... There were other alamr clocks that came with CD players, remote controls and others that just looked naff to me but this one fits the bill nicely!
I think it's great but it only gets 3 stars out of 5 from me, with one being taken away for the buzzer alarm and the other for the rubbish ... Read review
Advantages: It wakes me up! Disadvantages: The buzzer alarm is a tad intrusive!
...across the:
HITACHI KC55 ALARM CLOCK RADIO
***WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?***
In a word....podgy. I know that is a really odd thing to say about an alarm clock radio, but look at the picture above! That is podgy to me!
The clock is a good size, you can get both your hands around it and is not that heavy. It is grey in colour all over, except for the front which has a black face so the time on ... .../>
NAME: Hitachi KC55 Alarm Clock Radio
MAKE: Hitachi
WHERE TO BUY: Argos
PRICE: £12.99
MW/FM/LW Radio
Dual Alarm Clock (radio or buzzer)
LED digital clock display
Antenna
POWER SOURCE: Mains plug or batteries (batteries not included)
WEIGHT: 0.69 KG
DIMENSIONS: 178(L) x 138 (W) x 73 (H) MM
INSTRUCTION MANUAL: Yes
Absolutely ages ago, I had this massive stereo system, with two massive speakers and I loved it! It could have 3 CD's in at one time, a radio a 24 hour digital clock and a tape player......but alas....it wasn't to last!
After a little while the CD player wouldn't work anymore, the antenna for the radio was too flimsy and broke off so I could play the radio so the only thing that was left was the casette player and the digital clock that glowed in the dark!
Now I've wanted an alarm clock for flipping ages. I could have asked my stereo to wake me up when it could still play CD's but this was rubbish the only thing that woke me up was the sound of the CD's going around in the flipping machine! I had been relying on my mobile phone to wake me up, which has so far worked, but I wanted something better. So I trashed my old stereo and trotted off down to argos when the sales were on to see what I could find and came across the:
HITACHI KC55 ALARM CLOCK RADIO
***WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?***
In a word....podgy. I know that is a really odd thing to say about an alarm clock radio, but look at the picture above! That is podgy to me!
The clock is a good size, you can get both your hands around it and is not that heavy. It is grey in colour all over, except for the front which has a black face so the time on the clock stands out better. Also on the front of the face is the band selector. This is when you want to tune the radio to a specific station. On the top of the clock are a series of buttons.
There is a large metal button towards the front and in the centre of the clock with the word "Snooze" written on it. To the left of this button, there are two small round silver buttons. One is labelled Time set/Sleep/Alarm off-button and the other is labelled Alarm Set Button.
To the right of the snooze button there are three small round silver buttons which are labelled thus: Sleep buttons, Slow set button and Fast set button.
On the sides of the clock there are other switches as well. On the left side of the clock there are: Volume Control, Function Switch and the Alarm Selector.
Other additional features of this product is that 2 normal size batteries can be inserted to the bottom of the clock. The purpose for this will be explained later. There is also a wire-antenna for use with the radio which will also be explained later.
***HOW TO WORK IT***
Take the main plug and put it in to an electrical socket. When you do that the front of the clock will start to blink 12.00 (just like the VCR that I can't programme!). The purpose of the batteries was that if you insert them, the batteries will cut in if in the event of a powercut. Nifty!
***HOW TO SET THE TIME***
Press and hold the Time set/Sleep/Alarm button. You then have to wind on the clock to the time it's supposed to be at. To do that, you need to hold down either the Slow set button or the Fast set button. These buttons control how fast the winding of the clock goes. Once you have set the correct time, release the buttons and the job is done!
***HOW TO TUNE THE RADIO***
Slide the Function switch to the "On" position. The radio will come on, but the sound will probably be static, so you need to set it to a specific station. To do that you use the tuning control dial on the side of the clock and just find a station that you want to listen to. To turn the radio off, just push the Function switch to the "Off" position.
***WHAT ABOUT ALARMS?***
The thing I liked about this clock was that there were two alarms. You could use one to programme you too wake you up and then use the other to wake you again at a different time, if you didn't feel like using the Snooze button. You can either wake up to the radio or the buzzer alarm.
