I worked at a Sony store a decade ago, and, while it wasn't this machine, I did sell one of its predecessors to a nice old gent who...just wanted a clock radio.
I was thinking along those lines the other day there's never going to be any more physical media products developed now or anything associated with them like types of home stereos or variants or that you don't see the Japanese companies like you did in the 80's and 90's pushing out new stuff Makes we wonder too what cool types of digital media players we could have got if Sony had gone head to head with Apple after the release of the iPod Crazy to think that( software aside) they both competed with nearly identical products in the computer world We might not even HAVE Apple as we know it today but Sony instead
@@joeomalley1969Yeah and Sony owned major music labels so they could have had content for MP3 based Walkmans. But they were stubborn and stuck with CDs that quickly became obsolete. Plus when they did switch to the MP3 format they used their own proprietary media like Mini disks and Memory Sticks that were too expensive.
It’s really sad to see a lot of the old big name companies just not making what they use too, I want Sony, panasonic, Toshiba, sharp, etc, electronics, not no name Amazon trash
Their quality also dropped significantly. Look at AKAI, for example, and the joke they are today. I heard that some other company bought them and they are using their name to sell crap because the real AKAI brand was known for high quality products. Now it's the opposite. It is not the same company anymore.
@@vdochevAkai, Nakamichi, Hitachi (consumer products) Advent and Blaupunkt are just some of the once great brand names currently being used to foist fab trash on to the unassuming public.
I used to use one of these every day since 2015. It’s a great clock radio for basic needs. I upgraded to the C1PJ I found in a thrift store for $4, it has the features of the C1T along with a projector and nature sounds. Still use it to this day.
As a person from Rochester New York I was taken aback to hear WHAM 1180 just pop up on your radio x3 I hear it every morning for local news and traffic reports. I always forget how far AM can travel at night. WHAM used to be very proud of how powerful the signal was. It was a big slogan of theirs that they broadcast at “full power 50 thousand watts 24/7” Fun fact, George Eastman, the founder and creator of Kodak, helped give it the callsign WHAM, because he thought it was a fantastic marketing tool.
I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. We also had a radio station that was very powerful (and popular). Every hour, on the hour, they'd proudly announce, "You're listening to eleven sixty, fifty thousand watt clear channnel KSL. The best of everything." The radio station was the sister station of KSL TV channel 5.
I'm still using a Sony Dream Machine to get me out of bed every morning. Now that the alarm doesn't go on once in a while, I've been looking for a replacement. However, there are no fun, colorful clock radios that were plentiful several decades ago. I ended up having to pick up an NOS one off of eBay.
It might be as simple as an alarm switch with dirty contacts. That's the most common issue with vintage alarm clocks. You can tell that's the problem if the alarm indicator flickers as you move the switch. A little DeoxIT will fix that.
@@volvo09 I'll have to try the contact cleaner on my alarm clock as well, as I also have a GE with the teal VFD that is mid-80's. Probably the same model you got! The buttons have gotten wonky on that thing over the years, but sure as heck don't want to junk it. Also has a bit of sentimental value to me as it was one of the last gifts I got from my grandparents before they past. Also to add. It is still in use on my nightstand, but hardly use it as an alarm anymore due to the wonky buttons (my Apple Watch is pretty much my alarm now when I need one).
I have an ONWA alarm clock with an integrated colour TV from the 80's. I have it hooked up to a modern cable box with internal storage full of music videos which play at random.
After seeing this video I got obsessed with this thing and finally found one pretty cheap on a local marketplace (I live in Brasil so I had almost no hope of finding one) thank you for contributing to my tech hoarding tendencies.
I'm not sure what happened in the world of vwestlife, but I love the snazziness that's been making its way into the new videos :) thank you for doing what you do!!!
I have the FM/DAB version of that model waking me up for close to 10 years now. External power brick, buttons on all sides, weird to use. But basically working perfectly fine and it fits my cubistic taste too.
He will learn to hate this clock in very short period of time. See what I did there? A non-functional clock keeps accurate time twice a day. When I wake up at 7:25Am every morning I know it's the correct time.
5:54 this is the compelling content that I come to RUclips for! No joke. I'm the kind of nerd who listens to a shortwave radio signal of the time at midnight on New Year's Eve just to hear the automated voice say it's zero hours, zero minutes, universal coordinated time. Okay, I'm in the eastern part of North America so I'm doing that at 7pm local time.
I have had this clock since 2017 ( around the time I first watched this channel) bought it when I was in middle school, now in the middle of college and this thing is still used as my personal Almar clock, and listening to am radio stations.
Dang, that's literally my alarm clock because I wanted an actual radio alarm clock that isn't just my phone :) It does exactly what I want it to do, and that's why I like it.
