Clock-Radio Reviews

This radio looks great. I really liked the style. However, that's about all I really liked. Another reviewer compared the sound to the Bose Wave radio. Either they've never heard the Bose or they were just really happy with the price comparison. At high volumes the radio sounds ok but at lower volumes it sounds like it play from inside a cardboard box. I could live with that but my real disappointment was with the tuning. I live in the mountains where radio reception is difficult. Usually "PLL Synthesized Digital Tuning for rock stable reception of AM/FM" is exactly that. In this radio the tuning is stable but the reception was worse than other cheap dial tuning radios that I own. Often raising the antenna made the reception even worse. I really wanted to like this radio but it's just lacking in too many areas. The clock vs frequency display feature is another really bad idea.

I have had this radio for over a year, and I like it a lot. But it did have the problem described in an earlier review, in that the LCD display failed after a year and the radio became unusable. Sangean USA replaced the radio even though it was out of warranty, which was great, but was also a indication that the radio has a recurrent problem. I am planning to buy another one, but wanted to assure that the problem would not recur. I emailed Sangean, and they acknowledged the problem in earlier production units. They say it has been fixed for later production units, so according to Sangean the design problem has been resolved.

This radio is solid. The controls feel precise. The 1960-retro vertical styling makes it unusually handy to carry around as a portable. It has sound quality at least as good as any mono portable radio I've ever heard, and it provides stereo FM although, of course, only when you use headphones.

Unusually, it also has selectivity and sensitivity to match its other strengths. It picks up weak and distant stations as it should (and as most radios unfortunately don't), making it useful in rural areas, while camping, and so on. It might not be quite as good as the GE Superadio III in this regard, but it's close, has some good features the GE doesn't, and it tunes much more easily. On the other hand, if you're REALLY out in the boonies, external antennas can help you catch the weakest signals; and while the GE has terminals for both AM and FM external antennas, the Q Radio has AM antenna jacks only.

This is a radio with a clock, not a clock radio. If you want to use it as a clock radio only, its display will disappoint you; it is angled upward, making it hard to see when it's at eye level as on a bedside table, and it can't show the radio frequency and the time at once. However, it does sound far better than any clock radio I've ever had. In special circumstances, the fact that the Q Radio will still wake you on time even if power fails, or is not available at all, may lead you to prefer it to the more usual clock radios.

Although easy to operate, many of its controls have multiple functions. This can be slightly confusing at first. However, they're pretty thoroughly labeled, so you shouldn't have any trouble figuring them out.

This product would have been excellent, except for two MAJOR flaws.

1. The radio reception is terrible, it barely pulls in stations that work great on several other radios I have. Thus, this unit is more of a CD player than a radio.

2. When I turn the radio or CD on there is a noticable background hum. I do not know if this is because this unit is defective, or what. I tried doing some troubleshooting (tried other locations, sockets, let it burn in a bit) but no luck.

Rating (Terrible) 0 <--> 100 (Excellent) Sound quality: 90 Looks: 90 Conectivity: 10 Radio reception: 10 Features: 94 Usability: 93 Performance: 10 Overall: 19

Summary: Even if this unit did not hum, the radio reception is not good enough to make me want to keep the unit. It only pullin in really strong stations without static. Otherwise the reception is just too poor.

I purchased the Sony clock-radio ICF-CD803 several years ago, and was quite pleased with it overall until the button that turned on the radio started not to work. In order to turn on the radio, I would have to set the alarm to the radio mode and then advance the alarm until the radio came on. It was not a major drawback for me, but the one feature of that clock-radio that used to annoy me, (apart from the fact it had only 6 pre-sets,) was the fact that one could not select just the radio to wake up to. One could wake up to the CD, the CD and then the radio, or a beeper alarm. I never understood this, but it wasn't a major drawback for me. I bought the clock-radio for sale here, the ICF-CD873 in November 2002, and it does not have this problem. I can wake up to the CD, the radio, a beeper alarm, or some fairly ersatz birdsong or a running river. Like its predecessor, the sound on the ICF-CD873 is very respectable for a clock-radio. Of course, the sound from its little speakers is not as good as that from my 16" JBLs, but it is not that far behind, and as bright and bassy as any little clock-radio by your bed would need to be. I like the "voice-plus" feature where a (slight Japanese-accented,) woman's voice tells you the time, because, as is common with every digital clock I've ever encountered, the display is too bright at night for me. I cover the display with a CD cover, and if I need to know the time I reach out and tap the button which activates the "voice-plus" feature. The voice also speaks before the alarm goes off, saying "Good morning, it is 6 o'clock A.M." (Or whatever.) I wish it didn't do this. It startled me the first couple of times it did it. But it is not a major drawback for me, and if it was there is a button that switches the "voice-plus" off. ("Plus what?" one wonders.) A more serious annoyance is that there are only 5 pre-sets, one less than the ICF-CD803. It's not a disqualifier, but one wonders "Why only 5?" All-in-all, I'm very pleased with my ICF-CD873, especially if the buttons continue to function past 2008.

I gave my (cheaper) Panasonic RC-CD500 away (and she likes it) then purchased this Sony ICF-CD 873. I like this one better! Sounds great & looks good.

