What I wanted out of an alarm clock was something that would wake me up without driving me crazy.I can't stand alarm clocks that buzz or go "beebeebeebeep" and I hate waking up to music (because it makes it impossible to enjoy the songs after that).The RCA RP5440 is probably the closest I'll get.This alarm clock is easy to set and has a dual alarm.I use alarm 1 for waking up for school and alarm 2 for waking up on weekends.They can't be set to days of the week, but I set one for 6AM and one for 8AM and switch between the two at the push of a button.
A problem I have always had waking up was that I could disable the alarm without waking up at all, so I would set three different alarms scattered across my room.Somehow, this alarm clock just wakes me up.Things may change as the school year drags on and my nights get later, but so far I am delighted.
The alarm makes a beeping sound, but it has a lot of tone to it, as opposed to the very electronic beeps I despise.It begins at a pleasantly quiet volume and increases within about 30 seconds to very loud.
The display is NOT blue digits on a black background as pictured, but black digits on a blue background.A very, very bright blue background.With the dimmer on (which auto-dims in darkness), it is like a night light.With the dimmer off, it is like a TV.This doesn't bother me, but if you can't sleep without total darkness, it will keep you up.
The projection feature is nice because I can simply hit the snooze button and the time is projected in red on my ceiling for about 10 seconds.The projector tilts and the angle changes so the time on the ceiling can be readable if you like the clock facing your bed or parallel to the headboard.
Some features I don't use but might be good for you are the adjustable snooze (1-30 minutes) and the sleep function, which allows you to fall asleep to the radio or your own music and it automatically shuts off.
One neat feature is the AUX input.This means, with the right cable (small headphone plug on each end, not included) you can plug your iPod into the radio and listen to it or fall asleep to it.iPods also have a sleep feature so you can make the two turn off at the same time.
My biggest problem with the alarm clock is the temperature feature.The indoor temperature feature is great and it works perfectly.But my window is 3 or 4 yards from my nightstand, so the outdoor temperature sensor can't contact the alarm clock.The sensor unit sits on my windowsill with the sensor wire sticking out the window and it reads a temperature.But the outdoor temperature, according to the alarm clock, is - - -.Also, since it's a basement window, the temperature is a good 10°F lower than the real outdoor temperature.If your window is within about 10 feet from your nightstand and above ground, it will work for you.I have other ways of finding out the current temperature, and the temperature at 6AM is rarely the temperature I want to dress for, so it didn't ruin the purchase for me.
Being in the basement makes the AM radio reception not that great.The FM works fine because the antenna is in the power cord and FM is generally stronger, but the AM antenna is inside the alarm clock and has poor reception.Rotating the alarm clock improves reception by a little, but that messes up my time projection angle!
The clock sets itself right out of the box (using its installed AA batteries, which keep time and alarms going in case of a power outage), and all you have to do is tell it your time zone and whether or not you are on daylight saving time.Both options have their own switch on the back.Unfortunately, the time I got was 5 minutes slow, which, had I not noticed, would make a big difference for my morning routine.
A contributing factor to my general idea that this is just a great alarm clock is how simple it is to set the time and alarms.There is a button to increase time and a button to decrease time.It goes by minutes (not hours), but it goes really fast when you hold the buttons.Never again will I have to waste time going through 59 minutes (on an old alarm clock that would scroll through minutes so slowly that pushing the button again and again was faster) because I accidentally set it to 6:01.
I am very happy with the alarm clock and I highly recommend it.Especially if you're above ground and have a window near your nightstand.
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Product Description:
Clock Radio projection
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