All I wanted was a clock that I could see and easy to set with a back-up battery. Well, there are just three slide buttons on the back. 1) Alarm on, alarm off 2) dimmer high/low 3) set time/set alarm/lock On the top front is a large snooze/cancel button. One side of the bar has the hour to set and the other side of the bar is the minute to set depending on whether the slide switch on the back is set to time or alarm.
That's it ... simple and easy. However, what I did do is put a piece of velcro on the bottom to keep the clock secure on the bed-side stand. I have a habit of thrashing around in my sleep sometimes.
We bought two of these for our 6 and 9 year old so that they could start getting themselves up for school.
It's well made and sturdy, but still small and lightweight
It has the option for batter back up
The buttons are simple and functional, no unnecessary fluff
It is easy to set the time, alarm time, and alarm on/off
The display brightness is easily adjustable
The snooze button is large and easy to press
The volume is loud enough to wake whomever is in the room but loud enough to hear down the hall
I'm pretty picky about my alarm clocks for several reasons: brightness, number size, and sound. I'm terribly nearsighted and the numbers were big and bright enough to be visible at 15 feet. I'm also sensitive to light in a dark bedroom and this clock doesn't create that nimbus of light around it that so many of my previous clocks have. Finally, it is loud enough to get me up at 3:30 AM but doesn't make the neighbor's dog howl (yes, this is actually a problem). Cheap, functional, compact, and one of the best I've ever owned.
My grandson was so excited to have his own alarm clock for school. Now he can get up and get ready for school all by himself.
LOVE the RCA Digital Alarm Clock with Large 1.4" Display. Really easy to set time and alarm without going anywhere near the instructions. 4 buttons: time and alarm set; alarm on-off; display brightness; and on the top a big snooze button. Simple and uncluttered, easy to read from across the room, and the alarm does the job it's supposed to. There's a spot for a 9-volt battery backup, which will certainly come in handy the next time any pesky storms interrupt power.
In this world where every digital gadget is supposed to be do 87 different things, I like this simple machine. I don't need it to be a radio, I don't need a docking station, and I don't need USB ports or Bluetooth capabilities. It's just a clock with an alarm, which is all I require. Only had it for about a week, but so far it's perfect. I'll report back if it stops being perfect. Thanks for reading my review, and best of luck finding the digital alarm clock to suit you.
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10/22/17 Addendum, reduced 5-star rating to 4, because the clock is so light, and the buttons so small that it isn't finger-flick friendly. I either have to hold it with my free hand to capture the switch, or risk knocking the thing off my desk. Other than that, I still like it, and I'd still recommend it, as long as you have both hands free to fiddle with it. S
Feature Product
- 1.4-Inch red LED display
- Easy to use control buttons
- Snooze functionality-large full width button to easily prolong your wake-up
- High/low display brightness control
- 9V battery back-up (not included). refer to the PDF attached below in technical specification for user manual.
Description
Sometimes you just need something simple that's easy to use. RCA has you covered, with a streamlined alarm clock offering snooze, a simple interface, a large 1.4-inch display that's easy to see, and No Worry Corded-Electric or Battery back-up that lets you rest easy too. Refer to the User Manual for troubleshooting steps.
I wanted a clock that I can see from across my smallish studio apartment. This works fine and has a din/bright setting as well. For $10, Can't be beaten.
I've uploaded some photos as well.
I bought this for my husband after he slept through his cell phone alarm and was 4 hours late for work one day. I wanted something visible, simple, and LOUD. This fit the bill so well that I have now stolen it for my own use.
This is a simple clock, with no frills. It is what it is. It does very few things: shows you the time in huge, mildly unpleasant red numbers, lets you set a loud beeping alarm for one time only, and lets you snooze. That's it. And it does all of these things reliably and wonderfully well. It is my backup alarm that I always set. Would I like something more attractive? Sure, but then it wouldn't scream "wake up" at me when I check the time or wouldn't be visible across the entire bedroom. Would I like something with multiple alarms? Maybe. I have my cell phone for that, and it's a bit risky - what if it fails? Basically, this clock is your annoying, punctual friend, who is always on time above everything else and sort of boring for it, and drags you along with her. She's useful and serviceable, but not very much fun when you're tired or lazy, which is entirely the point.
