Sangean RCR-1 Advanced Atomic Clock Radio (Classic Black)
by Sangean
(Click here)
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: SangeanModel: RCR1GREY
Color: GREY
Product features:
- Displays time via simultaneous LCD and analog dial
- Dual time HWS (Humane Waking System) gently eases you out of slumber
- Tone controls let you tailor the sound to your taste
- Headphone jack affords private listening (headphones sold separately)
- 3 x 4-inch speaker delivers pleasant sound from the unit's 800mw amplifier
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sangean RCR-1 Advanced Atomic Clock Radio (Classic Black)
Customer Review: Great features, weakened by confusing alarm set-up and even more confusing manual
Summary: 4 Stars
I'll tackle the drawbacks of this radio in a little bit, but I'll start by listing the good things because that's a fairly long list.
For one thing, if you've ever accidentally overslept because you forgot to do something to your alarm clock the night before, this radio probably takes care of the problem for you:
* "I overslept because the time wasn't set correctly": Clock sets itself to the NIST time signal.
* "I forgot to spring forward/fall back": The NIST time signal includes DST flags.
* "My clock springs forward/falls back, but Congress changed the rules": See previous item. Instead of depending on a hard-wired table, NIST-signal clocks get their "spring forward/fall back" info straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. If (when) Congress changes the rules again in a couple of years, all of those "auto-set-at-factory" radios with their newly updated built-in DST tables will be messed up again, but NIST-signal clocks will spring and fall right on time.
* "I overslept Monday because I turned off the alarm over the weekend, but forgot to turn it back on again": Both alarms have their own day-of-week settings, so you can set your alarm for M-F and leave it alone over the weekend.
* "I overslept because I left my radio at my normal daytime-listening volume. If it's not wake-the-dead full volume, I sleep right through it": There's an alarm volume switch that's independent of the regular volume switch. IMHO, the person who came up with this feature is a genius. As is the person who came up with the next feature:
* "I overslept because I left my radio on the wrong station the night before": Both alarms have their own radio-preset setting, so alarm 1 can wake you with radio station A and alarm 2 can wake you with radio station B--even if you left the radio on station C at bedtime. Although the biggest genius might be the person responsible for fixing this:
* "I overslept because I set my alarm for a nap yesterday afternoon, and I forgot to reset the alarm afterwards": There's a separate "nap" alarm to wake you up 10-120 minutes from now, independent of the two main alarms. And it's easier to set than the main alarms....
If you oversleep because you routinely hit the snooze button a million times, the radio can't help you there :-)
The alarms themselves are nice, too. The backlight switches from blue to high-beam orange when the alarm goes off. After a few seconds of silence, the radio (or the "Humane Waking System" beeper) starts playing softly, then gradually builds up volume over several seconds. The backlight even switches to low-beam orange when you hit snooze, or back to blue when you switch the alarm off.
Other features:
* The backlight brightness is adjustable; there's a dial on the bottom of the radio. There's also a button on the front to toggle between the current brightness setting and high-beam full brightness.
* The radio has 7 AM presets, 7 FM presets, and a digital radio-frequency display so you don't have to play "Guess That Station" when you're adjusting the dial.
* As someone who used to work overseas, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the power supply was rated for 50 or 60 Hz power. I had to leave my old WWVB radio behind when I lived overseas because it used 60 Hz power like most US clocks. (Quick-and-dirty lesson: US electical systems run at 110-120 volts and 60 Hz, while many other countries run 220-240 volts and 50 Hz. You can run most 110-volt appliances in a 220-volt country by plugging it into a transformer; however, 60-Hz clocks will run slow because you can't transmogrify 50-Hz power into 60-Hz power.) Granted, you probably won't be able to pick up WWVB overseas, and even if you can, the time zones and DST might be wrong, but still...
* This clock displays seconds (my old WWVB clock didn't), which makes it easier to synchronize watches and other clocks to it.
