Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with alarmclock

beep beep beep

KateHasQuestions — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:28:52 -0800

Where can I find an alarm clock like the one I've had and loved for years? (General Electric Clock Radio 7-4837C) Required features are inside. I've searched ebay, amazon, and the GE website, they probably don't even make this model anymore because I've had it for so many years. Probably the reason that the only image I found was so tiny.

Here are the features I need in an alarm clock that this one had:

Must be able to adjust time (on both clock and alarm) both up and down
Adjustable snooze time
Nap feature - really easy to use, can adjust for 10 min - 2 hour nap
Easy to hit snooze button, and easy to hit off button
Not a switch between the off/on button (I always seem to set that the wrong way) but an actual off/cancel button
Choosing between beep and radio for the alarm
For the beep alarm, must start out at low volume and gradually increase
Must turn off by itself after a reasonable amount of time (say, if I'm not home, so no one has to listen to it all day - I hated those people in college)
~$20 - I think this one was even cheaper. I don't need anything fancy like automatic daylight savings time or iPod hook ups, I just want all the convenient features I listed.

Does anyone know where I can buy the same one I had? Or maybe a newer model that has the same features? If not, who can recommend one that does all of the things above that they currently use and love?

I've tried searching online but the descriptions and specs just don't list all this in detail. Next step would be to go to stores and look at them in person and try to figure out if they would work for me, but I just don't have time at all this week, so I wanted to ask here. Thanks!

How to mount an alarm clock with no nightstand or permanent wall damage?

madscientist01 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:42:29 -0800

How can I have my alarm clock near my bed even though there's not enough room for a nightstand and I can't make holes in the wall for shelves? There's a chest of drawers on one side of the bed but it is too tall to reach the alarm clock from on top. The other side of the bed is bordering the wall. Are there shelves without permanent mounting hardware that work? I have a usable wall corner. Maybe a super duper skinny nightstand out there somewhere? Use the headboard somehow?

Help me wake up

cmar618 — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:34:39 -0800

I have a tough time waking up in the morning and it is making my wife crazy! How do I wake up before my wife while disturbing her as little as possible? I need to wake up before my (very light-sleeping) wife almost every morning. I have never been good at waking up to an alarm the first time it goes off. I quite often hit the snooze button without knowing. It is as if I am subconsciously doing it. I want to be able to get up the first time it buzzes. Can anyone help with some ideas? Anyone in a similar situation?

Extra internet points if you can help me get up without an alarm clock at all.

Please help, for the sake of my marriage!

Need a little time to wake up. wake up well.

ijoyner — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 08:35:21 -0800

I'm tired of the Antelope alarm tone on my BlackBerry. Does anyone have any recommendations for alarm clock tones I can load onto my SD card? I have started a drop if you wish to drop your favorite tone, but recommendations work as well. Drop.io

Thanks!

Annoying alarm clocks -- just how annoying?

malapropist — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:44:18 -0800

So how well do those weird or annoying alarm clocks actually work? I'm thinking about getting the one that makes you complete a jigsaw puzzle to turn it off, but I'm not sure... Does anyone have any of the alarm clocks in the article? The jigsaw one looks interesting, so does the egg-laying one, and maybe the one which makes you shoot a target with a laser. I'm just not sure if any of these actually does what it says, namely making you work your brain a tiny bit so as to actually wake you up and get you out of bed.

Have years of poor sleep hygiene ruined me from using a sunrise alarm clock?

cosmic osmo — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 13:19:57 -0800

Will my sunrise alarm clock ever work for me? And other tips on regulating my sleeping schedule? So I have a ton of trouble with sleep:

- Insomnia, which alternates between not being able to fall asleep at all and waking up an hour or two after falling asleep at night
- Excessive daytime sleepiness, which makes it nearly impossible not to nap, which then throws off my whole schedule
- Complete inability to wake up in the morning, regardless of how much sleep I've gotten the night before

To that last end, I asked for (and received) this guy for the holidays this year. I've tried every manner of super loud alarm clock placed across the room, multiple alarms, etc.--all of which I eventually end up sleeping through completely after using for a couple of weeks. So I decided to go a different direction and use an alarm based on light rather than noise to see if that worked.

