70/80s retro clock.

I bought this clock radio in a haste. I moved into a new apt in NYC, and left my old 15+ years old radio clock behind. Given that I was on trips with a hectic schedule, I did a quick search on Amazon and bought it. I should have been more careful.

My requirement was simple, dual alarm, cd capable, am/fm and priced reasonably.

Aesthetically, this clock rates 1/5 stars in my book. From the pictures, you probably couldn't tell, but the sides are white with black on top and front. If you are buying this clock to match your room color, be ware. The clock readout, while nice an big, looks rather 80ish LED readout. All in all, doesn't look very modern.

AM/FM radio function rates 1/5 stars. In my haste to purchase a clock radio, I ignored the "digital" vs "analog" tuning. The tuner knob on this clock radio is located on the side. You can not see which station you are tuned unless you turn the clock side way. It also situated right next to the volume knob, so you will get confused as which knob you are turning if you are not looking. Reception is decent for me, since I live on the 14th floor of my building.

CD function 3/5 stars - nothing to shout about here. It does its job.

Sound quality - For the $40 I spent, I can't complain about the sound quality. However, there is a huge difference in terms of sound amplification between playing radio and CD. CD playing seems to amplified at a lower volume. Hence if you listen to the radio before going to sleep, but set the alarm to wake up to CD, the CD may be played at such a soft volume, you may not wake up.

Alarm 4/5 stars - worked well so far. Alarms are easy to set. You can set to wake up to buzz/radio/cd (you can select which track as well). One missing function that I wish Sony could include was associate the alarm to the weekdays. I often like one alarm set to work days and another alarm set to weekend. Guess can't ask for too much with a $39 clock radio.

Readouts - 4.5/5 stars, MY, what BIG DISPLAY you have, clock radio. The readout on this is so big, you can probably read this from 100 feet out.

User interface - 2/5 stars. Generally speaking, setting the clock, alarm, radio, playing the CD are rather self intuitive. The complaint I have is knowing where the buttons are in the dark. As mentioned, the radio tuning and volume know are located to each other and you couldn't tell. And instead of using buttons , they have "switches" to select the type of alarm. Remind me of Star Trek the originial serious console interface... old design.

All in all, I really can't recommend this clock radio. Yes, it is cheap, but given that it feels more like a 70/80s retro tech, I think one can do better.