Simple, easy to set and turn the alarm on and off. The switches and buttons have good tactile feedback and are spread out. On the left rear is a sliding Set switch where up or down is set time or alarm and center is normal. You don't have to hold that while you also press the hour/minute buttons. On the right rear is an alarm on/off switch where up is on and down is off. It's approximately behind the Alarm LED, and there are no other buttons nearby to bump, so it's easy to operate by feel without accidentally changing the time or alarm.
The one thing that surprised me is there was no protective film over the front, and it looked slightly scuffed like maybe it had been handled a few times even though it was in a bubble-wrap pouch. I'm hoping that is not normal, but it will look like that after I own it for a month anyway.
Great big numbers to replace the clock that is no longer on my cable box. My new cable system was streamlined without a clock. Apparently I used that cable box clock a lot when watching tv. Bought this to fit on my tv stand shelf. Small enough to fit next to the cable box but the numbers are large enough to see from across the room. The numbers are always on full light up display. Had to return another brand/model because you had to press a button to have the numbers light up on full display. Plug in type so no need to constantly change batteries.
I bought this so I could see the time in my darkened bedroom without having an unintentional night-light. For that role this is a perfect clock. Some of the concerns raised by other reviews are that the alarm is too low in volume, that the LED's cease functioning properly after a time, that the LED's are unevenly lit, and that the clock keeps poor time. I realize that products can vary in quality, so I'm not saying that the other reviews are wrong. I just haven't had those experiences with this clock, or I don't see them as that bad for the money spent.
- The alarm, in my opinion is about medium volume. The alarm tone is that somewhat grating standard alarm that's been on alarm clocks since the 80's. It's slightly irritating, which is obviously intentional. It's not going to blast you out of bed in the morning though, and if you're a really heavy sleeper it's probably not going to wake you up at all. I didn't buy this to be an alarm clock though, so this doesn't matter to me.
- I haven't owned this long enough to confirm or deny that the LED's stop functioning after a certain amount of time, so what I will do is come back at the 1 month, 6 month, and 12 month marks and let you know how it's doing. (If it stops functioning properly after a year then I would still consider it a worthwhile purchase for only $12)**
- The segments are lit by what appears to be dual-mode LED's set in the center of each of the digit-segments. This means that yes, the segments are dimmer at the edges than they are at the center. However, the important thing is that you can tell the time by looking at this clock, which you definitely can. This clock is readable at 30 feet in daylight on even the lowest setting. If it's purely an aesthetic complaint, I certainly understand that, but this is a $12 clock. What more do you expect for less money than you spend on dinner every night?
- Now for the most concerning complaint that this clock loses or gains time by as much as several minutes per day or week. Accurately telling time is the primary function of ANY clock, and if it fails at this, then none of its other features can save it. I'm happy to report that I have not noticed this with the clock I received, so maybe that was a problem with the initial production runs that has since been addressed, or maybe that's a QC issue with this clock. I don't know. What I can tell you is that I set this clock to the atomic clock at time.gov 3 days ago and it's still showing correct time. (But since I'm coming back to report on the LED's, I'll also report on the clock-drift at that time as well.)*
If you just want a basic alarm clock with large, easily read digits that isn't too bright, then this is worthy of your consideration.
* EDIT 6-26-2015: I've monitored the clock drift for the last 2 weeks against the atomic clock time from time.gov. This clock has only gained 5 seconds in 14 days. That would be .35 seconds per day, or just over 2 minutes a year. That definitely qualifies as "keeping good time"
** EDIT 7-11-2015: One month in and the LED segments are still functioning properly.
**EDIT 3-10-2016: So I kinda' missed the 6 month mark to report on the LED segments. Life happens etc... Anyway, here at about the 9 month mark, the LED segments are still functioning perfectly. I have no problems with the clock whatsoever. It's just as functional as the day I got it.
**EDIT 11-25-2016: I definitely missed the 12 month mark, but this clock is still running just fine. No LED segments are out, and since I've reset it for daylight savings a couple of times since I got it I have no specific idea of its overall clock drift. I can say for certain that it's accurate to within a minute.
EDIT 4-4-2019: I've had this clock for almost 4 years now. It's still awesome. Buy it.
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