Sangean RCR-22 AM/FM Atomic Clock Radio
by Sangean America, Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: Calculated in a shopping cart Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE 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 Sangean RCR-22 AM/FM Atomic Clock Radio
Customer Review: Top notch alarm clock - manual could use some work though
Summary: 5 Stars
I was looking for a high-quality alarm clock after about 12 years with an unimpressive Sony Dreammachine. This clock delivered on that front, and unlike most consumer electronics devices I've purchased in the past several years, it is clear that lots of thought was put into this device (and very little into the manual).
PROS:
There are tons of little nuances that the manual does not detail that I've discovered using the clock for a few weeks. For example the display can be dimmed with a dial on the bottom (which on my unit did not take effect until my alarm goes off the first time). The clock remains dimmed at your preset level, but goes to full brightness when the alarm goes off, making the clock easier to find. Combined with the pleasing blue light and the HWS (makes the alarm bell go from soft to loud) it's really nice to wake up to.
Another thoughtful touch is that alarm indicators only light within 24 hours of your alarm. Either alarm can be set to go off on particular days, with any combination of Su-Sa set for each alarm (i.e. alarm1 can be set for Monday, Thursday and Sunday, no weekday/weekend restrictions like some others). The alarm indicators however only light up when your alarm will ring the next morning. Very nice.
Other functions like the snooze, nap timers, etc. all work well. Like most alarms you need some time to figure out how it works, but after a few mornings most functions were intuitive.
The radio functions well, and pulls in way more stations than the Dreammachine. The speaker is fine, that is to say neither exceptionally good or exceptionally poor. If I want the ultimate music experience, I have an expensive stereo for that.
The clock is a true atomic time clock (not just a "preset" clock like many others). I don't know all the nuances of atomic cock synchronization, but the weather and location of the antenna seem to affect the two atomic clocks I have at home. Try moving the antenna towards the window if you have problems.
CONS
It is nicer than average plastic and construction, but still not going to win any design awards. I can't figure out why all alarm clock designs are frozen in 1992.
The manual was clearly written by a bunch of engineers. It is no nonsense, and explains how to set/use everything, but does not mention any of the usability features I noted above. For example if it's Monday and you set an alarm for thursday, You might wonder why the alarm indicators do not all light up. No mention at all in the manual. I thought the clock was broken since the dimmer did not function until the first time an alarm went off. Again, no mention in the manual of what turned out to be a very nice feature, and one I almost returned the clock for!
Another example is the unwieldly "Time Machine" antenna for the atomic clock. It is big and odd looking, but fits nicely to the back of the clock. Again, no mention in the manual save for a single line drawing.
When I initially plugged the clock in, all kinds of crytic numbers flashed on the display while it synced the time, again, no mention of what was happening or why in the manual. The manual does tell you how to DO everything, but does not explain WHY certain things work the way they do, or explain the various nice features someone clearly took time to think through.
Overal a great buy, especially for something you'll likely use every day for 5-15 years. I would like to see a better manual, autodimming of the display (it is BRIGHT when set to max), Sangean using a designer that is somewhat current, and perhaps a user manual rewrite, other than that, this clock works very well and will be on my nightstand for years to come.
I agonized over what to put on my nightstand (everything from Bose to Timex) and am very happy with my choice.
Customer Review: Great Clock Radio, please read this review to prevent frustration!
Summary: 5 Stars
This product is very well designed, yet receives some bad reviews due to misunderstanding the product, contributed to by a less than stellar job on the manual.
One of the issues I've seen people complain about is reception of the atomic clock signal for setting/updating the time. I can't speak for everyone, because it is possible that some are in an area with real reception problems, but I have found that proper placement of the atomic "time pod" is critical to getting good reception. I've seen another reviewer complain about the time pod being detachable from the main unit, but I found that the flexibility that this offers is important and a very sound design decision by the manufacturer. When I first got the clock radio I also misunderstood the importance of proper placement of the pod, so I simply left it attached to the back of the clock radio, and I waited for 4 days for the clock to set itself without success. I then followed the recommendation to move the pod close to the window, the clock quickly synced up with the atomic clock signal and set itself.
Some observations to hopefully help others understand the time sync process:
* If the broadcast tower icon (shaped like a chess bishop at top, middle of the display) is blinking, then you will probably be unsuccessful in getting the clock to set itself. Separate the time pod from the back of the radio and move it to a location with better reception, close to a window did the trick for me. You will know you are getting a good signal when the broadcast tower icon is solid without blinking. The wave icons emanating from either side of the broadcast icon will blink during communication.
* There are two displays related to the atomic time clock syncing process that are not explained in the manual. One has an "L" followed by a digit, while the other is simply one separate digit. Before I re-positioned my time pod, I observed that the digit following the "L" never got beyond 4, and the other intermittently flashing digit seemed to be random. After moving the time pod close to the window, I got a good signal indicated with a solid broadcast tower icon and the digit following the "L" then began to climb all the way up to 9, while the other digit was now no longer random, it counted up repeatedly from 0 through 9 as information was received, then the clock set itself after a minute or so.
One other reviewer complained about lack of a battery back-up. I actually consider this a good design decision by the manufacturer because I understand a super capacitor is used as back-up for up to an hour. Beyond that, having a small back-up battery offers a false sense of security because one never knows when the back-up battery may fail. Now, the primary reason why I consider the lack of a back-up battery to be a good design decision: because I use an uninteruptable power supply to backup all the critical electronic components for my office/bedroom, including my cable modem, router, clock radio and computer. Backup for the router and modem is important because I use voice over IP for my phone service. So, the Sangean clock radio is just one more item backed up by my UPS!
