I bought two of these, (one for my husband and one for my teenage son), since they would automatically reset themselves after a power outage. They both immediately complained that the alarms were not loud enough, (both are VERY heavy sleepers). It does have a very light and polite beep with no volume control. However, the beeps gradually increase in frequency and after week of use, both of them are waking up easily to the sound and without the jarring blasts from our old alarms.
So, it may require getting accustomed to for heavy sleepers, but it's great for those of us who don't like to be blasted awake every day. Sony ICF-C318 Automatic Time Set Clock Radio with Dual Alarm (White)
When our old alarm went out I had to find a new alarm quickly. When I found the Sony ICF-C318, I was just happy to discover it had no external antennae to deal with. What a bonus to find that not only was it small and inexpensive, but had no funky extra wires. It has two alarms & the time and date are automatically set! All I did is plug it in. The date was automatically correct. And if there's a power surge or power outage, it has a battery back-up (battery is included and already installed) and it loses no time. We didn't believe that, of course, and had to play with it by unplugging it a few times to test it, but it worked great! We didn't even have to re-set the time zone. Also, I usually had to re-set the alarm for my husband, but no longer. I set the A alarm for me and the B alarm for him and we are done. What I also found wonderful about this alarm was that when you set the alarm time, you can go backward or forward. Our old alarm could only go forward and it took forever; setting this alarm is a breeze. Amazing, truly.
Two alarm feature very easy to program. All functions work great. Battery backup and automatic time updates. I bought a more expensive Sony multi-alarm clock a few months ago and it works OK, but this clock is by far a better and less complicated unit.
This is a good clock radio for its size, and all the features are easy to use. If you are looking for quality sound, this is not the clock radio for you. The only problem we have with it is that the buttons to turn the alarms on are on the top of the radio and easily moved - so easy that our cats often turn on the alarms by walking across the top of the radio!
I wanted a simple clock radio to replace my simple Sony clock radio, which unfortunately got "fried" during a lightning storm. This model seemed like the logical substitute, and it does exactly what I want it to, with no complications. Even though I don't live in the US, it gives me accurate time after power outages (its internal battery works great) and everything is easy to set, with time controls that go up or down -- meaning that if you miss the time when setting it, there's no need to do the whole 24-hour rotation again. Brightness can be controled so that this clock never wakes you up unless it is supposed to. I've had no problems with the alarm volume or any other aspect of this product. It is a great bargain, with a low price and great quality.
I recently bought this to replace one that always lost the time if there was a power outage. Even new backup batteries did not help.
Pros: Small, nice radio reception, time is already set, keeps time in case of power outage
Cons: You have to re-activate the alarm daily after turning it off in the morning. Not a good thing!
Setting the alarm with the button on the side requires two hands.
Overall not a bad alarm clock though (if you remember to activate the alarm again :) ).
Don't be mislead: "automatic time set" doesn't mean that it uses the atomic clock to update the time. "Automatic time set" means they preset the time at the factory. The clock arrived with a time that differed seven minutes from the actual time (as displayed on an existing atomic clock), so you still need to set the clock and to periodically readjust the time.
The first clock I received came on each night at 4:59AM with beeps no matter the setting. Amazon immediately (next day)sent a replacement clock and a prepaid return mail tag for the defective unit(Quite easy to deal with them). The second unit did exactly the same thing. Amazon sent a second prepaid mailing tag and credited my account.
Besides the clock having some flaw, what bothers me is the "Auto Time Set" feature, the company advertises. I was under the impression "auto set" would set the time using the atomic clock bases in Boulder Colorado. Yes,it comes correctly preset from the factory, but if the time needs to be reset, you do so as you would any other clock; nothing "Auto" about it. The radio tuning is not digital and not easy to get precisely on a station; reminds me of the FM radios if 30 years ago. The display is OK; brightness settings are good. The dual alarm are fairly easy to use. The users manual is a bit complicated, but not really needed for most features. Not recommended until the flaw is fixed. - Sony Alarm Clock Radio - Clock Radio - Bedroom Alarm Clock - Alarm Clock'
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