I had the dream machine cube from 1984 until 2017 when the VFD gave up on it , I bought this same clock you feature in this video to replace it, you are correct, the controls are quirky , but its reliable as all get out , I detest having my phone in the bedroom so I hope this clock lasts for a long time , its how I get up for work in the morning lol. Great product , loved this video
I have a Sony Dream Machine ICF-C705 which I purchased 12 years ago and it's great. Using it as my alarm clock since high school to this day. It has never failed me in these 12 years, and hope will serve me well for many years to come.
Yah, they last a long time. I had a 1990ish dual-alarm cassette Dream Machine for about 30 years, until the circuit board broke off under the (hard-to-press) clock set button. My brother still uses it in his garage; I'm not sure if he soldered the board back together, or if he just plugs it in at midnight to set the time. He also has one in his bedroom (we both got them as kids), still functioning normally. Meanwhile I replaced mine with a Sony ICF-C318. Purely a clock radio, but with nice big green numbers for the clock within its oval front, and a very readable radio dial below it. Sure it doesn't sound great, but it does what I need it to do. And I have a much better-sounding radio within reach too, if I want to actually listen to the radio in bed.
I have been using this clock radio for years. The gentle start of the alarm sound is very nice. And it will delay the next alarm with 10 extra minutes each time you press snooze. Perfect if you are a slow starter like me and decide to wake up a little later. Also DST has been working great all these years.
I remember we sold Dream Machines back at Fry's. Black, white, blue, red, green, yellow. It was pretty nice. I've got an old 92 GE Alarm Clock so I never needed one, but these always did look cool.
Got a Watchman with an alarm clock and AM/FM tuner. Awesome bedside unit that you can set to sleep after 60 minutes - perfect for falling asleep to some black and white OTA TV (with the converter box ofc)
i have a version of this and i’m dull enough to admit that it is my second favorite alarm clock. it has not one, but two independent alarms, and the least frustrating user interface i’ve ever encountered. the orange LEDs are legible, but not painfully bright. an all around excellent Cube
It's funny that Nintendo made a big splash doing what is basically the same thing with a color screen, while Sony is continuing to get out of the business. The power of branding!
Hey now, Hey now..I've have 2 Dream Machines (neither are cubes), the basic ICF-C233 & the Cadillac of all DMs, the ICF-CL75iP which has: video screen, USB & SD card inputs, & an Ipod Dock! Both rock solid units & still work great. The down side of the ICF-CL75iP is it has a big power brick that's hard-wired to the clock.
This is really weird - My family have 4 of these, except for the fact that they're the ICF-C1T version with 2 alarms and the mirrored finish, bough all in 2016 after all our other battery powered clocks stopped working. Amazing, reliable and simple clocks, that are modern, easy to use and wear really well. Sitting right next to it whilst writing this!
It’s sad that Sony and many Japanese electronics manufacturers have mostly downsized since smart devices have made those consumer products like clock radios redundant. But I’m glad Sony is still selling these radios, despite being manufactured in China. It’s still better than nothing from Sony!
Progress isn't sad. I used a Craig clock radio for 15 yrs until it stopped being loud enough to wake me up. Then I went through a slew of alarm clocks, none of them working for me. Finally, I succumbed to using my phone, and it works the best at not making me late for work.
@ I like progress in technology, but I don’t like using my smartphone replacing a simple and reliable clock radio that can be shared with my kids, I don’t want internet connected devices on every modern electronic device!
I have one of those, it runs fast. I have to subtract a couple minutes every so often. I put it in my tv stand since I don't have a VCR or anything with a clock on it anymore. It looks pretty cool, like the numbers are just floating there.
I have one of these! I love the thing. It's actually remarkable how well it is at doing its job. The clock is clear, stays in sync, the radio sounds good for a box, the shape makes it easy to locate the button on top, as does the button itself, and it looks good! It doesn't look like a clock radio. Mine, however, did not come with factory preset time :(
I have the Sony DAB+ Clock Radio XDR-C1DBP It's a fantastic clock radio and was I surprised to see it has been disconnected I enjoy listening to the extra digital stations that are available in my area.
I just bought the DAB+ version of this model. I wanted a SONY! No crappy no name radio and it arrived today. What a blast! DAB+ channels! SONY premium! Now I need a portable one from SONY! Thanks! The good thing about radio? It just works, no overthinking which playlist to play and you dont need a subscription.
Hey, finally a product I own and use on the channel! I've been using it for years now, works fine and the automatic DST feature is quite nice, one less clock that needs setting.
Good review and thanks for sharing! It’s sad that Sony is capable of producing a much higher quality product as they already did decades ago. I suspect that it’s due to the fact that it’s a poor selling product because most people use their cellphone as their alarm clock. I guess that you sometimes you don’t know what you got until it is gone. Thank goodness for thrift stores! I picked up a 1980’s Wesclox dialite analog alarm clock. It glows dimly with warm yellow light that makes it easy to read in the dark. It keeps perfect time and best of all it keeps me from needing to look at my phone at night.
