GE 7-4839 Clock Radio

Just to give testament to how lazy and spoiled we are, one of the major things we look for in an alarm clock is, yep, snooze button. We already know we aren't going to get up when the dang thing goes off, so we set it early and rely on those extra, precious, minutes of sleep afforded by the snooze. Then this baby comes along - hi ho, ho, ho, extra sleeping we will go, the GE 7-4839 alarm comes with dual alarms.

Imagine the possibilities, you could set the first alarm hours before you have to get up and then hit the snooze button continuously until its time runs out. Then the second alarm goes off and the cycle starts all over again. Of course you are getting up at the same time, but through the dual technology and the snooze factor, you can fool yourself into thinking you are conning the system.

Features
AM/FM feature w/analog tuner
LED display of time
Snooze alarm
Dual alarm
Battery backup
1-year

It is a fairly compact unit, that packs an annoying punch, taking up little precious real estate on your night stand. The radio portion comes in surprisingly well and the speakers are good enough to get the sounds across. Hey, it's not a Boise but it does the job. Besides, I didn't buy it for its great radio reception and deliverance. The one drawback of the speakers, built in to the top of the clock unit, is the slatted design. They trap lint and dust in no time and are difficult to clean. I'm always afraid I'm gonna puncture the delicate little speaker heads.

The unit offers the capability for two ways to be invaded in your sleep: 1) the radio will come on, probably blaring some obnoxious commercial or, 2) you can allow the unit to emit its highly annoying and ear splitting buzzer. Pick yer poison.

With the battery backup system, battery not included but it is 9V, your alarm will resume the correct time if you have a power interruption during sleeping hours. Sometimes this can be vitally important. Well, face it, if you are setting an alarm to get up, it probably is important or otherwise you will just awake at your leisure. In the off chance you loose electricity and it doesn't restore before time for the alarm to make its irritating presence known, then you are screwed. So don't think battery backup means it is foolproof, you still need live electricity to make the puppy alert you.

The LED time display is a glaring red, fairly large in size, which is good. The size, I mean, not the neon glow. If you are color blind, can you see the numbers? I'm asking, so if anyone is reading this and is color blind, please respond. In addition to the pulsating red numbers there are three little dots that indicate whether it is AM or PM, and if alarm 1 or 2 is on. If you have both alarms set, and it is in the AM, you are blessed with large glowing numbers and three glowing red dots, like a landing strip.

One of my favorite features, invented by someone just like me that doesn't like to get up in the morning, is the snooze alarm. My main gripe about this, and all, snooze alarms is the incredibly short snooze time allowed. A mere 7 minutes. You are just getting into some heavy duty re-sleeping in 7 minutes. I've always though a snooze should allow you, say, 15 minutes. So the initial alarm would rouse you from nighttime sleep and then the snooze would prod you to arise. Just enough time in between to get your bearings together, not that measly 7 minutes, which is just rude.

But, of course, the high point of the system is the dual alarm. Created, I would assume, for the dual-time working couples. So you could set them for different times and still only have to purchase, and allow space for, one alarm system. Myself, I like to set the original alarm for one hour before I have to actually get up, give or take a few snoozes, then I turn it off completely. Later, the second alarm reminds me that, yes, it is another day and time to rise and shine, give or take a few snoozes.

This highly complex mechanical intrusion device is controlled by just a few buttons. The set button, which applies to current time as well as alarm times; alarm buttons, which can be set for music or noise, or as they refer to it, beep; individual on/off buttons for each alarm; on/off button for radio system; volume control; tuning knob; sleep button, allowing you to set it for a preset time when going to bed and it will automatically turn off (the radio, I mean); and fast forward and reverse buttons for setting time. That reverse thing, is one of the best things ever invented cause you just know you are gonna fly by the correct time when you are setting the various times needed for the system.

The unit is plastic, faux walnut cover, with black trim. It measures 6" x 4" and comes with a fairly long cord. It is covered by a standard 1-year, return to manufacturer, warranty, but inexpensive enough to just replace in lieu of repairing.

Overall impression
It's a nice little unit, small and compact. It does the job required of it and since I've had this one for a couple of years, it seems to last fairly long with no problems except operator error. It comes with a snooze button and, better yet, dual alarms. Think of the possibilities!

Thanks,
Susi

"Hit my snooze alarm for the 27th time
Just don't feel like goin' to work - I think I'll call my boss, then I'm
Gonna hack and cough and wheeze
Swear I've got some strange disease
What's that little twerp gonna say?" ~
Weird Al Yankovich