Does my ideal alarm clock/radio exist?

March 14, 2009 10:00 AM

Does my ideal alarm clock/radio exist?

I've been searching for years for a bedside alarm clock/radio with the following features:

1. Can play one radio station while going to sleep and play a different station when the alarm goes off in the morning. Sometimes I like to listen to George Noory while drifting off to sleep, but I never want to wake up to the political hate radio that the same station plays in the morning.
2. Adjustable "snooze button" time. Sometimes a 9 minute snooze interval is great. Sometimes 20 minutes would be better.
3. Can set a different alarm time for each day of the week. If I find myself working a schedule that allows me to sleep in an extra few hours on Wednesdays, I don't want to have to reset my alarm every Wednesday, then set it back again every Thursday.
4. Gradually increasing alarm (radio) volume.

I realize I could set something up with a computer or multiple alarms & radios to get a system that has all those features. I also realize that there all kinds of other alarms and features that work for other people. I don't want to wake up to a buzzer. I don't have a problem getting up in the morning so I don't want an alarm that forces me to get out of bed by being on the other side of the room, rolling off my night stand, or flying around the room. I just want a single alarm clock/radio unit that has that particular set of features. I've found several that have most of them, but I want one that has them all. If you know of such a thing I'd love to hear about it. Thanks.

posted by Balonious Assault to technology (8 comments total)

The Neverlate executive comes close. You can set different alarms for different days of the week, and it has adjustable snooze times. You can also choose the radio station to wake up to (regardless of what you fell asleep to).
It has a gradual wake feature. Maybe this is everything you wanted?
posted by cushie at 10:19 AM on March 14 [8 favorites]

A Chumby can do everything you want except play AM/FM radio. I get around that by using a Pandora station for music and streaming news radio via SHOUTcast.
posted by djb at 10:28 AM on March 14

Unbelievable. Years of scouring the internet and visiting retailers vs. 19 minutes on AskMe. That appears to be exactly what I've been looking for, cushie. I can't thank you enough.
posted by Balonious Assault at 10:42 AM on March 14

ThinkGeek has a range of unusual alarm clocks. This looks close to what you want....

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/788e/

However for a really pleasant, relaxed way to wake up I highly recommend a sunrise (or dawn simulator) clock.

http://www.lumie.com/shop/products/bodyclock-advanced-200
posted by MetaPenguin at 11:18 AM on March 14

Alternatively, a new-ish ipod & podcasts will do it for you...
posted by DrtyBlvd at 11:26 AM on March 14

Mathiu...you could try a bed shaker or strobe alarm clock.
These are producted for the deaf or hard of hearing...


http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/giftsunder50/8f1a/
posted by MetaPenguin at 11:28 AM on March 14

Matapinguin, thanks a lot, that is a great suggestion.
posted by mathiu at 12:34 PM on March 14

"Unbelievable. Years of scouring the internet and visiting retailers vs. 19 minutes on AskMe."

No no, it's years of scouring the internet versus a collective decades of scouring the net ;)
posted by pwnguin at 12:50 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]