Clock-Radio Reviews

This is a very compact well made radio with an excellent tuner . It has Sync. detection tuning which is an excellent feature . I have gotten nice results with this radio , HOWEVER , there are two problems . One , it is about $100 overpriced , maybe more and two the sound quality is fair at best . OK , its compact and sleak so you can excuse the built in speaker being lousey but the phone output is also weak . This inhibits the DXing capability because you simply can't amplify the sound enough to hear the far off stations....you can tune them in (sync tuning) but you can't hear them .For this amount of money I would recommend the Sangean ATS 909 over this radio . The 909 is about $130 cheaper and has far superior qualities .To summarize,nice radio , compact , good features ...BUT!

Imagine, if you will, a radio barely larger than a pack of 100's cigarettes that often outperforms the big, almost professional, luggables, and gives a tabletop signal sucker a run for its money. Then note that it will allow you to listen to anything anywhere, including those pesky European AM stations that don't come through at even 10mhz intervals, late night jazz on longwave in London, Armed Forces Radio and Hams on SSB, and even Japanese FM bands. And you don't need a PhD in VCR fiddling to use it.

All this power in such a tiny package carries with it some negatives. First, forget about the speaker except as an alarm or for strong signals. What can you expect from a one inch speaker? You will need headphones. I'm into small and carry audiophile quality Etymotic units that fit inside a clenched fist. Second, you will need to take along the included external antenna (a smidgen bigger than the radio itself) to put next to the window of a modern hotel while keeping the radio next to you. I've never found the roll-inside connecter cable too short. Third, you must use the antenna for FM. So you have to extend the antenna on the radio itself a notch or two and put it in a safe pocket to use the SW100S as a Walkman.

Radio, antenna unit, phones, and two spare sets of AA batteries all fit into a pouch 5"x3.5"x1.5". I've had one of these since the week they appeared in the duty-free shop at Schipol Airport. I don't leave home without it. Mine has outlived four suitcases over going on a million miles with nary a whimper too.

The 100S has been around a while. But good shortwave portables have a useful technological life measured in decades.

This is NOT a cheap radio; it is NOT a toy. It will not replace the $20 analog AM/FM unit you tuck in your pocket. But when you want the news in English on a four month trip around the world nothing else comes close.

I own a Sony SW77, Grundig 800 and Sangean ATS-909. The Sony SW100 performs excellent, the supplied active antenna works well. There is nothing that I can listen to on my other radios that I can't listen to on the SW100. Sensitivity is excellent and even SSB is impressive. Build quality and finish is very refined. The previous reviewer should consider buying a new pair of headphones because the audio quality through my head phones equals my other radios. Passport to the World 2004 confirms this in their review in which this radio wins Passports Choice. I was actually listening to Armed Forces Radio on USB and getting better reception then on my SW77, of course there are so many variables that this performance can vary. With the addition of a Sony AN-LP1 active antenna the SW100 performs even better. I am very happy with this radio and I think that it is worth the price. Do not let the size of this radio deceive you, it is not a toy or gimmick. The SW100 is an advanced high performance shortwave receiver that works better then many full size portables. I feel that the only thing I am losing by using this radio is size. Don't buy this radio if you don't like small things. It is small but very comfortable to use. Plan on using headphones most of the time except for the most quiet environments. At night in a quiet room the built in speaker is clear, crisp and comfortable to listen to. I am very impressed and happy with the purchase of this radio.

I thought this was a fantastic alarm clock. Although it could have been the gental alarm could be a tad louder. The numbers were large enough to see. Otherwise there is nothing wrong with it.

I like the tradtional alarm clock styal. I was more impressed with the quality of this clock better then it's T112 counter part. I would love to see more of these made then the other one witch I could do without.

I like haveing three options of bells & not two. This electronic is pretty to look at also.

It was the look of the clock that first caught my attention. It's very unusual and it's also small for those of us with limited space. The time is easy to read as it is large, red, and digital. All the buttons are on the back so you don't have to do a surface check every time you want to set it. The snooze button is on the top and is smaller than some others, but it works for me. The sounds are very clear and pleasant. My alarm clock used to be my worst enemy, not anymore.

