 Best clock radio I've seen |
| Review Date: March 17, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Paul Jackson, Denton, TX USA |
I own several radios and clock radios, including CCrane's
CCRadio (made by Sangean) and the GE SuperRadio. Some of
the negatives given in reviews above have an element of truth,
but are overblown, in my view.
Compared to the CCRadio (the several year old one, I don't
have the more recent CCRadio Plus):
* The RCR-2 is noticeably smaller. It is somewhat narrower,
and half the height. It is twice as deep. It feels solid,
heavy, and polished.
* The extra buttons make it quite a bit easier to use. Sangean
is still no Apple or Timex when it comes to making intuitive
interfaces, so the interface will still confuse some. And
while Sangean has improved on their translation of the
instruction booklet, it still leaves much unsaid. But
the function of each button is clearer and simpler, with
less strange overloading of uses.
* The CCRadio used any button for Snooze, so I could not
switch stations, or just turn the radio OFF in the morning,
without pushing the ON/OFF button 3 times, to get it out of
snooze mode, and just plain OFF. The RCR-2 only uses the
one up/down big tuning button for snooze, so other buttons
continue to function for their primary purpose in the
morning. This is good.
* The front third of the RCR-2 is polished metal, with a
closely fit clear face plate over the front. The buttons
are a very solid feeling, smooth polished round metal nubs
with strong spring loading. This is good for most of the
buttons, though the snooze (big up/down bar) button requires
more focused pressure than I like first thing in the morning.
* The CCRadio buttons are flimsier feeling plastic, and have
some annoying delays -- you have to hold them a major
fraction of a second to take affect (debounce circuitry, I
guess). You hold the CCRadio station selection buttons
perhaps a half second to change station, but not more than
two seconds, or you just reprogrammed the memory. This is
an annoyingly small window between the times required for
the two functions. I have not noticed any such timing
problems with the RCR-2 -- the station selection buttons
take affect immediately, so far as I can tell.
* The 7-day programming, and display, is the first such I
have used since a Sony model, many years ago. Each of the
two alarms gets one programmable time, and can be enabled
or disabled independently for each of the 7 days. Each
of the seven days of the week gets its own button, and
the status of each day is separately shown on the display.
Nice.
* I haven't pushed the radio tuner yet, except to note that
the one weak AM station I like, late at night, which only my
best radios (the CCRadio and GE SuperRadio) can pick up,
also came in just fine on the RCR-2. So I assume this is
another fine Sangean AM frontend.
* The RCR-2 display is _much_ more readable than the CCRadio
display. There is _no_ angle from which I can read the
smaller details on the CCRadio display, except when I hold
a flashlight just right and squint through my good eye.
The RCR-2 display is crystal clear from a range of angles
(and utterly invisible or unreadable, outside that range).
You must view it from straight on or from above, looking
down, but not more than about 20 or 30 degrees above the
horizontal. If you are more than 5 or 10 degrees below
the horizon, looking up, it is _completely_ invisible, with
just an orange lit rectangle. You can look from the left
or right of straight on by 20 degrees and see an excellent
display, or perhaps 40 degrees to the left or right and
still make out the numbers. The backlight is just from
one side (the right), but covers the whole display fairly
well, only mildly less bright on the left side. The
backlight on my CCRadio is utterly dark on the opposite
side, and only marginally useful. The orange backlight
on the RCR-2 is almost bright enough to use for a night
light, which some folks who like real darkness for sleeping
will find way excessive - they will have to turn the light
off. Personally, I can sleep in broad daylight, and rather
like the light.
* I have tried several atomic clocks that set using a radio
signal from Boulder, Colorado. Only two of them were able
to find any signal in my location -- this RCR-2 and one
other higher priced wall clock. The RCR-2 has a separate
antenna for the clock setting signal, which can be hung
off the back of the radio, or placed separately within the
3 foot range of the attaching wire. The cheaper atomic
setting clocks that I have tried, $20 or less, have never
worked for me. The RCR-2 still won't work for everyone,
depending on signal strength, but it's good enough for me,
and better than most.