In the UK this version is currently £30 on Amazon normally £36, the mirrored version is £80 but that does come with DAB and also has a USB port for charging phones. It's a shame Sony cheaped out on a lot of their electronics. they still can do the high quality gear like with their TV's, DAP's and headphones etc, you need some deep pockets though. They brought out a 100 inch TV a couple of years ago for £20k....a little too rich for my taste.
We've had one of these for over five years now, and it was the most unintuitive device we've ever encountered. But, we figured it out and it works fine. Not your typical Sony product, but the price is right.
I would agree! I bought this for my young son when he was in about the 3rd grade. Very unintuitive to say the least! It was frustrating to use and quickly ended up in a drawer.
I'm legally blind and the text being the same color as the plastic, or really whatever material, the electronic device is made out of is one of the most frustrating things to me to deal with. Especially when it's a small device like that clock radio or it's on the back of an electronic device that you have to plug cords into and you can't turn easily. I have to memorize just about everything nowadays, and if I'm not changing it or using the function enough, I don't remember it later when I need to use it. It seems like it would be so easy for companies to just make white text on the usually raised lettering and have the black plastic background or visa versa. Brian in Fort Worth 🎶
There is a specific reason for why the lettering is inset instead of topset on the sides. That's because the casing is injection moulded, so they have to make sure it can be ejected from the mould without getting stuck. Adding white paint would add another sequence of rotating the device and another programming of a different type of painting in instead of on. But I hear ya I too struggle to read it, even though I'm not quite legally blind yet (according to the law).
You could try lightly painting the letters yourself so they're easier to see. Though of course, the paint will wear off over time. (I did something like this with an older micro-USB cable, so I could see which side was up. It had a recessed USB logo on the "top" side of the (white) plug, so I rubbed a bit of pencil lead into it to make it easier to see.)
I own one of these. I like the nice dim amber display, the gradual alarm and auto DST function. You can press the snooze button repeatedly, it'll increase the snooze time by 10 minutes at every button press. However, it runs a little too fast so eventually it doesn't show the correct time anymore. It being a Sony, I expected it would synchronize to the AC power input but apparently they omitted that. Radio tuning is quite poor; not accurate at all. And it can drift too, so in stead of waking up to your favourite radio station you'll hear static. Good luck waking up to that ;) I only use the buzzer to wake me up. Display is nice. I use the radio only occasionally. So in the end I still keep it :)
Always love watching your reviews of various electronic devices to see what they’re like! Sony did sell that model here in Australia but like everything now Sony is mostly TVs and PlayStation products and just about nothing else! Gone are the days of their decent HiFi components and systems. Sadly most Japanese companies have dropped their HiFi products these days! As far as clock radios go, nothing beats the GE ones from the 80’s and 90’s. They were very popular here!
Their hifi on amps revceiver are one of the best of the world actually. The STR-AN1000 is an example of rewarded av on the receivers world and it´s 8k.
I've had this exact model since about 2016, The buzzer means it's the weekend as during the week I have to use the alarm on my phone and put it on the other side of the room or else I just smash the snooze button, Could move the clock but it wouldn't look right. Also had no idea what the sleep timer was for so thank you.
I didn’t know they completely stopped using the Dream Machine name, it’s something that is typical Sony just like the Walkman line. Unfortunate to see how everything Sony is pretty much gone nowadays. This seems like a pretty good model though, the benefit of it being an older model is that it just works as intended. At least it doesn’t force an internet connection!
I have used this exact clock for years. Its main purpose is to wake me up in the morning, It works great because it forces me to get out of bed to turn off the alarm.
It's amazing how many products have been basically replaced by smartphones - cameras, camcorders, alarm clocks, walkmans, just to name a few. It's unfortunate Sony was not able to be more successful with their phones.
8:30 I prefer such a gradual alarm. Gentle wake-up but if that doesn’t do the trick for a heavy sleeper, the louder sound is only a few seconds delayed.
Sony's current leadership has adopted the Jack Welch mindset of weeding out profitable-but-not-profitable-enough product lines, as well as Sony's desire to be an image-conscious "lifestyle" brand. Playstation is trendy, Sony is unburdened by what has been.
I've been using this exact model for years. I hate using phones as an alarm clock -- I've had them lock up or randomly change time zones if I'm too close to a border. This thing is perfect. Gradual alarm, dim display, and it just works. I added a little dab of hotglue to the Alarm Reset button so I could find it easier in the dark. I don't get how people are ok with opening their eyes and looking at a screen to turn their alarm off every morning. Actually wanted to get a second one for the spare bedroom. I also like how you can stack the snoozes -- press it twice to get 20 minutes right off the bat.
