Picking out an alarm clock shouldn't be something that taxes the brain, nor should it involve standing in the electronics aisle comparing features, prices and manufacturers. I’ve been looking for a replacement for my General Electric Alarm Clock [model 74815] for a while now – there isn’t anything wrong with it and it still works great but I’d like something with a CD player built in to it instead of just the bare bones basic AM / FM features. I don’t know exactly when I purchased this but I know it’s been more than two years and so far it hasn’t given me a moments grief – except for the pesky AM / PM indicator, but I’ll get into that matter later.

The Basics

The General Electric model 74815 is an AM / FM radio, alarm clock that has a sleep timer, snooze feature, battery back up power supply and AM / PM indicator. This runs off of an AC power cord [standard plug in type] with a battery back up to provide limited protection during a power outage. This is a small yet functional alarm clock that is more than acceptable for travel or home use. It measures in at a compact seven and a half inches wide, two and a half inches tall and about five and a half inches deep. The single speaker located on top of the unit provides a nice clear sound when used with the AM or FM radio and delivers one hell of a loud, blood curdling wake up call when set to the “alarm” position.

Display

The red LCD numbers are about three quarters of an inch in height and display crisp clear numbers. I try to keep the alarm clock as far away from me as possible so I don’t abuse the snooze feature too much so having this across the room and still being able to clearly see the numbers is a real plus. The display area will show you the time, if the alarm has been set [a small red dot] and if it is AM or PM [another red dot]. One thing that I found really odd is the display screen seems to pulse when the alarm goes off – not the AM or FM alarm – just the standard alarm. I’m not sure if this us because it is so loud that it temporarily dips the power or just something that has come about after a few years of service. Outside of the slight dip is display power the read out function of the alarm clock has been virtually flawless so far.

The Alarm

To set the alarm simply hit the “wake” button and use the hour and minute buttons to select the time you wish the alarm to activate. Make sure that you double check the AM and PM settings or you might just oversleep. All of my previous digital clocks had the small “red dot” for the PM hour setting, not for the AM hours. I’ve had this clock for a long time now and still haven’t gotten used to this. You can choose to have the radio [AM or FM] wake you or the ultra frightening, ear piercing shrill standard alarm noise. There is also a sleep function that allows you to have the radio play for a set period of time – a very convenient thing if you like to fall asleep listening to music but don’t want to get up and turn it off. I’ve used this a few times after being jolted out of bed when I fell asleep listening to soft music but not paying attention to how loud it was.

Snooze Feature

Who doesn’t hit the snooze button from time to time? The snooze button is large enough to find even in complete darkness so if you are one of those “reach over and whack the alarm clock” people – you’ll have no trouble rolling over for a few more minutes of sleep. I’ve never bothered to sit there with a stop watch and see how much snooze time you are give so I am going to estimate that you are given about five minutes. No, you can’t click it five or six times and buy yourself an extra half hour – that sort of defeats the purpose of having an alarm clock in the first place. Please Note: In the product description you’ll find conflicting information about the snooze feature. The “view details” section states that there isn’t a snooze feature however if you read the “more information” section you will see that there is indeed a snooze feature. [The snooze button is the long elliptical shaped button on the top middle section of the clock].

Battery Back Up

Located on the bottom side of the unit is the battery back up that will hold the correct time if there is a power outage. This eliminates the blinking 㥬:00” when the power comes back on as well as having to reset your wake time. There isn’t a low battery indicator so you will have to change on a regular basis. If the power goes out in the middle of the night you can expect this baby to still wake you up – if the battery has enough power left that is. If you have your alarm set for 5:30 am and the power goes out at 3:00 am the alarm will sound even if the power hasn’t been restored. Again, this all goes back to how much power is left in the battery. If it is low on juice it might only sound for a few seconds – if at all. When the power is restored the time will blink however it will be blinking the correct time – this is to let you know that there was a disruption to the power.

In one case it wasn’t that the power had gone out but rather one of the dogs happened to come into the bedroom and knock the plug loose with his tail [I am assuming it was his tail]. The battery back up is only an option, you do not need to have the 9 volt battery in place to have the alarm clock function. The battery does not come with the unit so if you live in an area that has frequent power outages, stock up on the 9 volts ahead of time. Please Note: Just like the snooze feature, this appliance is misrepresented. It does have the battery back up feature however it will not serve as a power source for the radio or clock; it will only work when the power has gone off or the cord has been removed from the wall.

Warranty

This alarm clock comes with a one year warranty against manufacturer defects and, as usual, doesn’t cover any type of misuse or neglect or if the cover has been removed or the unit has been tampered with. Since Thompson is the actual manufacturer for most of the General Electric small electronics, the unit will need to be sent to their facility in El Paso Texas and will be replaced with a new unit or a refurbished one – their choice. You’ll have to pay all associated shipping and insurance fees to get it there and you might receive a bill for parts and labor if it is found that you were at fault for the units malfunction. You can read all the information needed to return the unit in the instruction booklet as well as filling out the warranty card and mailing it in.

The Bottom Line

Even though I am looking for a replacement for this clock radio I highly recommend this for people that are looking for a no frills AM / FM alarm clock combination. If memory serves me, this cost about $15.00 when I purchased it about two years ago [give or take a few months] and has worked perfectly since the first time I plugged it in. I guess I’ve simply outgrown this alarm clock since it lacks a cassette or CD player – but that doesn’t mean that it’s an inferior product at all. This would be suitable for both grown ups and kids since it is easy to program and use and will hold up to a lot of use and abuse.


As always, thanks for the visit!

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2003 Freak369





Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $15.00