Sangean RCR-22 AM/FM Atomic Clock Radio
by Sangean America, Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: Calculated in a shopping cart Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sangean RCR-22 AM/FM Atomic Clock Radio
Customer Review: Quality clock with great features. Time display minor problem.
Summary: 4 Stars
I set the Sangean RCR-22 up in my bedroom a few days ago and the appearance, general quality and functionality of this clock/radio is well above average. I hope this quality lasts for at least as long as the cheap GE alarm clock/radio that the Sangean replaced (15 years).
What I did like about the old GE radio was that it had an LED display, instead of LCD, that I could switch between the current time and alarm time with five brightness settings. These were the only functions displayed by the LEDs (the radio was analog tuning without a back light!). It was easy to set the level of brightness on the time display so I could read it at night without too much peripheral light coming from the display.
The Sangean RCR-22 display is an LCD which is lit by blue LEDs and looks very cool. It displays the status of the many functions. The display automatically dims to a level the user sets after about 10 seconds. The only problem is that when the display is dimmed to a comforatable brightness level for sleeping, the current time is barely legible. So, to read the time I have to either get focused enough to read the very dim display or press any of the buttons to bring the display to full brightness, which is very bright in a dark room.
I suppose the only way to get around this would be to use dimmable seven segment type LEDs to display the time separately from the status of the other functions. LEDs are much easier to read in darkness because the LEDs emit their own light whereas the LCDs need to be lit up. If one could find such a display setup, the time display should automatically dim and brighten according to the light in the room so the time could be easily read day or night.
I was aware of this issue before I ordered this clock from a previous review but it seemed and is a minor complaint to me. The time to engineer changes that in my opinion would put the RCR-22 head and shoulders above the competion would be worth it since this seems to be a common complaint in other brands of clock radios.
Overall, this is the only thing that kept me from rating this unit five stars. I would have liked to give four and one half stars.
Customer Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
Not happy with my current clock radio (a Sony Dream Machine), I have been looking for a high-quality replacement for many months. Every time I started looking at them, I got disgusted that there didn't seem to be any decent ones made, and gave up. This cycle repeated for the past few months. I admit that what I was looking for seemed to be very different than what everyone was trying to sell me. I didn't want a CD player; I didn't want an iPod dock (a - I don't have an Apple-made MP3 player, b - I have a very expensive stereo system that I use when I want to listen to music); I wanted 2 alarms that could be set independently for different days of the week; I wanted a progressive volume alarm so I am not jarred awake; I wanted a power failure backup system so that it wouldn't lose time; I wanted a true atomic clock that synchronized with the US cesium clock in Colorado; I wanted a well-designed and well-made unit that was user-friendly and would last a long time. Apparently this is a lot to ask for, because almost no one makes anything close to it. I know of Sangean from buying a table radio from them a few years ago for my dad. I was impressed with the tuner, amplifier, and speaker -- the unit was well made and sounded great. My dad loved it. After looking for a new clock radio and not finding one from any of the usual sources, I stumbled upon this one from Sangean. Well, it has every single feature on my wish list and it sounds great. I only have it a few days, but I am really impressed with it's build quality, feature set, and ergonomics. You can tell that a lot of thought went into almost every detail of it's design. Highly recommended.
UPDATE
It's now been a few weeks, and I have to say that this is, in my opinion, the perfect clock radio. Great build quality, well-designed, and is a pleasure to use. The HWS is awesome -- no more jarring alarms to start your day. The tuner and audio sections are quite good for a small radio, the atomic clock is awesome, the display is perfect, and the logic of the UI is perfect. This is a keeper.
Customer Review: Sangean Atomic Alarm Clock RCR-22, Very good Quality
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, so I've read all the reviews, pro's and con's, and I bought this radio after two weeks of debate. I have had a month now and will buy this again if I needed to.
I live in an area 30 miles outside of Boston and on all attempts at clock radios I have never received the Boston stations well. That was my first goal, a radio with good reception. This Radio picks up every station I want in Boston, and have programmed them into it. I acheived my first goal, a good radio - no a GREAT radio! Sound quality is good for an alarm clock. If you want great sound go with a BOSE. This offers a good sound and great reception.
