PURE Tempus-ation (Pure Tempus-1)

Member Name: davydoug

Product:	Pure Tempus-1
Date:	17/02/09 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High quality, great features & controls, excellent build quality...

Disadvantages: A little pricey for some?

All through my life for as long as I can remember I've always needed to take some time in the morning from the moment when I wake up until the moment when I'm actually ready to get out of bed and face the day. Some people hear their alarm clock go off and then spring into action instantly (I reckon these people either do something they love for a living and can't wait to get into work or have small bladders - neither of these things are the case for me) I on the other hand like to have some doze-time listening to the radio, counting down the minutes before I absolutely have to get up and go to work. So a radio alarm clock of some shape or form has always been on my bedside cabinet. Recently I'd just been using the radio alarm on my mobile phone but I decided it was time to crank things up a notch and move into the modern world of DAB radio alarm clocks.


Ok, so I had a list of requirements that I was looking for in my potential new radio alarm clock:

Good sound quality

A fair amount of presets (both DAB & FM)

User friendliness - especially for alarm setting /snooze buttoning

A good sized clock and display, but one that wasn't too bright

An aesthetically pleasing device

I set about looking around the internet to see what my options were and after some fairly extensive research I finally opted for the Pure Tempus-1S clock radio, and let me tell you why...

Straight off it is a handsome looking radio. Its real cherry veneer casework, not to mention chunky old skool volume and tuning knobs, adds an old fashioned bit of charm to proceedings right away. The symmetrical half speaker grill, half control panel design again ticks all the right boxes for me in the aesthetics column. So before we've even got the plug in the socket the Tempus has begun to work its beguiling magic on the keen eyed radio fan.

When you do plug it in (power can only come from a mains supply, there is no option to use batteries) the Tempus sets the clock automatically from the DAB signal, and both the FM and DAB stations are easily set up in minutes with an automatic scan. It's very straight forward to organise the stations in the order you desire, and with 30 preset spaces available there's plenty of room to have all the stations you want readily on hand. The sound quality is first class and the radio has the capability to receive all the major DAB & FM stations available in your area (you can get an idea of stations you'll be able to receive by entering your postcode at www.pure.com). The radio display's the usual station and song info on the LED display, but it also has Intellitext which provides headline news, sport and weather via certain stations (BBC 5 Live for example). I found this to be a nice little extra feature.


You can set up to 4 different alarms, which can be recurring daily, on weekdays only, weekends only or one off events. For each alarm you can set what station you want to wake up to and at what volume. If you prefer you can wake up to the alarm tone or a selection of programmed sounds, including bird calls, thunder storm and lapping waves. You can also use the sleep option to listen to radio as you go to sleep, with the radio (or, if you prefer, the programmed sounds - forest rain would be a particular favourite of mine to help me drift off) turning itself off after 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes.

The Tempus also boosts the trademark registered SnoozeHandle, which as you can probably work out is a handle which doubles up as a snooze button (an essential tool in every alarm clock - postponing your alarm for set period of time of your own choosing). I find an easily accessible snooze button vital and with the SnoozeHandle you can lob any of your chosen limbs in its general direction and it'll provide you with some precious extra snooze time without putting up a fight.

The Tempus has a yellow on black organic LED display which means you can read the time clearly no matter what angle you look at the clock. It also has a light sensor so the brightness of the clock adjusts automatically depending on the light in the room. This was a key factor that swayed my decision to buy the Tempus. In the dark the display is reduced to the perfect brightness preventing any clock light from keeping you awake. Should you need a brighter display during the night one touch of the SnoozeHandle illuminates the clock fully.


Some extra info:

There is 3.5mm line -in connection at the back of the Tempus so you can play your MP3 or minidisc player through the radio speaker, a USB Line-in for product upgrades via the PURE website and a 3.5mm headphone socket. There's also a connection socket for an additional matching auxillary speaker (which needs to be bought separately) to achieve enhanced stereo sound (I haven't got one so I can't tell you how greatly this boosts the sound quality).

The radio's dimensions (in mm) are 175 high x 210 wide x 110 deep.

This is a top class product so it isn't the cheapest DAB radio on the market. It currently is available for around £88 with free delivery on Amazon, but I bought mine on Ebay for about £60 including delivery so I'd recommend you shop around to get a good price.

Summary: One of the best DAB radio's on the market

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