Customer Reviews

Timex T303T Atomic Time Clock Radio With Dual Alarm

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

It's great to be able to see other customer's comments on a product because they'll tell you about things the manufacturer wouldn't. In the case of this product though, there seem to be an inordinate number of whiners who have bought it. As a result, I almost didn't buy this clock.

When I received it yesterday, my expectations weren't all that high. I just figured I'd have a clock radio to replace my old, defunct one. I was pleasantly surprised to find that:
- the sound is good (it's just a clock radio, not a home stereo, remember)
- FM reception is good, and I live in an area with very poor reception. (There is a small external FM antennae, but even without it, the reception is good.)
- the atomic clock setting actually worked, even though I live over a 1,000 miles from the WWVB station in Boulder, CO. I didn't get signal immediately, but the first night it synched up as advertised. (The first page of the instructions points out that reception is subject to interference from other strong radio signals, and that areas like the Mid-Atlantic Coast (Boston) may experience poor reception and may not receive the signal until after midnight when interference is weakest. It also says that locations within steel high-rise buildings may not receive the signal - duh.)
- the display backlight is fine . It has a low and high setting. At the low setting I didn't find it too bright. (If I did, I think turning the face away from the bed would surely take care of the problem!)
- the controls are pretty intuitive. After reading through a couple of pages on the controls, it took just seconds to set everything. If you can figure out a toaster, you shouldn't have a problem with this. Also the control layout is pretty easy to work even in the dark, with the relevant controls all located on top where you can easily find them, although it wouldn't hurt if the buttons were a bit larger.

So for 40 bucks this is a pretty decent clock radio, even without the atomic clock whiz-bang - with it, it verges on being very cool indeed.

This item is perfect. First and foremost a clock that never has to be manually set and always displays the exact time, date and day. Dual alarms which are easy to set, even in the dark. Sleep timer, snooze, radio, alarm. Sturdy construction. Great price. Nothing more needs to be said. Would be an excellent christmas, birthday or housewarming present.

This clock works just as it should. After putting in the 2 AAA battteries for back up. This unit starting searching for the Atomic Clock Radio Staion in Colorado. I had very good signal, even in Michigan. In less than 15 minutes the unit had gotten the correct date and time. With a large back lit display it is easy to read. The backlit display is a bit too bright,but that is its only downfall. I am very pleased with size and the workings of this unit. I will not have to worry about my son changing the time on my clock anymore, this clock will correct it self. A must have.

This clock is just darn fun to mess with. The auto-time correction can provide some endless amusement when boredom strikes. Dual alarms are wonderful for those multiple households.

A few problems: it is hard to get a signal inside an apartment; it is much easier in the country house we often visit. The numbers are hard to read from a distance on the clock, so if you don't place yours on the bedstand, you can't lift your head and peek at it. To work the clock does require you reading the book. It's very complex and is almost impossible to work without it. That said, once you read it it IS very simple.

If you like your toys, and your clocks, technologically savy, this is probably the clock for you.

Tired of waking up and making mental adjustments to the time on your alarm clock? Put the power of the world's most accurate clock to work for you. In my opinion, the strongest point of the Timex T303 atomic-time clock is it's eye-appealing design. The weakest point is it's feeble alarm beeper. I am a heavy sleeper and I like loud. So far so good, but I'll wait and see. Between these two extremes are a lot of features in between.

First of all, you want dependable accuracy. You can't get any better than this. It runs off an AC adapter for supporting continuous lighting of the LCD display which is easy to read at night. It has a switch for two light-levels. I am far-sighted, so it is a little blurry without glasses, but if I squint, I can see the time clearly. The battery back-up is provide by 3 AA and 2 AAA batteries (not included). I would prefer one 9-volt battery, but this way, if the radio is left on during a power failure, the three AA batteries could run down, but the time will be maintained by the two AAA batteries.

The accuracy of this clock is governed by a special coded radio signal broadcast from WWVB in Boulder Colorado. This transmitter is operated by the National Bureau Of Standards (U.S. government) and is controlled by an atomic clock, which is the most accurate time in the world. I live in Shreveport Louisiana and the reception here was too weak in the late morning for the clock to read. Apparently, in mid or late afternoon the clock had enough signal to set. Checking the signal strength with this clock's built-in meter revealed that the signal strength was consistently at the maximum reading (6) during the evening. The time-signal antenna can be detached and removed from it's hidden compartment if you have reception problems, but I did not need to do this. I understand folks in the lower part of Florida may have trouble with reception.

The AM/FM radio section should be a secondary consideration. The sound is very tiny because of small speaker size. Other than having no lower end (bass), the sound is very clean and plenty loud as needed. The dial-pointer tuner has really good reception and stability, especially on FM. It has it's own little "hang down" FM antenna wire which can be hidden.

This is a powerfully accurate clock. You may set it manually, but once it collects the info from WWVB, it sets the time, month, date and day automatically and will over-ride any other setting. It "listens" for the time signal every hour, on the hour for about 15 minutes. You simply select the time zone you are in on the display's map, choose whether you want it to recognize Daylight Savings Time or not, and that's it. You will never have to set it again. You will never have to wonder what the correct time is, right down to the seconds counter! It will even recognize leap-year.

It has two independent alarm settings and has a snooze-bar for up to one-hour in 9 minute increments. You may choose either beeper alarm (not very loud), or wake to radio (as loud as you want). You can sleep to the radio with a time setting from 1 to 99 minutes.

Over all, I really like this product. It is designed to take up a minimum of surface space. I found the buttons and functions relatively easy to use. I looked at a lot of atomic-time alarm clocks and for the price, this is the best. If I could change anything, I would have a larger display for the time and a louder buzzer alarm.

I was discouraged at first because I could not receive the signal for the atomic clock. But then I re-read the instructions and found the signal is normally strongest in the middle of the night. In checking around midnight I found it had reset to the correct time. I found the alarm setting easy to use and the alarm sound was not annoying. Have not tried the radio and do not care if it works. The only reasons I bought it was for the atomic clock and the look and am very pleased with both. I also like the fact that the time readout is very easy to see during daylight hours, unlike the LED clocks that are almost impossible to read in a very bright light.

Looks great, gets great reception, and best of all, the alarm is not an annoying noise. When you wake to it, you dont want to destroy your alarm clock.

In short, the display is too bright (even at dimmest setting), volume was hard to adjust, tuning in stations was difficult, in general very shoddy construction, atomic clock never worked. Stay away from this one!

I've owned three different atomic radio alarm clocks. Obviously the concept of never setting a clock is wonderful. However, the Timex clock misses the mark. Setting and controlling the alarm is a complete mess. Some engineer missed the boat during the development of this product. I pride myself on my technical ability, but this interface is just not well thought out. I recommend the Sony Atomic Radio Alarm clock. It doesn't have battery backup, but the controls are more intuitive. I work for neither Sony, nor Timex. I do expect more from Timex that this sad product. Avoid it.

This clock is synchronizing by WWVB Ft. Collins, Colorado. This clock works great. The quality FM radio is very good. In less than 2 hours I was able go get the WWVB signal. If you don't get the signal right away be patient, and wait up to 72 hours. I was was able to determine it's accuracy by listen to sister station WWV Ft. Collins, Colorado on my short wave radio.