81 of 83 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Nice little item., 20 April 2008 This review is from: Sony ICFC218S Clock Radio ? Silver (Electronics) I bought this clock radio after looking everywhere for a model with a large display for a friend with poor eyesight. You can get an ordinary alarm with a huge display, but without the radio.This seemed to fit the bill. It sure is an attractive bit of kit, and easy to use.The only criticism I have is that the display is quite dim in daylight,and even I struggled to see the time, and my eyesight is good.After all,it's not always dark when you want to know the time, is it? All in all, it's Sony,it cost just over a tenner,and is good value,but the poor display lets it down, hence the 3 stars. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?
76 of 78 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Read instructions before submitting review, 24 Nov 2008 This review is from: Sony ICFC218S Clock Radio ? Silver (Electronics) I nearly didn't purchase this item after reading the reviews regarding brightness of display,either being too dim or too bright.I'm glad I went ahead as I'm very pleased with it and found it has a three setting brightness button on top.Dim, seeable and bright.Very good value. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?
74 of 76 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Not too bad from a usability point of view, 21 Dec 2009 This review is from: Sony ICFC218S Clock Radio ? Silver (Electronics) I've been after a new clock radio for my mum who suffers a bit from Alzheimer's so I was after something that would be very simple to use. This somewhat fits the bill, though does have some problems. This review is based upon my requirements on usability.
Controls:
Most controls are located on the top of the unit. First there are some small buttons for setting the time and switching to daylight savings time (DST). Normally, and thanks to the "auto" time/DST setting feature, you wouldn't need to touch these but if you did nothing really happens. For someone like my mum, this is a good thing since she won't accidentally change the time/date setting. You have to press and hold buttons for 2secs for something to happen.
Next we have a rotary three position switch for setting the alarm mode (off, radio, buzzer). This switch some people may find really very fiddly. It is of very poor quality and I can see that would be the first thing to fail.
After that there is a sleep button and two buttons for turning the radio on and off. The off button has a different tactile feel from the other buttons. Having the radio on/off separate from alarm on/off is good from my point of view. The sleep button allows you to listen to the radio for 90, 60, 30 or 15 mins which is a good feature.
Finally on top we have a big snooze button that also doubles up as a "show the date" button and sleep button; and next a rocker switch for setting the alarm time.
On the side of the unit are two rotary controls (radio tuning and radio volume) together with a AM/FM switch. I would have preferred to have seen the tuning and vol controls very separate (perhaps on different sides) so as to avoid accidental detuning of the radio.
Features:
The "automatic time set" feature is a little misleading - all it means is that the date and time has been pre-set in the factory. Mine was a couple of minutes out initially. The clock is backed up with a replaceable lithium battery so it should last a reasonable time. To be clear, there's no link to the Rubgy time signal here.
The clock stores the date, which is viewable by pressing the large snooze button. The date can be used to automatically adjust for GMT/BST.
There is no brightness control for the display but I find its brightness to be a good balance of not too bright and not too dim.
The clock shows 12hr time with a PM indicator. This is good for people who find 24hr clock harder (I don't think there's a way to go to 24hr mode).
The radio reception seems OK, much as you'd expect from a device of this price.
Overall its pretty OK; has some usability concerns (notably the alarm mode switch). The separate on/off radio buttons and sleep feature should make things easier for my mum compared to her existing clock radio at least.
