# Do you own a clock radio? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211 "2018-12-15T23:21:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/61 "2018-12-17T14:20:29Z")
I have one for two reasons. First, I don’t keep my phone in the bedroom. Second, using the radio as an alarm means I can adjust the volume so it’s quiet enough to not wake my wife, who doesn’t need to get up at the godawful hour I do. It’s also nice to be able to see the time from across the room in the early morning darkness, so I know if I need to speed things up to get out on time. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/62 "2018-12-17T14:29:11Z")
I recently bought a new one. It shows the time, and I can turn on the radio by just pushing one button. I really need it first thing in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/63 "2018-12-17T14:34:19Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > Yes. The [classic GE clock radio](https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-GE-Digital-7-4612A-Woodgrain/dp/B016APTSHO). I use it all the time. I can see the time easily without my glasses and I use the clock, the alarm, and the radio. Very handy little piece of technology, and I don’t have to worry about keeping the battery charged. Yep, that’s the one! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/64 "2018-12-17T14:53:31Z")
We have one that is so old, I can’t remember where it came from. It was in our attic for the longest time, but I recently got it out and play the radio when we leave our dog alone for a couple of hours. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/65 "2018-12-17T15:04:50Z")
I have two; one for getting up and another to remind me to go to work. (I’m afternoon/night shift) My wife has one to get up. We have an additional one in our one “hobby” room but more for the radio than the clock which has flashed 12 for the last three years. If you want to count it there is a clock in my boombox behind me (currently playing Savatage’s Dead Winter Dead). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/66 "2018-12-17T15:13:54Z")
I have a clock radio, and use it. (Actually two of them, one by my side of the bed in the master bedroom, and another by the guest bed, just in case.) They do the job. I suppose I could use my phone as my alarm (even my antique flip phone is capable of that) but I’d have to remember to have it on the bedside table. The clock radio is already there; I don’t have to remember to put it there. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/67 "2018-12-17T15:14:00Z")
Yes, but they were purchased long before phones were a solution. I personally just use my tablet which I take to bed with me. They are, however, my only working radios, and I do occasionally use them for that, as it’s more convenient to listen to the radio for winter closings while getting dressed than to try and find it online. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/68 "2018-12-17T15:31:37Z")
I use Amazon Echo or my phone as an alarm clock as needed. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/69 "2018-12-17T15:40:02Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > Yes. The [classic GE clock radio](https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-GE-Digital-7-4612A-Woodgrain/dp/B016APTSHO). I use it all the time. I can see the time easily without my glasses and I use the clock, the alarm, and the radio. Very handy little piece of technology, and I don’t have to worry about keeping the battery charged. > [@](#): > > Used (2) from $98.74 + $4.92 shipping Damn, $100 for a used clock radio?! Now I’m thinking, should I try to sell mine now - that’s exactly the clock radio I’ve got two of - or should I hang onto them and see if I can get $1000 for them a few years down the road? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/70 "2018-12-17T15:50:31Z")
I still prefer a clock radio to my smartphone, hands down. My phone has work apps on it and so must be unlocked before anything else can happen - way too much trouble for a non-morning person. The phone likely wouldn’t survive long… ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/71 "2018-12-17T16:01:07Z")
Yes, in the bedroom plugged in. We used it regularly as an alarm until about a year ago when we switched to using Google assistant. It has red LED lights, probably 30 years old. Never used the radio as the sound is awful. It is just there to show the time. Of course every time there is any kind of power outage or time change, I have to reset the pain in the ass with the little archaic buttons. And if I wanted to use the alarm, I had to figure out for both the clock and the alarm setting, which dot is am or pm. Probably the second clock radio I have owned in my life, the first was the kind with flipping real numbers. It was always a marvel to me that it worked at all. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/72 "2018-12-17T16:06:56Z")
Technically it is one - a multi-bandwidth receiver (short, medium and long wave in addition to AM and FM) that has a clock and an alarm function. Pretty sure it’s in a box in my storage room at the moment. I’d drag it out, but frankly I can get more world stations through a few good websites than I probably could with the old Radio Shack refugee. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/73 "2018-12-17T16:30:49Z")