In conclusion: Great job Sangean, you got everything almost perfect for my use!
Customer Review: Great clock & radio! Yes, it has a dimmable display!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had my Sangean RCR-22 for about 10 months now and I absolutely love it! I took a long while to choose a replacement for my Oregon Scientific Atomic Radio Alarm Clock (which I would rate mediocre) because I wanted to make sure I didn't repeat the same mistakes that I made buying that one (bad radio and BRIGHT display).
The Sangean has so many features that I like, for instance, two alarms, excellent digital radio reception, great speaker, 7 programmable preset radio station buttons, & more.
The feature that I want to address most, because I think it has caused many reviewers to unfairly criticize the clock, is the brightness of the display. This is a highly important feature of a radio alarm clock since most people will have it on their nightstand and don't want a bright light keeping them awake. I think that a lot of reviewers were unfamiliar with how the brightness modes work & thus were disappointed.
There are two brightness modes for the display: Maximum bright, and dimmable. Maximum bright is obviously the highest setting and is clearly visible and legible 20 feet away in daylight. In the dimmable mode you control the brightness using the knob on the bottom of the clock. The knob is kind of fiddly (small, recessed, and stiff) so it's not something that you want to mess with on a daily basis. Anyway, you use the knob (easiest with a small screwdriver) to set the display brightness to what you are comfortable with at night (I have mine set all the way off). On the front of the clock (on the bottom right) there is a button to switch between the two brightness modes. At night I just press the button once to put the display into the dimmable mode which essentially turns the display off. If I wake up in the middle of the night I just find the button, press it to see the time, & then press it again to dim the display. Finding the button is easy due to the side posts & I know it is on the bottom right. In the morning when the alarm goes off, the display switches to bright mode so the time is then visible during the day.
This is definitely the best atomic radio alarm clock that I have owned (it's my third one so far) and well worth the price.
Customer Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
Not happy with my current clock radio (a Sony Dream Machine), I have been looking for a high-quality replacement for many months. Every time I started looking at them, I got disgusted that there didn't seem to be any decent ones made, and gave up. This cycle repeated for the past few months. I admit that what I was looking for seemed to be very different than what everyone was trying to sell me. I didn't want a CD player; I didn't want an iPod dock (a - I don't have an Apple-made MP3 player, b - I have a very expensive stereo system that I use when I want to listen to music); I wanted 2 alarms that could be set independently for different days of the week; I wanted a progressive volume alarm so I am not jarred awake; I wanted a power failure backup system so that it wouldn't lose time; I wanted a true atomic clock that synchronized with the US cesium clock in Colorado; I wanted a well-designed and well-made unit that was user-friendly and would last a long time. Apparently this is a lot to ask for, because almost no one makes anything close to it. I know of Sangean from buying a table radio from them a few years ago for my dad. I was impressed with the tuner, amplifier, and speaker -- the unit was well made and sounded great. My dad loved it. After looking for a new clock radio and not finding one from any of the usual sources, I stumbled upon this one from Sangean. Well, it has every single feature on my wish list and it sounds great. I only have it a few days, but I am really impressed with it's build quality, feature set, and ergonomics. You can tell that a lot of thought went into almost every detail of it's design. Highly recommended.
UPDATE
It's now been a few weeks, and I have to say that this is, in my opinion, the perfect clock radio. Great build quality, well-designed, and is a pleasure to use. The HWS is awesome -- no more jarring alarms to start your day. The tuner and audio sections are quite good for a small radio, the atomic clock is awesome, the display is perfect, and the logic of the UI is perfect. This is a keeper.
Customer Review: Sangean Atomic Alarm Clock RCR-22, Very good Quality
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, so I've read all the reviews, pro's and con's, and I bought this radio after two weeks of debate. I have had a month now and will buy this again if I needed to.
I live in an area 30 miles outside of Boston and on all attempts at clock radios I have never received the Boston stations well. That was my first goal, a radio with good reception. This Radio picks up every station I want in Boston, and have programmed them into it. I acheived my first goal, a good radio - no a GREAT radio! Sound quality is good for an alarm clock. If you want great sound go with a BOSE. This offers a good sound and great reception.
Next, almost all the reviews complained about the screen. I must admit in this day and age of OLED screens this could be better. But is not as bad as I have read. It dims to a great level for night time and everything on the screen is still legible (and I need glasses and don't wear them at night). Yes, if you put the screen on dim for the night, you won't see it in the day, but do you use it in the day that often? If you do all you need to do is hit one button and it is bright again! NO PROBLEM WITH THE SCREEN AT ALL.
Programming it was EASY, although I am a bit of a tech geek. The instructions were fine but pictures would have been nice.
The Atomic Clock is nice, and mine registered about 5 minutes after plugging it in. It can take a couple hours as people have complained, but mine was 5 minutes. And you can manually program it until it does click in.
Finally, the Quality of the Alarm Clock. I found that this is a very good quality radio. Everything works well, never had a problem with the Alarm at all. In fact, the Humane Waking system is great. I turn it off long before it gets too loud. It does increase quickly but that's no problem. Much better than the old BUZZ BUZZ I use to have.
So, a great radio, good sound, decent screen, and a solid alarm clock. I'd buy another one anytime!