Owning one of these, this alarm sound sends chills downs my spine when I hear it. I’ve never heard an alarm clock so quiet that could manage to jolt me out of a deep sleep like this can. Although, I will say that I have managed to pick up AM stations through the dumb digital tuner rather accurately, picking stations clearly all the way up in NYC and Chicago from my location North Georgia. Not a necessarily bad product, just underwhelming in comparison to its ancestors. Good video.
I got an ICF C1 a few years ago when I finally decided to replace my 90s Dream Machine. It’s basic but it gets the job done well! I wish I got the white one though! Looks so much better than the black finish. I had no clue that they basically stopped selling alarm clocks! Such a shame.
You might have just convinced me to get one of these. I like my 90s-vintage Westclox that has woken me up hundreds of times, but the green LED display is on the bright side, and something dimmable would be nice. Plus it just looks nice, and I like the gentle alarm beep.
I have a rather wild cheap alarm clock. the time display varies from bright to completely off, all on a dial, so you can vary it a great deal. I typically leave it completely off as I sleep, and when I wake up I slide it back on, to light the room up enough. I think it has five different alarms with varying loudness, and I play one that's like two notes short of being the first full verse of a popular Christian song. It doesn't have any radio. Lol, turns out I bought it for $12. I bought this last June, and my initial history for amazon didn't bring it up, so I looked for 'clock'. Turns out my history has another clock in there, and it's called the Sonic BOMB, and it bombs. We bought it for mother because she was deaf, and you could hook up a round vibrator that would go off to wake her up instead of the blast noise. It has a pretty radical design to it. Check this out: ruclips.net/video/Vfbgm67l-mI/видео.html It's like an air raid going off.
I wanted a bedside clock radio that didn't put out excessive ambient light at night compared with other clock radios that used blue/white displays. This model fit the bill at first. Packaging and presentation is typical Sony that I remembered during their golden age. As I've owned several trinitron CRT televisions, VCR players, digital cameras, car audio, and home audio. The only problem with this particular clock radio is that it doesn't keep time. After a few months, it ends up being about 15 minutes fast. How Sony has fallen, how a simple appliance with a single task doesn't even accomplish that well.
I had one of these about ten years ago, or at least a version of it. It had a cool silver-mirror screen and orange digits that shone through. I liked it a lot, although it was eventually replaced with a bedside Google smart clock. Of course, that smart clock is now on a shelf, and a nice old Sony SW radio has taken its place on my nightstand.....
Great video. Shame I don't really need it. I have my alarm clock I bought in 1987 when I graduated high school and then got a job I had to be up for. It's been in continuous daily use since 1987, all through college, various jobs and moves. Decent reception. Gets nice and loud and the elements don't seem to have dimmed, though I cannot compare it when new other than my faulty memory. It's built with pretty thick plastic. I punch down on the sleep button pretty hard.
They don't make stuff like they used to. When I was in grad school in the mid-'90s, I bought a microwave from another student who was moving. She'd gotten it from her sister. I looked at the sticker inside the door, and it was made by Panasonic in 1986. I kept that thing until 2002, when I brought it to the nonprofit where I worked, since my apartment had one. That thing is still there and works as well as it ever did. I have no doubt it'll make it to 40 years old.
@@MarionStevensJr I still use an early 80s microwave my parents gave me. It was the first microwave they ever bought. I used it as a kid. But they wanted a new one that looked different, so they gave it to me in the 90s.
Online one can see Chinese audio-video products that seem to be quite popular, like compact region-free DVD players, or compact CD players that resemble vinyl turntables, or shelf systems with a CD player and integrated speakers. I would not mind having one of these for myself, but cannot get past something like "LONPOO". Even worse when the label is not easily removable. If it had the "Sony" label, I would consider buying it. If I cannot de-badge my stuff, I want to see a respectable brand name on it.
I bought one of these 2nd hand a few years ago for a couple of quid. Only used it as a display clock, never as an alarm clock. It was pretty decent, it did it's job. 😅
i bought one of those for my daughter when she was late for high school because she had been using her phone as an alarm. it did the trick and she liked it enough to bring it to college. my older dream machine with green leds has a permanent place on my nightstand.
I have something very similarly looking, but much more advanced the XDR-C1DBP/BC. It has DAB+, automatic clock setting, 5 presets, and ramping up volume for the radio when the alarm goes. It also has a usb port on the side for device charging.
I have this exact model on my nightstand and it's been a great product. I love the auto DST feature, how well it receives a variety of stations, and the fact that it has a backup battery. I can't tell you how many times I had to adjust my previous clock due to power outages or even a semi-common 1 second blip in power. I always find if charming to hear a different song pop up on my favorite station while waking up. Despite that praise for some reason its time gets ahead of my phone's clock by a min every couple months, so much so that it's about 23 minutes ahead right now! Aside from all that, I definitely agree, now is the time to buy this product if you want a Sony clock radio. It was kind of surprising to see that the date code on your unit was quite recent, I was expecting it to be new old stock!
I love its cube shape design. I might pick one up before they are gone. I also have an 80s digital clock radio that still works, General Electric 7-4643A. Still works great after all of these years.
I have a Sony Dream Machine I picked up in the early 2010s that's still alive and kicking, and even on the original CR2032 backup battery. It also self-adjusts for Daylight Saving Time like the ICF-C1. I doubt I paid more than 30 bucks for it but it just keeps on going. It even has the same alarm sound.
I have an ICF-C1PJ, which i believe is a top of the line model of these. It comes with a projector on the side where the speaker goes on yours, and even if i need my glasses, i can clearly see the time in the ceiling at night without putting them on. The two alarm feature on the C1PJ is very handy for me as i have different time schedules at work every second week. The auto DST is also a very neat feature, although i admit the time setting is a bit unorthodox. It's a clever and pretty good clock radio over all, especially since i found it at a local second hand store (or thrift store as you would say) for 5 bucks!
My family has several Dream Machines. Two older cube types (that are not this one), two that look like more typical clock radios, and one with a CD player. They all still work, and are in guest bedrooms and rooms where we just want a radio. Wanted to get this one but I need a manual "on/off" switch so it comes on from a timer.
Wow. Didn’t realize you were that close to me. I’m outside Rochester. Love those 50,000 watt am stations. Picked it up once in Florida at night, back in the 60s.
The DST feature and aesthetics are great. It would be nice if they brought back the Dailymate, albeit with a radio function. The DST would be a problem in the few countries that don't have DST.
I've been buying old Sony radios, cleaning them up and replacing capacitors, and just trying them out. A lot of their older stuff is great. Been using the ~1988 ICF-C2W for the past 6 months.
I have a Dream Machine ICF-C218 which I've had for years and still does everything I want - except the rocker switch to set the alarm time only works in one direction now.
I bought an ICF-C1 longer ago than I can remember. It's been handed across my family so much that it's ended up back at my parent's place- naturally, still working perfectly. Gonna miss Sony's lineup of clock radios.
I have the ''twin alarm'' model that i had as a christmas gift last year . i wanted something small and easy to use ...It definitely ticks the box ! And the DST mode is a plus .. i set the date and clock one time , set the DST to ''On'' , and that's it ! the rest is done automatically . However , where i live , the FM radio has some issues to receive local stations (especially for a station that is nearby and usually can be received 100% without any antenna ) , with that clock radio i need to place it on the side of my bedroom window . I don't know if it's a defect or something , but apart from that issue ,i love that clock radio .
I used to have one of these. The tiny buttons and volume/tuning wheels made it not very nice to use, but it was an aesthetically pleasing little cube. I prefer the off-white 90s dream machines though.
I have a 20-year-old somewhat smaller long model of this radio with a blue display, and what I like about it is it has external antenna contacts so I can attach an AM antenna and an FM antenna and the footprint is very small, great product!
Im Gen Z and even I remember having a sony clock radio. I miss them so much, and it's hard to find a quality one nowadays. I still find them extremely useful especially in horrible weather conditions where having a radio in your home is almost necessary.
Sony products have always been well designed and visually appealing. Of course the market for consumers electronics has changed markedly in recent years. Sony appears to have become less innovative compared to a time when it led the market with products like the Walkman and Trinitron TVs. Can the company return to producing a raft of desirable products in the coming years ? I don’t know but there is definitely space in the consumer electronics / appliances market for better products. Having bought a number of items in recent years that didn’t last, it reminded of one of the strengths of Sony products in that they lasted a very long time. I still have a number of there products that are still going after 20 years of usage.
I had one of these back in 2016 after I graduated. Im not sure about them not changing this since 2015 however. Unless mine was older. As mine had a long thin cable to have to use as an atenna. I do remember not really liking it because it didnt have a 24hr mode and thats been my preference for about a decade. Thanks for the video.
Honestly, if it wasn't for the PlayStation then Sony would be out of business by now. They used to make quality products but in the 2000s they got worse. I used to own Sony mini stereos but the CD player motors kept breaking. That's why I now stream music... BTW, I still use a clock radio to wake up because you can't rely on a smartphone that's not charged up. Plus it has an AUX port so I can plug in my phone with an audio cable. That gives my streamed music a warmer sound coming through the radio's speaker than using the harsher sounding phone.
sony has a big semiconductor division that makes the best cmos image sensors that come in products such as the iphone. no other image sensors offer 4 pixel autofocus like sony.
I’ve had one of these for a while and I can’t say I’ve been too happy with it. The time will consistently drift forward about a minute or so every month. It’s kind of just been a routine of mine to set it back to the correct time every now and then. I feel like a modern digital clock should be much more accurate than this
Same here. I wonder why they don't just use the line frequency for the clock which would be much more accurate. Now I use a 1979 (or 1980) digital alarm clock which is much better. The Sony looks cool, that's all.
