After days of researching, I finally found the best alarm clock for me and my wife! We are so happy with what we found.
I can't say anything bad about this alarm clock, it got everything we are looking for:
- Weekday\weekend\everyday alarms function for each of its 2 alarm. We set up alarm 1 @ 6a.m. on weekdays (for me), alarm 2 @ 7:30a.m. (for her) on weekdays, therefore no alarm on the weekend. We don't have to wake up by the alarm clock Sat. @ 6a.m ever again.
- Individual setting for each alarm wake up to a gradual buzz or radio.
- The clock has a high/low light setting. If you think the display is too bright, set it to low.
- The display is very clear, showing time and day of week.
- The radio is very clear compare to our existing radio alarm clock.
- The most amazing thing is that the clock will reset itself to the correct time in the event of a power outage. The alarm will preserve the alarms' settings. So in case of a power outage in the middle of the night, when the power comes back on, your alarm clock will continue to function as before. What a great idea! You don't have to manually reset it again, and worse, miss you morning alarm.
These are other alarm clocks that I looked at:
Made by Emerson also. I was going to get this one, but I tried it at a store and it can tip forward as you reach in from hitting the snooze button. Also, some of the button are small. CKS 9051's design is much more stable\sturdy.
Emerson Radio Jumbo Triple Display Dual Alarm AM/FM Clock Radio with SmartSet Technology
Too expensive.
Sangean RCR-22 AM/FM Atomic Clock Radio
Too small, for travle maybe.
RiteAlarm Triple Weekly Alarm Clock (R) for Weekdays, Saturday and Sunday, Automatic Extended Daylight Saving Time, Automatic Snooze, Adjustable Volume, Gentle Sound Pattern, Simple Buttons, Pushing Backlight and Battery Operated
This could work, but we prefer larger display and not background lit ones.
Timex Nano Color
Could work but couldn't find it at a store (Target\Sears) to try. Dispay might be too small.
Sony ICFC180 AM/FM Clock Radio
Might work but don't like the dial, display too small. A little expensive.
American Innovative Neverlate 7-Day Alarm Clock
Hope this help. Emerson CKS9051 SmartSet Dual Alarm Clock Radio
I've had the same alarm clock for 20 years! I finally had to get a new one I could see at night w/o my glasses. The 1.4" display is fabulous! I bought the CKS9031, with the blue display not orange. I chose this model because it seemed the sturdiest. The others available at Wal-Mart seemed too fragile or would easily tip over. This unit is super easy to set up. It truly does pick up the time/date immediately when plugged in. I love the fact that I never have to remember to switch on my alarm again once it is set. The blue display is gentle on the eyes even on the darkest night with the dimmer set to low. The snooze button is right on top, in front, within easy reach. Mine didn't come with the manual (it was missing from the box), it is easy and intuitive to set up alarms and the radio is digitally tuned. I think a few people are going to get this clock for Christmas. If you need a reliable, worry free alarm clock, this is definately the one!
This dual-alarm clock is perfect for my mother. She is in a retirement home and has to go to Health Care to take her medicine four times during the day. Lately, she hasn't been remembering when to go and she can no longer remember how to use the phone message machine - so she misses getting her medicine or gets it at the wrong time. The clock defaults to the correct date and time for the Eastern time zone (and can be set to another time zone) and adjusts itself automatically for the new daylight savings time changes. The alarms were very easy to set up. Now all she needs to know is to press either or both of the two buttons on the right (alarm1 and alarm2). Pushing the wrong button doesn't do any harm. I also like the way the audio alarm start out low and builds in volume. I ordered more of these - a second one for her so I can cover all four alarm times and two for me so I can have them at my house when she stays over. The display is great (you can dim it if you want) and the price was very reasonable. One of my best buys from amazon.
When my previous alarm clock gave up the ghost and started going off at completely random unset times, I went looking for a new alarm. I wanted an alarm clock that had a clean and simple design, and didn't look like it was part of the lunar landing module with 87 buttons, bells and whistles.
After looking at various alarms, I ended up choosing this model. I like that the display is clear and uncluttered. Besides the time, in large legible numbers (which is great if you're near-sighted, or maybe if you're the person sleeping on the other side of the bed from the alarm), there are only a few other indicators on the display: for the day, and for Alarms 1 and 2, if you have them turned on. There are no strange icons to indicate the alarms, it's "AL1" and "AL2". There are the 2 alarms, and 3 alarm modes to choose from . When you first set the time on an alarm, it starts at 7 or 8am, which means you don't have to start from that standard flashing 00:00 on most alarms and have to scroll through hours to get to an average time most humans wake up at.
It is easy to use this device even without looking at the user manual. The buttons on the top, for setting time, date and alarms are all pretty explanatory. Switches on the left side to set each alarm to radio/buzzer/off, and to set the light level of the display. Dials on the right side of the unit to tune the radio station, set AM/FM and volume.
The display is in amber LED, which is much more pleasant than the angry red glare many alarm clocks have. There is a high and low light setting, and I find that the low setting is still legible, even during the day.
The radio reception is pretty decent, better than my previous alarm, and without one of those little antenna wires which always looked silly. The sound of it is also better than my previous alarm clock, but of course, it's no stereo unit/iPod. The buzzer starts in at low volume, and gradually gets louder, which is much more pleasant than having a heart attack to start off your day. It would be nice if someone invents a method for the radio alarm to also start at low volume and get louder gradually, but that's minor.
The best feature is the SmartSet time setting. I plugged it in, and being in the default EST zone, it set the time without my needing to adjust anything. A feature that is also really handy if you have small kids (like I do), who enjoy unplugging devices at times. On the first day they already unplugged it twice, and it was a relief not to have to reset the time manually. It even set the date accurately too, which impressed me.
The only thing that surprised me about this item was its size. Obviously, with 1.4" numbers on the display, I knew it wasn't going to be tiny, but in its entirety it was substantially bigger than I had expected. The unit is almost 4" tall, 8" wide and 4.5" deep.
I've used this for over a month now, and I'm thoroughly pleased with it. I would certainly buy this again, and recommend it to others. - Smartset - Clock Radio - Jumbo Display - Dual Alarm'
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