you use the dream machine too? mine has lasted me for 15 years now and still hasn't failed me yet! what went wrong with your's? i find that it's the smallest clock-radio that gives the best sound like digital speakers but minus the bulk.

nothing is 'wrong' with it persay. it's just disgusting and hideous. i don't really care about the speaker quality since i listen to AM radio to fall asleep (art bell [coast to coast am]) in case anyone was wondering. there seems to be a lack of nice looking alarm clocks.

This is an AWESOME Clock Radio/CD Player - have it and love it - sexiest thing available imho:
<a href="http://www.consumer.philips.com/global/b2c/ce/catalog/product.jhtml;jsessionid=GD1KJFFX3IT1JJ0RMRERYVVHKFSEKHD0?divId=0&groupId=AUDIO_GR&catId=HOME_AUDIO_CA&subCatId=CLOCK_RADIO_SU&productId=AJ3980_17">

Look at the Nakamichi Soundspace line. They look great and sound even better.

while we are on the topic, I need an alarm clock that will reach over and smack me over the head. I currently have three, one of which is my stereo system on full blast. I swear, a freaking heard of elephants could run through the house and I'd have no idea.

I'm open to all alarm clock improvements such as electrical shock, cold water, blunt force... anything but that stupid beep.

sony dream machine is a classic

that link above that the archangel tried to post:
http://tinyurl.com/2yo75
(for those non-explorative)
it looks like a damn-fine alarm clock
i still have my sony dream machine as well
i received it as a high-school graduation present
eleven years ago
i've banged it every morning since
still can't make it shut up
(kinda like a wife)

she's a screamer???

i see only one problem with the "AJ3980" alarm clock on the above mentioned post. it has a touch screen display. now, while this looks really cool and has the added advantage of a cd player (for those of us that need a little iron madden to get going) after about a day and a half of slamming this thing around at 6 in the morning, you'll need a new one as the touch screen will look like seven years of bad luck.

For keeping your inner harmony I would suggest the following:

Few people relish the shrill and abrupt sound of the alarm each morning or the shocking jolt out of our dreams into waking consciousness. These beautiful and most unusual Zen Alarm Clocks have been designed for just the perfect awakening. The gradually increasing Tibetan bell-like chime promotes a kindlier ‘progressive wakening’ and restores waking up to the calmer experience it should be, so helping us to remember our dreams. We were just fascinated at how much thought and philosophy have gone into these magnificent Zen Clocks. When the alarm sounds, the clock makes a single strike of a pure tone chime, an E note, which resonates for about 45 seconds. The note is tuned according to the method developed by the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras, for purity. Three and a half minutes later, the clock strikes the chime a second time and then progressively thereafter, the chimes increase in frequency over a ten-minute period in a sequence of chime strikes designed to approximate the Golden Mean – a particular mathematical proportion which has come to represent for many harmony and beauty. It is found throughout nature in what are termed golden spirals, and seen in nautilus shells, roses, whirlpools and galaxies. Throughout history artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci used the Golden Mean in their work, and Antonio Stradivari used this proportion in the design of his famous violins. At the end of the ten minutes, the chime reaches the ‘terminal cycle’ in which it sounds every 4.7 seconds continuously until it is turned off. This clock is a perfect aid for those of us seeking to cultivate a stiller mind and in a complementary role, the clock’s chime can also be used as an appropriate way to bring meditation to an end.

http://www.naturalcollection.com/natcol/product.asp?bID=676443&subgroup=1139

wow...that is one hell of a marketing peice. i have to go cry now.

i think we may have a slightly different approach to sleep. since this is an architecture forum where a lot of students are registered on, i'm assuming your sleep patterns are not of the ordinary with the weekly all-nighters or 72 hour-long days. i think there should be a special alarm clock for people like this.

what's the longest sleep you've ever had without interruptions/waking? 6pm to 8am for me so far. not that bad..

i've slept for 15 hours once, after i got back to my place from a crit.