This clock was even more than I expected it to be. It is fully electric with a battery backup. The 3 types of wakeup sounds are crystal clear and very interesting. Timex's reputation is even higher in my mind now that I own this clock.

I have a slight variation on the black-finished radio here; mine has an all silver front. Probably a custom model for Restoration Hardware stores. Anyway, it's a beautiful radio with incredible sound. It gets better reception than any other FM radio I've had in my office (24th floor of a tower in downtown Minneapolis), getting more stations than I ever knew existed. The sound is full, and loud! Really, that's my only issue with this radio. On a desktop in an office setting, it's pretty tough to adjust the little volume knob to a quiet enough level for daytime background listening. It's awesome when you crank it up, but I don't want to disturb my coworkers.

I was sure I would be disappointed with this radio given all the rave reviews I had read about. After all, it simply couldn't be that good, could it? I am quite happy to say that I was wrong, it is every bit as good as everyone says. I am full of admiration for the engineers who worked on this little marvel.

My listening is 95% classical, so my attention is always focused on the sound being natural, detailed, and musical. The Model One starts out with the best FM tuner on the market (hands down), which pulls in signals cleanly, even weak ones. My immediate reaction upon first hearing the sound was surprise at the details that were present in the music over an FM signal. I had always imagined that the reason my radios sounded so poor in the past was that the FM signal simply could not hold enough detail. The Model One proved this reasoning quite wrong, there is a lot of music in the FM signal. In fact, I could effortlessly pick out every instrument in the orchestra on this radio.

In the beginning, I was not overly impressed with the low frequencies produced by this radio. But then, I had simply set the radio down on an old desk, and could feel the desk vibrating in sympathy with the low frequencies from the radio. So I went to Home Depot and got a very heavy piece of ceramic tile to place under the radio to prevent the table from siphoning off all the bass. The difference was dramatic. This radio produces a LOT of bass. Very clear and musical bass. The elephant from Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals placed the string bass right in my room, I could swear. I found that when I placed the radio about 8 inches from a wall, the bass was even further enhanced. Other reviewers like to marvel at how much bass there is coming from this tiny radio, but I am much more impressed by how tight and musical the bass actually is. This is not to take anything away from its very clear and reliable treble range; it is just that one can't help noticing how small the radio really is, and with all that bass, and .... well, you know.

This is by far the most value I have ever gotten out of this little money for a piece of audio equipment. The Model One is very, very, sweet and musical, and this description is true for its entire remarkable frequency range. I listen to it about 9-10 hours a day, and weeks after the first listen, I still catch myself looking up from what I was doing at that moment to admire its sound.

I bought this radio for my office. (Hence the black finish. The computer's black, the phone's black, etc.) Radio reception in the building is normally crummy, but the Model One pulls in my favorite stations clearly, using only the included antenna, and the sound is exceptional. Even at low volume (don't want to disturb my co-workers), lows have pretty good weight, and the mids and highs are clear. Turn it up a little, and it fills the whole room with sound that's way out of proportion to its tiny size. One of the best FM radios you'll ever use, and for a lot less money than the other "premium" radios available.

Well, I just bought this today, and I loved it ever since I've had it. Blue lighting, auto dimmer, so many options. This was the cheapest I found with the standards I had (digital tuning, CD player, etc.) The remote is very useful, but too bad they don't save the radio stations (have to tune every time). But they do save the order of how you want your tracks to be played on your CD. The motorized door is such a special thing. The themal snooze is also sweet, so you don't have to find the snooze button to keep on sleeping. I did find it hard to use set the minutes and hours for the alarm and clock (hit one accidentally). But, the light on the side of the glass makes up for all of that (it looks so cool...) Pros: Digital FM/AM radio Motorized door to play CD Auto Dimmer CD-RW player Thermal snooze 2 3 inch speakers 2 antennas (for AM and FM) Memory for track order Cons: Confusing for setting time and alarm Small wire is antenna for FM radio No saved radio stations Knob used for tuning Have to hit the alarm off button after snooze (probably standard for all alarm clocks) If they had saved radio stations, I would've given this a 5. Its kind of a hassle using the knob to get to the exact station.