Now for the drawbacks:
A lot of reviewers have complained about the complicated button layout. On one hand, it's not surprising that the controls are more complex than your average alarm clock. After all, your average alarm clock doesn't allow you to set the alarm time *and* day of the week (all seven days, in any combination) *and* "buzzer/music" *and* desired radio station. You also don't have to turn your alarm on and off very often, thanks to all those features I mentioned earlier.
Having said that, when I *do* need to turn my alarm on or off, it takes four or five button pushes even if I'm not changing the time or day settings. And like several reviewers, I need to check the user's manual to see *which* buttons to push. Did the designers fail to test this with end users, or did they intentionally make it non-intuitive so users don't accidentally disable their alarms in a half-asleep fog? :-)
I'm really near-sighted, so I also wish the clock numbers were bigger. The analog clock is a bit easier to read without my glasses, but I wish the hands were thicker, and that they'd move the "atomic time" logo out of the analog clock. It's hard to tell the difference between the minute-hand blurry blob, the second-hand blurry blob, and the atomic-time logo blurry blob!
Another unintuitive feature: setting an alarm's radio station is a separate process (with a different button-pushing sequence) from changing the alarm's date/time/buzzer-music-disable settings. Granted, this may be a Good Thing since I imagine most people change their alarm's radio station less frequently than the other settings. But you still need the user's manual to do it.
And speaking of the user's manual, the other reviewers are right--it needs a lot of work. Several reviewers reported that their clocks didn't work correctly, but I wonder how many of those problems occurred because the reviewer couldn't make heads or tails of the manual! Here are my suggestions:
* More pictures, more pictures, more pictures! There's two or three illustrations at the beginning of the manual that identify all of the buttons, dials, and indicators, and all of the instructions refer to those illustrations. The instructions would probably be easier to understand if key steps were also illustrated.
* I'd also like descriptions of each symbol on the display and front panel. *Especially* the alarm indicators ("D" in the illustrations)--I had to experiment to figure out which symbols meant what.
* I get the feeling the text was imperfectly translated from another language, because the language was awkward in spots (although not as awkward as some translations I've read).
* Because the radio has so many features, the user's manual could use a table of contents.
* Assuming your radio can pick up the NIST signal, is it possible to disable DST for places like Arizona that stay on ST year-round? There's a section describing how to toggle DST, but I *think* it's intended to simplify springing/falling if you're setting the clock manually. (This is one instance where the awkward-language problem got in the way.)
* The features list and illustrations refer to "LW/MW/FM" and 21 radio pre-sets, instead of "AM/FM" and 14 pre-sets. (The rest of the manual gets it right.)
Conclusion: Your Mileage May Vary. I strongly recommend downloading the manual from the "Product Details" section or the Sangean web site before you buy, because your rating will probably depend on it:
* If you can decipher the user's manual well enough to figure out how to use all of the really cool features: 4 stars.
* If you can't decipher the manual: 3 stars if you're lucky.
* If Sangean fixes the manual: 4.5 or 5 stars.
* If Sangean fixes the manual *and* makes alarm setting more intuitive: 5 stars.
Description of Sangean RCR-1 Advanced Atomic Clock Radio (Classic Black)
AM/FM ANALOG/DIGITAL ATOMIC CLOCK RADIOThis sleek, self-setting atomic clock radio offers a blend of style, features, and performance that will perfectly accent any home or office. The clock automatically adjusts itself to radio signals received from the U.S. atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado, so you're always ensured accurate and reliable time. It even makes adjustments for Daylight Savings time.
A easy-to-read LCD shows time, date, and day of the week, as well as sleep times, wake times, and--of course--nap times. The RCR-1 also boasts an inset, German-made analog clock for easier reading, which synchronizes itself with the LCD's displayed time.
Living with someone else who needs an alarm? You can set and use the RCR-1's two alarms completely independently, with selectable days and the option to wake to a radio or buzzer. The alarm volume starts softly then gradually increases. The radio's ATS system locates stations and automatically establishes memory presets.
What's in the Box
Alarm clock radio and a user's manual.
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