Timex Dual Alarm Clock Radio for Mp3 Songs (Black)
by Timex
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List Price: Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Timex Dual Alarm Clock Radio for Mp3 Songs (Black)
Customer Review: Beats my CD Alarm Clock by a long shot
Summary: 5 Stars
I really like the rubber feet on this alarm clock. They grip enough that it stays in place, something that my RCA CD Alarm Clock didn't do and after many falls to the floor, the clock display on it finally died. In my search for a new alarm clock, I was very happy to find a non-iPod-centric alarm clock that allows for standard digital music (Sorry Apple, but MP3 is still the standard) and found a nice use for an old 28mb MM Card, which works nicely in the SD/MMC slot. I first tried it with an SD/MMC to USB adapter, for which the space was wide enough and it did work OK, but the MMC sits fairly deep in the SD/MMC slot, so I felt it was low enough to avoid any damage. A 28mb card holds 6 MP3s at 128mbps, which is all I need for an alarm clock and they still sound great coming out of the one speaker. The radio features are decent, although FM is all I have used, thus far. For me, the lowest of the 3 display brightness settings is still too bright, so I leave it off and toggle it on when I need the time. The snooze bar is also the brightness toggle, which I wish weren't the case. I reminds me of the one feature I miss from my last clock which was that the brightness toggle was a different button and when you hit the snooze bar, the clock would light up for a few seconds and then turn off. Oh well, I like the rest of the features on this one more than enough to compensate for that issue, particularly the ease-of-use of the alarm buttons. The 'sleep' feature seems fairly simple, but I don't use it. My only other complaint (minor) is that it uses a large, external power adapter, as so many electronics do, so I put it on a small extension cord and tucked it under the bed. The one plus to the external adapters is that if they fail, it is easier to replace an external power supply/converter than an internal one. The remote works fine, but I don't use it much and the only draw for me is that my daughter thinks it is cute and calls it "the baby remote." ;)Customer Review: Great features - Unfortunately, the alarm freezes!
Summary: 2 Stars
The MP3, flash drive, and dual alarm features are great ideas. Sound is pretty good for such a small unit, with a fairly decent bottom end. However, there is an unforgivable flaw in this clock: Randomly, on occasion, the alarm freezes! Now, I initially assumed this was an "operator error" on my part. So, I poured through the manual, looking for something I may have done wrong. Nope, setting the alarm was as straightforward as I had thought (hold in alarm button, wait till the "alarm" icon blinks, then set time). To put this simply, when you see an alarm icon on the display, this means that the alarm is armed (this is also stated in the manual).
My point is, there's no funky tricks to setting this thing. With that said, after the alarm was verified to be set, I woke up several hours beyond the alarm time only to find that the alarm didn't go off! OK, maybe I unknowingly shut the alarm off and went back to sleep? Nope, because I checked it many times while fully awake to see if I could repeat the issue, and sure enough, the problem popped up on me. Yes, it was set to the proper AM/PM setting. Yes, it was running off of the power supply (with a good battery for backup). Yes, the alarm icon was illuminated. There is no volume setting for the buzzer, so it must have been on. By the way, this was done with the straight buzzer built into the alarm clock, so it can't be attributed to a faulty flash drive or CD. So far, I've had this happen four times (which consequently made me late for work four times); this is UNACCEPTABLE. The alarm was the bares bones reason for buying this thing!
I guess I could forgive Timex if, say, the MP3 player didn't work, but this was the ALARM failing. Try explaining to your work that your "alarm clock didn't go off" and see if they believe you! It has now become an expensive MP3 player and radio...
Customer Review: My Hunt Is Over
Summary: 5 Stars
Until I started hunting for an alarm clock, and until I started reading reviews, I didn't realize how passionate people can be about their alarm clock. But the more I shopped, the more I understood.
There's much to consider ... weather band? Mp3? Auxilary jack? Thumb drive? SD Card? CD player? Digital tuner? LED or LCD? Gosh, it can get confusing.
