Sangean RCR-22 AM/FM Atomic Clock Radio
Review by David Lewis : Sangean Atomic Alarm Clock RCR-22, Very good Quality

Okay, so I've read all the reviews, pro's and con's, and I bought this radio after two weeks of debate. I have had a month now and will buy this again if I needed to.

I live in an area 30 miles outside of Boston and on all attempts at clock radios I have never received the Boston stations well. That was my first goal, a radio with good reception. This Radio picks up every station I want in Boston, and have programmed them into it. I acheived my first goal, a good radio - no a GREAT radio! Sound quality is good for an alarm clock. If you want great sound go with a BOSE. This offers a good sound and great reception.

Next, almost all the reviews complained about the screen. I must admit in this day and age of OLED screens this could be better. But is not as bad as I have read. It dims to a great level for night time and everything on the screen is still legible (and I need glasses and don't wear them at night). Yes, if you put the screen on dim for the night, you won't see it in the day, but do you use it in the day that often? If you do all you need to do is hit one button and it is bright again! NO PROBLEM WITH THE SCREEN AT ALL.

Programming it was EASY, although I am a bit of a tech geek. The instructions were fine but pictures would have been nice.

The Atomic Clock is nice, and mine registered about 5 minutes after plugging it in. It can take a couple hours as people have complained, but mine was 5 minutes. And you can manually program it until it does click in.

Finally, the Quality of the Alarm Clock. I found that this is a very good quality radio. Everything works well, never had a problem with the Alarm at all. In fact, the Humane Waking system is great. I turn it off long before it gets too loud. It does increase quickly but that's no problem. Much better than the old BUZZ BUZZ I use to have.

So, a great radio, good sound, decent screen, and a solid alarm clock. I'd buy another one anytime!

Sangean RCR-22 AM/FM Atomic Clock Radio
Review by Michael S. Holden "music maker" : Does everything I need from my alarm clock

I have owned the RCR-22 for almost a year now. I wanted an alarm clock with the ability to choose which days the alarm would sound. I didn't want just weekdays or M, W, F. I am easily able to program it once and not have to worry about resetting it unless I need to change the time. It also displays the next alarm time and day so I can always check right before I go to bed if it is set correctly. I love not having to turn my alarm on and off like on older alarm clocks I've owned. Turning it off when I wake up just sets it up to go off for the next set day. It's great!! I haven't overslept yet!

I also like the sleep function that can be set for 60, 45, 30, or 15 minutes of radio to play while you fall asleep. Then it automatically shuts off. I just put it on talk radio and it puts me right to sleep.

I did not by this for sound quality, but I will admit it's mediocre at best when I've plugged my iPod in through the convenient Aux input.

It would be nice if it had the Human Waking System (HWS) for radio, too, not just buzzer mode, but not a big deal. It's all the same to me when I'm getting up at the crack of dawn!

I really like this product and don't see myself looking for a new alarm clock for a long time!

Sangean RCR-22 AM/FM Atomic Clock Radio
Review by J. Suarez : Very solid radio!

Like other reviewers, I agree that this is a very solid radio!

Pros:

Small, great looks, beautiful display, adjustable night light, does the basics well

Cons:

User manual, fixed snooze time, AM reception is good, but I was expecting great

I did a fair amount of research and read all of the Amazon.com reviews before deciding to purchase this radio. As I soon discovered, I am not the only guy looking for the perfect nightstand alarm clock/radio. Unfortunately, no option appears to be perfect, but this radio does a very good job with all the basics.

I plugged the clock in the evening I received it and the atomic clock set itself by the next day. I did need to move the clock' s antenna closer to a window, but once the clock set, I was able to move the antenna back to its location on the back of the unit.

There are many buttons on the unit, however they are fairly intuitive. It is pretty easy to operate after a while.

The display is very sharp and very bright. It was a concern of mine as I occasionally battle insomnia. I need my bedroom to be as dark as possible to help fall asleep. When I have trouble sleeping, I hate being able to see what time it is! I don't want to know that it's 2:30 am and I have to get up at 5:30. Thankfully, the unit has an adjustable alternate display setting. At the touch of the display button, you can make the display as dark as you want!

As a heads up, if you turn on the radio while the unit is in its dimmed mode, it will automatically shift to the standard bright setting. I'm sure they did this to make it easier to see what you're doing, but it can be rather jolting. On the plus side, the display will automatically return to its dimmed mode after a few seconds. However, if you change stations or search for a new station, the display will again shift to the bright mode each time for a few seconds. It's a bit annoying, but not terrible.

It has a fixed 5 minute snooze timer. I wish the snooze period was adjustable like on some cheaper alarm clocks. On the plus side, you can hit any button on the top of the unit and it will activate the snooze, rather than having to search for a specific button.

As others have noted, clearly a lot of thought went into the radio and almost no thought into the manual. Not much in the way of detailed information.

The sound quality is OK, but it certainly does not compete with the Boston Acoustics Receptor radio in this regard. Not a huge issue for me as I was mostly interested in the AM capabilities. I would use my stereo if I wanted to listen to music. On the plus side, it has an auxiliary input for an mp3. The AM reception is good, however I expected GREAT given the reputation of the company in this area.

I wish it had a battery back up instead in the internal charge noted (2-3 hours of back up capability). However, we don't usually lose power for too long where I live, so I'm hopeful this won't be an issue down the road.

Overall, a very nice alarm clock/radio. A battery back up and higher fidelity sound would have made it PERFECT!