Sony ICF-C218 Automatic Time Set Clock Radio (Black)

• Automatic time set
• Automatic Daylight Savings Time
• Battery backup ensures correct time
• 0.9-inch green LED display
• Single alarm

Not the niftiest, nor the most elegant clock radio available but the price and features make it about as good a buy as you'll find.

All the important features battery backup, automatic time synch, intuitive alarm setting, good (but gentle on the eyes) time visibility.

There's a dual alarm version available for a few bucks more too.

We liked this one enough to buy another for our guest bedroom guests won't be befuddled by this model...

BTW, radio isn't high fidelity but its not bad, a good Sony quality product.

UPDATE 10/28/09: Two years down the road and the two of these radios we bought are still going strong. One of the things I failed to mention in the original review was that this unit does NOT, repeat, does NOT have a power brick just a nice old fashioned wall plug on a wire sweet. I take note of the comment by others about the intensity (or lack thereof) of the clock LED. Myself, and upon further inquiry, my wife find the intensity to be 'just right'. Perhaps there is some variation in the units or maybe its just a matter of your sleeping environment. We're former Sierra Nevada 'country' folks who now live on the edge of a small Ohio town. Between the street light, the neighbor's lights, the wifi router and a couple of those green 'limelite' nightlights we DO have sufficient ambient light at night to move around without stubbing the old toes. BTW, I've dropped both of our units more than once, and accidentally kicked one across our guest suite no discernable damage. Oh yes, the wife says that they'd show the dust less if they were white.

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I've had this for 3 days now, and i'm very happy with it...and i put alot of research in everything i buy. The Radio works perfectly, picks up all the stations clearly, the alarms sound starts out soft and gets progressively louder..so you will get up. The Built in battery is also a plus, that way i'll never lose track of time.

for this price this is a great product..and oh yes huge green lights for the display and many more features...wake up to the radio or the buzzer...

enjoy....

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Unfortunately, I am not able to rate the Sony ICF-C218 as highly as my colleagues. Not that this clock radio doesn't have numerous good features. The radio got good reception and the sound was of better than average quality. The controls, as others have pointed out, are intuitive and easy to use even without ever resorting to the instructions. The alarm, as is common, can wake you up either with the radio or with a buzzer. The only missing feature that would have been nice would be a dual alarm, though for the price this lack cannot be complained of.

The problem with the unit, and it is a serious one, is the brightness of the display. Of the other two reviewers who've rated the ICF-C218 at three stars, curiously one complains that the display is too dim and the other that it is too bright. My experience agrees with the later. I didn't notice until I tried sleeping beside this unit, but once your eyes are accustomed to the darkness the nicely-sized display is simply far too bright. It casts shadows on my ceiling and was a distraction when trying to fall asleep; I was forced to angle it away from myself or face the opposite direction. This is simply inexcusably poor design in an alarm clock and is a deal breaker for me; I'm going to be returning my unit.

A more minor complaint would be the AM/PM indicator. Most clocks have a single light that is lit when it is post meridiem (or ante meridiem, depending on the model), but this one has two lights, one about 7 mm above the other, which indicate morning or afternoon. That's fine when the room is light and you can read the AM or PM text next to the two lights, but at night you'll simply have to remember which light is above the other one and how far each is from the top of the display. Not a big deal for most, but another small design flaw.

This isn't a bad clock for the price (Wal-Mart carries it for even less, $9.96) but the brightness issue makes it unusable for me. The addition of a dimmer switch, fixing the AM/PM indicator, and adding a second alarm setting would make this clock easily a five star item, even at a slightly higher price.

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The Sony ICF-C218 FM/AM Clock Radio is a capable and inexpensive clock radio that gets the job done quite nicely. It lacks some functionality such as a dimmable display but its ease of operation, decent sounding radio and overall ease of operation make up for any shortcomings.

It has a battery backup provided by a CR2032 battery and the clock is preset with the correct EST time. Just plug it in and you're good to go. If you live in another time zone, it's a simple matter to adjust the time zone to your zone by using the time zone button on the top of the unit.

I like that the FM antenna is within the power cord. There is no extra wire hanging out of the back of the unit like so many other clock radios seem to have.

Sound quality is quite decent given the small size of the radio. I also felt that the non-digital tuning was good and did not have any problems finding and locking in stations to listen to.

The alarm is nice in that it has a gradual ramping up of urgency. I find alarms quite obnoxious and an alarm that starts off slowly is preferred. That's what this alarm does and as more time elapses, it speeds up the frequency of beeps giving you plenty of time to turn it off before it reaches "full speed."

It's a great value and I like it. The only thing I would wish for is a display that has a setting to adjust the brightness.

By the way, I found this at WalMart for just slightly under $10.

I was so happy with this purchse, it really has a lot for such a small price. As soon as I pluged it in within seconds it had not only set the time but the date too. It small enough to fit on the night stand, easy to set for the alarm,and it has great reception on the radio. I live in an area where there are so many trees you have to go outside to get cell service. I have several Sony radios and cd players in the house and they are the only brand I have not had a problem in getting great reception on FM and AM, and they have such incredible sound......