, which lacks a few bells and whistles, but is a darned good clock, nonetheless. and can sneak in a nap in the afternoon, then this is the clock for you. If you work from home (lucky dog).
It now has buttons instead of knobs, and it has an adapter to take an Mp3 Player (iPod), but beneath the skin, it's still the amazing little (5" cube) alarm clock that could.Almost everything about this clock can be ustoized to make you happy. We've been delighted with the old version for what seems like forever, and we bought the kid this version when she went off to college. After years of selling the most perfect alarm clock ever,American Innovative Neverlate 7-Day Alarm Clock American Innovative has done it again - they've upgraded the clock to an Executive Model.
Now she's as big a fan of the clock as we are.If you are a person with fluctuating work schedules, or if you're part of a couple where both people work, then you need this clock. It may not be the prettiest clock on Earth, and you will have to spend a few minutes reading the manual (or the "Quick-Start manual) to learn what you need to do when you set up the clock for the first time, but the utter happiness you'll get from having a clock that does everything but make your breakfast will sell you on the Best Alarm Clock in the World. A few of the reviews criticize that, but think about it - how many alarm clocks give you separate alarms for each day, set you up for a midday nap in just a few seconds and take up so little room on your nightstand.
For the longest time, it was the predecessor of this clock, but now you have a choice.
I found that I was generally more tired and had a harder time getting going in the mornings when so abruptly shocked out of slumber.-Nap function. This is not a straightforward, easy to set up alarm clock. A byproduct of having day-by-day alarm sets.-Small size. It's sort of the opposite of a "sleep" function that turns off the radio after a selectable number of minutes (which this also has).-Date display. It's all plastic, goofy looking, and kinda cheap feeling.
If this is a bit steep of a price for you, I'd highly recommend a little Sony gem, the ICF-C180 which can also be found on Amazon. Um, well, it's kinda not good. It's actually much smaller than I expected it to be. Minor plus, but a plus. I've never had an alarm clock that also showed the date.
One other reviewer complained about the ring used to set various things by rotating it. I know one of the other reviewers said it was good/better than he expected, but it's still pretty darn bad. The color selection doesn't help this much. Fabulous for catching a power nap or recharging yourself. Not even close.-Brightness.
I am not sure if this is because mine is built a little looser or if it's personal preference. This is crucial in my book. I don't think it'd just chuck it in the back of the car along with the rest of your junk as you move from dorm room to dorm room and expect it to survive for long. I've listened to a lot of cheaper iPod docs and iPod dock/alarm combos (that I also cross-shopped with this) and I haven't found one of them that cost more than $30 that didn't sound a whole lot better than this thing. It is very suggestive that the build quality is not that good from unit to unit.-Sound quality. After reading all the reviews, I was a little hesitant to spend $50 (Amazon's price as of this review) on it, but I'm glad I did.Pros:-This is an insanely customizable alarm clock. It's too bright, even on the lowest setting.
It's got an even brighter display, and no gradual wake, which were deal-breakers for me, but it's a great little alarm clock, too, with a lot of customizability yet is much more rugged and easier to use/set. If the negatives above aren't a big deal to you, definitely check it out. Too many to really go into here, but this was a generally well thought-out alarm clock.Cons:-Complexity. It has a lot of data on display at one time, if necessary, and I find this useful.-Lots of clever features. Yes, it's a little stiff, but I found it perfectly functional and not too stiff.
I've been hunting for a new alarm clock since my Polk iSonic died a couple of months back. The gradual wake feature slowly ramps up the volume of the alarm over a few seconds rather than hitting like a sledgehammer instantly. There is no bass to speak of, though the midrange and highs aren't horrendous. You can set separate alarms for each day of the week.-It has gradual wake capability. I've heard of them, but never owned one. I had a few requirements, none of which could I find in a single alarm clock to my satisfaction, but this unit comes closest. This thing is not confidence inspiring.
In the interim after losing the iSonic (which had this feature), I lived with a Sony clock that was generally very good, but didn't have this gradual wake feature (and a couple of other bothers). This is something you don't see much on alarms. There really should just be a simple A/B alarm mode to quickly disable one and enable the other (or both). It isn't the sort of thing that tempts you to just lay in bed and listen to music on it. You can set up something like 21 different, independent alarms on this thing, each with a different buzzer or radio preset. Maybe that's a good thing in a device that's supposed to get you out of bed.
It'd be quicker than setting up individual days.-Cheaply built. Mine doesn't do this. It could be worse, and it's manageable (and not as bad as some alarms), but it's certainly quite a bit brighter than I'd personally prefer (I like my room very dark).It's really surprising that, given the obvious amount of thought that went into this little box, they messed up on some of the more obvious things.Overall, I like this clock. just to move your alarm time up or back by a bit. It's easier just to have a couple of preset alarms and toggle them both off/on as needed. Other times, it has to be going pretty loudly for a bit to get me awake. With great power comes great need to read the instructions. It's not horrendous, just not up to par with it's $60 MSRP.
As I don't get to sleep on a regular schedule, sometimes I wake up quickly at the first inkling of a noise from the alarm clock. Another reviewer mentioned that the display would "glitch" out on him if he pressed the dial/knob/buttons on top. It's a pain in the rear to turn this nob, push this button, twist that dial, etc. This lets you set a quickie alarm timer that counts down from your preferred starting point with 5-min increments of time. It's about the size of the old Sony cube "Dream Machine" alarms.-Informative display.
I can't believe I spent so much money on such a wholly worthless alarm clock.The "Activate alarms" & "all off" are now Wednesday & Thursday now or something.Please just buy yourself 7 regular alarm clocks or something. At some point it just quit working, about 1 day after the 90 days passed.
You can bypass an alarm if you hold down the off button. Even in the lowest setting it gives off enough of a blue glow that you feel you are sleeping inside a smurf.
If the clock was next to my bed I could hit the snooze button and it would light for a few moments but my bedroom is too small to keep a night table next to the bed. We actually turned the backlight off altogether which means I never know what time it is when I wake during the night.
The one this clock advertises is done remarkably well. The bezel control is a bit of a joke - they could eliminate it and the clock would be exactly the same with the button control - the bezel is too touchy anyway.The backlight is ridiculous.
If they really wanted to make a single improvement they would revert to the old LED display.Still - the darn thing works so well that I wouldn't give it up. The multiple settings are great.
This is great for the days when my wife does not have to get up after me.But.Materials are cheap - it is lightweight and feels like it could break easily.
I have bought cheap alarm clocks from retail stores and paid $10-$15 and they have lasted 5+ years before the need for replacement. I will go back to buying cheap alarm clocks. I have owned this clock for about 8 months and one day it just froze up. The features were nice of this alarm clock and it was loud, that is why I bought it, But the quality is just not there. Don't waste your money on this alarm clock. Nothing would work. One might figure that when paying $60+ for an alarm clock it would give you years of service.
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