I've been a radio buff for many years have a large collection and love to do compares . This unit is an Alarm Clock , not truley a "radio" . And the alarm does NOT interact with the radio, its analog ,therefore it cannot turn the radio on as an alarm . Buzzer only! It does not have a DC adaptor jack . It must run on batteries only. It has an earphone jack .No FM Stereo. If you plug headphones in you will only hear it out of one side . Sony could have easily put a mono adaptor inline so you would hear it through both and should have for the price . The tuner like many Sony products has very good sensativity . But , the controls are so small you need the hands of a brain surgeon to fine tune it . If I was travelling and intended on DXing I would NOT depend on this alarm clock . If you want to listen to SW or DX the broadcast band , buy a real radio . If you want a travel alarm clock , buy one that interacts with the radio . At this price this unit is certainly NOT WORTH IT ! I give two stars instead of one because the tuner is pretty decent , however , pass it by !

This short wave radio also comes with a built in alarm clock. The problem is that it stopped working all of a sudden after just a year. The warranty only lasts for 90 days and Sony will repair it, but the repairs cost more than the radio!

This radio has been a steady companion in my travels to remote areas of Africa and SE Asia during the past 3-4 years. The top portion of the antenna snapped off after 2 years of frequent usage, but this hasn't affected reception significantly. My only wish would be to have a volume control on the alarm, and stereo reception in earphones - to block out bush/jungle noises!

This clock radio has it all... almost. The Atomic clock synched right up, the sound is quite good, I like the "Nap" feature and the ability to set two alarms to two different times on each different day of the week is cool.

So, I set it all up and put in my bedroom and when it got dark I realized the radio was useless to me - no matter how you set the backlighting brightness display you have to get right on top of the clock to read the display. So trying to set the nap timer or the sleep timer or change the alarm settings, after dark, becomes almost impossible. When you turn up the brightness the numerals just stay the same and the backlighting just gets brighter and glares in your face.

The manual leaves a bit to be desired too and just ignores features like backup (which it seems to have because when you disconnect from power the clock continues to display and the setting are saved; I just have no idea how long and if that feature is something I can count on).

Bottom line is I would surely keep the clock if I could only read it at night.... but I can't; so back it goes. Too bad.

The atomic clock signal is weak and not near as stong as two other recent purchases from Seiko. The instructions are terrible and not very helpful. Making any kind of adjustments requires the reader to carefully follow all the steps as outlined which seems fine except just turning off the alarm in case you get up early or just want to cancel it is a major pain. The humane waking is system is overrated. Yes, it gets louder in increments but very quickly and not as slow as described. I would consider another alternative.

I called Sangean to find out why the time was not synchronizing, to which the technician replied, "Well it's not the strongest atomic clock there is..." Then when I explained what I had done to test it, he was arrogant, unhelpful, and not in too many words told me tough luck!

Just for the record, I purchased another clock from Radio Shack (which they don't sell anymore, or I would have bought another one of those!), which works perfectly fine.

What a ruse!

The signal rejection is horrible. That is to say, I set it to my favorite NPR station and another station 11.5MHz higher booms over it. I did this experiment right next to my Sangean clock radio, and I also tried the (Great) GE 7-2887 Portable radio. The non-Philips units worked perfectly, so it wasn't some anomaly wth the ionosphere (unfortunately, they aren't water proof, and make no claims to be). So I opened the back up (where the battery compartment is) to have a look around. Although the batteries themselves were dry (there is separate seal for them) the screws that hold the radio together were rusted. I bought this unit in November and it's rusting--this in a product built for use in the shower... So, buy it if you want to hear multiple stations at once, and don't get it near water.

I bought the Philips Shower Radio from J&R Music.

Being a shower radio, I didn't really expect it to produce a really good sound. I was pleasantly surprised and disappointed with the audio quality. The sound is lound and audible even with the shower running. Unfortunately, the sound is also very hollow and it took about a week to get used to it.

The AM reception is excellent in the NYC/Jersey metro area.

I had a slight problem trying to house the antenna tail into the battery compartment and worried that water might leak in. To date, I have experienced no problems.

The major drawback of this product though is the power button. I don't get the sense that I'm actually pressing the button. One must rely on one's ear and not on sense.

A minor nusiance is that Philips does not publish the instruction manual online, forcing me to store the print instruction manual.

We just moved into an older home which has few electrical outlets- especially in the bathroom. Morning showers were not the same without music, so I wanted to buy something that was water resistant (and inexpensive!). This product really was a great choice. For the size, the sound quality was really very good. The unit itself comes equipped with a pig-tail antennae, but I did not even need it. The radio is kind of a weird chunky shape, but that is not a problem. The control buttons are encased in plastic, so if you want to change a station with wet hands, no problem! What I found as an added bonus was the built in clock. ( I also found out my husband was right, I do take 30 minute showers!!). If you decide to go with this radio, you will not be disappointed! Battery life is really good also!

My first impression was one of delight, because the RCR-2's controls, programming flexibility, packaging, and sound quality are very well done. But I was ultimately disappointed and had to return the unit because Sangean did not follow through in two important areas: the display and power back-up.

