Radio Reviews

I will say, first, that I didn't test the alarm portion of the clock. I liked the Glade Plug-Ins aspect of it. I bought this b/c I like to have some sort of white noise machine in my kids' rooms to mask the sounds of my husband, who rises earlier than the rest of us. The nature sounds were terrible and not at all relaxing. "Ocean" is the sounds of waves (what I was expecting) and shrill seagulls that never shut up. "Brook" is the sound of a babbling brook (also expected) that is practically drowned out by the sound of birds and crickets. "Forest" was the worst as it was a bunch of obnoxious exotic birds and wind, I guess. I didn't expect much when I bought a clock ..., not even good quality sounds. I did expect them to be standard recordings that were quiet and repetitious enough to fall asleep to. This clock is going back to the seller ASAP.
As a side note, this does have volume control (L/M/H),unlike some other clocks I've read about.

This cd player worked for about 10 minutes before water seeped into it, blurring the clock and wrecking the sound quality. The only good thing about the experience is that we were able to rescue the cd before any damage was done.

I've read some of the other reviews, and yes, this item has it's limitations. If you are like me, though, you either just want to hear music in the shower or bath or you are trying to be considerate to anyone who can hear you sing. I get good reception from the radio and get many channels. My cds play fine, the mirror doesn't fog and the clock helps me keep track of time. You can't adjust the settings (such as treble and bass), but for crying out loud, it's a CD player/radio for your shower...how good does it have to be? I am thrilled with the performance of this product and would recommend it to anyone that wants a little music in their lives (or more specifically, their showers)!

I've read some of the other reviews, and yes, this item has it's limitations. If you are like me, though, you either just want to hear music in the shower or bath or you are trying to be considerate to anyone who can hear you sing. I get good reception from the radio and get many channels. My cds play fine, the mirror doesn't fog and the clock helps me keep track of time. You can't adjust the settings (such as treble and bass), but for crying out loud, it's a CD player/radio for your shower...how good does it have to be? I am thrilled with the performance of this product and would recommend it to anyone that wants a little music in their lives (or more specifically, their showers)!

I bought this clock and enjoyed it for a few months. I enjoyed the nature sounds which are more pleasant than many competing products. I also liked the fact that I could keep the sounds on all night (great for those who wake in the middle of the night and want to be soothed back to sleep) but still wake to an actual alarm sound (a hard to find feature). It has dual alarms that worked well. It was solidly built and not unattractive. The radio and CD were functional which is all I ask of a procuct like this.

However, call me old-fashioned, but I like a clock that actually tells time! This clock was the most horribly out-of-synch clock I've ever owned. It was fast by about 3 minutes per week! This meant re-setting the clock every few weeks... not something you expect to do on ANY clock let alone one in this price range.

Unless you enjoy doing math when your alarm goes off (is it REALLY 6am? How many more snoozes do I take until it is truly 6AM in real life?) and resetting your clock every few weeks, skip this product. I now use this strictly for the soothing sounds and I don't even bother to set the clock anymore - it is about 45 minutes fast right now and climbing.

I have owned this alarm clock for a couple of years now, and I regret to say, I am at long last in the market for something better. From day one, the clock would gain time, a couple of minutes per month. The cd player (which whined noisily when it started up) also stopped working long ago, and unfortunately, the cd player was the main selling point for me when I purchased this clock. The radio reception leaves a lot to be desired, depending on where I stand in the bedroom. My final complaint is that some (not all) of the functions are way too complicated to program without the manual, which disappeared a long time ago.

Why 2 stars then? The one reason I have kept the clock far beyond its prime is that I love the nature sounds feature. I find now that I have difficulty falling asleep without the serene forest breeze whispering in my ears - I am a "soothing nature sounds" junkee. On another positive note, the alarm has been very dependable, aside from user error.

I got one of these for Christmas and am very happy with it. I have programmed the forest sounds to start 10 minutes before I have to get up and then the buzzer alarm starts when I actually have to get out of bed. I haven't tried the CD player since I don't trust myself to wake up to a CD (if you don't put a CD in the "CD" alarm setting buzzes like a regular alarm clock). It would be nice to have a separate alarm for buzzer and CD. One of the best things about this clock radio is that the alarm turns off with the press of one button and the alarm is automatically set for the next morning (the Sony alarm I had before required you to press 2 buttons at once to stop the alarm and then you had to push more buttons to set it again for the next day -- not an easy task in the dark at 5 in the morning). Another reason I only gave the alarm clock 4 stars is that it doesn't have an option for setting a different weekend wake-up time. The nature sounds do have a rather short loop so I usually listen to the wind sounds where the loop is not so noticeable. There are a lot of buttons on this clock so I would recommend reading the manual.