Regardless, my hunt is over ... and I've settled for this Timex TM80. I was certain I wanted digital tuning. I knew I didn't want a CD player as CD's are following the way of the 8-track. I wanted LED (easier to see in the dark), but I settled for LCD. And the SD Card and Thumb drive options ... and the remote .... were just icing on the cake.
The sound is great (and I'm picky about sound clarity and tone) ... I think the little woofer in the rear makes the difference.
There's nothing I don't like about it, except:
* When you lay down, if the unit is above your head level, the numbers just slightly disappear (but not as bad as some LCD units where the numbers completely disappear). LED seems to be less common these days, but I wish this unit had LED instead of LCD.
* The button labels are too small to see.
* Both alarms wake to the same wake-up selection. I'd prefer that one alarm trigger with the SD Card, and the other alarm trigger with the buzzer.
* The folder setup on the SD Card (or Thumb drive) is tricky. Folder names may not have spaces or special characters. Only alphanumerics will do, else the folder navigation won't work.
But these are petty complaints, and I give this unit a big thumbs up.
Oh, one last issue ... I paid twice my budget. This is pricey ... I paid $69, but I think it's worth it. This unit is built solid ... I expect they'll bury me with it.
Customer Review: I would like this better, if only......
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this clock radio/mp3 player in March of 2010. For about 6 months it operated flawlessly. I bought it because it is the only clock that will play MP3s from a USB flash drive or flash card. And I really like that function. However there are a few issues that I have with it.
1. Since I don't change the track I wake up to very frequently, I can never remember how to do it. It would be better if it was simpler to set that option.
2. The clock readout is VERY hard to see. I don't know why, but most of the clock radio manufacturers have changed their readouts to show a dimly lit grayish white background with gray numbers. Since I wear glasses, I cannot see the clock at night without putting on my glasses. So I have a cheap simple digital clock with red numbers that I can see easily without glasses in addition to the Timex. I would really like ONE clock that I can see.
3. The last issue started last month. I use the Flash/MP3 function exclusively to wake in the morning. Twice now, the clock has frozen when it reaches the end of the alarm. That is, the MP3 will play for 1 hour when the alarm goes off. At the end of the hour, everything just stops, not just the music. The clock freezes, the MP3 player freezes, everything freezes. The ONLY way to deal with this is to unplug the clock and remove the batteries. This of course means that everything needs to be reset. This is a real disappointment.
I do like having the remote control. That little extra has proven to be very useful. I really do like the clock, but I am really disappointed that it is now freezing up. Since it is the only USB Flash drive clock radio out there, there really isn't any choice. Can I recommend it? Not wholeheartedly. I wish I could.
Customer Review: Best alarm clock I have ever owned.
Summary: 5 Stars
There are many more in depth reviews of this alarm clock than I'll provide. Most are right on target with their reviews of both the PROS and CONS of this alarm clock. What I'll add is this -
I was disappointed that there is no option to wake to a random song from those loaded on the SD Card or Flash Drive. You can however select any song from what is loaded on the removable drives to be awaken by. So my solution for randomizing what songs I wake up to is this - I set the playback mode to random. While I get dressed in the morning, I turn on the MP3 playback. A random song is picked by the clock, then I set that song to be awakened by the next morning. It's one extra button push from turning on the MP3s and setting the song to be awaken by the next morning.
A second minor disappointment is that the song starts over from the beginning after you hit the snooze. It's not a big deal, I've had CD alarm clocks that did the same thing.
All in all, I think this is a fantastic alarm clock. Very easy to setup and the controls are easy to understand. The benefit of using MP3s and a removable drive is brilliant.
I have so far owned 3 different iPhone alarm clocks - I paid well over $100 for each, and each has become inoperable after the warranty expired. I'm tired of spending $100 for a clock that will charge my iPhone and wake me up to 30 or so different songs I like. I keep my iPhone plugged into the wall next to this clock overnight instead and have the songs I like to wake up to loaded on an SD card. This is doing the same thing as those iPhone alarm clocks at half the price.