I judge them by two important criteria:
1) Their ability to keep on truckin' after repeated strikes with my fist.
2) Their ability to safely bounce my hand back without inflicting damage of any kind to it.

i'm still crying from the zen alarm clock, truly magnificent. a snip at only £110. imagine what harmonising fucking with the golden ratio pythagorean leonardo da vinci (what a threesome) zen alarm clock would be like, divine. me, you, leo and a bunch of monks on the kitchen table now.

that is hilarious.

"At the end of the ten minutes, the chime reaches the ‘terminal cycle’ in which it sounds every 4.7 seconds continuously until it is turned off."


hey, ritious fist - look again, man. you'll only get 10 min before you'll reach the 'terminal cycle.'

i think your girl will want a different clock... one w/ a longer....uhh... sleep timer.

My 15 yo Dream Machine is dying, so I figured I would revive this thread.

Any good alarm clock recommendations? Thoughts about the alarm clock/radio/ipod dock combos?

Really I just want something that is reliable and looks nice...

urbaneman, I'm loving my iHome right now. It's an alarm clock/radio/ipod dock. The speakers produce clear sound, so it's working as my whole stereo system right now.

[totally unhelpful]

I cant use alarm clocks. It doesnt seem to matter what sound it is, mechanizing my wake-up makes me hate life.


[/totally unhelpful]

"i've slept for 15 hours once, after i got back to my place from a crit."

I slept for 28 hours once.









Ok yes I have sleep issues.

I could send over Matisse, he will wake you up....He has a canny way of knowing when the sun is coming up....first he stirrs at the bottom of the bed....then he moves up to the top of the bed and proceeds
to lick your face while standing on top of you....then bolts like greased lighting when you take a swipe at him.....once your comfortably back to nodding off he springs onto the bed and goes thru the full routine again. Matisse is 75 pounds of dog.

rationalist, i liked the look of some of the iHome clocks, but it seems they got some bad reviews...do you happen to know which model you have?

in addendum, admitting my failings, you guys have too little to worry about if youre spending this kind of time and energy picking out alarm clocks.

disclaimer: I am not super-picky about sound. My last bf was really picky about sound, constantly doing things with speakers and tuners and amps and such, and frankly I could hardly ever tell the difference in all his tinkering. But all of his guy friends would be like, "oh, that sounds sooooo much better!" So I can't tell whether everyone was just having a dick-measuring contest and nobody but me was willing to admit that nothing had changed, or whether I have some sort of impaired hearing ability.

rational....he was a DICK!

I'm still holding on to my fantasy that a Clocky is the only alarm clock that will work for me.



In the meantime I destroy a cheap clock every six months with my aggressive snooze habits.

my alarm clock has four legs whiskers and meows loudly every morning weekend or not. this morning i whacked her snooze button good.

My alarm clock is about 36" tall and pours milk all over his cereal and into the floor if I don't get outta bed.


Until he came along the best alarm clock I had was a coffee maker that beeped 3x when finished and lured me out of bed with that promising scent.

is the way to go.

well snooker, that wasn't exactly the point... but thanks for trying to cheer me up anyway!

But no radio function...

I have an RCA alarm clock that dates back to the 80's. Alarm 2 quit on be a while back...but alarm one still works like a charm. I found what works is putting the thing on the table across the room. Makes me get up to turn it off and if I'm already up I might as well go to work, right? Does RCA still make alarm clocks?

My other fallback is a coffee maker that has a built in grinder. Even across the house in the kitchen, when that thing goes off it'll wake up the heaviest sleeper.

I want a wooden alarm clock.

Maybe we can figure out a way to have telemarketers call on a fixed schudule so we could use them for wake-up calls.

As an update to my previous post: I now have a Clocky. What I didn't know is that the alarm sound it makes is like an R2D2 on meth - it's THE most annoying sound I've ever heard. Definitely gets me out of bed!

Do you use an alarm clock ?

I do!

BQ: do your kids use and alarm clock or do you wake them up?

Get a Casio or a Braun.