Sony ICFC180 AM/FM Clock Radio: Digital-Cameras-Photo.com

Sony ICFC180 AM/FM Clock Radio

Sony ICFC180 AM/FM Clock Radio
by Sony

Our Price: $127.45
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
See more product details

Customers in the UK, buy this product at amazon.co.uk for British Pounds

Digital Photo Product Details

Manufacturer: Sony
Model: ICFC180
Color: White
Product features:

AM/FM Clock Radio w/ Dual Alarm
Automatic Time Set
No power, no problem! (Alarm will sound even if power is out)
Weekend Alarm Mode
Easy Alarm Set

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony ICFC180 AM/FM Clock Radio

Customer Review: Perfect balance of features and simplicity
Summary: 5 Stars

When my old alarm clock broke, I set out to search for a new one and had a lot of requirements. After much research online and talking to friends, I settled on this one. The reasons I think it's a great alarm are because of its features:
1) nap timer (10, 20, 30, 60, 120 min.)
2) 4 alarms
3) flexible snooze button (you can snooze for up to 60 min. in 10-min. intervals)
4) backup battery in case of power failure

These features in themselves don't justify getting this alarm, though. The best feature, though is that there are two separate alarm dials on either side of the clock for easy setting of alarms, and that you can easily tell which alarms are set by looking at the clock. First the dials--so many times before I've been frustrated when I set the alarm, only to realize that I had actually changed the time! The dials on this clock ONLY change the alarm times, so that problem is avoided.

Also, while many other clocks have separate menus for each alarm (ie, you hit a button and Alarm #1 shows up on the screen, and you hit another button and Alarm #2 shows up, etc.), this one has it staring right at you along with the time. Yes, it may seem cluttered, but it's really helpful to be able to glance at the clock in the middle of the night and be reassured that you set the alarm for the right time (and that it's set at all). That's because the two windows in the bottom are designated only for the left and right alarms. If there's no time shown, the alarm won't sound; if the time is shown, the alarm will sound. That simple! The weekend setting basically allows you to switch to 2 other alarms, so there are in essence 4 alarms.

I was concerned about a some of the comments in a few of the less favorable reviews and I'll address those questions in a moment. Before doing that, though, I also wanted to add that one nice thing about this alarm clock's interface is that I can easily set an alarm as follows: Alarm #1 on the weekday sounds at 7:50am with a low radio to slowly wake me up. If I don't wake up by 8am, Alarm #2 goes off with the louder buzzer. If I decide when I go to sleep that I'd like to sleep in a bit (since my job has flexible hours), then I can hit the "Weekend" button to switch to the other 2 alarms, which are set likewise, but just an hour later. It's been a great joy to be able to wake up gradually, but to have the security of knowing that I'll wake up at the buzzer if I sleep through the radio.

Turning off the alarms before they sound is easy--there are 2 also specially designated buttons to turn each alarm on or off. The alarm time no longer displays when the alarm isn't set. Ever wonder if the alarm is still going to wake you up after you hit the snooze button? This clock displays the amount of time you've requested to snooze (press it again for more time), and then the alarm that will sound blinks until the alarm sounds. That's reassuring--sometimes I hit the snooze button and forget whether I actually hit it or turn the alarm off. A quick glance at the screen's blinking alarm time reassures me that the alarm will wake me up after the snooze.

No alarm clock is perfect, though. Here are a few concerns that other people pointed out, along with my thoughts:
1) The display is too bright. This is true for many people who are sensitive to light--indeed, there are only 2 brightness settings, and both are fairly bright. You could get a shaded plastic sheet to cover it, or set it further from you. While I think this is a legitimate concern, it hasn't bothered me at all. I actually like being able to see the time very easily without having to press a backlight button.
2) The Daylight Savings Time button. Some have complained that while trying to turn the alarm off (by pressing a button a top), they've pressed the DST button, which pushes the time back an hour and causes one to be late for work. True, there are a lot of buttons on top, but I think that (a) the alarm off button is far enough away from the DST button, and (b) just don't use DST time at all. Instead, change the alarm time manually when DST roles around; that way, if you accidentally press the DST button, you'll wake up an hour early instead of an hour late. No real harm done. But realistically, I don't foresee ever accidentally hitting the DST button, and even if I were to, the sun symbol on the clock would alert me to that.
3) Can't set the time. I noticed that some reviewers wrote that you cannot change the time on the clock. This is wrong, and I'm confused as to why they would write that. Although the clock comes with a factory-set time, you can change it to any time at any point, just like any other clock.
4) Display is hard to see. Yes, from below, the numerals are hard to read, so consider whether there's somewhere at eye-level or lower that you can place the clock.
5) Doesn't keep track of dates. I saw a complaint that the clock doesn't automatically kick into the "weekend" mode when the weekend actually roles around. While I can understand why somebody might desire such a function, I actually like the fact that it doesn't automatically restrict the "weekend" mode to the weekend. This way, I can essentially have 4 different alarm clocks set for various different situations, and on any given night I can switch pretty easily.
6) Alarm is too soft. The buzzer alarm setting is soft, but the melody alarm setting is really loud.

In addition to the comments above, there are a couple additional things that I wish Sony had thought of:
1) The alarm set dials -- The dials to set the alarms should have been the type that can tell how far you're rotating it, so you could make the time change faster or slower. Instead, the dials are basically big buttons--you rotate it up, and it clicks, and the time begins to move up by minute. After holding it up for a bit, the time then moves up by every 10 min. That's it. You can't go faster, and the only way to slow down is to stop and start again. It doesn't make sense to have dials if you can't change the time more precisely.
2) Nap function -- When I press the nap button to choose the amount of time I'd like to nap, it displays the nap duration and then returns to the normal time. Sometimes, I'll wake up in the middle of a nap and want to see how much time I have left on my nap--but there's no way to do that. Instead, I have to do the mental math in my head based on the time, and by that time I'm wide awake.

I'm still giving this product 5 stars because it's a clean product with a great interface that's easy to use when you're awake and when you're half asleep. The clock itself looks great and it's not too pricey. The square shape is slightly big, but it also means it takes up less space width-wise on the night table. I've seen a lot of different alarms--many value function over form, and others value form over function. This one hits the spot in the middle: elegant but very functional.

In all, I'm very impressed and I look forward to going to sleep every night knowing that this thing's going to wake me up!

Write your own review about Sony ICFC180 AM/FM Clock Radio

More Sony ICFC180 AM/FM Clock Radio reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9