* I have no comments on audio or speaker quality - I am half
deaf, and only listen to AM Talk Radio and Alarm Buzzes ;).
The RCR-2 handles these two just fine, so far as I can tell.
* Unlike both the GE SuperRadio and CCRadio, the RCR-2 does not
take a big heavy set of D cell batteries. So I suspect when
I lose electric power, I won't be listening to the RCR-2 for
long. It's no emergency radio. The backup power (internal
capacitor) did last the couple of minutes it took me to
move the radio between locations, as I tried out the atomic
time setting reception. It kept time while unplugged, with
the display light off, but the seconds still counting.
* And the RCR-2 is no DX long distance radio tuner. While the
AM frontend seems to be quality, you don't get the fine
tuning and antenna options required for DX'ing.
* The RCR-2 doesn't have the Weather channel that my CCRadio
has -- not that I care.
* The RCR-2 has no bass or treble controls - just a volume
control. Fine by me.
* The Nap function is the first I've seen of such that I will
likely use. Just push the Nap button once for each 10
minutes you want. The display shows 10, 20, ... 120, OFF
in sequence, for 10 to 120 minutes of nap time, and OFF.
The only minor annoyance is that you have to push the
button the remainder of the 12 times to turn it back OFF,
but in normal usage, one doesn't need to do that often. |
Best alarmclock i've owned sofar!
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| Review Date: February 24, 2006 |
| Reviewer: J. GEERS, |
I really like this alarmclock a lot! It got the highest rating for alarmclocks by the Dutch Consumer organisation (Consumentenbond) in 2005. So on this score i bought it because my old alarmclock had gotten a bit 'shifty' on me. And i must say i like it a lot. I think it is 'pretty' as far as alarmclocks can be called pretty. It sounds really good for such a small box. I actually like the display, despite other people calling it awful. Sure when i'm standing up next to my bed it becomes unreadable but when i'm lying down in bed on either side it is very clear. The dial has a warm yellow glow and the numbers are black and very clear.
It has a bunch of features, to much to name them all but for example: I can set the alarm for any time, any day of the week and any station that i want. It's time setting and keeping is radio controlled, so it always keeps perfect time, summer and winter. Reception on FM or AM is very clear and free of noise and distortion. The sound is clear and rich actually just plain good, even with classical music :-) Sofar i would call it the best alarmclock i've ever owned or heard before. I give it 5 stars! |
Great clock radio, but...
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| Review Date: September 16, 2006 |
| Reviewer: zben, Bridgewater, NJ |
This is an awesome clock radio, full of terrific features. For example, you have two alarms and you can set which days of the week you want for each alarm. This goes beyond what you might find for some clocks which let you set weekday and weekend schedules. Set up once and you probably won't have to set the alarm again until your schedule changes. So if you've ever forgotten to set your alarm the night before, or you've ever messed up the settings because you need to switch the alarm times on different days of the week, this clock is well worth considering.
The clock also synchs itself up with the atomic clock -- you just pick the time zone, and whether Daylight Savings Time is in effect, and then the time and calendar will be set. Mine successfully was able to do this overnight (I had set the time manually first. Sometimes you may not get a good radio signal depending on weather and time of day).
It has a nice nap feature. Without disturbing your alarm settings you can push a button and have the alarm wake you up in 10, 20, 30, etc. minutes.
The Human Waking System is nice. The alarm beeping gradually increases in volume, then the pattern of the beeping changes after 15 seconds or so, then after a minute if your not up it will go quite and start again in 2 minutes.
The radio quality sounds pretty good for a small single speaker. Other reviews mentioned difficulty seeing the display. You do have to pretty much look at it head on, typical of LCD clock radios. There is a button you can push to illuminate the display -- I would have liked to be able to have multiple brightness settings on this light, though.
