All Clocks

I started searching for a new alarm clock when I got a "real" job, in which I would really have to be up by a certain time or be late for work. (Getting the kids to school a little late was not a big deal). With my prior alarm system, waking to a very loud and annoying noise (the phone alarm), I tended to snooze it a lot, really because it scared me to death and I wanted it to just be quiet, and the other reason is that I'm really not a morning person. I hate getting up in the morning. If it were up to me I wouldn't open one eyelid til 10am. Of course this isn't an option anymore. So I looked at "zen" alarms, that had a gentle chime; this appealed to me, as I've been taking yoga lately and I thought this would be a nicer way to wake up than the loud phone-ring type alarm. Then I read about sunrise alarms, how they wake you up with light, and I thought that might be a good idea, since my 10am wakeup time that I prefer usually happens when you can't keep the sun out of the bedroom anymore on weekends. Of course there was technical and neurological research as to why this was better for you, but really, what I wanted was to be able to wake up without feeling like I had been run over by a mack truck. And that is exactly what I feel like every weekday morning, even if I wasn't woken up with my phone alarm. (by a kid or cat knocking over something they shouldn't, or other some such thing.) Also, I can't sleep well if there is any light in the room. I generally sleep with an eye pillow or mask to shut out all light... so, since I had to be able to see the light to wake me up, I had to nix the eye pillow and make sure everything in my room was dark. Fortunately for this model, you can totally turn off the backlight. I chose the option of totally turning off the backlight unless a button was pushed. I was very happy with this option. So after I purchased and received this clock, I set it up. It wasn't hard if you read the manual. It is a bit annoying that the date is displayed like Europe does (date/month/year), and then it wasn't intuitive that you can't get to the settings to change them while the alarm is set (I struggled with that for all of 1 minute before I found it in the manual). The shortness of the cord is also a bit annoying. I considered the plug to be pretty close to the nightstand but the cord is currently stretched to its limit. I also took out our energy saving bulb and put a regular 100W one that was laying around the house in it... you can't use energy saving bulbs in it when using it for your sunrise clock. I really also would rather have had a traditional face clock instead of a digital looking one as well. So that was setup - all in all not too bad. now for the real test - waking up. My first morning I couldn't believe it. Mind you, I still didn't want to get out of bed... but I didn't feel like I had been hit by a mack truck. That night I put on the chime option, and it worked like a charm to remind me that I'd better get up. The only feature of this clock that I can complain about as far as its ability to do the job of waking you up, is that the light will shut off automatically without any user input. If you roll over and put the covers over your head, you WILL oversleep. Also if I am extremely tired the light will not totally bring me out of sleep (again, I need the chime alarm to bring me out of my stupor). Despite this drawback I am keeping this alarm clock. Feeling like a normal person instead of like road pizza in the morning, to me, is priceless. I will probably still oversleep with this alarm clock, at some point; let's face it, I am not and will never be a morning person, and I have overslept *many* times before with regular alarm clocks. I do believe that I will oversleep much less with this one. I hope whoever thought up this "waking up to light" thing is making a lot of money and is having a cushy life. It is making a huge difference to me in mine."..."  Read more

This alarm clock has made my life so much easier. I have to wake up at different times throughout the week and so my early morning routines can be really tough. Before I got this alarm clock, I would dread the early wake-up so much that I couldn't sleep well the night before but now it's so much more pleasant. Having this nice start to the day has made all the difference. Make sure to read the manual (it's not long) before using it for the first time because it can be a little tricky at first. I looked through many different sunrise alarm clocks on the internet before buying this one. It seemed to be the best by far and it certainly hasn't let me down. Amazing!!!"..."  Read more

I am not a morning person, but somehow this "alarm" has me awake on time. I've used buzzers and radios on full volume, multiple alarm clocks, and even tried the alarm clock on wheels, but none seemed to wake me up. Pros - I get to use my own lamp, display backlight brightness control, programmable sunrise, easy setup, and it wakes me up on time (even early sometimes!) Cons - Not compatible with spiral lightbulbs."..."  Read more

A few months into regular use and performs as decribed so far. A nice gradual light in the morning."