Digital clocks and watches are all driven by a quartz crystal. The better made time pieces, such as say, Citizen Watches, are made in Japan and can keep time astonishingly well, but I imagine this thing is made in China and so the quality control on the crystal circuit is reflective of that. But even if it's a quality unit there is always variance in the crystal-driven clocks, even if they came off the same assembly line one after the other.
I received a Sony Dream Machine alarm clock as a present in middle school and I've used it nearly every day since then. That was nearly 25 years ago and I have no plans to replace it any time soon.
Yes, the original cube radios received AM very well. People would DX with them. Mine had a piece of wire antenna coming out the back. Remember the Sony Style Catalogs?
I have a Sony ICF-C233 with backlit LCD display purchased decades ago at Circuit City. Still working. I no longer need to set alarms, but I like the low-light clock display. I will be sad if this stops working.
I was surprised to see the DST feature work, I thought they extended it by 4 weeks several years ago which would change the dates of the switchover. There is usually built in calendar data that doesn’t get updated through Wi-Fi or from a radio signal to synchronize the time. Does the radio also have the gradual wake up alarm? I still have a Panasonic Clock Radio with the “tender wake” feature and a real analog tuner, it has served me well for many years.
I worked at a Sony store a decade ago, and, while it wasn't this machine, I did sell one of its predecessors to a nice old gent who...just wanted a clock radio.
I mean it's plenty if you just want a radio for a talk show. it's not that bad.
Growing up, the Sony Store was THE place we went to to see the newest tech we could only dream of affording.
I remember the Sony store in our local mall. Loved going in there…shame it closed but time goes on
I loved Sony audio products, and have owned several of them. I'm 69 years old, and It's sad to see what happened to Sony.
Sony made the coolest audio and video electronics
I was thinking along those lines the other day there's never going to be any more physical media products developed now or anything associated with them like types of home stereos or variants or that you don't see the Japanese companies like you did in the 80's and 90's pushing out new stuff
Makes we wonder too what cool types of digital media players we could have got if Sony had gone head to head with Apple after the release of the iPod
Crazy to think that( software aside) they both competed with nearly identical products in the computer world
We might not even HAVE Apple as we know it today but Sony instead
@@joeomalley1969Yeah and Sony owned major music labels so they could have had content for MP3 based Walkmans. But they were stubborn and stuck with CDs that quickly became obsolete. Plus when they did switch to the MP3 format they used their own proprietary media like Mini disks and Memory Sticks that were too expensive.
@@joeomalley1969phones are the new physical media 😂
At least they're doing better than Philips
It’s really sad to see a lot of the old big name companies just not making what they use too, I want Sony, panasonic, Toshiba, sharp, etc, electronics, not no name Amazon trash
Their quality also dropped significantly. Look at AKAI, for example, and the joke they are today. I heard that some other company bought them and they are using their name to sell crap because the real AKAI brand was known for high quality products. Now it's the opposite. It is not the same company anymore.
@@vdochevAkai, Nakamichi, Hitachi (consumer products) Advent and Blaupunkt are just some of the once great brand names currently being used to foist fab trash on to the unassuming public.
@vdochev today aiwa also rebranding Chinese brand, yes aiwa still exist if you look at their official website
@@vdochev I've owned a few Akai products--a receiver and perhaps a reel to reel tape deck. They lasted a long time.
@@scooterboi8761 As I said, old AKAI products have great quality. The new ones, not so much because it's not the real company.
I used to use one of these every day since 2015. It’s a great clock radio for basic needs. I upgraded to the C1PJ I found in a thrift store for $4, it has the features of the C1T along with a projector and nature sounds. Still use it to this day.
As a person from Rochester New York I was taken aback to hear WHAM 1180 just pop up on your radio x3 I hear it every morning for local news and traffic reports. I always forget how far AM can travel at night.
WHAM used to be very proud of how powerful the signal was. It was a big slogan of theirs that they broadcast at “full power 50 thousand watts 24/7”
Fun fact, George Eastman, the founder and creator of Kodak, helped give it the callsign WHAM, because he thought it was a fantastic marketing tool.
Rochester, represent! I am also from Rochester and was excited to hear it (and its radio station) mentioned :-)
I normally listen to WBER :-D
I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. We also had a radio station that was very powerful (and popular). Every hour, on the hour, they'd proudly announce, "You're listening to eleven sixty, fifty thousand watt clear channnel KSL. The best of everything." The radio station was the sister station of KSL TV channel 5.
I'm still using a Sony Dream Machine to get me out of bed every morning. Now that the alarm doesn't go on once in a while, I've been looking for a replacement. However, there are no fun, colorful clock radios that were plentiful several decades ago. I ended up having to pick up an NOS one off of eBay.
