Customer Reviews

Sonic Boom Alarm Clock

5 star:		(182)
4 star:		(85)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

When I was a kid, I could set the alarm on my watch, and it would wake me up. When I was in my 20s, a clock radio would do. Now that I'm in my late 30s, I'm finding even three or four clock radios ineffective - they just irritate me instead of convincing my to get up, and then I get mad, and then the morning is shot.

This clock seems to have been made for deaf, or near deaf folks. It has both audible and vibration alarm modes, and you can have one or the other or both. The audible alarm has both a volume and a pitch adjustment. You can set it high and squeeky, or kind of the annoying mid-range tone you're more used to hearing from an electronic alarm, or anywhere in between. That's kind of a unique feature all by itself, and I'm sure it's intended for folks that can only hear in a certain range of tones.

WARNING: this clock can be LOUD. I would be considered a person with normal hearing, and the volume on this thing at level 8 is PAINFULLY loud. WAY louder than other clocks that may claim to be the "world's loudest alarm". When this thing came out of the box, the volume was set on 8, and when I plugged it in and was setting the time, the alarm went off unexpectedly, and my ears HURT afterwards. I've never heard it on 10, and I never want to. 2 or 3 is about as loud as a normal alarm clock.

However, I generally don't use the audible portion of the alarm at all. The clock comes with a little white pod, a little bigger than a cell phone, perhaps, but round like a saucer. It had a long, sturdy chord that plugs into the clock itself. You can put it under your mattress or in your pillow case. I find this the coolest, least annoying, most reliable way to wake up I've yet run across. Way better than lights that slowly turn on (they don't wake me up). The body seems hard wired to wake up fully alert when something nearby vibrates, but it isn't annoying like an alarm clock buzz.

The vibration pod does not need to be plugged in for the clock and audible alarm to work, so if you don't like the vibration, you're not stuck with it.

A word of caution: if you put the vibration pod in your pillowcase and the chord runs to the alarm clock, I could see potential for getting yourself wrapped up in it. Clearly it's not suitable for use with children, and if you toss and turn a lot, I would definately think about the ramifications of the chord. The easy solution, of course, is to put it under your mattress. The vibration is strong enough that it will wake you either way, in my opinion.

Ok, so I'm married to a man who (a) could sleep through a dinosaur tromping through the living room and (b) worships his ability to hit the snooze button. At 5:10am I'm rudely awoken by some screaming AC/DC or Motley Crue (oh, and I guess I didn't mention "c" that he's a old hair band metal head) that I have to listen to, on some totally inexplicable volume of 8 or 9 (inexplicable I say, because he couldn't hear it at volume 18 - if there were such a thing) I have stopped waiting to see if he'd wake up, because he won't. I start kicking and punching (gentle nudging won't work... trust me) He rolls over and hits the snooze. OH GREAT! NOW I GET TO ROLL OVER AND GO BACK TO SLEEP FOR EIGHT AND A HALF MORE MINUTES BEFORE I GET TO REPEAT THIS. SIX MORE TIMES!!! But of course I won't because every morning I still get mad and stay awake thinking about my stupid husband who refuses to consider even letting me wake him up in the morning. I do not have to get up that early... haha! Not even close!! And then this wonderful thing happened...

I discovered a vibrating alarm clock! OH MY GOD! IT'S AWESOME!!!!! Ok, so let's be honest. It still wakes me up... but it's not some giant rude awakening and I CAN easily fall back asleep. But on the MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR PLUS SIDE -- it wakes my husband up right away!! He can still hit the snooze a buttload of times and carry on his routine, but now he can awake to a gentle vibration instead of a mental kicking and punching woman. So, this thing works out great for both of us.

One thing I need to mention... We have a platform bed... no boxspring. So we've had to put it between our featherbed and the mattress, up near the pillow. It probably makes a little more noise just vibrating than is "normal" but it's still minimal.

BUT THIS THING IS A REALLY GREAT INVESTMENT FOR THE SAME PRICE AS A REGULAR ALARM CLOCK.

My son (15 yrs old) can NEVER, EVER get out of bed in the morning. I have grabbed him by the ankles and dragged him out of bed and he still doesn't wake up. I have taken a metal slotted spoon and banged on a pot and he still doesn't wake up.

This is the 1st thing that I have ever found that actually wakes him up! This alarm clock is worth every penny!

P.S.: He HATES this alarm clock. (I love it)

Let me begin by saying that I have an issue with the "snooze button." Not the snooze button on the Sonic Alert SB200 Sonic Boom Loud Vibrating Alarm Clock (TM) per se, just snooze buttons in general. I've been known to catch an extra hour of sleep on some mornings . . . all in nine-minute intervals.

I'm probably sleep deprived, but whatever . . . the system worked for me.

It did NOT, however, work for my wife, who sweetly informed me one morning that she knew where I sleep and that I was a very deep sleeper and that if I didn't find some way to get myself out of bed in the morning without hitting the snooze button for an hour . . . something bad COULD (she's too clever to make a clearly threatening statement) happen to me.