I bought this clock and enjoyed it for a few months. I enjoyed the nature sounds which are more pleasant than many competing products. I also liked the fact that I could keep the sounds on all night (great for those who wake in the middle of the night and want to be soothed back to sleep) but still wake to an actual alarm sound (a hard to find feature). It has dual alarms that worked well. It was solidly built and not unattractive. The radio and CD were functional which is all I ask of a procuct like this.

However, call me old-fashioned, but I like a clock that actually tells time! This clock was the most horribly out-of-synch clock I've ever owned. It was fast by about 3 minutes per week! This meant re-setting the clock every few weeks... not something you expect to do on ANY clock let alone one in this price range.

Unless you enjoy doing math when your alarm goes off (is it REALLY 6am? How many more snoozes do I take until it is truly 6AM in real life?) and resetting your clock every few weeks, skip this product. I now use this strictly for the soothing sounds and I don't even bother to set the clock anymore - it is about 45 minutes fast right now and climbing.

I have owned this alarm clock for a couple of years now, and I regret to say, I am at long last in the market for something better. From day one, the clock would gain time, a couple of minutes per month. The cd player (which whined noisily when it started up) also stopped working long ago, and unfortunately, the cd player was the main selling point for me when I purchased this clock. The radio reception leaves a lot to be desired, depending on where I stand in the bedroom. My final complaint is that some (not all) of the functions are way too complicated to program without the manual, which disappeared a long time ago.

Why 2 stars then? The one reason I have kept the clock far beyond its prime is that I love the nature sounds feature. I find now that I have difficulty falling asleep without the serene forest breeze whispering in my ears - I am a "soothing nature sounds" junkee. On another positive note, the alarm has been very dependable, aside from user error.

I got one of these for Christmas and am very happy with it. I have programmed the forest sounds to start 10 minutes before I have to get up and then the buzzer alarm starts when I actually have to get out of bed. I haven't tried the CD player since I don't trust myself to wake up to a CD (if you don't put a CD in the "CD" alarm setting buzzes like a regular alarm clock). It would be nice to have a separate alarm for buzzer and CD. One of the best things about this clock radio is that the alarm turns off with the press of one button and the alarm is automatically set for the next morning (the Sony alarm I had before required you to press 2 buttons at once to stop the alarm and then you had to push more buttons to set it again for the next day -- not an easy task in the dark at 5 in the morning). Another reason I only gave the alarm clock 4 stars is that it doesn't have an option for setting a different weekend wake-up time. The nature sounds do have a rather short loop so I usually listen to the wind sounds where the loop is not so noticeable. There are a lot of buttons on this clock so I would recommend reading the manual.

I bought this clock and enjoyed it for a few months. I enjoyed the nature sounds which are more pleasant than many competing products. I also liked the fact that I could keep the sounds on all night (great for those who wake in the middle of the night and want to be soothed back to sleep) but still wake to an actual alarm sound (a hard to find feature). It has dual alarms that worked well. It was solidly built and not unattractive. The radio and CD were functional which is all I ask of a procuct like this.

However, call me old-fashioned, but I like a clock that actually tells time! This clock was the most horribly out-of-synch clock I've ever owned. It was fast by about 3 minutes per week! This meant re-setting the clock every few weeks... not something you expect to do on ANY clock let alone one in this price range.

Unless you enjoy doing math when your alarm goes off (is it REALLY 6am? How many more snoozes do I take until it is truly 6AM in real life?) and resetting your clock every few weeks, skip this product. I now use this strictly for the soothing sounds and I don't even bother to set the clock anymore - it is about 45 minutes fast right now and climbing.

I have owned this alarm clock for a couple of years now, and I regret to say, I am at long last in the market for something better. From day one, the clock would gain time, a couple of minutes per month. The cd player (which whined noisily when it started up) also stopped working long ago, and unfortunately, the cd player was the main selling point for me when I purchased this clock. The radio reception leaves a lot to be desired, depending on where I stand in the bedroom. My final complaint is that some (not all) of the functions are way too complicated to program without the manual, which disappeared a long time ago.