Except in the four days I've used it, I've failed to be awakened at all by it (even the beeping noise it makes at the end of the "sunrise"). Twice it's been set to a time prior to the actual sunrise (6:45), and twice after (7:45). I slept with the shades drawn for the "after", but it didn't seem to matter, as neither scenario was successful.

My sleep hygiene throughout my life has been spectacularly poor, and while I'm really working at getting that under control, I'm wondering if my habits have 'ruined' me from ever successfully using a sunrise clock. Specifically, light has never prevented me from sleeping--in addition to frequent afternoon naps, I have been known to fall asleep at night with all of the lights on (and have since childhood). I also live in New York City, so it is never completely dark in my bedroom, even with the shades drawn.

The past few weeks I've seriously been cleaning up my act--no daytime naps, no caffeine except tea in the mornings, reducing external sources of stress, making my bed more comfortable (and not spending non-sleeping time in it), trying to go to bed at a specific time each night. While I haven't been perfect, the past few nights when I've used this clock I've been pretty meticulous with a specific bedtime routine and ample time to wind down from computer/television use and though I fell asleep more easily than I normally do (ok, I did take a Benadryl last night), I'm still sleeping straight through the alarm.

So, people with sunrise alarm clocks: did they work right away for you? Is this just a question of my body taking its time to adjust to my new habits? Or will this clock never reliably wake me up because of so many years of sleeping with the lights on?

(Additional, possibly relevant information: I don't have sleep apnea, and while actually getting out of bed is easier in the summer when it's bright and warm out, my sleeping through alarms is pretty consistent year-round and doesn't really change based on what I'm getting up for--i.e., getting up for work, getting up for an exam, getting up to catch a flight, getting up to go have fun at the beach--are all complete struggles.)

Please help me find an alarm clock ...

MegoSteve — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:43:36 -0800

Please help me find an alarm clock ... I want to buy a new alarm clock and can't seem to find the perfect one with all of the features I want. I'm willing to compromise, but beyond the obvious basic buzzing alarm function, I'd like the following: digital FM tuner with presets (and/or internet radio) and some kind of MP3-playing capability via an SD card or USB flash drive, wireless network (ideal) or even CD-R (okay, but not perfect). Photo/slideshow capability is a big plus, too, and so is random techy coolness.

What I definitely don't want: an Ipod dock. I don't have an Ipod. I also don't want that cheap looking Chinese-made white cube.

The top contenders so far are The Philips AJL308, the Transcend PF720 (or the PF810, which was just announced) and, at the very high end of what I'm willing to spend, the Chumby. The Philips, the cheapest and most ubiquitous of the lot, has got some fair to middling reviews and the consensus seems to be "wait for 2.0." I can't find much information at all on the Transcend one since it's fairly new. The Chumby, while the coolest, I have some misgivings about, namely the high price, the advertising (is it obtrusive?) and the potential that the company may go out of business leaving me with a beanbag brick.

Do you have any experience with any of the above-listed products? Importantly: is the Chumby worth it?

Am I overlooking any other possibilities?

Dawn Simulator Without Backlight

cm — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:42:02 -0800

Does anyone know of a dawn simulator alarm clock with a display without backlight? Or a display with a backlight than can be disabled? Ideally it would be the type that you plug an external light source into but I suppose I can live with one with an integrated light.

The only one I've found that I believe doesn't have a backlight is this one:
Sunrise Creator

How do I make a light-based alarm?

ocherdraco — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:00:57 -0800

I want to make an unobtrusive, light-based alarm to help me remember to take my pills. What do I need to do? I have a pill that I have to take once in the morning and once in the evening (but not at a particular time). I'd like to create a little alarm that can live on top of my dresser and light up twice a day to remind me to take it. Maybe with LEDs. It does not need to show the time (and in fact, I'd rather it didn't).

