cd and cassette clock radios

I've had this clock radio for about 6 months and nothing's broken yet. However, I really only use it for the radio and dual alarms. I've probably only used the CD player 3 times.

I only have a few issues with it. The display is so bright we usually keep a pillow in front of it while we're sleeping. This has caused me to sleep through the muffled alarm a few times.

Second, the buttons for setting and activating the alarms are all the same size and equally spaced. Since there are 6 of them, and they can't be seen unless you're looking down at the clock from above, you have to count them with your fingers to find the one you want.

The dual alarm is great though. We tried a different one that claimed to have dual alarms, but all you could do was set a different time for the buzzer vs. the radio. This one actually has two independent alarms. In fact, it was the only one we found in our price range with true dual alarms and a digital tuner.

Unfortunately, this item wasn't designed with function in mind.

The buttons are too small. Settings are relatively intuitive, but the unit just takes a lot of uncomfortable fiddling to operate. Seems that the designers were primarily interested in making a unit that looks cool... it lacks a dimmer for the overly bright display, has no provision for an accessory antenna, and has a complex motorized plastic door for the CD compartment that seems destined for mechanical failure.

I purchased this product two days ago because years of waking up to beeps, buzzers, and bells had led me to fear and dread waking up in the morning. The first one I brought had tracking problems that caused the CD player to skip and stutter. I returned it yesterday, and proceeded to test all the comparable units available in an attempt to find a better one. I wound up getting another one of these instead of switching to another product for only one reason -- the sound. With all its flaws, the sound quality this unit delivers just flat blows the competition away. All the other comparable models sounded like the music was coming out of a paper cup. Horrible. I stress tested the new unit and evidently got a decent one -- the CD player performs perfectly, with no skips or stutters -- at least on its first day of use. Time will tell, I suppose.

This time I also bought the two year extended warranty so I can swap it when it breaks.

I was so excited about getting a new alarm clock with a cd player and was willing to spend some money. While checking out a bunch we though this was a pretty cool looking and it had all the features I was looking for. We did notice that because of the way it opens there might be problems in the future, so we got the extended insurance. What we didn't exect was the fact that it isn't balanced properly inside, so the cd taps. It definatly woke me up, but the tapping was so annoying it almost got thrown through the window. I'll be returning it today.