ICF-C218 Clock radio

Author's Rating:

Pros: Time is preset

Cons: preset time was not correct display is too dim - selectable brightness would be better.

The Bottom Line: 
It works, but has bells and whistles that may annoy you after you have lost or thrown away the manual. Recommended at the price.

Author's Review
What do you want from a clock radio?
Time? - this does that ;)
AM/FM? - this has both.
Buzzer? - this has one.
Selectable duration sleep timer? - got it.

This clock states on the box that it is "Automatic time set", which leads one to believe that this might be a clock that sets itself from radio time signals. It does not set itself, it is more accurate to state that the time is preset at the factory. The battery that holds the time also retains the time in a power failure. There is an indicator for when this battery is low.

When you power it up, you have to change the time zone and select whether daylight savings time is on or off. In theory, the time was preset and should be correct. In my case, it was just over 3 minutes fast. I would prefer an ordinary, intuitive time set method over this "preset time with time zone and daylight savings time selection" any day.

Tuning stations is a bit fiddly, the thumb wheel adjustment is coarse and you sometimes have to rock back and forth a bit to tune a station best. The location of the thumb wheel on the right side next to the volume wheel and AM/FM switch makes it easy to bump it, and due to the coarse adjustment it may go off station and not wake you up. This actually happened to me once.

By far the biggest complaint I have is the lack of a control for display brightness. In total darkness it is fine, but bright light washes the display out so much that the time cannot be read. If you have a bright bedroom and want to see the time during the day, you may need a second clock.