Sony ICF-C414 Clock Radio with Large 1.4 LED Display

Comment: We live in the country and every other day, out of the blue, we loose power for seconds and sometimes when a storm hits for longer than that . That means having to reset the time in our old Sony Alarm Clock more often that we would like to. Our bedroom is huge and we have this clock on the dresser on the opposite side of our bed so that we both can see the time when we wake up in the middle of the night. The 1.4" LED display came in handy for that matter, also the fact that you can adjust the brightness of the display (yes, I tried the Sony ICFC138 to no avail because the numbers weren't displayed bright enough at night (let alone trying to see the time during the day). The color of the numbers is green just like we wanted (since we don't find the red color soothing at night). This unit suits our needs perfectly but would be even better if some other features could be perfected (like sound quality) or added (like the bi volt feature).

Comment: This review may be a little unusual as my wife and I only wanted a black-faced digital clock with large, green numbers. This clock filled that nitch to a "T". Our requirement came about when the local cable company "updated" their control boxes. The new box has a blank, black face without the customary clock read-out or even a channel display. The face is void of everything except a green power light and message light. The clock display in this unit is everything I expected, being very visible in both daylight and at night and in a perverse way matches the cable box decor. The radio sound is not spectacular but about what you would expect from an inexpensive clock radio while the alarm is certainly adequate for its purpose. All the controls are easy to access and intuitive in operation. All in all a good product.

Comment: The time on this clock was already set, right from the factory. All I had to do was plug it in.
Uses a very common coin battery, which was already installed and activated.

What's great -
* Alarm will sound, even if power is still gone.
* Large, bright display
* Easy-to-set dual alarms
* Nice-looking clock
* Good-sized buttons: no fumbling

What's less great -
* Can't set both alarms to radio - Alarm 1 can be set to radio, but alarn 2 can only be set to tone or melody. If someone has figured a way to get both alarms to sound with radio, please let me know!

Final comment - Buy this clock radio. I bought one, and a month later, bought another. It's that good.

Comment: When I purchased this item I was assuming that it was autovolt. That is, it can work on 110 to 220 volt range as most of current appliances do. I was wrong. In my country we use 220 volts of electricity. Now I have to go through the hassle of putting my Sony alarm clock through a step down transformer.

The voltage requirements should have been displayed as part of the technical details.

Comment: Good clock for the money. The number display is green with 3 different adjustable levels of brightness. I've tried numerous other alarm clocks, but they were all too bright. This Sony is perfect. It does not light up the entire room. There are 2 alarm settings and a 10 minute snooze button.