Why 2 stars then? The one reason I have kept the clock far beyond its prime is that I love the nature sounds feature. I find now that I have difficulty falling asleep without the serene forest breeze whispering in my ears - I am a "soothing nature sounds" junkee. On another positive note, the alarm has been very dependable, aside from user error.

I got one of these for Christmas and am very happy with it. I have programmed the forest sounds to start 10 minutes before I have to get up and then the buzzer alarm starts when I actually have to get out of bed. I haven't tried the CD player since I don't trust myself to wake up to a CD (if you don't put a CD in the "CD" alarm setting buzzes like a regular alarm clock). It would be nice to have a separate alarm for buzzer and CD. One of the best things about this clock radio is that the alarm turns off with the press of one button and the alarm is automatically set for the next morning (the Sony alarm I had before required you to press 2 buttons at once to stop the alarm and then you had to push more buttons to set it again for the next day -- not an easy task in the dark at 5 in the morning). Another reason I only gave the alarm clock 4 stars is that it doesn't have an option for setting a different weekend wake-up time. The nature sounds do have a rather short loop so I usually listen to the wind sounds where the loop is not so noticeable. There are a lot of buttons on this clock so I would recommend reading the manual.

The reception is horrible and the clock is very hard to read. If you actually get a station tuned in, the sound that comes out is just terrible. I would not recommend buying this product.

I am usually hesitant to write a negative review but today I feel I should. I purchased this shower radio because of its low price and it is truly pitiful. The reception is bad (I can pick up three stations through the static if I am lucky), the knobs are difficult to turn if your fingers are wet (as they should be in the shower), the clock on my particular radio doesn't keep correct time (it took five minutes to go from 1:29 to 1:30-- this should trouble you), and it does indeed go through batteries very quickly. The only reason I assigned it two stars is because of the price. I didn't lose much money on it and felt like I got a radio about as good as its price: bottom of the barrel. If you really want a shower radio, save up enough money to get one that will work.

have you ever found yourself singing in the shower, but you just wish you could have the tune to sing along to?? well.. this is the answer to your dreams. you can listen to music while in the shower, and, there is a clock, so you don't lose track of time while you are there, too! this is the perfect gift for people of all ages!

Lousy reception makes listening very irritating. Plus the too loose volume dial can cause the volume to be painfully loud if it gets accidently knocked.

I've bought several of these the last few years, as I always seem to lose them somewhere, and each time I do--I look for others that are better. So far, I haven't found one.

I use it at the gym and running, and it rarely falls off. Radio reception isn't very good, but it was much worse with the most recent Panasonic [RFSW200] I tried while waiting for this one to be in stock again. Another virtue is the ability to tune to a specific frequency [for audio from the gym TV's], as opposed to only certain increments on the Panasonic. Also, battery life is better--working a long time before replace the 2, as opposed to the very quick depletion of the single battery on the Panasonic.

Sure it's a bit large for what it's doing--but you can easily reach over and tap the pre-select buttons while running, and it curves around my arm and the velcro works well [although to be fair, Panasonic's strap was actually superior while dealing with a much lighter product], so I can recommend it despite the wish for improvements--including the irritating idea that you have to turn the radio off to even see the time.

This is the best walkman I've found for using at the gym. You can velcro it around your arm or wrist while lifting weights or velcro it to the treadmill or stairmaster if you don't like wearing it. Programming stations is easy and there is a hold feature which allows you to stay on a station even if you accidentally bump one of the buttons. The hold button is also useful for keeping the walkman off when it's in your bag so the batteries don't run out. Also, about batteries, they last for quite a while with this walkman. The headphones that are included aren't the most comfortable - that's basically my only complaint.

Overall, this product has a great design and wonderful features.

This clock is a piece of junk. The battery backup is USELESS. I was late to work twice this year because of it. It just drains the battery, then it doesn't work. Setting the clock and the alarms is a huge pain. Emerson is difficult to contact. Buy another brand!

