At Last, I Can See What Time It Is Without My Glasses

Without glasses, my eyesight is pretty dismal, so when it came time to buy a new clock radio, a sharp—and large—display was the biggest priority; everything else was negotiable. I’d been using a trusty Timex Indiglo clock radio for over 10 years, and while the radio and alarm worked just fine, that soft blue nighttime glow was fading, making it very hard to see what time it was in the dark.

When my wife picked up a new Sony CD clock radio, I was very impressed with the size and clarity of the display (1.25 inches high, with a crisp green LED on black background), as it was clear enough that I could see it—minus glasses—from my side of the bed. A few days later, I found myself at Target studying their assortment of clock radios. With the size of the display being the driver, my choice was limited; I quickly narrowed my options to the same “Dream Machine” my wife purchased, or the RCA RP5430, with the same 1.25 inch high display, only with bright (and I mean BRIGHT—consider using the built-in dimmer switch if you find it a bit bright for your tastes) blue digits instead of green. The other major difference was that the RCA didn’t have a built-in CD player, as the Sony did, but that didn’t bother me.

In fact, because my nightstand is a bit smaller, the compact footprint of the RCA was a selling point. It’s less than a couple of inches thick, with controls easily accessible on the back and top of the unit. What the RCA and Sony did have in common that I do think I’ll like is an auxiliary input jack for connection to an iPod/MP3 player (or theoretically any audio device with a mini stereo/headphone jack, so I could use my Discman if I really wanted to just play a given CD). This isn’t a docking unit like some radios (like those made by iHome among others)—there’s no charging, and you control your iPod’s song selection from the iPod itself, not the radio.

The RP5430 also features automatic time setting. Maybe I’m just getting old, but that never ceases to amaze me. I just plugged it in, and there was the correct time, no fussing with the buttons to set the time. A switch on the back of the unit adjusts for your time zone, and lets you activate or deactivate automatic Daylight Savings Time.

With dual alarm capability (something new for me), you have flexibility to set different times to get up based on different schedules (weekdays vs. weekends, for example), and choose whether you want to wake to the beeping alarm tone, which gradually increases in volume if you don’t shut it off in about 30-45 seconds, or to the radio. About every four weeks, I need to get up earlier than in other weeks, so I now have both wake times set, without having to reset the alarm just for one week. That alone is a nice perk.

While the radio uses an analog (dial) tuner, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the clock display turns into a digital readout of the frequency you’re tuning to when you adjust the dial. That helps lock in frequencies more accurately with most analog tuners, even if it means you lose your position on one band if you switch from AM to FM and adjust the dial on the other band. There also are no presets with that type of tuner, so you can’t just punch around among a set of your favorite stations, but for the price of the radio, that’s a fair trade off.

Like most clock radios, the RP5430 gives you an adjustable sleep feature, letting you set the radio to play for a predetermined time before shutting off (by which time you’re presumably asleep). But unlike any other clock radio I’ve had so far, this one includes the flip side, so to speak—a “nap” function, sort of an instant alarm without resetting your actual alarm. With the push of a button, you can have the alarm automatically activate between 20 minutes and two hours from the current time. Not bad—I know there are times I intend to take a short nap and wake up hours later; this could help eliminate that problem.

The RP5430’s sound quality is about what you can expect from a middle range clock radio. Nobody’s going to mistake it for a Bose, but it produces a clear, non-tinny sound with minimal interference on nearby signals. When using an external MP3 player, you’ll need to crank its volume control to the high end to hear it clearly through the RP5430. It doesn’t distort the sound noticeably, but at lower settings on my iPod, it was barely audible on the clock radio even at a volume where the radio stations were fairly loud. (To be fair, I noticed the same thing with my wife’s new Sony, using its similar auxiliary input.)

The overall design is sleek—the silver-colored finish on the top of the unit blends nicely with the black front and back and buttons, and the buttons themselves are clearly marked and easily accessible for general use. As always, the big ol’ snooze button, friend to so many of us, is dead center on top, right where tired, grumpy hands (or fists) will punch to get those few extra minutes.

So, when all is said and done, I spent a relatively small amount, can see what time it is without straining my eyes in the middle of the night, wake up on time to my favorite radio station and have a convenient option for playing my iPod by my bed if I want to. That’s all I really wanted from a clock radio—and this one delivers.