Wake up to music (Sony ICF C390)

Member Name: Cowboy22

Product:	Sony ICF C390
Date:	01/04/02 (807 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see op

Disadvantages: None

The Sony ICF-C390L Dream Machine

With the Sony ICF-C390L you have a small neat looking alarm clock, as well as a FM/MW/LW radio. The clock is a half circle shape with a white plastic body and tinted display panel. All the control buttons are flush with the surface of the clock making it really easy to clean. At the time that I purchased this alarm clock it cost £35 from Argos. However, this was around a year ago so the price will probably be slightly less as prices always drop after a while. The alarm clock is part of Sony’s “Dream Machine” range.

The alarm clock has the usual LED display, which is a green display which is different, as most alarm clocks have a red display. The clock has two main sets of controls, one for the clock and one for the radio.

The Clock And Alarms

The clock has a set of buttons which allow you to set the current time, and the alarm time. The time is set by holding down the clock button and holding down the + or – button to either go up or down. The clock will start to count up or down when this is done. The longer you hold down the button, the faster the time changes. The clock increments by minutes and then hours. So when setting the time you just hold down the buttons until it reaches the required time. Once the required time is reached you simply let go of the buttons and the time is then set. You can also set the date on this alarm clock. The date shows the day of the month, and the month as numbers, so the 9th March would be 9 3, and so on. To set the date you hold down the snooze button and press the + or – button to count up or down until the current date is reached. By letting go of the buttons, the date is then set.

There are two alarms on the clock labelled “Alarm A” and “Alarm B”. “Alarm A” is assigned to the buzzer, and “Alarm B” is set to the radio. Therefore, if you want to wake up to the buzzer,
you set “Alarm A”, and if you want to wake up to the radio you set “Alarm B”. The time for the alarms is set in a similar way to the current time. Apart from you hold down the respective alarm button instead of the clock button.

To set an alarm you simply press the alarm buttons, “A” or “B”. On the display there are two small lights that come on when an alarm is activated. One is labelled “A” and the other “B” so you can tell which alarm is set. To unselect an alarm you simply hold down the alarm button, and at the same time hold down the “Off” button. When the alarm goes off you can either turn it off or press snooze. By turning the alarm off, it will no longer sound. By pressing snooze the alarm will mute for 5 minutes then sound again. This will repeat until you turn the alarm off.


The Radio

The alarm clock comes with a radio that has FM/MW/LW wavebands. This means you have a vast selection of radio stations to choose from. On the right hand side of the clock is a set of controls which are for the radio settings. The first control is a tuning wheel that allows you to select the required frequency. The waveband can be selected by using a slide switch that goes from FM to MW to LW. Finally there is a volume control so that you set the required volume. At the rear of the clock the mains cable comes out and there is a small thin wire which is the FM aerial. The radio has a sleep function so that you can set it to turn off after a required amount of time. This is set by holding down the “On” button and the + and – buttons simultaneously.
This is useful on a night time when you want to fall asleep listening to the radio.

The clock has a backup facility which enables the clock to carry on running in the event of a power cut. The clock has a battery compartment on the underneath of the case. The clock takes a standard sq
uare battery which will only ever be used when the mains is not running. This is a good feature as if there was a power cut during the night, your alarm would still wake you up in the morning!!

I think that this clock is a well built, reliable alarm clock that portrays what I expect in an alarm clock.

Summary: