Sony ICF-C492 Large Display AM/FM Clock Radio

My trusty old Sony alarm clock's radio selectivity was getting on my nerves, and the cheap General Electric model I chose to replace it did not measure up. Fortunately, this new Sony easily surpasses both its older brand-mate as well as the ergonomically-botched offering from GE. Advantages include precise, dial-adjustable display brightness, better radio reception and selectivity, and simple controls for sleepyheads to understand and operate. Audio is clear but undistinguished--about what one would expect from a clock radio. Nevertheless, for such a low price that is forgiveable.

Since most of the other reviewers have been gushing over this alarm clock, I thought I'd post with a few annoyances:

- This thing has two alarms, but you can't have both of them set to buzzer. One has to be set to radio and the other to buzzer. This is aggrevating.
- Like almost every other alarm clock in existence, the button to turn off the alarm is hard to find, while the snooze button is the size of Jupiter. If you enlarge the image of the clock on this site, you'll see three buttons on the lower right below the display. The one in the MIDDLE is the one that turns off the alarm. Yeah, good luck finding that button in the dark at 6:30am. I guess the engineers who build these things don't actually USE alarm clocks, or else they wouldn't do STUPID things like this.
- Having the dimmer as a dial rather than a switch means you have much more control over brightness. However, the little indicator that lights up when you set the alarm is brigther than the time...Read more

The first one we ordered gained between 30 to 45 minutes a day--we returned it and have a replacement that runs about 20 minutes ahead each day--we're about to give up and send that one back, too....It's a great looking clock for our needs--large numbers, small enough not to clog the bedside table....but it simply can't keep accurate time.