I have a clock in just about every room of the house, since I don’t normally wear a wristwatch and I don’t carry my cell phone when I’m just bopping around at home. The ones in the master bedroom and one guest room are clock radios. However, I place a piece of cardboard in front of the one in the master bedroom while I sleep. I’m very sensitive to light sources at night. (I have taped over all the other light sources already, like the LEDs on the cable box and TV.) ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/74 "2018-12-17T16:35:30Z")
Yes. For the past three years I’ve used a [Philips Wake-Up Light](https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Simulation-Headspace-Subscription-HF3520/dp/B0093162RM/), and I have it set to wake me with the radio. The sound is what wakes me; the light helps keep me up. If I didn’t like the light so much I’d probably just use my phone. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/75 "2018-12-17T17:16:08Z")
Had one for like 20 years that died a couple of summers ago. Was going to buy another one but realized I really had no use for it, so I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/76 "2018-12-17T18:02:12Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Curious. Has anyone ever described “dismissing” an alarm clock or clock radio alarm? Dismiss, no. Give a good whack, yes. > [@kayaker](#): > > One day I found a little piece of plastic on the floor of our basement. I was concerned one of the dogs may have chewed something up. My gf confessed that she freaked out on her clock radio. She was trying to reset the time and kept having to start over. > > So, she took it down to the basement, raised it over her head, and slammed it to the ground. It broke, so she didn’t feel bad about throwing it away. Yes, she has anger management issues. QED. I feel her pain. Once I had a GE digital clock (not the ‘classic’ above) and it had no [bounce circuit](https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/technical-articles/switch-bounce-how-to-deal-with-it/) on any of the setting buttons, so it was next to impossible to set easily. Much later I had an ‘atomic’ clock from Oregon Scientific that synchronized to WWV. The buttons worked fine but it insisted that I go on DST in the spring, even though we don’t do that shit here in Arizona. I’d change it back to MST and a couple hours later it would have reset to MDT… for _weeks_ after the change over. I have dismissed both. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/77 "2018-12-17T19:04:14Z")
My uncle gave me this [Panasonic RC-150 clock-radio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6or3fRzv_NE) (link goes to YouTube video) as a hand-me-down when I turned 13. That was over 30 years ago. It still sits on my nightstand today. I don’t use the alarm or radio functions anymore, though both features still work. It’s just a nightstand clock for me. I’ve thought many times over the years about replacing it with something newer/fancier, but it just hasn’t ever been important enough. My wife has a fairly new clock-radio on her stand that is also a sound machine for when we sleep. On the very rare occasion we need an alarm, we just use Alexa for that. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/78 "2018-12-17T20:14:00Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Not only do I own one, it’s been the same one since 1977. It’s the oldest continually running item in our house, used everyday since then. > > My college roommate back then had a flip digit clock but it was quite loud when the numbers were flipping. My radio was the first affordable red LED clock radio I had seen. I bought it at Radio Shack for something like $30. > > I use both the alarm, which is a very loud buzzing klaxon, and the radio, but not together as clock radios were originally designed. For example, you were supposed to be able to listen to the radio for say 60 minutes as you fell asleep, but a flaw in the circuitry advanced the clock by one minute if you used that feature. > > Today the radio still works but if I bump one of the slider or volume switches it buzzes. I only listen to the local AM station for the news and weather before I get out of bed, but I’m more likely to use my phone as the alarm clock, since the only way to set the old clock radio was to advance the time by going forward. If you accidentally overshoot by a minute or two you get to see all 24 hours again. DST adjustments are a pain in the butt, as are any power outages. (Quoting myself): Since others are linking to photos, here’s mine from the 1977 Radio Shack Catalog. It’s the “Modern-Look LED digital”, original cost $49.95 (about $207 in 2018 dollars). [Radio Shack 1977 clock radios](http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1977/h138.html) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/79 "2018-12-17T20:18:25Z")
> [@Tempe\_Jeff](#): > > Of course I do. Folks who depend on their phone for an alarm? So, you roll over grab your phone, unlock it and stare at the screen? What a huge step backwards in convenience. I use a phone now. It never gets locked. All I have to do is give it a little shake and the alarm will silence. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211/80 "2018-12-17T21:23:23Z")
Sure. I don’t keep my cell near my bed. Also, I can see the numbers on the radio without my glasses if I wake up in the middle of the night. I don’t use it for a radio. I set it to wake to music, but turn it off as soon as it goes off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-clock-radio/826211.md?page=5)