Sony ICF-C318 Clock Radio with Dual Alarm (Black)
by Sony
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony ICF-C318 Clock Radio with Dual Alarm (Black)
Customer Review: Greatly Adjustable Features
Summary: 5 Stars
There is plenty to like about this alarm for the price. Essentially, it is what it claims to be, a clock radio with 2 alarms, but it gets 5 stars and my recommendation because many of its features can be adjusted to suit your needs or preferences.
Automatic time set: Convenient, but no big deal. When you plug it in, it automatically has the correct time, so you don't have to run around the house making sure it matches your cell phone and cable box. I don't really understand why this feature is given such prominant billing in the name or feature list, but because it does, I followed the precedent. The date is also set and can be viewed by pressing the snooze button.
Dual alarms: As promised, there are 2 alarms. What's nice is that they're controlled by 2 separate, identical controls on opposite sides of the alarm. So, instead of a button you hold or a switch you select to choose between the alarms, the left side sets Alarm A and the right side sets Alarm B, keeping it easy and clear, even in the middle of the night.
3 light settings: The display can be set to 1 of 3 levels of brightness. The dimmest setting is dim enough to not interrupt your sleep, something rare with green displays, while the brightest setting is bright enough to read in the day time. This simple feature permits me to place the clock facing my bed, letting me glance at it through the night.
Snooze: The clock has a large snooze button placed right up front. Again, what makes it particularly useful is that the snooze can be adjusted while the alarm is going off by holding the button down. So, when the alarm goes off, press the button once to snooze the alarm for 10 minutes, or continue to hold the snooze button to increase the snooze from 10 minutes to 20 minutes, and continue to hold to increase the snooze time by increments of 10 minutes for up to 1 hour.
Radio: The clock is plenty loud and clear on the stronger stations. While it, of course, still sounds like a clock radio, it is perfectly adequate for listening to background orchestral music in a child's room or NPR in your office. Also, there's the typical sleep function, letting you listen to the radion as you fall asleep with the radio turning off after 90, 60, 30, or 15 minutes.
Plug and Controls: The plug is a typical plug (like that of a lamp), instead of an adapter with the transformer inside, so it doesn't take up a bunch of space if plugged in behind a dresser or chest of drawers. Also, the controls are easy to grab and use. There aren't separate hour and minute buttons to control the alarms, which is typically my preference, however the dials work so well, especially in the middle of the night, with the speed increasing the longer you hold the dial, that I have come to prefer these dials.
2 Negatives: First, though there are 2 settings, the "buzzer" alarm is really not very loud. Normally that would be a deal breaker for me, however, the radio alarm can be plenty loud, so it works out fine. Actually, because of the way I use the alarm (see below), I like having the ability to set a quiet alarm first with a loud screamer as back up. Second, the lights showing which alarm is set and whether it's set to am or pm are not very clear. The indicators are merely small dots placed close together, so you can tell if 1, 2 or no alarms are set, but not necessarily whether it's alarm A or B that's set. I should add that you get used to the lights over time, though since the A and B alarm controls are on opposite sides of the alarm, I don't know why Sony wouldn't simply place the alarm indicators similarly, or make the indicators "A" and "B" instead of a dot.
How I use it: I set the A alarm to "buzzer" for what time I need to start waking up, and the B alarm to the radio with the volume up for the time I need to be out of bed. Because the "buzzer" is actually an easy "chirp, chirp, chirp ... chirp, chirp, chirp ... " I'm able to start waking up without getting too angry, all the while the radio alarm working to guarantee that I actually get up. In this, it's effectively replaced my old Soleil Sun Alarm, which would glow to gently wake me up before an alarm would force me from bed.
Customer Review: Friendly features. A well designed clock radio/alarm.
Summary: 5 Stars
First, I replaced a Sony clock radio alarm that we used for about 15 years. So, I hope that this one lasts as long.
I like the size and look to the alarm clock. No sharp edges or points on the bottom to scuff/scratch your antique, oak night stand.
The dual alarms were easy to set. Each side of the clock has a dedicated knob to set the alarm (one for Alarm "A" and one for Alarm "B"). That way there is no confusion about which alarm time you are setting. Left side is "A" and right side is "B". The times set rapidly or slowly changed based on how far you turn the knob. Very easy.