It might be as simple as an alarm switch with dirty contacts. That's the most common issue with vintage alarm clocks. You can tell that's the problem if the alarm indicator flickers as you move the switch. A little DeoxIT will fix that.
I did the same thing. My alarm clock is a NOS GE from the mid 80's with a teal VFD.
@@volvo09 My parents used to have a very similar one, I believe. I always thought it looked very cool.
@@volvo09 I'll have to try the contact cleaner on my alarm clock as well, as I also have a GE with the teal VFD that is mid-80's. Probably the same model you got! The buttons have gotten wonky on that thing over the years, but sure as heck don't want to junk it. Also has a bit of sentimental value to me as it was one of the last gifts I got from my grandparents before they past. Also to add. It is still in use on my nightstand, but hardly use it as an alarm anymore due to the wonky buttons (my Apple Watch is pretty much my alarm now when I need one).
I have an ONWA alarm clock with an integrated colour TV from the 80's. I have it hooked up to a modern cable box with internal storage full of music videos which play at random.
After seeing this video I got obsessed with this thing and finally found one pretty cheap on a local marketplace (I live in Brasil so I had almost no hope of finding one) thank you for contributing to my tech hoarding tendencies.
If you ever come across an ICF-C10W, grab it. It's an early-80s Sony cube, which (IMO) has really nice sound.
I'm not sure what happened in the world of vwestlife, but I love the snazziness that's been making its way into the new videos :) thank you for doing what you do!!!
I have the FM/DAB version of that model waking me up for close to 10 years now. External power brick, buttons on all sides, weird to use. But basically working perfectly fine and it fits my cubistic taste too.
Same!
I have one. I bought it in London many years ago, so I guess it was a brand new product back then. I love it for the display.
I have the one you show at fifty two seconds, same color, still works fine. It was a gift around 1988.
who knew a tiny little box with a display could bring you joy and happiness
He will learn to hate this clock in very short period of time. See what I did there? A non-functional clock keeps accurate time twice a day.
When I wake up at 7:25Am every morning I know it's the correct time.
5:54 this is the compelling content that I come to RUclips for!
No joke.
I'm the kind of nerd who listens to a shortwave radio signal of the time at midnight on New Year's Eve just to hear the automated voice say it's zero hours, zero minutes, universal coordinated time. Okay, I'm in the eastern part of North America so I'm doing that at 7pm local time.
Thank you! Just changed the battery. Had no idea where it was. I have the mirrored one.
I have had this clock since 2017 ( around the time I first watched this channel) bought it when I was in middle school, now in the middle of college and this thing is still used as my personal Almar clock, and listening to am radio stations.
Dang, that's literally my alarm clock because I wanted an actual radio alarm clock that isn't just my phone :) It does exactly what I want it to do, and that's why I like it.
I remember my dad getting one of these for christmas in 1983. Love the cube design
I had the dream machine cube from 1984 until 2017 when the VFD gave up on it , I bought this same clock you feature in this video to replace it, you are correct, the controls are quirky , but its reliable as all get out , I detest having my phone in the bedroom so I hope this clock lasts for a long time , its how I get up for work in the morning lol. Great product , loved this video
I have a Sony Dream Machine ICF-C705 which I purchased 12 years ago and it's great. Using it as my alarm clock since high school to this day. It has never failed me in these 12 years, and hope will serve me well for many years to come.
Yah, they last a long time. I had a 1990ish dual-alarm cassette Dream Machine for about 30 years, until the circuit board broke off under the (hard-to-press) clock set button. My brother still uses it in his garage; I'm not sure if he soldered the board back together, or if he just plugs it in at midnight to set the time. He also has one in his bedroom (we both got them as kids), still functioning normally.
Meanwhile I replaced mine with a Sony ICF-C318. Purely a clock radio, but with nice big green numbers for the clock within its oval front, and a very readable radio dial below it. Sure it doesn't sound great, but it does what I need it to do. And I have a much better-sounding radio within reach too, if I want to actually listen to the radio in bed.
I picked this thing up years ago at Walmart because I liked the orange display. Nice and gentle on the eyes at night
I have been using this clock radio for years. The gentle start of the alarm sound is very nice. And it will delay the next alarm with 10 extra minutes each time you press snooze. Perfect if you are a slow starter like me and decide to wake up a little later. Also DST has been working great all these years.
I remember we sold Dream Machines back at Fry's. Black, white, blue, red, green, yellow. It was pretty nice. I've got an old 92 GE Alarm Clock so I never needed one, but these always did look cool.