So, in the spirit of cooperation, domestic tranquility and my continued well being, I set out looking for a vibrating alarm clock. The thinking here was that, if there were no loud, annoying beeping, my dulcit darling would not have to suffer the slings and arrows of my outrageous morning ritual.

That was the idea, anyway.

What I failed to take into account was the POWER of the Sonic Alert SB200 Sonic Boom Loud Vibrating Alarm Clock.

Whoa nelly.

This thing will practically THROW you out of the bed. Unfortunately, it will practically throw anyone else out of the bed who may be in there with you. So if, like me, you were looking for some way of gently rousing yourself without disturbing the beauty sleep of your partner . . . this may not be the right model for you.

Beyond that, the construction seems to be fairly cheap. The buttons are small and setting the alarm between vibrate AND buzz, just vibrate or just buzz is more difficult than I am willing to settle for for the price. (Not that it's really "difficult" just getting the cheap little plastic slider to click into the right (tiny) notch gets frustrating if I have to attempt it more than once, or, you know . . . LOOK at what I'm trying to do.) Also, perhaps worst of all, the "SNOOZE" button is on the far RIGHT side. The "ALARM OFF" is on the far LEFT side. If you happen to be a bit groggy in the morning and only happen to remember that the "snooze" was on the side . . . this can spell trouble (and has).

But I don't want to criticize this machine too much. As I say, it is QUITE powerful and I'm sure that it will work well for someone who may be hearing impared or what-have-you. It didn't meet my needs perfectly, but then again I don't think MY PERSONAL SITUATION is exactly what this alarm clock was designed to address.

Hopefully this will help someone out there.

This alarm is a God send. I am an extremely deep sleeper. I've owned the loudest alarms created. After a little adjustment, I can sleep through any alarm. When I do hear an alarm, it is usually so obnoxious that it puts me an a foul mood.

I've had this alarm for a few weeks. It's amazing. I wake up every time it goes off. There's a vibrating disc that you can place under your mattress or pillow. I place mine between my mattress and box spring. The vibrations happen intermittently, which probably keeps one from habituating to the shaking. The kicker is that it's really pleasent to wake up to. I don't have to hear this screaming alarm that wakes up my whole neighborhood anymore. The alarm does have an audio setting but I prefer just having the vibration.

In terms of travel size, I've already taken it with me on a trip. It's not that small. It's three pieces but I can always find the room in my suitcase. It needs a converter if you want to use it on 220 current internationally. The alarm also connects to a 9-volt battery but the battery is only useful if the electricity goes out. You cannot set the alarm unless it is plugged in. Hopefully, the company will fix that in the next model.

If you have a really difficult time waking up in the morning, I would definately recommend giving this alarm a try.

It's very strong and will wake up the deepest sleeper. However, it can scare you a little bit, but it should anyway if you want to actually wake up. It also has long cords to plug it far enough away from your bed to make you get up and turn it off. Does that make sense? All in all, I love it and it will wake up anyone.

Though this alarm is targeted toward the hearing impared, I bought it simply because I'm an extremely heavy sleeper, and most alarms simply don't wake me up. Even when I'd buy a new, louder alarm, I'd quickly get used to the sound and be able to ignore it. But this alarm phisically vibrates the bed, something that my body doesn't seem to be able to just get used to. This alarm has yet to fail to wake me up, and I've not yet had to use the excessively loud audio alarm. Great wake up-only clock, though it doens't have a radio. Nice large display, too.

I've owned this clock for more than a year. The vibrator and alarm work well, but the clock won't keep time accurately - gains six minutes a day. Too bad, other features are ok, but it's supposed to keep TIME! Notice several other buyers have complained about the inaccurate clock. Wish a quality manufacturer made a similar product.

Before I was unable to wake up to any sort of alarm. I would hit the snooze and not even know it. If I moved the alarm across the room I would just ignore it until it went off. When I bought this, I was able to wake up without issue, I wasn't late to work or school anymore. This all lasted up until a month and a few days (just long enough so I couldn't return it). The vibrator died on me and as long as it was plugged into the alarm clock, the alarm wouldn't even sound.

The alarm by itself wasn't as helpful as a combination of the two but it work more or less. Now 4 months later, I can't set my alarm to anything but XX:50-59. It just runs around in a loop between 56-06 if I try to change it, and if I have it above XX:59, it just resets to XX:50 whenever it feels like it.

I'm pretty disgusted that this was so poorly made. It's still under warranty so I'll try another one but I doubt I'll have a different experience. I'll probably end up have to spend more for a better one such as this Clarity CLARITY-WAKE Wake Assure. If this actually works longer than 4 months, it would be the best alarm clock in the world. As it stands, this is pretty much garbage.

This clock could wake the dead!!! The husband has not over slept once since getting this for him. However, it is too bad that it doesn't have dual alarms because, I too, am a notorious DEEP sleeper. I am going to have to buy another for my side of the bed. I do wish the base of it was bigger, it tips over pretty easy and that is kind of annoying. I will deal with the little base as long as this thing keeps me from being late one more time.