The time set for the clock also has it's own entry method using buttons on top of the clock. So, absolutely no way to mess up alarm setting "A", alarm setting "B" and the actual real time. I had no issues setting the clock. Very intuitive.
An added benefit that is hard to see from the pictures: The digital display numbers are big enough for me to see from the opposite side of the bed without putting on my glasses. My eyesight is about -5.75 diopters in both eyes. With previous clock, all I could see was red, blurry blobs. The numbers on this clock are still blurry, but they are big enough that I can make out the numbers. So, that was nice. And, there is a 3 way dimmer/brightness for the display as well. There is a pretty good difference in low to high; so, if you need to see the digits in a brightly lit room, put it on high setting. Low is low enough so that you don't have a green glow coming off of the night stand. I've had to put a towel on clocks before because they were too bright. This clock does not need the towel fix :)
The snooze bar is easy to see and hit when that extra 9 minutes is needed, and your not going to turn off the alarm by mistake by hitting the snooze bar.
Battery backed up time AND alarm mode so that's a good thing.
The only potential negative is the alarm volume. There is a low/high alarm setting but doesn't make too much of a difference and the high setting is not very loud. I'm a light sleeper so no problem for me, but if you can sleep through anything, your hearing will have to become adjusted to recognizing the alarm. Now, if you don't turn off the alarm, it does start changing in beep frequency and annoyance so, eventually, anyone should wake up. Alternatively, use the radio mode instead of "beep" mode and pump up the volume. This will jolt you out of bed.
Lastly, the power cord provided could be 2 feet longer, but I have a plug behind the nightstand so okay for me.
It receives AM and FM; however, I didn't buy the clock for radio features so, to me, they don't bear in the star rating. Your mileage may vary.
Pros: Friendly to furniture
Easy to set both alarms and time
Hard to mess up alarm times and real time settings
Big numbers are readible without my glasses at 3:30 in the morning :)
Dual alarms!
Easy to hit snooze.
Battery backed time AND alarm
Wide range light setting adjustment
Gets AM AND FM :)
Did not need to reference the user's guide. Everything easy use.
Cons: None
Neutral: Alarm loudness on Alarm mode. No issue on radio mode.
Cord could be a couple feet longer in the ideal world.
The two neutrals may be negatives/cons to you. So adjust the 5 star rating to your particular needs.
Customer Review: It's not a gps, so you DO have to set the time zone the first time.
Summary: 5 Stars
2 separate alarms with two distinct alarm sounds. The alarms start low an get progressively louder and the intervals between the beeps gets progressively faster. Awesome product design that won't jolt you out of your sleep.
INTUITIVE!! Oh, man. I get excited about the smallest things that could easily have been skipped, but weren't. For example, setting the timer: Without over-explaining it, the alarm-set function will speed through the minutes at different speeds depending on how close or far you are from reaching your desired time when setting your alarms. Another small thing I noticed but love is when completion of the alarm set, the set time will show for around 2 seconds allowing you time to reset it immediately if you want; however, when the alarm switch is off and you turn the knob to try and set the alarm unknowingly, the off display comes on for a split-second. Why would I need 2 seconds to know the alarm is off? I don't. The designers knew that and adjusted the function accordingly. Again, it's the little things for me. Also, I don't know if this was done intentionally or not, but after the initial frustration at what I thought (still could be, depending on your perception)was a design flaw, I now believe may have been done on purpose. The location of the button to turn off the alarm. Why on earth would they set it behind the snooze button and refuse to make it distinguishable from the rest of the buttons? Their original intention is irrelevant for me. The extra seconds I need to be aware of it's location and turn it off are all I need to gain that extra boost of consciousness that allows me- I mean the conscious me- to decide if I want to hit the pillow again or not. My old alarm had an enormous alarm turn-off button, which I liked to call "the enabler". You have to make a conscious attempt at turning this one off, which is important if you're one of those people who are somewhat prone to turning the alarm off and forgetting you ever did. Those extra 4 seconds are the most irritating 4 seconds of my day, but I'm awake. And that's all I ask for. Wake me up little guy.....wake me up.
