Emerson Research Dual-Alarm AM/FM Clock Radio with SmartSet Automatic Time Setting System ? CKS3029
by EMERSON RADIO CORP
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Our Price: $14.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Emerson Research Dual-Alarm AM/FM Clock Radio with SmartSet Automatic Time Setting System ? CKS3029
Customer Review: Loved it until it didn't Spring forward
Summary: 3 Stars
Living in hurricane territory, I definitely wanted some clocks that would function with or without the help of Florida Light and Power and that I would not have to reset whenever I experience a momentary loss of power. Three Emerson Smartsets made us a very happy household for almost two years now, until this morning. I went over to Brookstone where I know they sell these clocks to complain that my clock did not Spring forward. They handed me a sheet explaining how to manually update my clock (something I will need to do 4 times a year for my clocks purchased pre Marc 2006). Here's how you do it for anyone frustrated as I was:
1. On the second Sunday in March, set your clock to the next lowest number time zone (for example, if you live in the Eastern Time zone, Zone 02, you will change your clock to Zone 01 to move it ahead by one hour)
2. On the first Sunday in April, when the clock will automatically advance itself by one hour for whatever time zone you are in. You will then need to set the clock back to your correct time zone (Zone 02 if you are in the Eastern time Zone)
3. On the last Sunday in October, you would again set your clock to the next lower numbered time zone (Zone 01 if you are in the Eastern time zone). Your clock was not originally set to change times on this date.
4. On the first Sunday in November, the date your clock has been preprogrammed to fall back, you would again set your clock back to your correct time zone (Zone 02 if you are in the Eastern time zone).
Really this is a circumstance beyond Emerson's control, but I am starting to think that what Emerson needs to do is bring this smartset technology to an actual Atomic clock and then the government can change daylight savings time start and end dates as many times as they want, without Emerson consumers ever experiencing any problems. Until then, I hope this has helped someone who like me scoured the Internet for information on how to change the time on these not-so-smartsets after all.
Customer Review: Handles New Daylight Savings
Summary: 4 Stars
This model replaces an older Emerson SmartSet that I've had for years, one that wouldn't have handled the new start and end dates for daylight savings. This new model's factory default settings for DST (Daylight Savings time) are for the OLD start and end dates (for people who purchased prior to 2007) but includes separate instructions on how to "set" the new start and end dates that begin in 2007. (This is also a nice feature in case Congress changes its collective mind and decides to go back to the old start and end dates.) Happily, Emerson kept its dual alarm feature, one that allows you to set one wake-up time for Monday thru Friday, and a 2nd wake-up time for Saturday and Sunday. (You can also set either or both alarms to go off every day at the same time.) The size of the time display is substantially larger than my old model -- now I can see what time it is from across the room. As others have pointed out, this isn't an atomic clock. It's factory preset for people living in the eastern time zone -- as soon as you plug it in it automatically advances to the correct eastern standard time. People in other time zones can easily "set" the clock by indicating what their time zone is. The time will then automatically decrease by the appropriate number of hours. (You only need to do this once, when you first plug the clock in.) My only complaint about this model is that they chose to put the "Radio Sleep On/Off" button right in the middle of the Snooze bar. If you inadvertently hit the Radio Button instead of the Snooze bar (something that could easily be done if you're fumbling around trying to get yourself an extra 9 minutes of sleep) then the alarm WON'T GO OFF AGAIN. With that in mind, I set the radio to a very strong station and turned the volume way up. That will be my only clue that I need to get up because I missed the Snooze Bar and turned the alarm off! (I believe the model previous to this had an even dumber "snooze bar" -- you waved your hand in front of the clock to get your extra 9 minutes.) I'm still recommending this clock radio because of its ability to handle the old and new daylight savings times and because of its dual alarm feature but if their next model does a better job with the Snooze bar I'd buy it and put this one in my guest room. Customer Review: SmartSet is interesting, but it doesn't really set itself
Summary: 2 Stars
When you see any SmartSet clock, your intuition tells you that it sure looks cool to see the time scroll by when you reconnect power (try it in a retail store if you're curious). The truth is, however, that this clock never really "sets" itself - I would argue that this may be construed as false advertising. I don't know who Emerson thinks they're kidding, but it's NOT an "atomic" clock. It doesn't receive atomic clock radio signals like true "atomic" clocks. The way this clock really works is that it is basically a battery powered watch with an LED display. In other words, the time is maintained by a watch battery, independent of whether AC power (from an outlet) is supplied. Thus, using technology similar to what's in your home computer, this clock never loses time unless the Lithium watch battery dies, nor does it set itself. The way the time scrolls up when you plug it back in is really just a fancy parlor trick: Just as on your wristwatch, the time was there all along and nothing got "set." The display just turned on when you plugged it in. The later models such as this one show improvements in that the display is no longer blue - red tends not to illuminate the room quite as much. (I lost some sleep with the blue night light my older SmartSet was) The dual alarms are very convenient - my wife and I use them both and definitely appreciate the feature. Radio reception is, in my opinion, unremarkable, especially in a slightly rural location where we are. We get a lot of static on weaker stations. You can find the snooze button easily enough, but all of the other buttons are hard to distinguish in low light - I'm not fond of the layout.
In conclusion, it's a mediocre alarm clock at best except for dual alarms, and it maintains time through power outages better than its predecessors. Is it worth the marketing hype? I don't think so.
Customer Review: I love this thing
Summary: 5 Stars
I've never had a single problem with this alarm clock. The time is always right, and should the backup battery fail in 3-5 years as suggested, I would gladly spend another $20 to buy the same alarm clock again.
The alarm volume is plenty loud to wake up a normal person (and I keep mine across the room), and you have two alarms to use one as a backup if you are really prone to oversleeping. I'm definitely not a light sleeper, but I have always woken up to this alarm.
I used to have more of a problem with forgetting to set the alarm the night before, but because you can set this one for just Mon-Fri (or Sat/Sun or 7 days/wk), I never have turn this alarm off and so it's always ready for the next time. And the random 3 a.m. power outage is no longer an issue, either. I don't use it for anything but an alarm clock, but I couldn't ask for anything more and would absolutely recommend this product to anyone.
Customer Review: It fails at its most basic task, waking you up!
Summary: 1 Stars
I'll admit, I was won over by this alarm clock by all its bells and whistles. But its alarm feature is the worst.
I'm a hard person to wake up. I hit the snooze constantly. The snooze on this alarm clock only goes off once, so if you don't wake up you won't be woken up again! Also the Buzzer is VERY soft and has no volume setting for it. If you put the alarm across the room from your bed you'll probably not hear it let alone wake up from it!
This is the worst alarm clock I've ever had! I had to by another one three days later because it did not wake me up and I was over an hour late for work!