Sony ICF-C318 Clock Radio with Dual Alarm (Black) (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

First, I replaced a Sony clock radio alarm that we used for about 15 years. So, I hope that this one lasts as long.I like the size and look to the alarm clock. No sharp edges or points on the bottom to scuff/scratch your antique, oak night stand.The dual alarms were easy to set. Each side of the clock has a dedicated knob to set the alarm (one for Alarm "A" and one for Alarm "B"). That way there is no confusion about which alarm time you are setting. Left side is "A" and right side is "B". The times set rapidly or slowly changed based on how far you turn the knob. Very easy.The time set for the clock also has it's own entry method using buttons on top of the clock. So, absolutely no way to mess up alarm setting "A", alarm setting "B" and the actual real time. I had no issues setting the clock. Very intuitive.An added benefit that is hard to see from the pictures: The digital display numbers are big enough for me to see from the opposite side of the bed without putting on my glasses. My eyesight is about -5.75 diopters in both eyes. With previous clock, all I could see was red, blurry blobs. The numbers on this clock are still blurry, but they are big enough that I can make out the numbers. So, that was nice. And, there is a 3 way dimmer/brightness for the display as well. There is a pretty good difference in low to high; so, if you need to see the digits in a brightly lit room, put it on high setting. Low is low enough so that you don't have a green glow coming off of the night stand. I've had to put a towel on clocks before because they were too bright. This clock does not need the towel fix :)The snooze bar is easy to see and hit when that extra 9 minutes is needed, and your not going to turn off the alarm by mistake by hitting the snooze bar.Battery backed up time AND alarm mode so that's a good thing.The only potential negative is the alarm volume. There is a low/high alarm setting but doesn't make too much of a difference and the high setting is not very loud. I'm a light sleeper so no problem for me, but if you can sleep through anything, your hearing will have to become adjusted to recognizing the alarm. Now, if you don't turn off the alarm, it does start changing in beep frequency and annoyance so, eventually, anyone should wake up. Alternatively, use the radio mode instead of "beep" mode and pump up the volume. This will jolt you out of bed.Lastly, the power cord provided could be 2 feet longer, but I have a plug behind the nightstand so okay for me.It receives AM and FM; however, I didn't buy the clock for radio features so, to me, they don't bear in the star rating. Your mileage may vary.Pros: Friendly to furniture Easy to set both alarms and time Hard to mess up alarm times and real time settings Big numbers are readible without my glasses at 3:30 in the morning :) Dual alarms! Easy to hit snooze. Battery backed time AND alarm Wide range light setting adjustment Gets AM AND FM :) Did not need to reference the user's guide. Everything easy use.Cons: NoneNeutral: Alarm loudness on Alarm mode. No issue on radio mode. Cord could be a couple feet longer in the ideal world.The two neutrals may be negatives/cons to you. So adjust the 5 star rating to your particular needs.

There is plenty to like about this alarm for the price. Essentially, it is what it claims to be, a clock radio with 2 alarms, but it gets 5 stars and my recommendation because many of its features can be adjusted to suit your needs or preferences.Automatic time set: Convenient, but no big deal. When you plug it in, it automatically has the correct time, so you don't have to run around the house making sure it matches your cell phone and cable box. I don't really understand why this feature is given such prominant billing in the name or feature list, but because it does, I followed the precedent. The date is also set and can be viewed by pressing the snooze button.Dual alarms: As promised, there are 2 alarms. What's nice is that they're controlled by 2 separate, identical controls on opposite sides of the alarm. So, instead of a button you hold or a switch you select to choose between the alarms, the left side sets Alarm A and the right side sets Alarm B, keeping it easy and clear, even in the middle of the night.3 light settings: The display can be set to 1 of 3 levels of brightness. The dimmest setting is dim enough to not interrupt your sleep, something rare with green displays, while the brightest setting is bright enough to read in the day time. This simple feature permits me to place the clock facing my bed, letting me glance at it through the night.Snooze: The clock has a large snooze button placed right up front. Again, what makes it particularly useful is that the snooze can be adjusted while the alarm is going off by holding the button down. So, when the alarm goes off, press the button once to snooze the alarm for 10 minutes, or continue to hold the snooze button to increase the snooze from 10 minutes to 20 minutes, and continue to hold to increase the snooze time by increments of 10 minutes for up to 1 hour.Radio: The clock is plenty loud and clear on the stronger stations. While it, of course, still sounds like a clock radio, it is perfectly adequate for listening to background orchestral music in a child's room or NPR in your office. Also, there's the typical sleep function, letting you listen to the radion as you fall asleep with the radio turning off after 90, 60, 30, or 15 minutes.Plug and Controls: The plug is a typical plug (like that of a lamp), instead of an adapter with the transformer inside, so it doesn't take up a bunch of space if plugged in behind a dresser or chest of drawers. Also, the controls are easy to grab and use. There aren't separate hour and minute buttons to control the alarms, which is typically my preference, however the dials work so well, especially in the middle of the night, with the speed increasing the longer you hold the dial, that I have come to prefer these dials.2 Negatives: First, though there are 2 settings, the "buzzer" alarm is really not very loud. Normally that would be a deal breaker for me, however, the radio alarm can be plenty loud, so it works out fine. Actually, because of the way I use the alarm (see below), I like having the ability to set a quiet alarm first with a loud screamer as back up. Second, the lights showing which alarm is set and whether it's set to am or pm are not very clear. The indicators are merely small dots placed close together, so you can tell if 1, 2 or no alarms are set, but not necessarily whether it's alarm A or B that's set. I should add that you get used to the lights over time, though since the A and B alarm controls are on opposite sides of the alarm, I don't know why Sony wouldn't simply place the alarm indicators similarly, or make the indicators "A" and "B" instead of a dot.How I use it: I set the A alarm to "buzzer" for what time I need to start waking up, and the B alarm to the radio with the volume up for the time I need to be out of bed. Because the "buzzer" is actually an easy "chirp, chirp, chirp ... chirp, chirp, chirp ... " I'm able to start waking up without getting too angry, all the while the radio alarm working to guarantee that I actually get up. In this, it's effectively replaced my old Soleil Sun Alarm, which would glow to gently wake me up before an alarm would force me from bed.

