Customer Reviews

Daylight Projection Clock

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I had my clock for about a month, and after many struggles, finally had to return it.

On the plus side, yes, the clock is stylish and looks nice. The displays (both on the clock itself and the projected display on the ceiling) are easy to read. Even the projected display is readable in daylight conditions. However, while the clock does have a sensor which dims the display during low light, it is still bright at night. I didn't consider this an issue, but if you like your bedroom dark, this may not be the clock for you. I was somewhat concerned about the projector bulb. I could find no way of replacing it, and since it's on 24 hours a day, how long will the bulb last? Will you have to throw the clock away in a few months when the bulb burns out?

Unfortunately, I also encountered several other major issues which ultimately made me decide not to keep the clock. First, the automatic time set function does not work. The clock is supposed to receive a radio signal and automatically adjust the time. The indicator on my clock showed that it was receiving a "strong" time sync signal, however, while the minutes remained accurate, the hours fluctuated randomly. The owners manual was no help. The manual that is shipped with the clock is one which covers multiple clock models in multiple languages, so ends up being nearly useless. The manual describes setting the time zone, as you might expect, to "eastern"," central"," mountain", etc. Unfortunately, my clock didn't display what the manual described. The clock only gave me an option of selecting a digit from zero through twelve, or from negative eleven through negative one. I assumed that perhaps that was the local adjustment to Greenwich Mean Time, but apparently I was mistaken. I tried every possible setting, and yet always found the clock displaying some random hour that made no sense. Finally I found a way of disabling the receiver, and after manually setting the time, it managed to keep reasonably accurate time.

The second issue you should consider is the motion sensor. Like one of the other reviewers, initially I found this function an enjoyable novelty. Sadly, I found out that under use, this function produces more problems than it provides usefulness. The clock is designed so that you can wave your hand over the clock to select which function to display (time, inside air temperature, outside air temperature, etc). Sounds nifty, right? Well, it is, unless like me, you use your night stand for more than a clock stand. If you place your book or TV remote on the nightstand before going to sleep; or if you reach for a glass of water or to turn out the light; or if you're lucky enough to enjoy an animated session of passion at night; all these things will be recognized by the clock, and it will happily go about cycling through its functions. Way too many times I've found myself lying in bed, glancing over at the clock to check the time, only to find out that the clock is displaying outside air temperature, or some other piece of random, useless, information rather than the time.

Oregon Scientific produced a great clock that I would have happily awarded 5 stars. Unfortunately, they then proceeded to screw it up by adding extraneous functions that not only don't work, they prevent the clock from accomplishing its primary function of telling time. Under the right circumstances this clock might be fantastic, but beware of the added issues.

I've gotten addicted to having a projection clock in my bedroom since I purchased my first one a few years ago. When moving to a new house, I was suffering from a severe lack of nightstand surface area, so I was looking for a cool clock that also had a small footprint.

This clock satisfied that and much more. The projected time is far brighter than other clocks, so its visible in full daylight, but it also scales the brightness back when it detects a darkened room. Compared to my older clocks, this thing is like 5X brighter or more, very nice.

Also the modern style of both the on-clock image and projected image is a nice change of pace, and looks more high-tech and modern. The ability to switch to show both indoor and outdoor temp hands-free is nice as well. The on-clock even even animated when it changes times and when the temperature changes. Very cool and way more hip than the older digital projection clocks.

I was attracted to the beauty of this clock, and I still appreciate its aesthetics. Unfortunately, as a clock, it is an abject failure.

At first, I assumed I was too far from an atomic broadcast for this clock to receive accurate time--so I entered in the time manually. The following morning, I was stunned to see that the time had shifted exactly two hours earlier than I had programmed it. What happened?

I consulted the skimpy, scant documentation. No clue there. I reprogrammed the clock manually. By the following morning, the time had been adjusted by two hours again--but this time, in the opposite direction. I went online to the manufacturer's website to post my question. After filling out their trouble form in a standard browser (IE) and submitting it, I received an error. That's it. No contact, no retry. I was out of luck.

I spent some time analyzing the problem, and noted that there is an "offset" to the time, when one is programming the clock. Eventually, I understood that I actually was receiving the time--accurate time from an atomic clock--but from another time zone. With that in mind, I input the offset to two hours' difference. So far, so good. Until one week later, when the clock adjusted itself to one hour later than the actual time in my zone. I was late to work. For the fourth time. Because of this clock.

One presumes, when one loads a slim silver lithium battery for backup, that the backup will function when there is a power loss. Not so! We lose power where I live, perhaps once every month. In each case, all settings on the clock (time, alarm, offset, projection style) are all forgotten. In a few hours, the clock does pick up an atomic time signal--from somewhere. But never accurate to my timezone.

