Customer Reviews

Timex T618T / T619T Clock Radio

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

 

 

I bought this alarm clock on a whim one day, attracted by its clean styling, multiple alarms, battery backup and CD capability. The nature sounds weren't even factored in to my purchase, and yes, they are in fact more comical than calming, although I do like to listen to the owl/crickets as ambient noise. It's the 'bird & brook' sound that even my cats don't buy as realistic, since the 'birds' sound like water whistle toys.

I was initially frustrated by the inability to have 2 CD or radio alarms set concurrently, but since my husband has his own alarm clock, I've configured my Timex to wake me/us up on weekdays with a favorite CD and on weekends with a classical music station.

I have no problems with the display brightness or readability, and I really like the styling of the unit. The sound is quite good for a clock radio, and the ability to listen via headphones is a plus.

All in all, I'm quite satisfied with my purchase. If I want fully realistic nature sounds, I can play one of my nature sound CDs, afterall.

The sound quality of the CD and radio is pretty good, but the nature sounds are almost comical, not relaxing at all (other than the "wind" setting). The buzzer alarm only works if you do not have a CD in the holder. Also, the digital display is AWFUL! You need to above the unit to see the time, so if you look at the display while lying on your bed, the numbers are invisible (there is no contrast setting, only brightness).

This could be a really good product but it falls short in a few basic ways that just seem like sloppy designing. How hard could it have been to include a Buzzer alarm option separate from the CD? How about checking the angle for display readability while reclining in bed? Did anyone listen to these nature sounds before they installed them, did they think that annoying seagull in the Ocean selection was relaxing, or the goofy cricket sounds were realistic? I really liked the range of features this unit has, so I can still give it three stars, but I am really tempted to return this thing.

I like a clock radio that can awaken me to either the radio or a CD. I like digital tuning and presets on a radio. I like dual wake times for weekdays and weekends so that I can set them and forget them. I like a display that can be dimmed to a low backlight. These features are available on this product. But in spite of these features, there could be more flexibility. For example, you cannot set more than one alarm for a specific media type (CD, radio, buzzer, or nature sounds). So if you want the CD to play at 8 AM on weekends and 6 AM on weekdays, you are out of luck. The nature sounds are artificial and irritating, and are a useless feature to me. The buzzer and CD share the same alarm, so if you want the buzzer you must remove the CD.

Programming the times and other settings is not intuitive since there are many buttons and they often have multiple functions. Therefore I need to have the manual nearby every time I have to change a setting. I have had this unit for about a year now, and I have had no problems with its performance. The case has a small footprint, so it doesn't take up much space on the nightstand. If you like the feature set on this product, then I recommend it to you as a reliable clock radio. But if you question the feature limitations, I suggest you shop around to see if other products now available might have more flexibility.

Eileen Rieback

I agree with the above review, the nature sounds could be better. Alarm one is the CD (or buzzer if no CD is loaded). Alarm two is the radio. Alarm 3 is the nature sounds. If you need to set three alarms you have to use each of the modes. You can't set 3 CD alarms or 3 radio alarms, etc. Still, I like this product. It is easy to use and has a lot of features. You can set the sleep timer and listen to a CD, the radio, or the nature sounds while falling asleep. It has a bass boost and AM and FM presets to save your favorite radio stations.

i bought this from circuit city today because it allows 3 alarm settings and it's a cd clock radio. It was to my disappointment that I found out that the 3 alarm settings are preset to either cd/alarm, radio, or nature sound.

This means if you wanted to listen to CD to sleep and wake up to the buzzer, it's impossible. In order for the buzz to work, you must not insert a cd the night before. This kind of ruined our plan since my boyfriend wanted to wake up to the buzzer and I wanted to wake up by CD.

It seemed a waste for Timex to factory-program the 3rd button to the Nature Sound since the most of the nature sounded like woods animal on crack. It stressed me out listening to it. I guess I could just pretend that it's the buzzer noise by how annoying it is.

I will be taking it back tomorrow.

Overall I am very satisfied with this unit, however it does have some strange flaws, as other reviewers have noted. Luckily, at least for me, the good far outweighs the bad (or rather, the "odd").

I hope I never have to set the clock again because it is a bit of a pain. There are no separate controls for setting hours and minutes, so if it's 12:00am and, for example, you want to set it for 4:15pm, you have go through the whole thing (at least you can go backwards). Not a huge, huge deal, but quite strange, and enough to motivate me to make sure I have fresh batteries in the backup system.