This clock radio has a good display, and the controls are easy to use. The alarm functions are sufficient or better than my requirements. These have been discussed in detail in other reviews. The radio function is very important to me, and this clock radio did not meet my requirements. The information found in other reviews did not provide enough information to warn me away from this clock radio. The radio will not be a problem for many users. If you listen to a strong station and don't live in a fringe reception area, you may find the radio perfectly fine for you. Details follow.The radio has poor sensitivity and terrible selectivity. In common terms, this radio will not pick up many weak stations and it will not separate one station from another. You can not tune in a weak station that happens to be by a strong station. FM radios have a characteristic called the capture effect -- once a station is tuned, the radio sort of hangs on to it, even if the radio is tuned slightly off frequency. This is a useful function, if you can tune the stations you want. At my house, the local public radio station is not strong, but my old clock radio and all the others in the house can tune it. The new Sony ICF-C-318 would not even detect this station -- not even noisy reception. Instead, it picked up a single strong station at the low end of the band and locked on to it over 20% of the tuning range. Across the remainder of the FM band, there were a few stations that could capture the receiver. Therefore, this radio is only suitable for receiving strong stations or stations that are nowhere near a strong station's frequency.

I purchased this clock for my mom, who is not very good with electronics. She wanted a clock with battery backup, snooze, dual alarms, and the ability to dim the display. She was immediately pleased with the large display, green numbers which are easy on the eyes, and the dim settings. After reading the instructions, setup went smoothly. I liked how the clock came programmed from the factory. Another plus I found is that since the clock is so small, it frees up space on her bedside table. Overall, for the price, you can't go wrong.

This is one great alarm clock, and very good value for the money too.Features I like the most: Large display which was a very important buying decision, I didn't like other products on the market that are large in size but have small display, they are not very good for the sleepy eye. Dimmable lights Can be easily seen from multiple angels 2 alarm settings, one for me and one for my wife :) Battery backup is very handy when there is a power outage or when you wanna disconnect it for any reason Radio was okak, for me it was kinda of an added bonus. It doesn't have great reciption but I think it is my room settingsI didn't give it 5 stars because the backup battery isn't very easy to find, or install (what's wrong with the standard AA batteries), and the replace battery signal is always on even with a new one.Other than this glich it is a fantastic product for its price

I looked all over in Ontario specifically for the black colour model and could only find white in the stores, so had to resort to Amazon (but that's OK, I like online shopping!). Love the dual alarms, dimmer settings and the fact that you can choose to snooze for 10, 20, 30, up to 60 minutes longer, depending on how many consecutive times you hit the snooze button. Sound quality is excellent and it's nice looking too.

I have bought this for my husband for Christmas and it comes with all the criteria he likes in a clock radio - especially the instant time set and daylight savings feature, along with an adjustable brightness display. Nice compact size for his night table. The price was really reasonable for all the features that come with it.

It works well, although the buzzer alarm is not loud and is easily slept through.. The functions are intuitive and easily set. One problem is that quite a lot of the labelling is merely embossed, without any colour difference to the black radio. To read what the buttons say (most notably the OFF button for the alarm), necessitates turning a light on, which isn't good if you want to leave your partner sleeping. At least the OFF button could have been made different in shape or height to the other two identical buttons on the radio. Resetting any function on the radio requires decent lighting.