Next, almost all the reviews complained about the screen. I must admit in this day and age of OLED screens this could be better. But is not as bad as I have read. It dims to a great level for night time and everything on the screen is still legible (and I need glasses and don't wear them at night). Yes, if you put the screen on dim for the night, you won't see it in the day, but do you use it in the day that often? If you do all you need to do is hit one button and it is bright again! NO PROBLEM WITH THE SCREEN AT ALL.
Programming it was EASY, although I am a bit of a tech geek. The instructions were fine but pictures would have been nice.
The Atomic Clock is nice, and mine registered about 5 minutes after plugging it in. It can take a couple hours as people have complained, but mine was 5 minutes. And you can manually program it until it does click in.
Finally, the Quality of the Alarm Clock. I found that this is a very good quality radio. Everything works well, never had a problem with the Alarm at all. In fact, the Humane Waking system is great. I turn it off long before it gets too loud. It does increase quickly but that's no problem. Much better than the old BUZZ BUZZ I use to have.
So, a great radio, good sound, decent screen, and a solid alarm clock. I'd buy another one anytime!
Customer Review: "Humane Waking System" is Annoying Waking System
Summary: 2 Stars
I purchased this clock because I was hoping the "Humane Waking System" would give a gradual alarm. Something like a beep or two, followed by at least 15 seconds of silence, then slowly adding more volume and beeping. I used it one morning. It started with a few beeps, then just a few seconds later added more, and more and more. It was not much better than a typical jarring alarm clock. You get a few seconds to respond before it gets nuclear.
The other thing that displeased me was all the extra wires out the back. Three of them. There is the power cord, the antenna cord, then a cord for the atomic sensor. You can attach the sensor to the back but there is no "cord management" if you don't want to remove the sensor from the back. You can keep it in the cord tie and let it hang down in the back if you want but I would rather not have an extra cord in the back in a tie. Same with the other (AM/FM) antenna cord. Another reviewer here posted some good pictures of all three cords stretched out so if that works for you, don't worry about that feature.
Lastly, I just did not like the display. It is blue LCD with white (non-blue) to show the different icons and times. You can adjust the light level. You can view the display on the pictures here and it might not be a problem for you. I found it a bit cheap looking but that is a personal observation I guess.
Bottom line is the Annoying Waking System. Why can't someone sell an alarm that gives a few beeps and chills for a bit so people can know they are getting up and have a minute or two to think about it before the clock getting all loud and nasty?
If that feature does not matter to you, then this alarm might work for you. I was looking for a better engineered product because of that touted feature so this is going back. I really do not return many items. Annoying Waking System was not worth the price of this unit.
Customer Review: Sangean RCR-22 review
Summary: 4 Stars
I had previously owned a CC radio and used it exclusively for AM listening. At this it was excellent, holding hard-to-tune stations that would drift-off other radios selected frequencies, much like the Atwater-Kent, Philco, and Scott radios I'd used when I was young. After some years, though, the radio developed some nagging maintenance issues. The digital tuning display was missing part of some numbers. Also, the radio-alarm function could not be deactivated, causing the radio to automatically turn-on every day. As with most electronic devices, the cost of repair was almost the cost of a new device. So, reaching an insupportable level of frustration, the search for a replacement began.
After some hunting, I decided to roll-the-dice/spin-the-wheel again and put my money on another Sangean product. To date, the result is what I had hoped. The digital display is easy to read and operate. Controlling frequency selection is much more precise than similar mechanisms on other radios. Once selected, the AM station of choice maintains a clear and drift-free contact, very much like that on the CC Radio. The RCR-22's ability to separate stations close in frequency makes station selection much more precise. The tuner's sensitivity also allows for the finding of and listening to stations at a greater distance than is possible with other radios. The controls themselves are reasonably simple and intuitive to use. They allow for a wider range of choices than some other radios, e.g., being able to completely extinguish the lighted display on the face of the unit during bedtime listening periods. As I am almost exclusively an AM listener, I judge the sound quality by the spoken voice. This is always distinct and clear.
Taken altogether, I find myself quite content with this Sangean product...so far. Only time will tell if it proves to be more durable than my previous purchase.