Sony XDRC705DAB Clock Radio

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Binding: Electronics Brand: Sony EAN: 4905524420579 Feature: Clock Radio Alarm Label: Sony Manufacturer: Sony Model: XDRC705DABW.CEK Publisher: Sony Release Date: 2007-07-30 Studio: Sony
Features Clock Radio Alarm 4 Alarms Large Display 20 Station Presets 198mm x 102mm x 117mm
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Tired of the unplanned midnight wake ups Comment: I bought this unit because, after 20 years of flawless Dreamachine use, when considering an upgrade to DAB, Sony way my first choice. I like the style of the unit, and the sound of the DAB audio is amazing. I also love the automatic setting of the time, even if it does not sync with the BBC. (To be fair I don't know if this is the unit, the BBC or the time signal being sent over the DAB "airwaves" so I won't blame Sony for that one.) But I do have some gripes: 1. Like a number of previous reviewers have noted, this thing goes off randomly at midnight, for no apparent reason. I'm going to contact Sony about it to see what they do. My guess, given my recent experience with Sony after-sales service, is that they will do nothing. 2. Sometimes the bottom display which displays things like the alarm time scrolls off the visible display to the right, so that the minutes cannot be seen. This makes setting the alarm impossible. However I recently discovered the powering down the unit and powering it up again fixes this. Quality this low from a Sony? Hmmm.... 3. Why is the sleep setting so complex? My two previous Dreamachines had a one-touch hour-on sleep setting, something I used daily. Yes, the new unit does have a sleep setting, but to use it I have to touch 2 different buttons, one of them twice. Why?!?!? I agree also about the default brightness setting, but you only have to tap the display button once or twice and it no longer is visible from Pluto. I can live with that. Customer Rating: Summary: Best of the bunch but has simple flaws Comment: Sony got this unit just right with the looks - everything other clock radio in the store had the design flair of your average computer peripheral. I got this unit to replace a Sony clock radio which I'd had for about 20 years but I wanted a DAB unit. The radio is fine and fades in which is a nice feature but the radio clicks as it is switched on, defeating the nice effect. A few other annoyances - if you switch off the alarm too quickly after it goes off (<5 seconds) it switches back on the next minute. Really annoying for my wife who sleeps later than me and gets woken just after I jump in the shower. The radio doesn't turn off after an hour like most radio alarms - this one stays on all day/week/year until you manually switch it off. The 4 alarm settings are handy but you would expect to be able to set the radio station per alarm - you can't. Like 99.9% of alarm clock radios the display is way too bright, even on the dimmest setting. I don't know why this is so difficult to get right. I haven't had problems with it going off at midnight. I've seen product reviews that say there is a cable for MP3 players - mine doesn't have this. I'm pretty fussy - don't let my nitpicking put you off this unit. Customer Rating: Summary: faulty product Comment: Please read reviews below and do not buy this product, IT DOES RANDOMLY GO OFF AT MIDNIGHT, sony now admit the fault. Believe me this obviously makes product useless! Thought it was my fault for ages and kept playing with the menus and resetting etc thought had fixed it then a week later would be woken up at midnight again! Customer Rating: Summary: Simple and Neat Comment: After an age searching I ended up choosing this item. Fairly minimal appearance and form, slightly retro but smart display, neat & simple font, better quality than most in terms of finish, feel of the buttons, general operation and it is elegant. I still like looking at it after a month of ownership and am not too offended by it waking me up each day. It is fairly simple to use, once set up we rarely adjust anything, except volume and the occasional channel change. The sleep function is good if you want to drift off listening to the likes of Chill Radio. Being able to set the wake up volume is a neat complementary idea, as you may have been listening too quietly (or loudly) the night before. The volume buttons have a dimple just above them for locating in the dark, the snooze button is massive and also has a patchwork of touch dimples, which is easy to find when half asleep. The light level of the display far too bright if left on the highest setting when the lights are out but you might argue that this is a useful night light for some users. We leave it on it's lowest setting and it is acceptable but like other comments on here, it would be better if this was more adjustable and/or self adjusting to light levels. I did ponder over the lack of a headphone socket but concluded that I was unlikely to want to tethered to it, suppose an `alarm' radio could be seriously compromised if the headphones were left in. We have thick walls and reception is good, although we do need to waggle the aerial around for Radio 2. Being really critical, the aerial is a bit heath robinson, although I'm not sure a telescopic one would be a better design choice as these usually get bent and break. It might have been blessed with a bit more volume so we could hear it better in the bathroom but given the size and price, I'll give it the benefit of doubt. Sound quality is good and we've had none of the mysterious midnight wake ups described by others. On balance I wouldn't swap it for any others that I considered. Customer Rating: Summary: An Excellent Clock Radio Comment: This is the perfect bedside radio. My only very slight criticism is that (rather surprisingly) it does not have RDS on FM to identify the name of the station you are tuned to (my car radio can do this). It merely displays the frequency of the station. But since all the FM stations are also available on DAB this hardly matters. I do not understand A.Fraser's review. He complains about buzzing. Mine does not buzz (unless the alarm is set to Buzzer). The sound quality on both DAB and FM is excellent (bearing in mind the small speaker) and it is clear as a bell. He also talks about battery backup and an MP 3 player connection. It does not have either. I wonder if he is reviewing the same clock radio. Some reviewers say that the display is too bright. I use the medium brightness, which is fine for me. You certainly could not read by it! T.Bliss says that the buttons to select the presets are too fiddly. It is simple enough to press Preset, select the station using the Up/Down keys and then to press enter. The only alternative would be to have 10 preset buttons and there simply isn't room for this on such a compact device. I am very sorry for the several reviewers who say that the alarm goes off at midnight. It must be very annoying. I have never had this problem. I am quite delighted with my radio and certainly rate it 5 stars. More Reviews