***HOW TO SET THE RADIO ALARM***
Slide the function switch to the "AUTO" position. This means that the alarm will come on automatically at the time it has been set at. You can now choose whether you want one alarm, two alarms or both! Now press down the Alarm set button and use the Fast set button or Slow set button to the time you want to be woken up. When you select which alarm you wanted, a little green light will come on the LED display just to confirm you've done it and which alarm you've requested. You can check the alarm time just to be sure, by pressing and holding down the Alarm set button.
***HOW TO SET THE BUZZER ALARM***
I don't use this alarm, reasons which will be explained later in the review.
Slide the Function switch to the "AUTO" position like before. Slide the Alarm selector button to the alarm you want, 1 or 2 and then turn the volume control until it clicks. This tells the radio that you want to be woken up by the buzzer. The little green light for that alarm will light up to confirm you wanted that alarm. Set the time you want the buzzer to go off as before. The buzzer will go off at the requested time.
***SNOOZE FUNCTION***
No matter if you use the radio or buzzer alarm to wake you up, you can use the Snooze button to shut it up, if only for seven mintues and then it comes back on again. It will keep doing that until you either switch the radio or buzzer alarm off or press the Time set/Sleep/Alarm off-button.
***SLEEP FUNCTION***
If you are using the radio alarm, there is one more advantage to it. When you wake up to your radio, you can ask your radio to automatically switch itself off. So if you wanted to listen to it for 10 minutes and then turn if off, you can get it to do that. Here's how......
Set the Function switch to either the "OFF" or "AUTO" position. It's not going to work if you slide it to the "ON" position. Press the Sleep button and the clock will display 59 minutes. As it stands, the radio will turn itself off after 59 minutes but you can change that. To reduce that amount of time, you hold down the Sleep button until it reaches the desired time that you wanted.
If for some reason you wanted to turn it off yourself before the radio does itself, then just press the Time set/Sleep/Alarm off-button just like you would turning off one of the alarms.
***ANY DISADVANTAGES TO THIS CLOCK?***
There are two disadvantages with the alarm clock. The first is the antenna for the radio. It's just a flimsy, floppy piece of black wiring that can not stand up straight without a lot of help. This is a severe disadvantage as the instructions say that the best reception you get for the radio is by extending the antenna to it's full length. Therefore I spent most of time tuning the radio and getting it to a station without too much static because the antenna failed to stand up straight.
My other moan about this alarm clock is the buzzer alarm. This is possibly the most intrusive thing I've ever heard in my life. Yes it's a buzzer alarm but it's so damned loud that the whole house could here it and when it switched on, it frightened the living daylights out of me! It jolted me awake and that was not a pleasant experience! I know wake up to the radio alarm instead!
***MY PERSONAL OPINION***
Overall, it's got everything I wanted and apart from the two disadvantages I mentioned above, this is avery efficient little radio/alarm clock. It suits my needs, is reasonably attractive and was at a decent price for everything that it offered. I purchased this from Argos at what should have been £12.99 but I actually had a £5 voucher on me so it was £7.99 instead, but I still would have paid the full amount for it. There were other alamr clocks that came with CD players, remote controls and others that just looked naff to me but this one fits the bill nicely!
I think it's great but it only gets 3 stars out of 5 from me, with one being taken away for the buzzer alarm and the other for the rubbish antenna!
***TECHIE BITS***
NAME: Hitachi KC55 Alarm Clock Radio MAKE: Hitachi WHERE TO BUY: Argos PRICE: £12.99 MW/FM/LW Radio Dual Alarm Clock (radio or buzzer) LED digital clock display Antenna POWER SOURCE: Mains plug or batteries (batteries not included) WEIGHT: 0.69 KG DIMENSIONS: 178(L) x 138 (W) x 73 (H) MM INSTRUCTION MANUAL: Yes
***WARNINGS***
Don not tamper with the covers or the screws of this product. Don't expose it to water or any type of liquid at the risk of getting an electrical shock. Same for the first warning. Keep away from hot objects Don't forget to switch if off when your done! Don't use it if you think it's damaged.
