Promising, but lame 2nd alarm
Pros:
Compact design, good looks, nice backlight
Cons:
"Dual Alarm" feature is crippled: Alarm 2 only wakes to "nature sounds" or buzzer
The Bottom Line:
If you don't need dual alarms to music then recommended, but if you want both alarms to wake to music forget this radio
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Why is it so hard to find a decent clock radio with dual alarms? Our GE radio died, after about a dozen years of faithful service, victim of a power surge. We loved that radio, and especially appreciated the feature that allows each of the dual alarms to tune to any preset station. But GE no longer seems to make that radio or a similar one, so we searched Target, Wal-Mart, CVS and Best Buy to find a replacement. We thought we succeeded with the T307 at Best Buy for about $30.
Features
There's a long list of features with this inexpensive unit:
- large digital display (black on gray LCD) with orange backlight at two selectable intensities (or off)
- battery backup with the time already set at the factory and batteries installed (for battery backup in the event of a power failure)
- date and Daylight Savings Time are programmed in
- 18 station presets (12 FM, 6 AM)
- "nature" sounds for the alarm (Ocean Surf, Birds, Brook, Wind Chimes)
- dual alarms that can be set to go off 7 days a week, Mon-Fri, or Sat-Sun
- a "Line In" jack so you can route your MP3 player through the radio (a patch cord is even included)
Setup
Setup requires use of the manual, at least to get the hang of the method and to see how to access all of the features. There are pushbuttons on the top, front and rear of the radio, and a volume control on the side. After turning on the radio with the Power button, you can select the band (AM, FM1, FM2) with the Mode button. Then tune to a station using the up and down buttons. Holding either button causes the radio to search for the next clear signal. Press and hold one of the six station preset buttons to lock that station to the button. When you press and hold the Alarm 1 button, you set the wake time, station preset and set the volume. All is great so far.
Now the problem -- and the reason we are returning the T307 to Best Buy. The Alarm 2 setting ONLY allows waking to one of the nature sounds or the buzzer. You can't use Alarm 2 to wake to a second (or even the same) radio station! Why would Timex include all these great features and leave this very basic one out?
Performance
The display is pleasant and easy to read, even for these 50+ year-old eyes. Sound quality is tinny, about what was expected from a $30 radio, but adequate for waking to the news.
