17m 24s | 65392 view | 74 rating

Comments REQUIRE APPROVAL. Think, then post. OK? :) This is a product review of the SONY Dream Machine AM/FM Radio Alarm Clock, with Nature Sounds. Model number is ICF-C717PJ. Setup is fairly easy, with the included instructions. Many features can be set without them, but they can go a lot faster with them. They are very clear, so setup isn't that hard. The AM/FM radio has 5 presets each, which need to be programmed in order to use it as an alarm. This also includes nature sounds to help you sleep, or set them as the alarm. You can choose between Ocean, Birds, Rain, Waterfall, and Underwater. Surprisingly, like most other sound machines out there, it does NOT have a White Noise option. The clock setting was not done, because it's already set to the cirrect date and time, for Easter Daylight Savings Time. Setting the clock and date is fairly identical to how you set the alarm, which is shown here. The alarm can be set to go off to the nature sounds, which you select the "preset" you want. The buttons are numbered, so there's no guessing game. You can set it to the AM/FM radio, but you'll have to store presets in order to do that. You tune to a station you want, then press AND HOLD IN 1 of the 5 nature sound buttons to store a station. The number of the button you press, corresponds to the preset you selected to store. Once that's done, when you set the alarm, when it comes to selecting the station to wake up to, you select which preset you want, as well as AM, or FM. Finally, you can go for the buzzer. Select it, and that's all there is to that. Volume is not all that high. In most cases, the radio volume set as high as it can go, will wake up just about everyone, except the heaviest of sleepers, so if you are a heavy sleeper, this is not for you. The "buzzer" is a joke. It's nothing more than a wristwatch "buzzer", and just as "loud". For a full-sized alarm clock, this is very pathetic, and would be surprised if anyone wakes up to it. On a hot day, with a fan or AC going, forget it. The projector has good and bad points to it. The image can be rotated via the "Rotate" button in the back, which rotates the image position every 90 degrees. The physical rotation, on the other hand, is restricted to front-to-back, which is fine in many cases. The brightness is only for dark rooms, which is likely all you'd need that for, and the display is very big, and clear. The width of the numerals are a bit much, because when you have 1's in the displayed time, it looks very lopsided. Not a big one here. The clock face itself has large numbers, displaying the time (duh), date, and year. It also shows set alarm(s), as well as the current room temperature. You can set the brightness to full-bright, which make a good nightlight, minimal, and off. If the clock sits high, the image disappears if your view is below it, a common issue with LCD readouts. This is depending on your sleep. A good get if you're not a heavy sleeper. The buzzer is pathetic, and the nature/radio is clear, but a little quiet for full volume.