Sony Dream Machine ICF-CD843V CD Clock Radio with Digital Tuner

by Sony

Product Details

• Item Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001M2FYQ
• Item model number: ICFCD843V
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,020 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 1, 2004

Product Description

SONY ICF-CD843 -- If you prefer a gentle nudge in the morning rather than a loud shout, you need the sophisticated awakening options the SONY Dream Machine(R) offers. With the ICF-CD843 you get to choose between your favorite morning CD, or your favorite radio station. Triple Alarm - 3 Time / 3 Modes ( CD / Radio / Buzzer ) Extendable Snooze CD Play Modes Brightness Control

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit bulky, but lots of nice features, June 12, 2006

By 

Emerson Randolph (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony Dream Machine ICF-CD843V CD Clock Radio with Digital Tuner (Electronics)

This is a clock radio for the serious radio guy. It is a bit on the beefy side for the nightstand, but that's where it will provide the most pleasure. It has several thoughtful features. You can adjust the brightness of the digital read-out. I found the medium setting to be just fine. The digitally-tuned radio provides good reception. One complaint I have about most clock radios today is that they are puny when it comes to pulling the stations in. This one does an adequate job with both AM and FM, at least in my neighborhood. Of course, it has nice pre-sets for favorite stations. The CD player sounds good, with or without the bass boost. You can select CD shuffle, repeat, etc. One small complaint would be with regard to the volume control. It is a thumbdial on the side towards the back. You have to fumble a bit to find it in the middle of the night, and we all know that if you are listening to radio in the middle of the night you don't want it to blast. If you are changing from station to station or to CD, there will likely be a big difference in volume that will have to be dealt with. All in all, a heavyweight entry in the AM/FM/CD clock radio field. There is no earphone jack, but that may not matter to most people. There is also no battery back-up, but the radio retains its memory during a short power interruption.

82 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice sound, limited features, October 9, 2005

By 

CS (Acton, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony Dream Machine ICF-CD843V CD Clock Radio with Digital Tuner (Electronics)

Very nice sound, better than the Philips product of similar price. However, some deficiencies make it a bit disappointing: (1) no digital volume control, so you can't set volume level for an alarm, and there is no progressively louder alarm; (2) (as someone else noted) if you want 2 alarms at 2 different times (e.g., 5am & 6am), they need to be on different music sources (e.g., 5am radio, 6am CD).

I'd still recommend it if the features don't make a big difference to you, since the sound is good and everything works well.

189 of 213 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Value But Not Perfect, December 19, 2005

By 

M. JEFFREY MCMAHON "herculodge" (Torrance, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sony Dream Machine ICF-CD843V CD Clock Radio with Digital Tuner (Electronics)

At this price point I can't complain too much about the Sony 843: Excellent AM reception. Slightly above average FM but bear in mind hard-to-get stations could give you trouble since the 843, like 99% of clock radios, relies on a little coiled plastic antenna in the back. Where I live in Los Angeles, KPCC 89.3 sometimes gives the Sony 843 problems, which I can only rectify by holding the tip of the wire antenna during my entire listening session. Needless to say, this is annoying and not practical. But the most glaring weakness is the CD player. It is so noisy that listening to music on it is too distracting so I quit playing CDs a long time ago.

But still if you can pick one up for fifty dollars or less it's worth it just for the radio and easy alarm functions. If you want a high-end clock radio with a telescopic antenna, there's only one that I know of, the Tivoli Songbook, but realize the Songbook costs nearly three times as much.

Update: I personally don't use my Songbook by my bed because it tips over. I use my best reception radio performer ever--my Grundig G4000, which I got on Amazon for $99, a very good price. It has a clock and alarm function but the clock digits may be too small for many. If you want a real clock radio by your bed and don't mind spending 99 dollars, you might check out the Sonido (made by Sangean). It's sleek and attractive, it has AM, FM, TV, and Weather bands, and it boasts a high-performance speaker, like its more expensive brother the WR-2, but even better than the WR-2, it has a telescopic antenna and it's 60 dollars less than its only competition, the Tivoli Songbook.

Update 1-29-07: If you want an attractive retro-modern clock radio with remote control, high-grade speaker and excellent reception, check out the Eton Sound 100. It retails for 150 bucks or so but can be found on sale on Amazon through other vendors. If you don't need a headphone jack or remote, the Boston Acoustics Receptor can be found on Amazon on sale between 100-120 dollars even though it retails for about 149. For bright sound, the Boston Acoustics is my very favorite.