I bought one for my daughter for Christmas and she loves this compact alarm/radio/cd player with remote to boot! The motion sensor to turn off the alarm is a real cool factor for her. Now my other daughter wants one when her boom box dies. I had a great experience with Target and will definitely purchase another one.

I've had this clock for a couple of years. I could really care less about the radio functions, I bought because of the dual alarms and the ability to set each alarm to ring only only on the weekdays (M-F) or only on the weekends (Sat-Sun).

The display on the clock is large and easy to read and includes a smaller day/date readout. The model I have is a few years old and the controls are a bit harder to reach in the back but this new model looks like they've moved the controls to the side where they should be. I like this clock because I never have to remember to reset for daylight savings time. When you plug it in, it should automatically pop up with almost the right time. If its not set for the right time zone the instructions tell you how to reset the clock--very easy. It uses a large and easily available button cell battery to keep the clock accurate when the power is off--this is behind a screwed down panel in the back of the clock. I've only changed this battery about twice in the several years I've owned the clock.

Now days we have the atomic clocks that pick up the time signal from the Western US and reset themselves daily but in some areas those clocks don't work because they can't pick up the signal through thick walls or electrical interference.

If atomic clocks don't work in your house then this gadget is the next best thing, no more waking up an hour late/early on Monday morning because you forgot to reset your alarm clock for the time change. An atomic clock is even better than this one but if they don't work in your house this is definetly the next best thing!

I've had this clock radio for a couple of months now and have been extremely pleased. I tried a couple of other clock radios before buying this one, and none had all the features I wanted. The best features of this clock radio are:

- The ability to set the alarm for M-F, Sat-Sun, or all week.
Since I am the only one who uses this clock radio, I leave Alarm #1 on all the time, but it is set to go off only on M-F. I use Alarm #2 for the times that I need an alarm on the weekends, and only turn it on when necessary. That way, I can reset the weekend alarm time without messing up my normal weekday alarm setting.

- Good radio reception.
I must live in an area where signals are hard to get, because 2 other clock radios were not able to pull in my favorite station. But this clock radio pulls in the signal loud and clear!

- The automatic time setup when you plug it in.
It's great to not have to fumble with the exact time, and to not have to reset the clock radio when daylight savings time rolls around (Note: You can override either of these settings if you live in a place that doesn't observe daylight savings time, or if you like to leave your clock set 5-10 minutes fast)

- The large display is both good and bad.
It's good because I don't need my glasses to read the time. It's bad because it's a bit bright. I solved the problem by taping a small piece of smoke-colored cellephane over the face.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this clock radio.

This cordless phone is actually a handset that operates with Panasonic's Multi-Handset System Cordless Phones. It is compatible with the KX-TG2700S, KX-TG2720S, KX-TG2730S, or KX-TG2740S.
Must have the base station to use this.

This phone is awesome. I use 2 lines, and this setup is amazing. I have the KX-TG2740S and it's the only phone I need in my house. Being able to have a phone with no phone jack is brilliant. Anyone with a new house looking for phones, look no further. This system of phones is for you. A bit pricey, but completely worth it!

The best thing about this alarm clock is that it has the forward/rewind function for setting the time-so that you don't have to go all the way around again when you go past the time you want. This is great for me since I'm a student and my schedule varies from day to day.

The style is nice and the keys aren't too small. The snooze button is extra big. The sound isn't great, like most alarm clocks. Also, there is no cover for the backup battery. At first I was suprised but it's on the bottom so who cares anyway. If you want a simple functioning alarm clock that's easy to set at an affordable price, I recommend this one.

Good combo unit with clear reception and better than average sound. Easy to use....and hard to mistakenly blame on my oversleeping habits. I especially liked the dual intensity lights, although I almost always just use the dimmer of the 2. This is a good unit, and worth the reasonable price.