The other odd thing, as others have noted, is that you cannot set Alarms 1, 2, and 3 to the same wakeup type (e.g. all radio or all buzzer). Rather, each of them is tied to its own unique wakeup type (one does CD/buzzer, the other does radio, the other does sounds).

The controls for operating the CD player are also a little odd. Rather than grouping all of them in the same area (e.g. play, pause, stop, reverse, fast forward) they have play/pause integrated into one button on top, and the reverse, forward buttons on the front panel. Again, not really a big deal once you get used to it, but just a little strange.

And yes, I concur with the other reviewers that the nature sounds, particularly the "woods" theme, leave much to be desired. But this isn't really a big deal to me as I bought it for the nice size, solid construction, sharp display, digital radio tuner with presets, and CD player.

In summary, the button placement and programming are not AS intuitive as they could be, but if you sit down with the manual and the unit in front of you for 20-30 minutes it will all make sense to you.

Again, I am extremely satisfied with this product, and in no way do I feel that the minor flaws I've outlined should deter anyone from considering this very fine and solid product.

I'm not sure where the others live who couldn't get any radio reception, but I live out in the woods and I get GREAT reception with this little clock. I like the style more and more. The nature sounds repeat too often, but the wind sound actually works well for white noise, which I need to sleep.

The downfall: Since I also play white noise CDs all night, it would be nice to turn off the CD player light, as it is brighter than the clock display. Also, I would like to be able to select all of my alarms to go off with the radio instead of only being allowed one alarm to the radio, one to the CD, and one to nature sounds. And lastly, when I use the wind nature sound to sleep, I need to turn it up to get a decent humming, BUT by turning it up, I end up turning up the radio which blasts me awake in the morning.

Believe it or not, beyond these things, I'm actually pleased. And I like all the preset stations, the large display, the fact that I can turn the display light VERY low at night (my old Timex alarm clock wouldn't let me do that), and that the CD makes absolutely NO noise while spinning are GREAT features in this clock.

"It takes a licking and keeps on ticking!"

Old-timers will remember this slogan as a guarantee that Timex watches (and, by extension, clocks) were rugged, quality purchases. Indeed, when I was growing up in the 1970s, Timex products had that reputation. Is that still true with the Timex T618T Clock Radio? Well, kinda-sorta.

Let's start with my needs first: I bought this CD/Clock/Radio combo mainly because I want to play CDs and have something reliable to wake me up before dawn. I haven't really used the radio, but it's there if I ever need it.

Seeing the T618T on display at the local Office Depot, it definitely caught my eye. It has a very stylish, curvaceous, swept-back face in a silver-grey case, a front-loading CD door, an eye-pleasing amber backlight, and neat little buttons which can best be described as "dainty". This is in contrast with my previous Timex CD/Clock/Radio unit, the T600, which is still in use elsewhere in the house. It is top-loading and kind of squat and blocky, with a dreary bluish backlight.

The features are definitely nice, at least in theory. First, there are three alarms. One plays nature sounds, a second plays the radio, and the third either plays a CD (any track you choose) or, absent a CD, it just beeps. You can set any alarm to play Monday through Friday only, or just on the weekends, or every day of the week. Very handy. I use the day-of-week setting quite a bit.

There are four nature sounds: "Ocean Surf", "Forest Spring", "Rushing Brook" and "Summer Wind". While these are primarily intended to work in conjunction with the countdown timer in aiding someone to get to sleep, I've found them most useful as a "white noise" generator to drown out unwanted distractions, such as the TV downstairs.

A significant improvement over the T600 is the ability of the T618T to set the time either forward or backward. The old one would only go forward.

The display has three levels of brightness, controlled by the snooze alarm button.

So, why have I awarded only three stars? Well, let's start with the CD player. It just doesn't work very well. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to like any of those copy-protected monstrosities I'm stuck with, even though my antique 1989 Fisher stereo downstairs likes them just fine. Certain other CDs, though non-protected, just won't play at all on the first try; they'll spin for a bit, then the player will give up. If I remove the CD and reseat it, maybe it'll play on the third or fourth try. Maybe not. This can get a little frustrating.