Note: Some folks are complaining about the fact that it doesn't set itself to the correct time zone on initial plug-in. Well, no, unless you feel like paying 3-4 times the original price of the clock for an embedded GPS-like receiver. There's instructions that will inform you on how to set it up the first time. It took me all of about 1 minute to set the time zone. Now, when I unplug it and plug it back in (purposefully or due to a blackout), the time stays current, in my time zone and adjusts itself for daylight savings.
Customer Review: Pretty Amazing for a 19 dollar clock radio
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this because I had a Timex clock I hated for many reasons. (The Timex was supposedly a referenced to Atomic Clock type unit and kept losing noticable amounts of minutes, plus it was to d*mn bright...)
I received this Sony ICF-C318 and had it unpacked, figured out and working in literally 5 minutes. The Alarm set feature wheel is very quick and intuitive for me. This clock does not have atomic clock reference but is set from the factory - you just cycled thru on a button to your time zone and the time is where it should be. BIG DEAL TO ME: Three (3) display dimming levels and the bottom level is definitely not to bright. And I am usually sensitive to this kind of thing. Battery backup in case of power failure - a must have for me. The chime alarm has two settable volumes and the bottom level will wake me up without making me leap out of my skin. It also does does a slow but progressive repeat of the beep at shorter intervals over time (say 2 minutes?). I found if I put a small light cloth over the speaker, I can make the speaker kinder and gentler to the point of almost un-noticable. This is an option if you have a sweetie who is a light sleeper. The actual radio? It's not the ritz but yes it pulls in stations with no hassle. Mind you I'm in the middle of a modern city on the west coast so if you're out in the boondocks your reception will vary.
Only minor complaint really (and it's ridiculous) is the speaker is a bit tinny - but what does one expect for 19 dollars !!! I look at what a winner this radio is in every other aspect and it's intended purpose and sheesh.... that's a wrinkle.
It gets down to scope and function. I wanted a small, reliable, easy-to-use clock radio for waking me up - no more, no less, no hassles. In that scope, this is a winner. If I want better sound, I have a Sony HD stereo radio in the kitchen (once I get my posterior out of bed and walk there), the 5.1 system in the living room and the decent stereo in my man-cave. I have enough stereos OK? I'm not suffering here. By the way, I don't go to sleep to music.
If * YOU * are the kind who wants hi-fi, boutique sound suitable for long listening periods in your bedroom, then this item is probably NOT your cup of tea OK? You should be looking elsewhere -- like at the Sangean, Cambridge, Boston, Bose (I hate recommending Bose) or one of the zillion wake-to-Ipod type stations out there. But then again, be prepared to pay 10 - 20 times as much and endure a lot more complication.
Customer Review: Best alarm clock radio ever
Summary: 5 Stars
This product is far and away the best alarm clock radio I've ever used (and an incredible bargain).
Initial Setup
If you happen to be in the Eastern Time Zone, as I am at the moment, then all you do is plug it in, and it instantly displays the correct time, including DST. If you're not in EST or EDT, then there's a dedicated button clearly labeled "TIME ZONE". I've never seen an atomic clock set itself instantly, so I assume that it got turned on and was allowed to set itself at the factory, and the backup battery did the rest.
On the day we were supposed to"spring forward", the clock correctly switched to DST, so I guess the atomic clock broadcast must include a DST bit that the clock knows how to use. The only other explanation I can think of is that the clock keeps track of the date for the sole purpose of toggling DST, which I find unlikely
User Interface
This clock has the most intuitive alarm clock UI I've ever seen. On each side, it has a "jog dial" knob. The one on the left adjusts Alarm A's set time; the one on the right adjust Alarm B's. To advance the alarm time, twist the knob "forward" (away from you). To adjust the alarm time backward, twist the knob backward (toward you). No instructions needed (that's my standard for a good UI!).
I started to add a note critical of the clock's support for only 7 time zones, but then realized that perhaps there is no time broadcast available outside these zones. The top of the unit has controls for manually setting the time and DST.
Reliability: so far, so good...
Pros
+ Extremely intuitive to use
+ Automatically switches to/from Daylight Savings Time
+ Does a good job of pulling in stations
+ Clean sound (if a bit tinny)
+ Battery backup (keeps time and remembers settings, but display, and presumably alarm, is off until power is restored)
+ Display brightness is adjustable (3 levels)
Cons
+ Analog tuning
+ No station presets