This is the worst piece of electronics that I have ever used. Had to rate it 1 star - system wouldn't take 0 as option. What a shame - if this clock performed as the user's manual described this would be the bargan of the century. All the basic no-nonsense features are there - they just don't work.<br /> Battery-backup - The alarms work during power outage as they should. Problem is clock gains about 30 min. for every hour the power is out and the display doesn't FLASH like it should to let you know there was an interuption in power. How would you like to wake up at 4:30 AM instead of 6:30 AM? I've tried FOUR different clocks from 2 different stores - all had the same problem.<br /> Radio - I wasn't expecting a Bose stereo but this clock can't keep a major local station in tune. I live in a MAJOR METRO area and it takes 1-2 min. of 'adjusting' to get a station to come in clearly. At wake up time you would think I was in the fringe area. My pocket portable with 2 AA batteries has less station 'drift' than this.<br /> Manual says to call for 'local' service center for repair/replacement. Local - if you live in Texas. Customer service says send it back with $5 for shipping and handling - on a $13 clock!<br /> There is more but at this point just leave it at - RUN DON'T WALK from this product. Emerson should be ashamed for putting this product on a store shelf.

I don't understand how they can sell this for $12.99. My old clock radio had small red numbers and I couldn't see the time from across the room. This one has large lime green numbers that I can see easily. The alarm and time setting buttons are located on the curved part of the top of the radio, around the back. Tuning and volume are on the right side. Alarm 1 and 2 switches and the display dimmer are on the left side. The snooze button is the little blue button you see on top of the radio. And to turn off the alarm, you just tap the top of the radio. I was wanting a digital tuner with preset buttons, and maybe a CD player, but realized that I never changed the radio station ince I set it up, and had no need to play CDs on what was basically an alarm clock. The sound quality is very good, and the 3-inch speaker points out the back of the radio. You can set each alarm to Off, Radio, or Beep. The Beep setting gives out a rather pleasant sounding BEEP-BEEP that's not obnoxious. If you need something louder to wake you up you can set it to a rap music station and turn the volume to maximum. Put a 9 volt battery in it for backup and the clock maintains the time even if the power goes out. And if you have the alarm set to the beep mode, it will go off at the proper time even if the power goes out. I am very impressed with the Emerson CK5051, and I will definitely look for other Emerson products in the future.

I was so excited about getting this radio for Christmas, found it one day while roaming around the store and ask for it for Christmas. I have had it two days and I get nothing but static. I am trying desperatly to find the receipt so I can take this piece of crap back!!!

I intended to use this radio while jogging, but that's just about impossible. First of all, unlike Sony's older molder that simply had up/down bottons for moving through the pre-set stations, this unit uses a separate button for each station. It's very difficult to select a station without stopping and looking at the unit. The buttons aren't even arranged well so that you could just feel around for them, just look at the picture. In addition to the five buttons for the preset stations, there are 4 or 5 more bottons, all the same size, that can be accidently pressed as well. In short, navigating stations while jogging is about impossible. Too make matters worse, the volume dial is easily bumped, and very sensitive. So, while jogging along, trying to change stations, you're likely to blast your ears out accidently.

The walkman is ok, however, it doesn't seem there are many other options on the market. The arm band doesn't stay on my arms without sliding off unless I'm wearing about five layers of shirts (and I have 'normal' size arms). The sound quality is good and the buttons are easy to hit as you run. As usual with Sony headphones, I have to replace them every few months.

I like the nature sounds on this product, and it's a nice size to pack when traveling. Setting and activating the alarm, however, is very confusing. The alarm mode (sound, radio, buzzer) always displays on the clock, however, there is no indicator to tell you whether the alarm is set to go off or not. I changed the alarm mode from sound to buzzer for future reference, but didn't think I had set the alarm (it was still at 12:00 midnight) or activated it.

So what happened? The buzzer woke me from a sound sleep at midnight. I hit the on/off button, but I still have no idea if the alarm is activated or not. Is it going to go off again at midnight? Hard to say. Most clocks have a little symbol or indicator to show that the alarm is set. I wish this clock did, too. If the alarm mode is the indicator, then I can't get it to turn off.

The instruction book that came with the clock isn't very helpful. Setting the alarm isn't hard, being able to tell if it's actually going to go off is.

After I had this for awhile, I noticed another small annoyance: when I turn the nature sounds on, the numbers on the clock no longer display. Not very helpful.

I've had this machine for 4 years now...I've been looking for another one for my 9 yr old because he likes mine so much! I'm so glad I found this!!!

I purchased this machine last year for myself. I ended up using it for my then 2 year old. She would wake up all night for no apparant reason. I tried the sound machine in her room and she has not had a restless night since! Even when she is sick, she sleeps great and if I forget to turn it on she reminds me.It has been a real blessing for us because when she's up, everyone is up!