My searches online to figure out how to make one keep leading me to those expensive "gradual daylight" alarms, but that's not what I need. I'd like this to be as simple, and as small, as possible.

I am good at putting things together, but have no special skills with electronics.

Recommend a gentle alarm clock

Wild_Eep — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:35:09 -0800

Please recommend to me an alarm clock that will wake me gently, rather than jolting me from my slumber. I'm in the market for a new alarm clock, but I have only one reqirement: its buzzer volume must ramp-up, rather than coming on at full force immediately. Waking to music or radio won't do.

While the latter style does indeed wake me up, it makes me angry. I stayed at a hotel that had a clock like this and I found that I really liked it. (I had no idea such a thing existed!)

I've read mixed reviews about the Zen Clock, but I'm looking for a product that is well designed and will last.

The alarm can't wake you up if you can't perceive it

theichibun — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:08:28 -0800

What is a good alarm clock program that will display a message when the alarm goes off? I'm running XP SP3.

I've been using Yahoo! widgets, but Neon Clock keeps hanging at midnight. Which pretty much makes it worthless when I have an alarm set for 12:03.

I'd really like an alarm clock that will pop up a message when the alarm goes off as opposed to just playing a sound. I'm not against sound or anything, but I don't always have the speakers on.

I've tried looking on Google, and have failed. So many options and I have no idea what is worth looking at.

What's the best wind-up alarm clock for under $100?

snookums — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:32:46 -0800

I prefer wind-up clocks to digital. I find their tone to be more pleasant. My main problem is finding an accurate one. All the ones I've seen have two problems. a) They lose time too quickly. The one I have currently loses about 30 minutes between the time I wind it up before bed and the morning. I have to set the alarm back a little to get the right wake up time.
b) Some have a soft alarm. If I set the alarm for 7:00, I don't want it going off at either 6:45 or 5:15.

Also, I've noticed that the ones that seem decent look dorky. I'm looking for something that's stylish—gold or silver tone.

Why doesn't my cat understand I have an alarm clock?

deezil — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:12:15 -0800

Every morning, my cat decides I need to get up at 6:30AM, and proceeds to put his paw under my door and claw the hell out of it. Between the scratching noise and the fact that the door rattles in its jamb, it's been getting me up well before I am ready. This has thrown off my sleeping pattern tremendously, and I want it stopped. It's not a case of needing to go to the bathroom or wanting food, so I'm at a loss. How can I stop my cat?

DIY Dawn simulator

fermezporte — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:54:18 -0800

Why are dawn simulator alarm clocks so expensive? What would I be missing if I made one myself? I'm interested in dawn simulator alarm clocks - the kind that wake you up gradually with increasing light. I wake up easily in the summer when it is light out, but in the winter it's miserable getting out of bed in a dark room. However a lot of the ones I've looked at seem to be extremely expensive (including those linked to on this question). Is there something these clocks have that I would be missing if I simply attached a lamp with a full spectrum bulb to a timer? Are there timers (that don't cost an arm and a leg) that make lights gradually brighter? I don't need another alarm clock radio or aromatherapy or nature noises or any of those extras, but ideally the light would gradually increase until my room was daylight-level bright. Ideally I'd like to spend sub-30 dollars since this is an experiment that might not work, but I'd love to hear any testimonials that might convince me that its worth it.

Cicadian or Sunrise Alarm Clocks?

Alabaster — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:54:48 -0800

Anybody have experience with cicadian rhythm alarm clocks or "sunrise" alarm clocks? More inside... I'm a gadget lover with a snooze-button addiction and I'm curious about whether the right alarm clock would help me feel less miserable about dragging myself out of bed in the morning. I've read about alarm clocks that measure your cicadian rhythms to wake you up at a time when your body feels well rested and wondered if anyone has had any experience with them (specific brand/model recommendations are welcome, but I'm happy with general advice as well).

