Alarm clocks

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IlDuce

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Topic # 100969 21-Apr-2012 19:24
My alarm clock trolled me hard this morning and didn't go off at 2:35... end result was me being 30 minutes late to work. Obviously I got medieval on its arse, and so now need to buy another tomorrow. I saw an alarm clock recently with blue digits (no blue backlight but blue numbers), any idea what I might be thinking of? It wasn't the XtremeMac Luna Voyager Clock at Dick Smith, or Veon from The Warehouse, but something else. Also on mains powered clocks with battery back up, is that solely to retain the time during power cut, or will it actually SOUND the alarm during the power cut if the time the alarm is set for arrives while power is out?

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Reply # 612923 21-Apr-2012 19:26
I spent some time and money looking for one a wee while ago and gave up. Make sure you check the viewing angle on the lcd. Most of them are rubbish, so if you have a high or low bed stand you can't read the time... I bought a ipod dock, and use my iphone now. Jon

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Uber Geek

Reply # 612928 21-Apr-2012 19:40
I went through this about six months ago, however was looking for a basic red LED one. There were several that had a green LED display (not backlit, which seems to light the entire room), but I don't recall seeing any blue. Of all places, I think Noel Leeming actually had the best selection.

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Reply # 612950 21-Apr-2012 20:24
I have just replaced ours with a Sony model with ipod dock and 2 alarms. http://shop.jbhifi.co.nz/ipod-mp3-portables/accessories/sony-icf-c1ip-ipod-clock-radio/81 Pretty good for special @ $100, sounds not to bad for a bedroom, and digital tuner is great. Only drawback is while the LCD has 3 levels of brightness, even on the lowest setting it still lights up the room like a christmas tree. Ended up going to the car-tint people and getting a scrap of 95% blockout to put over the LCD. Not too bad now. ...moral of the story, check out the display brightness whatever you buy. Edit: Sorry forgot to comment on the battery backup, yes it will keep the time (although you can't see it) and the instructions say it will sound the alarm from the battery (haven't had to test that yet) Artificial intelligence is no match, for natural stupidity!

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Reply # 613533 23-Apr-2012 10:09
I just ordered one from ebay for about US$12. It doesn't light up by default. You can get all kinds of stuff from ebay. Asus eee pad transformer iPod 2G Windows 7 PC Lots and lots of Nikon camera gear

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Ultimate Geek

Reply # 613550 23-Apr-2012 10:31
scuwp: I have just replaced ours with a Sony model with ipod dock and 2 alarms. http://shop.jbhifi.co.nz/ipod-mp3-portables/accessories/sony-icf-c1ip-ipod-clock-radio/81 Pretty good for special @ $100, sounds not to bad for a bedroom, and digital tuner is great. Only drawback is while the LCD has 3 levels of brightness, even on the lowest setting it still lights up the room like a christmas tree. Ended up going to the car-tint people and getting a scrap of 95% blockout to put over the LCD. Not too bad now. ...moral of the story, check out the display brightness whatever you buy. Edit: Sorry forgot to comment on the battery backup, yes it will keep the time (although you can't see it) and the instructions say it will sound the alarm from the battery (haven't had to test that yet) +1 - check the brightness, especially with the blue LEDs. I bought a cheapish one from Firstin a couple of years back, worked fine as an iPod dock, fine as an alarm clock, had back battery & all, BUT the blue LED was so bright, I could find it at night with my eyes closed. Went back to my 25 yr old clock radio with the nice dim red LEDs, no waking up to carefully selected MP3s for me. OTOH, annoying radio DJs inspire me to wake up so I can turn the bastards off.

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Reply # 613554 23-Apr-2012 10:36
Some alarm clocks have a dimmer button. Alternately you could put some kind of polarizing filter on top, a couple layers, some kind of plastic photographic one. Or just put something in front of it. Or like I said, get one that only shows the time when it's tapped or a noise made. Asus eee pad transformer iPod 2G Windows 7 PC Lots and lots of Nikon camera gear

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Reply # 613571 23-Apr-2012 11:23
My $9.95 transonic red LED alarm from forever ago would still bleep on the 9v if the power was off. Sounds totally different so the first time it did it I was like WTF is that sound. Wont light up at all on 9v power which is understandable with how useless those batteries are. Keeps horrid time when not on mains - gains about 2-3 mins an hour when not powered. Better than losing tho I guess. Richard rich.ms