The LCD display is only viewable from a limited angle. We placed the unit on a low headboard about 6" above the pillows, and the digits became invisible. The left-to-right viewing angle is also very limited. The RCR-2 is easily viewable only if you place it on a nightstand lower than your pillow and view it straight ahead within arm's reach.

The LCD backlighting is weak and uneven. Instead of a uniform electro-luminescent light source (e.g. Indiglo), there is a single bulb on one side. Bright on one side and dim on the other, it looks a lot like a cheap digital watch from many years ago. Not a good first impression in a guest bedroom.

The second problem is the limited and/or undocumented power failure backup. The RCR-2 does not use a battery, but does have some internal power storage since I could unplug it for several minutes without losing the time. But the instructions don't say how long an outage the RCR-2 can handle. The radio update can take several hours, so don't depend on the unit re-syncing before wake-up time. Also, there is no mention in the instructions as to whether the alarm times are preserved, even if the clock does re-sync by morning.

Without assurance that the clock would wake me after a power outage of 30 minutes or more (which do occur where I live) I elected to return the RCR-2. If power outages are less of an issue in your area, you can solve many of the display problems by moving up to the Sangean RCR-1, which adds an analog clock face.

There's a lot to like about this clock, but unfortunately it has a few problems. As others have said, the display is either too light or too dark. The manual lists snooze time as 5 min, but it's actually 6 minutes(!). That's way too short for me. Most clocks are 9-10 minutes, I'd probably prefer 15. It has lots of buttons, and a not very intutitive setup. Still, it's nice looking, syncs up pretty quickly for me (not hours), and has a nice day-of-the-week alarm schedule.

TERRIFIC radio reception for a clock radio, and lots of clever conveniences, although reading the manual is a must. However...

The display is dreadful. The background is a rectangle of amber light. There's no way to dim it and it really can't be ignored in a dark room. Furthermore, the digital display is more gray than black and not particularly easy to read. The light can be turned off but then there's no possible way to read it in a dark room.

Can anyone suggest another clock radio with especially good radio reception?

I bought this cd alarm clock a month ago and it has been working out pretty well. I use and really like the automatic display dimming feature, which brightens the display when there's lots of light and turns it way down in the dark. The FM/AM reception is pretty good and actually better than my Kenwood home theater receiver. The dual alarm feature was important to me when I was shopping for an alarm clock, and this product has a handy triple alarm feature. I am able to wake up to random tracks on a cd I made specifically to wake up to (although you can wake up to the same specific track if you want.) I also love and use the "Gentle Sleep" feature, so I can go to sleep listening to the radio.

One of the cons is that the display can be difficult to read from across the room and when in bed, if you're not on the exact horizontal plane as the alarm clock. However, these issues don't bother me too much because I'm used to checking the time on my watch or phone, and in bed, it doesn't bother me to have to raise my head to see the clock. I'd actually rather not see exactly what time it is all the time on one of those more sleepless nights, as I'm sure a lot of people can appreciate. I also like it to be as dark as possible when I sleep, so an overly bright display was a concern. This unit, while it doesn't dim completely, does not bother me at night.

The only issue that I consider a major one since I'm pretty picky about speaker quality and sound, is that the tiny speakers on this system (I think there are perhaps 3) are crap and start to pop and crackle when the bass level is turned up more than half way and you don't even have the volume that high. But alarm clocks are not known for their great sound, however I'd expect more from Sony at the price you pay for this unit. A workaround for this clock and actually any other with a headphone jacks, is to use that jack for a pair of quality bookshelf/computer desktop-type speakers and I'm sure this product would then be perfect.

Overall: features -- execellent; ease-of-use -- excellent; sound options -- good; speaker quality -- poor.

I only give it 3 stars just because of hte speakers.

This is a great alarm clock. I have trouble waking up in the morning, but the alarm volume is perfect. I don't think that the controls are awkward at all and I have no problem turning it off in the morning. The sound is also adequate for an alarm clock (after all, you're not buying it for surround sound or digital quality...it's an alarm clock). The only flaws that I found are the lack of battery backup...not a problem for me because I live on the smae block as a school, so my power never goes out, but I can see how it would be an issue. I was also disappointed to find that the gentle wake feature only applies to the buzzer, not the CD and radio. I believe previous models had this feature for all alarms, and it was a big selling point for me, but my overall satisfaction with the product outweighs my displeasure with this. A great buy for the money. Not quite a Bose, but it is a Sony.

I looked everywhere for the perfect alarm clock and finally found it with this Sony ICF-CD863V.

This clock is EASY to use. You don't need to spend 1 hour reading the manual before getting it all set up. It's EASY!

The buzzer is AWESOME!!! I LOVE the buzzer! It's SOFT, it doesn't startle you while you are deep asleep, yet it is loud enough that you can hear. I love it.

The light on the display adjusts itself automatically depending on the darkness of the room. Sooo cool!

I love using the CD feature and the sound is just AMAZING!

This is just a VERY NEAT product for a great price compared to the competition. You will not go wrong when buying this alarm clock!