I'm also curious about alarm clocks that wake you up by simulating a sunrise (I love being woken up naturally by the sun, but my career requires me to wake up before sunrise). My wife suffers from seasonal effective disorder and uses light therapy, so this might be nice for her, especially compared to my annoying 6-times-per-morning snooze button routine.

Any suggestions on these types of alarm clocks would be appreciated. (I already have an alarm clock which wakes me up by playing music or nature sounds with gradually increasing volume, so I don't need suggestions on this type).

Thanks

Progressive alarm clocks in Vancouver?

Iax — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:18:56 -0800

Where can I buy a progressive alarm clock in Vancouver, BC, Canada? I would like an alarm clock that lights up or makes noise gradually, without having to buy it online. The one I am interested in right now is the Peaceful progression alarm clock.
But if you have any other suggestions and you can buy it in Vancouver, by all means suggest it here.
Thanks.

Does this alarm clock have a headphone jack?

tomwheeler — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 14:25:30 -0800

I'd like to find an alarm clock that supports playing MP3 files through a USB drive or memory card. I found this one which seems almost perfect. But does it have a headphone jack? The specs and pictures don't show one and the only company that seems to carry this model can't be bothered to confirm it. Can anyone say for sure if this model has a headphone jack? Alternatively, is there another alarm clock that can play MP3s from a memory card/USB drive that does have a headphone jack?

How do I tell my Ipod docking clock radio to wake me up to a playlist?

bovious — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:31:23 -0800

I have the Ipod Touch which I enjoy EXCEPT for its newly crippled alarm clock. My previous Ipod would play a playlist as the alarm sound. The Touch doesn't do this and it's slowly driving me crazy. I own an Ipod docking clock radio so all may not be lost. However, my wife lost the instructions the day we got the clock radio, and I don't know how to tell it to wake up the Ipod and play a playlist.

It's a Jensen JIM-100s, the cheap-o model sold at Sears. I can set it to "wake to Ipod," but all that does is turn on the Ipod power...it doesn't tell it to play.

Somebody who has the manual -- please help! Or if you have a clock radio that does this, are there general instructions for docking these?

Help my sister wake up on her damn own, or so help me...

flibbertigibbet — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:53:18 -0800

I need the best alarm clock to wake up my impossible-to-wake sister. Issue: it can't wake ME up, in the next room. My sister sleeps unbelievably soundly. She already has an alarm clock, but sleeps through it, so it falls to everyone else to wake her up according to the signs she posts everywhere.

This has gone on for so long that we are all well beyond pissed off at the thought of waking her up. And she's so damn impossible to wake up.

Punk music at the loudest level possible? Sleeps through it.

Flickering lights? Lights on full-blast, pointed in her face? Zzzz.

So far, the best way of waking her us is to pull her blankets off of her, and then I would shake her. This works. Woohoo!

But I'm not willing to rig up a blanket-pulling-mechanism that allows for the fact that some nights, she mummifies herself in there... so most blanket-pulling mechanisms risk breaking a bone of hers.

There needs to be an alarm that will go off regularly (like, every 5 minutes) for an hour, and is preferably attached to her body, since one of her favourite habits is to wake up, go to the couch, watch whatever is on and fall asleep there. She's so groggy when she does that, it's almost like sleep-walking; I don't think 'training her out of that habit' would work.

I can sometimes sleep very lightly, and she can sometimes need to get up at weird hours (3 a.m.), so if it wakes me up, I'll be grumpy.

I can think of nothing that will work.

Help, please. Do I need a Rube Goldberg machine involving canaries, a bucket of ice water, and a lit candle? Is divine intervention needed?

