Sangean RCR-8WF Internet Clock Radio

• Wake up to Internet radio
• Two alarm settings each day
• 10 preset stations
• Sleep/snooze timers
• Built-in FM tuner

I purchased the RCR-8WF as a replacement for an old Panasonic clock radio mainly for the Internet radio capability and for use at night. It is not a bad radio but seems more like a work-in-progress than a well thought out product.

My issues with it are:

1) The sleep timer takes three button presses to work. Turn the radio on, press the sleep timer button, then press select. Try doing this in the dark when you are half asleep! It should take one press the sleep button. This is the way their other radios work.

2) The display brightens to full when any button is pressed. The manual says that you can dim it in this mode but is does not keep the setting. You can dim it but then comes back full brightness the next time you hit a button.

3) The internet radio takes about 15-30 seconds to change stations or to come on the first time. I understand the technology involved, and could deal with this if it were not for the other issues.

I contacted Sangean a week go about these issues and still have not heard back. I will be returning it and waiting for a more mature product.

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First let me say that it is a joy to get my morning AM news station CLEAR without all the buzz from living in the shadow of the Bourne Bridge (Cape Cod) and the crackle-pops when bad weather is moving in. It's also fun to Dx through the 2200 or so internet stations.

That said, there are more cons than pluses here. The radio's controls are as poorly thought out as all the other internet radios. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, why can't a single one of these "engineers" take one of the easiest to use standard clock radios as a template (Magnavox CD-stereo clock radio or Proton--hell even Sony!) and build the controls around that control layout?

The manual for this product stinks, so don't go there for help. Customer support is non-existent--I e-mailed them asking how to keep the panel light on permanently during the night(if the radio isn't running,I can only find out the time by fumbling in the dark and pushing the left top button to briefly light the display)--I NEVER got an answer, and that was 6 weeks ago!

Also, I stated the sound is ClEAR, I didn't say anything about fidelity-for $150 I would expect it to sound better than a $17 Sony clock radio, but it doesn't.

So, bottom line, I tried all the HD radios, and several of the $100-200 internet radios and this one was the best I could find, but the only reason I am keeping it is that it gave me a clear signal, most of the stuff on it works, and my wife got sick of my testing and returning radios! It fits nicely on the nightstand, looks "normal" unlike some of the monsters available, and does the job we wanted, oh, and I got it on sale for $50 off.

UPDATE 4/26/10: I just saw the Denon Internet Radio, which I felt was so superior to this one that I feal I wasted my money on this one--I know my wife would kill if I brought home still ANOTHER radio, or I would. The Denon sounds like $200, this Sangean sounds like $18! I'm sure there are peculiarities in the Denon's operation too, but none like Sangean's!

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re Sangean RCR-8WF. I get a strong signal from my Linksys WIFI at a distance of 50 feet. The Sangean radio couldn't connect and function till it was within 2 feet of the router, and still indicated a weak signal. I tried to use the radio's FM mode, but the radio insisted on searching for a network connection, and wouldn't let me do a band shift to FM. It was loaded with their latest software update.

Sangean's website and manual provide no help.

I wasted several hours trying workarounds, including another network.

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This review is for the Sangean RCR-8WF Internet Clock Radio.

A little about me/my history to qualify my statements:

OK, for the last few years I have bought at least 5, probably more, clock radio alarm clocks. I have spent anywhere from from on each of them. I have bought RCA, Timex, Sony, Emerson, and another that escapes me at the moment. The features I focused on were, dual alarms, easy/auto time setup, battery backup for time and settings during power failure, FM radio, nap timer, sleep timer, some other audio(CD, MP3, HD, Internet, Weather). It didn't have to have all those audio formats, just one that worked. Most of the alarm clocks worked ok for the alarm settings, but all of them failed in FM radio reception. I had tried both internal and external antenna models. I had 2 different CD models, both of which failed before 1 year usage. Other features are different on every model. If you have looked, then you know what I mean. I never got an HD radio model, this internet radio just seemed more flexible. So I broke the bank when I bought this alarm clock radio. I thought, maybe my expectations were just too high for less than , so I splurged. WOW am I surprised, in a very positive way!

The Review:

I don't know if you can find an alarm clock radio that works this well, for less, but I can tell you this alarm clock radio works very well. This alarm clock radio is doing everything it says it will. The FM reception is excellent. The wireless(wifi/802.11) internet radio reception is excellent. (I have a good, but run of the mill, wifi network in my home connected to a cable mid tier broadband service). I was able to connect to internet radio, knowing a local radio stations call letters, without ever using my PC or using the free Reciva service. I also tried the free Reciva service and it worked fine also, and provide an easier method to search and try out all kinds of internet radio. I can also play my MP3 audio collection stored on my computer, with excellent reception. The time automatically sets to internet time and has setting for any time zone. It has 2 alarms that can each be set individually for FM/Internet/buzzer for weekends/weekdays/specific days of the week. I mean, it is so flexible and works so well, I am just totally amazed. Yes, it is a little geeky and the menu's are not as intuitive as they could be, but going through the included manual, I was able to figure everything out without major issues. The LCD is kind bright, but it is adjustable. Problem I had is adjusting it so its not bright at night, makes it too dim for viewing in day and visa versa. I don't know if there is a light sensor that I can turn off/on to help, its not that big a deal for me. This probably won't work well for audiophiles as I think there is only one speaker. But it has good sound and is loud enough to fill a large bedroom with good quality sound. The only big problem with this radio is the price. To have to spend to get an alarm clock radio that works well, is kind of ridicules, but I will recommend to buy this one to anyone who asks. Again, its the best alarm clock radio I have ever played with in a store/seen at friends/or bought myself, and I recommend it, even at the high price.

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I purchased the RCR-8WF based on my experiences with the RCR-22 Clock Radio and the WFR-20 Wifi Radio, both of which I have been extremely happy with. I wanted an internet radio for my alarm clock so that I could wake up to stations that I prefer from outside the US (most notably, BBC Radio 2).

Overwall, the RCR-8WF is ok...not great, but ok. I was expecting operation that was a little more user friendly and features that were a bit more robust. For instance, the RCR-22 has a manual/analog volume control on the side of the unit, while the 8WF uses two software defined buttons on the top. The unforunate part of this design is that the volume buttons take up space that could be used for two additional station presets, as on the RCR-22.

My biggest complaint about the RCR-8WF, however, is that the current firmware version requires the radio to do a complete network initialization and search each time it is turned on. (The WFR-20 does the same thing). The problem with this in alarm clock mode is that it takes seemingly forever for the radio come up at the alarm time; when hitting snooze, the same initialization takes place. Consequently, every five minutes during snooze, the radio must reboot the network before the radio alarm turns back on.

One final complaint. There is no way to adjust the volume on the alarm. It is factory preset to a specific level that cannot be set to a louder volume. When the alarm comes on, the audio fades in (a nice feature to prevent startling the sleeping person), but only fades up so far. At least twice I've slept through the alarm when I was in a deep sleep. An improvement would be to allow the owner to adjust the alarm volume to a level that is appropriate for his circumstances.

The radio uses the Reciva Database, which is perhaps the broadest internet radio database available. This offers the owner the widest variety of internet radio stations to listen to. If, for some reason, the station you are looking for is not in the database, you can do one of two things: 1) you can notify Reciva, who will add the station; or, 2) once you register your radio with Reciva, you can go online and add it yourself under the "My Streams" section.

I am considering looking for a different internet alarm clock radio, because of the deficiencies I have mentioned. I am also hoping that in a future version Sangean will "get it right".