I just got this alarm clock/radio a little while ago and so far it's done everything that it says it will. The display is easy to read and has a variable backlight, although I would have liked to have been able to turn off the backlight completely, but that's only a minor thing. The clock and alarm set buttons are hidden under a cover so you can't accidentally screw things up, always a plus at 5am. The tuner works well and after reading the manual it's easy to get a grasp for the plethora of buttons on this item. The fact that you can tune into the NOAA weather radio service and get forecasts and alerts is nice. There are two big things I don't like about this alarm clock/radio. The first is the way that you set the tuning of the weather radio. The switch has 7 positions that it clicks into, however at least on mine, it won't tune in any stations unless you pry the switch in-between one of its sticking points. I think I've got it for now, but if I bump it at all it's another 3 minutes to try and set it again. This might be just something wrong with my particular unit though. The other problem I have with it is that the 3 alarms are all different. You get 1 radio alarm (tunes in the radio), 1 weather alarm (where it tunes in the NOAA weather station), and one 'natural' sound alarm. I use the natural word lightly because the sounds are not very good. But in all reality I didn't expect them to be decent. Notice that I never said that there is a beep alarm. The only way the alarm will beep at you is if the power is out and the batteries are low (it takes 5 AA batteries). Since Timex stated how the alarms work clearly enough I can't hold this against them. However I still would have like to seen a better alarm setup. Oh and FYI the snooze is permanently set to 9 minutes.

The Good:
-Easy to read variable intensity display
-Weather alerts and radio
-Battery backup for alarms
-Easy access snooze button

The Bad:
-Weather radio tuner VERY hard to set
-No beep alarm
-Each alarm has to be different type, (radio, weather, or 'natural' sound)

I received this radio and it's great for what it does. Only thing I will say is that there are A LOT of buttons and I couldn't even set the time without going through the manual. But the main purpose of this is the weather alert, letting you know if there is a tornado and such coming and that works perfectly with a very loud, long message so you're sure to hear it. I love that you can dim the face also if it's too bright. The alarm can also be set to go off M-F, or every day. But it did go off when I didn't want it to and I couldn't figure out how to stop it! It doesn't have an actual on/off alarm button. I am pleased with it though.

The Z166S is a cool product. It has lots of buttons and things to play with and has some pre-recorded groovie music to mellow out too. It even has a red LED, a night light and a AM/FM radio. The night light is touch activated and if you choose will turn itself off in 15 minutes. It has a silver tone plastic shell and a LCD screen to view the time, the screen has 3 brightness settings and is easy to read late at night.

I would have given the Z166S 5 stars but there is one minor problem. The antenna is just a wire hanging out it's backside and seems to deliver poor radio reception. It would have been better if Zenith included an actual antenna.

I think with a little retro-fitting a better antenna could be applied to make the Z166S a fine product. I plan taking my Z166S apart and installing a superior antenna.

This Has many different features, such as nature sounds, easy to see displays, and GREAT organization with buttons and features.

This clock has a lot of features I enjoy, such as the ability to set the alarm at different times for each day of the week (e.g. 6:30 M-F, 8:00 on Sat, off on Sunday), his & her alarms, and automatic shut-off (in 90 mins, in 60 mins, in 30 mins, etc.). What I don't like about it is that the clock face is way too bright, you need the manual for even basic tuning, and it makes these annoying beeps every time you press a button. But overall it is really a function-rich machine.

I've had one of these for a few years and love it. The best feature is the alarm that can be set for specific days of the week. I have it set for M-F and do not have to worry about the unwanted weekend alarm.

The only undesirable aspect of the clock is that the background it lit and not the numbers...this can make it a bit more difficult to see the numbers some times.

I recently moved and this was one of the casualties of the move so I am looking for another, but would love to find one of these again.

I have searched, for years, to find a small clock-radio with digital tuning. It's about time that someone created digital AM/FM tuning into a small space. Sounds good, wakes me up, snooze feature sooths me to sleep, easy to digitally tune...the absolute small radio, and reasonably priced!