(the question written in conjunction with my unwakeable sibling herself).

Early morning riser I am not.

backseatpilot — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 19:42:59 -0800

Help me wake up with my alarm. I always start out with the best of intentions. I set an alarm, and for a couple of weeks I wake up on time. Then... I start slipping. Five minutes, ten minutes. Usually by the time it gets to be a problem my schedule changes again, which resets the pattern.

I don't hit the snooze button. I just let the alarm (currently set to the radio) play until I get out of bed.

Now, I've got a real job. I wake up at the same time every day, or I try to anyway. After six months, it now takes me about a half hour to get out of bed after my alarm goes off. I can still wake up on time if I know I'll miss something very important, though (like a flight - work isn't important enough to get me up). I really need a way to consistently wake up with my alarm!

So, what's worked for you? I've noticed I wake up more easily in summer, probably due to the fact that I keep my shades open and the sunrise wakes me. Other things that I've tried with mostly negative results:
-eliminating food and drink several hours before bed
-waking up to favorite music
-moving the alarm clock across the room
None of these really seem to help. I've been intrigued by that particular alarm clock that's supposed to wake you up at the correct point in your REM cycle (within a certain range from the time you set) - does this thing actually work at all?

Where can I find a "sunrise" alarm clock in the US?

JPigford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:24:02 -0800

Where can I find a "sunrise" alarm clock in the US? I'm looking for an alarm clock that uses light instead of sound to wake you up. Unfortunately the only thing I've found is this that ships from the UK.

good morning, good morning - it's great to stay up late

nanojath — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 11:43:35 -0800

Web-based alarm clock To encourage myself to put in daily work on a project at a time when I tend to be idly surfing the net, I'd like some widget that allows me to set an alarm that will activate only if I'm online at that time. Bonus points if I can customize the alarm sound with an MP3. I'm using Firefox on a Mac. Kludges acceptable if nobody has anything that fits my exact bill.

How can I wake up on time?

Newbornstranger — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 04:19:34 -0800

This is the second time I've turned off my alarm clock without consciously knowing it, and promptly returned to sleep. How can I wake up on time? My alarm clock is already obnoxiously loud, and across the room.

Colonial radio

synecdoche — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 23:01:56 -0800

Why is one station taking over all frequencies on my alarm clock radio? I like to listen to the local campus radio station, which is 88.7FM. My large stereo picks it up as clear as a bell. In the next room, I have a small clock radio which seems to be having issues. Sometimes it can pick it up, but the signal is very weak-- this doesn't surprise me, because, well, the big one has an external antenna and the little clock radio does not.

What puzzles me more is that recently, when I've tried to get 88.7 on the clock radio, another station seems to cut in. It is another local station, which usually is found at 94.3. What's more, this phantom station seems to take up quite a fair bit of the dial-- I can pick it up from as low as the dial will go up to in the low 90s, and then, of course, its regular frequency.

This is a bit frustrating for me, as I don't like that 94.3 station much, and it is a bit disconcerting to be listening to the one station, dozing off, and then waking up to a completely different station, especially one that should be a good distance away on my dial.

What causes this? And, more significantly, how can I fix it? I've learned that I can get a stronger signal by putting headphones into the headphone jack (though not far enough in for the audio to go to the phones) but that doesn't seem to help with this.

BONUS QUESTION: Is there anyway to get some kind of proper antenna on this little radio that has no obvious place to put an external antenna?

Anyone have experience with PC-based alarm clock software?

socratic — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 23:01:11 -0800

Does anyone have any first-hand experience with PC-based alarm clock software? I'm looking particularly for something that allows any number of alarms to be set, preferably on a schedule. Additionally, I need one that - this is key - unmutes the computer if it is muted. Bonus points if it integrates with iTunes playlists. This is sort of a follow-up to the favorite alarm clock question from a couple of weeks ago. I'm looking for Windows software, though Mac ideas are also welcome.