Sony ICFC717PJ Nature Sounds Clock Radio, Silver

After reading all of the reviews, I decided to buy this above all of the others out there. Sony has always make a decent product, and I'm replacing a 20 year old one at that. It is a small alarm clock. Has two cords coming out of it (three if you hook up the am antenna). Doesn't take up much space on my nightstand. It projects the time (and an icon for any alarms that are turned on)on the ceiling. I consider myself an average guy, and the 10 hour auto off is not a problem, as it is on when I need it, at night if I stir in my sleep. If it didn't have the auto off, then there would be tons of dissatisfied folks complaining the light stops working after being turn on for two years straight. I keep the clock in what I consider a normal spot, with the clock facing slight towards the bed, and I prefer to swivel the projector on the ceiling, but I can shoot it across the room. The orientation of the image can be rotated using the button on the back, and it has a focus knob. It has two alarms, can be set for beep, nature sounds, or one of 5 of your preset radio stations. The feature I like is that you can set the volume level as well, meaning I can listen to my music at a decent level, and it will wake me to a louder one, which I do. As far as the nature sounds go, I tried them, after a while you can hear the loop it makes. The stream is not a great one to sleep to, as I woke up needing to use the bathroom when I use it. The display is blue, manually controlled with bright, dim, or off. when it's off the projector still works. The radio reception is great, picks up all of my stations with no problem, sound is not bad at all. Displays the time temp, and the active alarm(s). I personnally think this a great little radio clock, works well, and I like the design.

My wife has a problem, she is beginning to horde alarm clocks. We purchase a new one every year and sometimes twice a year after hearing her complain about the extreme brightness, or the projection breaking (this is what happens if it is always on, IT BREAKS!), or the sound of rushing water begins to sound as if we were sleeping next to a freeway with the occasional banshee screeching past. This clock is well made and does everything you... well I could want. It has 2 alarms (nice since my wife and I wake up an hour apart), you can adjust the brightness (nice since a shirt on the nightstand looks tacky), the sounds are great quality (you can barely tell the loop transition), the snooze bar is large and the time between wake ups are adjustable (nice for those days you just need 10 more minutes), it has a headphone jack to plug any type of mp3, ipod, or phone into (nice for all the Droid users out there), and most importantly the projection turns off automatically so you don't wear it out. I think this Christmas I will need to find another annual gift to get my wife.

Pros: - Fairly easy to set up - Has a weekday and weekend setting - Projection display on ceiling/wall is a nice feature and works well - Various sounds it makes are nice but not a selling point - Snooze button is large and easy to find - Automatic time setup works well Cons: - Projection of time only stays on for about 10 hours then goes off automatically so you have to remember to turn it on if you want it on for the night - Unless I missed it, the ONLY way to turn the alarm off (instead of "snoozing" it) is to fumble around for the button on the top (which is in a row of many other buttons the EXACT same size) to shut it off - VERY annoying - Display is either VERY bright, somewhat bright, or off. I found neither brightness setting low enough for sleeping so had to shut it off at night. So unless I turn on the projection time, I can't see what time it is at night - It is long and short and doesn't fit well on my nightstand Overall: - It works well and is easy to use - Its shortcomings did not outweigh its advantages for me so I kept it - If you can live with its Cons, it's a nice alarm

It's hard to find a clock radio that looks good and is able to project time unto the ceiling. Of the four that I have owned, all in the same location in my CBS building, it is the only one where the automatic time update ever worked. The projection is fantastic on my ceiling - with all of the numbers being legible. It has a clean design and a small footprint. And it's relatively easy to use, something that I cannot say about the other ones that I have owned. I feel that the backlit display is too bright at night (too much light pollution from so many devices) and the 8 hour auto shutoff for the projector is too short (it doesn't make it through the evening and the night) are downsides, but they are by far outweighed by the pro's of this clock radio.

I am so sorry that I bought this clock. It has disappointed me on almost every level. The design of the clock is fine. It's compact, sleek, and looks nice on my night table. That's where the positives end. The blue background of the clock readout makes it almost impossible to read. I have to be within 12 inches or so to read the time or temperature. There's no way to read it from the other side of the bed, never mind the other side of the room. The light from the clock is way too bright. It's like having a light on in the room at night. The projection readout is good. It's easy to read on the ceiling, and the blinking of the colon doesn't bother me. I don't like that it turns off after ten hours. What's the reason for this? My husband and I sleep on different schedules, and if the early sleeper turns it on, it goes off before the late sleeper wakes up. The sound of the radio is horrible. It's tinny and sounds cheap. Also, the volume does not go high enough. I'd never purchase this item again, and I wouldn't recommend it.