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Sun 22 Jan, 2012 06:19 pm
Hi everyone:
I got really tired of my current alarm clock -- every time we lose power I have to reset time and alarm settings on it. So I was wondering if any of you have a suggestion for a good alarm clock that you might be using.
I'm looking for an alarm clock to do the following:
1. This one is kinda obvious, but it has to be RELIABLE. (You would be amazed how many alarm clocks out there are not!)
2. I DO NOT need any radio player, CD/DVD player, MP3 player, Internet/WiFi player, etc. built into it.
3. ALL it needs to play is that "annoying" beeping sound that needs to wake me up.
4. It must have a "snooze" option, or have an ability to keep playing every 5 or 10 minutes after the initial alarm/wake-up time until I manually cancel it.
5. It must have a built-in battery (better rechargeable), as well as also plug into the wall outlet. This is CRUCIAL so that the alarm clock has a fail-safe mechanism against the loss of power.
6. It will be VERY NICE if it had an ability to synchronize time over WiFi or somehow else. There's nothing more annoying when an alarm clock time slowly drifts away, or when I have to manually adjust it for the daylight saving change. All that must be AUTOMATED.
7. It would be nice if it had an option for several alarm settings: alarm time for each work day and also for Saturday and Sunday. (Obviously with different settings for each weekday.)
8. Well, this one is not that important, but it would be nice if the alarm clock was not big. I mean all I see now in stores looks like Boomboxes, or stereo systems. Can they make something small?
Anyway, is there an alarm clock for my needs? I'd appreciate your suggestions...
@dc2000,
there are tons of those out there - you just need to google it
I think it's nutty to have all those features - esp the different settings for different days. The medical studies all say that it is best to wake up at the same time every day - week and weekend - so it is best not to have variable settings.
Get a nice old-school wind-up alarm clock - you'll never have to worry about power failures.
@dc2000,
I use one made by Timex. It's loud, accurate, easy to set, and has battery backup. It won't display or alarm on battery only, but when the power comes back on, your settings are still there.
I know what you mean about all the stuff the package with a simple clock, but I have to warn you, the Timex cost about as much as those with radios and other bells & whistles.
@dc2000,
I am just like you. I need my alarm clock to be functional. Mine does everything you want, and it projects the time on the ceiling so if you wake up, you open your eyes and BAM there's the time. Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Oregon-Scientific-RM313PNA-Self-Setting-Thermometer/dp/B00005B0BE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1327278801&sr=8-6
Hope that helped.
@victoriags,
Sorry, I don't know what happened with the spacing...
@roger,
I used to have a mechanical alarm clock called a screaming mimi...
you must be dead to sleep through it.
but be careful if you google it, I learned some new stuuf I did not know before when I went searching.
whodathunkit...
@Rockhead,
I worry about mechanical alarm clocks. We need a snooze button. Sometimes, I lay awake through the whole sleepless night, and can't nod off till the alarm goes off and I hit the snooze button. Then there's 9 minutes of sound sleep till it goes off again.
I've never heard an explanation of why the snooze interval is always 9 minutes.
@roger,
I've never used the snooze button on the clock radio in 30+ years.
It's really just a radio with an ionizer. The mechanical alarm clock is what forces me to wake up - I have to walk across the room to turn it off. I love it.
Thank you, everyone!
@ehBeth
I know that there's a ton of alarm clocks out there. That is why I'm asking here to find the one that is not a "complete junk" like so many of them are...
As the old-fashioned mechanical alarm clock goes, in my view, it is way less reliable these days than an electronic one. There's a host of reasons how that would fail -- anything from me forgetting to wind it up, to it wandering off several minutes a week, etc.
@victoriags
Thanks a lot for the link to an actual clock. Looks very promising. Couple questions to you though:
- Does that alarm clock run off batteries or AC power? (The description is vague and it sounds like the AC powers only the projector.)
- One can turn off that projection thing at night, right? My main beef with my previous alarm clock was that its readout was too bright even on the lowest setting.
Also question to the rest of the folks:
I have an iPhone and someone suggested me to use an app as an alarm clock. Did anyone use it for that? And how reliable could a smart phone be for that purpose?
@dc2000,
Well, how loud is it going to be if you don't want to sleep with something plugged into your ear? How does the battery hold up, and will you need to use it before charging the next day?
@dc2000,
I bought a MOSHI travel alarm clock. I talk to it to set the time or alarm, and there are three different alarms. I can "lock" it when it's in my luggage, so it won't go off accidentally. I take it on every trip I take. The battery lasts pretty long. BTW, it also has a light/snooze button on top.
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