In order to use this timepiece, I have to have a watch nearby. Just because the time displayed on my ceiling is 07:15, doesn't mean that that really is the correct time. It may be 07:15--but it's just as likely 08:15 or 06:15 in my time zone. And since I have to consult another timepiece to see whether this clock from Oregon Scientific is telling the truth, it is a complete failure as a timepiece.

Don't waste your money. You can find beautiful sculpture--which won't make you late for work--without this level of frustration.

I really like this clock, but returned it after a week because the Atomic setting didn't work. Per the Manual you set the clock to the time zone (P)acific, (M)ountain, (C)entral or (E)astern. But what it really had was a plus/minus 12 as the ZONE selection.

Well I live in the Central time zone, so I set the time ZONE offset to "1" (Mountain time zone plus one hour), the clock synced over night but it was off by an hour, so I adjusted the time ZONE to "2", the clock was correct for 2-3 days, then over night it changed and was off by an our again, set the time ZONE offset to "1", the time was correct for 2-3 days, then over night it changed and was off by an hour, set the ZONE offset for "2"...

Repeat...

So you go to bed without know if you're going to be an hour late for work or not!

OK, so the aesthetics of this clock are why I bought it. It does look and feel excellent.

However, it just doesn't keep reliable time. It jumps around, by between 1 and 5 hours, overnight. You wake up, and the *only* thing you can rely on is the minute. Trying to do math in your head whilst barely awake and cross-reference the daylight / traffic noise etc to work out what the time *really is*? No.

Too many other people have had this problem. Mine's too old to return now, but give this one a pass.

I am sorry that I ignored the bad reviews when I decided to purchase this clock - they were right.

In essence, if you have money to burn and don't mind replacing your clock every 4 to 6 months, then this is a fun clock to have. I, unfortunately expect my clocks to last at least a couple of years. This one worked fine out of the box. After 4 months the remote temperature display stopped working (yes, I replaced the battery and reset the transmitter). A month later, after replacing the base units battery, the projection would no longer focus. Guess I turned it upside down one too many times.

I would NOT recommend this product to anyone.

I bought 2 of these based on the ability to view in daylight and the automatic time setting. When they arrived I read the instructions. It had different instructions for setting the american version (serial# ending with an "A") as opposed to the European version. The american version (according to the instructions) just needed set for Eastern, Central, Mountain, or Pacific. Simple, right? Wrong! The only way to set the time was to use the European instructions. This meant selecting how many hours to offset the clock in 1 hour incraments based on where your time zone is relative to where the signal is sent out in Colorado. But you have to assume what time zone the signal is out of then set the variance, then wait for a "strong signal" to see what the clock does. Of course it took 6 hours for the signal took fully connect so you have to come back later and see if you were right.
So after I get the right time set and a couple days goes by without a problem I figure I'm in the clear and the clock is now reliable. PSYCH! Out of nowhere the clock sets itself back an hour in the middle of the night. Thank God I was still using the alarm on my old clock (since the alarm on the projection clock is so whimpy) otherwise I'd have been late to work (not a good thing to be when they're laying people off). At some point during the day it magically resets itself to the correct time. So a couple months goes by and I figure its all good. NOT! Sat 3-7-2009 comes up and its daylight savings time. I look at the clock on saturday morning and its alreay set itself ahead 1 hour. Odd, i think to myself, since you're not supposed to set the clock ahead until midnight. Well low and behold it does set itself ahead at midnight AN ADDITIONAL HOUR!!! making it an hour off! Luckily, I never did remove my old clock. This company must have some real jokers controlling the signal that sets the clock.
Other than those major inconveniences, its kinda neat, the projection is great and the outdoor temp moniter is too. Just make sure you dont buy one as a gift for someone (unless its your enemy) because you'll get all sorts of calls letting you know you gift doesn't work right.

I have had this clock for a month, 3 times now, in the middle of the night, the time has jumped ahead 1 hour. This of course means i get up an hour early. I sent a request to Oregon Scientific about it through thier website but never heard anything back. Finally I called them, the person I talked to told me that the clock gets its signal from the UK (Not Colorado like the manual says) and that is to far away for the Atomic Clock function to work reliably. Seems like false advertising. I have had other Oregon Scientific products that have worked fine, this product has really turned me off on them as a company.

Same issue as others have said. For some one who is a time freak and loves atomic time for absolute accuracy...skipping an hour randomly is just terrible.

I bought this clock through amazon, who directed me to ANTonline. I should have read more reviews because others have same problem I have. It does not keep time! It keeps changing time zones so time is constantly off by hours! Amazon washes its hands saying it was not bought from them and by the time I got a hold of ANTonline ( more than 30 days) they say the warranty is expired. Oregon scientific has not made any offers to this date. Do not buy this clock ! Read some independent reviews and you will see i am not the only one.