An Argument Against Getting a Clock Radio

Tom makes the case that getting a "clock radio" is an oxymoron as our dialogue shows:

Tom: If you look at high end stereo gear you'll notice that each component serves a single purpose, is simple to use, and few features other than what's required to perform its task.

Herculodge: Tom, are you suggesting high end gear to replace a radio and if so what do you recommend?

Tom: No. I'm suggesting that the words "clock" and "radio" should never be used in the same sentence or piece of gear.

Another Herculodge contributer, Mike W, concurs that clocks and radios don't mix. He writes:

I couldn't agree more. I have used a stand-alone alarm clock for years and have found radios in clocks to be nothing but a pain in the bloody neck.

There seems to be an unwritten law in the electronics industry that anything with a microprocessor in it - and I mean ANYTHING, from a microwave oven to a pager to a radio to the little blood pressure monitor I bought - has to have the time displayed, and therefore require setting several times a year. Just look around your house or apartment and see how many things display the time. It has gotten absurd, but they keep sticking a clock in everything.

Because its alarm was so easily set unintentionally, my old CCRadio used to go off at the default time of 6 am occasionally with a beeping noise so shrill that it could function as a defibrilator, leaving me cursing like a sailor and unable to fall back asleep.

I hate clocks in radios with an absolute purple passion. It's one of the reasons I am starting to like older analog sets more lately.

Comments

[jeffrey McMahon]

Great comment, Mike. I'll add it to the post.

[Keith B.]

I agree that too many devices have a clock in them now. But clock radios are different. I enjoy (usually) waking up to NPR in the morning and it's convenient when falling asleep to be able to set the radio to turn itself off. Saves batteries!

[jeffrey McMahon]

I no longer use the Sony Dream Machine because its speaker sound seemed substandard but it was user friendly in the clock and alarm features, unlike the Sangean models.

[Tom Welch]

BTW, I've been using Sanyo's Eneloop rechargeable batteries in my Sangean PR-D7, highly recommended!

http://www.amazon.com/SANYO-eneloop-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B000IV2WAW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1220663883&sr=1-4

Also,today, I talked a neighbor into buying a Sangean WR-2.

[Tom Welch]

I forgot -- I picked up KNX 1070 Los Angeles around 10PM last Thursday night on my Sangean PR-D7.

[jeffrey McMahon]

Tom, it sounds like your PR-D7 is a winner. Unless I"m mistaken, my PR-D5 doesn't even accept rechargeable batteries. Ouch.

[Michael Brent]

Plus it is well known fact that having too many clocks in your home that are not syncronized exactly with each other can cause
a tear in the space-time continuum and can possably end life on earth as we know it.
So there's that.

[jeffrey McMahon]

My sanity ends as I know it when I have to set the clocks--all 20 of them--twice a year.

[Paul]

The best thing to do is to get an atomic alarm clock. It has a radio inside it to set it's time automatically from the WWVB ...

Look at Lacrosse Technology ones: http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/clocks.php

[jeffrey McMahon]

I'd rather get the atomic clock by itself and have a radio that I use separately. I don't even use my alarm or snooze button on my Horizon Solo, but I wake up automatically at 6:30 and I'm a light sleeper so alarms aren't part of my world.