Ok, I'm sure you noticed the "but" in the title. This is a great clock radio, but setting up time, alarm and radio presets is a bit complicated at first. Perhaps no more than programming a phone number in a memory phone. You WILL need to refer to the manual to set up the clock radio, even if you take pride in having the ability to set any hotel alarm clock when you travel. And the manual is very poorly written, presumably translated from some other language but never checked for grammar. Bottom line -- if you have difficulty programming your VCR, cell phone or home phone, then this clock radio will be a challange for you. Keep this in mind if you're thinking of giving this as a gift as well.
Which is really a shame, because it's such a great, versitile clock radio.
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worth the price!
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| Review Date: January 8, 2005 |
| Reviewer: BillK 8, Detroit, USA |
Sure, you can find dual alarm clock radios for less, but this is the only one I've ever seen that allows you to set each alarm for different days of the week, and with different radio stations. Excellent sound and good reception for a table radio too. Unlike many here, I actually like the backlit LCD display. I find it fairly easy to read (and I'm nearsighted), and it also makes a fine nightlight.
It is true that setting the alarms is not intuitive. Be sure to follow the instructions completely.
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Outstanding Clock Radio
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| Review Date: December 2, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Sandi, Tucson, AZ |
I liked this sturdy little radio right out of the box! The overall design is quite handsome, with the weight keeping it from moving around when you use the buttons. It has rubber pads on the feet which resist scratching your table and keeps it in place.
The manual is fairly easy to understand, with the usual translation grammar amusements but if you follow the steps, it works. The manual has good schematics. It does leave out details regarding how long the memory stays put (as it has no battery back up) in case of a power failure. But over time I find that a power failure leaves your pre-sets unchanged. But the atomic clock may or may not re-set itself in time for you to wake for work!
If you turn the radio on to listen while you are waiting for the snooze, you actually turn off the alarm. Some things you learn by trial and error. One of which is that if you are listening to the radio just before your alarm goes off and you have the back light turned off, the light goes on just before the alarm sounds and the radio turns off. The snooze repeats in 6 minutes. If it remains active, the alarm display is blinking. If it is no longer blinking, you have turned it off by turning on the radio to listen while you wait for the alarm to sound again. See ** below.
Overall this clock radio is very functional and easy to use. The backlight may be a little bright for some folks, but can be turned off. The buzzer alarm sounds thru the radio only and not thru an earpiece. I like the fact that the buzzer alarm volume is adjustable (on the bottom), so you can wake without a jolt - if that works for you - it gradually gets louder and changes frequency. The display is, as other reviews state, not visible from all angles. But if like me, your clock is pretty much on eye level on the night stand, it is fine.
I bought this radio because of the manufacturer's fine reputation and the fact that it is only one of a couple of clock radios available with preset stations, earplug jack and no bulk of an added CD player. The atomic clock sets pretty quickly in Arizona - about 5 minutes. DST feature is not compatible with our time zone which has no DST, so in the summer months my clock is set to Pacific time (on the bottom). The atomic antenna attaches to the clock, with the option of removing it and hanging it on the wall nearby in case the signal calls for that.
All of the buttons are quite understandable and easy to operate. The volume is a wheel on the side, the bottom of the radio features a well recessed reset function, time zone choice and (recessed) volume control for the buzzer alarm. The preset stations are accessible with one touch. Only a few buttons have dual functions.
The dual alarm can be set to radio or buzzer with the days of the week chosen or not chosen. For example one person can have his/her wake up time set for specific days and the second person for his/her time and days of the week. I am the only user of this clock radio and need to wake one week day at a different time, so that can be set indefinitely. It is the case, although not stated, that alarms remain active until you deactivate. So if you leave for vacation, you will want to deactivate. After sounding and being shut off, the display shows which alarm(s) are active for the next morning.
It features a 30-90 minute sleep timer and a 10-120 minute nap time, which are independent.
** If you want to bypass the 6 minute snooze and listen to the radio before you get up, you can set the nap timer for one of the 10 minute increments. NOTE: For the nap feature you have to go all the way thru the selections which begin at 30 minutes thru OFF to arrive at the 10 minutes. There is an FM antenna wire. Also the mfg. date and serial number are on the bottom.
I would buy this radio again in a flash!
Revised 02-05-09
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