Review on Sony ICF-C707 Clock Radio - AM/FM Dual Alarm with Large Backlit LCD Display for Easy Reading by Anthony Heinrichs

Let me start by saying that a few years ago I bought an elegant round white Philips Sounds of Nature clock radio with a light that comes on slowly after 30 minutes. a few minutes before you want to wake up to wake you up "more naturally". Well I liked this concept but they made this watch a real DISEASE to program it and make it work properly. It had a unique interpretation of some buttons on the edges and controls on the front, controlled by the feel of your finger next to them. It was a nightmare to program it right but I made it in about an hour or two, trying to decipher your confusing instructions. Everything was fine, but recently there was a power outage in the area for more than an hour. Since it has NO BATTERY, ALL settings will be restored to factory defaults. It's been two years since I last programmed it and I had no intention of going through it again. Smoothness is good, but simpler is better, especially when the device owner is short-tempered. :-) So I checked out the reviews for this clock radio, it looked pretty basic so I ordered it and set it up in about 15 minutes. Much better. The watch is easy to read and I like that the temperature reading is shown directly on the watch. I checked the temperature reading and it seemed up to date compared to the other two temperature sensors I had access to for comparison. What I really like about it is that it has a BATTERY that saves the settings! I also like that the large bar at the top is easy to find and easily controls the brightness between bright (perfect day), dim (perfect at night) and if you don't want to see it at all, you can turn the light off to make it perfect. Simply press up to 3 times to view all three settings. Light. Setting the time was also very easy and intuitive. To set the alarm for the first time I had to read the instructions, but once I did that was pretty easy too. So that's a good thing. I then played a few FM radio stations and they are crystal clear and sound good. I chose the classic station because that's the best way to get a rough idea of the speaker quality. Not like my Bose, but sufficient. I then looked at "Nature Sounds" and they're not that good (but most of the settings on the Philips aren't very good in my opinion). but the Phillips' overall sound quality was slightly better.) I noticed that these sounds didn't seem to repeat appreciably. I'm sure they exist, but they're generally so similar in tone that it's not that noticeable. The only thing I haven't been able to determine is if you can use the sounds of nature to wake you up. The programming indicates that the alarm only turns on the radio. However, since all the buttons are at the top and easy to find, you can sleepily reach out and tune the sounds to what you like best when the radio is driving you nuts. I am satisfied with this purchase and given the very reasonable price. I can definitely recommend this solution for the price. What could make it 5 stars? Well, for starters, if the clock backlight flashes brightly immediately when the alarm goes off. Not as good as 30 minutes of natural light, but okay. It would be cool. Even better. if they had a rheostat that could turn on a connected lamp when the alarm went off. :-) you can sleepily reach out and tune the sounds to what you like best when the radio is driving you crazy. I am satisfied with this purchase and given the very reasonable price. I can definitely recommend this solution for the price. What could make it 5 stars? Well, for starters, if the clock backlight flashes brightly immediately when the alarm goes off. Not as good as 30 minutes of natural light, but okay. It would be cool. Even better. if they had a rheostat that could turn on a connected lamp when the alarm went off. :-) you can sleepily reach out and tune the sounds to what you like best when the radio is driving you crazy. I am satisfied with this purchase and given the very reasonable price. I can definitely recommend this solution for the price. What could make it 5 stars? Well, for starters, if the clock backlight flashes brightly immediately when the alarm goes off. Not as good as 30 minutes of natural light, but okay. It would be cool. Even better. if they had a rheostat that could turn on a connected lamp when the alarm went off. :-) I can definitely recommend this solution for the price. What could make it 5 stars? Well, for starters, if the clock backlight flashes brightly immediately when the alarm goes off. Not as good as 30 minutes of natural light, but okay. It would be cool. Even better. if they had a rheostat that could turn on a connected lamp when the alarm went off. :-) I can definitely recommend this solution for the price. What could make it 5 stars? Well, for starters, if the clock backlight flashes brightly immediately when the alarm goes off. Not as good as 30 minutes of natural light, but okay. It would be cool. Even better. if they had a rheostat that could turn on a connected lamp when the alarm went off. :-)