The speakers: Granted, I can't expect surround-sound quality from a bedside clock radio, but these speakers tend to crackle unpleasantly at anything I would consider a reasonable volume. And I'm not one of those people who play things super-loud. Fortunately, the T618T does have a headphone jack, and the music sounds just fine on headphones. But, that leaves me tethered, a big drawback. Radio Shack sells some powered external speakers that I'm tempted to try out one of these days, so I can "cut the cord" and be free.

And then there's the little problem with the alarms. Alas, the nature sounds and the radio are out. I've discovered that the volume will spontaneously drop to the bare minimum, to where maybe I'll hear the alarm going when I wake up an hour late. There's no way to predict when this will happen.

It's noteworthy that the T600 has this very same problem. What that tells me is this: the defect is probably in the standard Timex chip set, and will be the same for any similar Timex model. Consider yourself warned.

That leaves the CD/beeper alarm. I could rely on this with the T600, but not the T618T. Every now and again, it will simply not come on. Once I caught it in the act: I was lying in bed, waiting for the inevitable wake-up call. It beeped for a few seconds, then switched off spontaneously before I could hit the snooze alarm. If I'd been sleeping soundly, I'd very easily have missed it.

So, now I'm compelled to use my made-in-England windup clock, the kind with the bells on top, as a backup. Given how I find the ticking sound soothing, this isn't a really big problem for me; the windup is there whether I use the alarm or not. But still, couldn't Timex design a clock that's a little more reliable? Granted, the problem hasn't arisen since last February, so maybe it was just a fluke. But I'm not taking any chances.

More than a little irritated, I started looking around to see what I could use as a replacement clock. The answer: not much that I really cared for, at any price. So, I'm still using the Timex, and will probably continue to for some time to come.

There is one other issue which I wouldn't qualify as a design flaw so much as a matter of physics. In my room, my bed is next to a full-height (four-drawer) dresser, with both clocks on top. With the T618T's sloped-back face and the viewing-angle limitations of basic LCD panels, there was no way I could see the time from a normal-height bed without sitting almost straight up. Now that I have one of those "captains beds" which sits on top of a cabinet, I only have to lift my head a little. Bear in mind that I have seen similar Timex clocks with a vertical face, so you might prefer one of those instead if you're in a similar predicament.

Overall I really like this clock, but I have some gripes, considering its premium cost. I must say, though, that I looked at about a hundred different clocks online and in stores, and at long last I picked this one, due to its combination of features. No clock out there has everything I wanted in one package.

Positives:
+ slick design
+ Backlight can be dimmed very much; it doesn't light up the room on the lowest setting
+ 3 separate alarms
+ 7/5/2 alarm schedules
+ CD and radio sound quality is great for a clock radio
+ digital tuning
+ alarm reset button
+ headphone jack

Negatives:
- no "grad-u-wake" system
- cannot adjust alarm volumes independently
- "Autoset" only means that the clock comes from the factory preset, and has a calendar function; it does not synchronise with the atomic clock in Colorado
- cannot have separate beeping and CD alarm
- you need to read the manual to use it; the interface is elegant and intuitive but somewhat complex at first

I thought for some time before I decided to buy this radio because of several negative reviews. I finally bought one of these used (open box), and I'm quite pleased with my purchase. My radio did not come with the manual, but I was able to figure out the controls on my own, except for how to set radio station presets (press and hold the appropriate number button- easy!), which I found in the manual I downloaded from the Amazon site. This is the first clock radio I've had with the presets feature, and I like it a lot. Although others have had reception problems, I have found the reception to be quite good. I can even pick up a public radio station that my old radio couldn't. The sound is good, although it's no match for a decent stereo component system- but we're talking about an alarm clock, after all! So far the CD player has been fine. I don't use the CD player to fall asleep and prefer to wake to buzzer, so the fact that the CD/buzzer alarm automatically defaults to CD when there is a CD in the player is a non-issue for me; it would be nice, however, to have a choice of buzzer, CD, radio or nature sounds for all 3 alarms. I like having the ability to set the alarms for weekdays only, weekends, etc. I didn't buy the unit for the nature sounds, and find them to be just okay.. Some are better than others. The bird calls in the brook one definitely sound electronic. Except for the (relatively minor) issues I've mentioned, I like the unit overall and give it a 4 out of 5 stars. I'd give it a 5 if it were atomic or the auto-set version : )