Got a Watchman with an alarm clock and AM/FM tuner. Awesome bedside unit that you can set to sleep after 60 minutes - perfect for falling asleep to some black and white OTA TV (with the converter box ofc)
i have a version of this and i’m dull enough to admit that it is my second favorite alarm clock. it has not one, but two independent alarms, and the least frustrating user interface i’ve ever encountered. the orange LEDs are legible, but not painfully bright. an all around excellent Cube
I just found out my Dream Machine ICF-CD7000 can play MP3 CDs! This video inspired me to look up the instruction manual... Thanks, VWestlife!
i bought this a few years ago and still use it today, unaware it is their last currently o.o
Same, I had no clue either. Now I wish I got one of their nicer models while they were still on sale rather than this lol.
Anything Sony produced that was MADE IN JAPAN is brilliant. Particularly early ES series HiFi. Totally flawless.
It's funny that Nintendo made a big splash doing what is basically the same thing with a color screen, while Sony is continuing to get out of the business. The power of branding!
Hey now, Hey now..I've have 2 Dream Machines (neither are cubes), the basic ICF-C233 & the Cadillac of all DMs, the ICF-CL75iP which has: video screen, USB & SD card inputs, & an Ipod Dock! Both rock solid units & still work great. The down side of the ICF-CL75iP is it has a big power brick that's hard-wired to the clock.
This is really weird - My family have 4 of these, except for the fact that they're the ICF-C1T version with 2 alarms and the mirrored finish, bough all in 2016 after all our other battery powered clocks stopped working. Amazing, reliable and simple clocks, that are modern, easy to use and wear really well. Sitting right next to it whilst writing this!
1:07 finally a chance to use the stamp!
It’s sad that Sony and many Japanese electronics manufacturers have mostly downsized since smart devices have made those consumer products like clock radios redundant. But I’m glad Sony is still selling these radios, despite being manufactured in China. It’s still better than nothing from Sony!
Progress isn't sad. I used a Craig clock radio for 15 yrs until it stopped being loud enough to wake me up. Then I went through a slew of alarm clocks, none of them working for me. Finally, I succumbed to using my phone, and it works the best at not making me late for work.
@ I like progress in technology, but I don’t like using my smartphone replacing a simple and reliable clock radio that can be shared with my kids, I don’t want internet connected devices on every modern electronic device!
I have one of those, it runs fast. I have to subtract a couple minutes every so often. I put it in my tv stand since I don't have a VCR or anything with a clock on it anymore. It looks pretty cool, like the numbers are just floating there.
Mine ran fast, too. I had to retire it when the alarm became unreliable.
I have one of these! I love the thing. It's actually remarkable how well it is at doing its job. The clock is clear, stays in sync, the radio sounds good for a box, the shape makes it easy to locate the button on top, as does the button itself, and it looks good! It doesn't look like a clock radio.
Mine, however, did not come with factory preset time :(
I have the Sony DAB+ Clock Radio XDR-C1DBP It's a fantastic clock radio and was I surprised to see it has been disconnected I enjoy listening to the extra digital stations that are available in my area.
I just bought the DAB+ version of this model. I wanted a SONY! No crappy no name radio and it arrived today. What a blast! DAB+ channels! SONY premium! Now I need a portable one from SONY! Thanks! The good thing about radio? It just works, no overthinking which playlist to play and you dont need a subscription.
Hey, finally a product I own and use on the channel! I've been using it for years now, works fine and the automatic DST feature is quite nice, one less clock that needs setting.
I got a dream machine alarm clock radio in 1994 for college. It's still on my nightstand today!
Good review and thanks for sharing!
It’s sad that Sony is capable of producing a much higher quality product as they already did decades ago. I suspect that it’s due to the fact that it’s a poor selling product because most people use their cellphone as their alarm clock. I guess that you sometimes you don’t know what you got until it is gone. Thank goodness for thrift stores! I picked up a 1980’s Wesclox dialite analog alarm clock. It glows dimly with warm yellow light that makes it easy to read in the dark. It keeps perfect time and best of all it keeps me from needing to look at my phone at night.
perfect timing with the news that Sony is trying to buy Kadokawa (the 3rd largest book publisher in Japan)
In the UK this version is currently £30 on Amazon normally £36, the mirrored version is £80 but that does come with DAB and also has a USB port for charging phones. It's a shame Sony cheaped out on a lot of their electronics. they still can do the high quality gear like with their TV's, DAP's and headphones etc, you need some deep pockets though. They brought out a 100 inch TV a couple of years ago for £20k....a little too rich for my taste.
We've had one of these for over five years now, and it was the most unintuitive device we've ever encountered. But, we figured it out and it works fine. Not your typical Sony product, but the price is right.
I would agree! I bought this for my young son when he was in about the 3rd grade. Very unintuitive to say the least! It was frustrating to use and quickly ended up in a drawer.
I'm legally blind and the text being the same color as the plastic, or really whatever material, the electronic device is made out of is one of the most frustrating things to me to deal with. Especially when it's a small device like that clock radio or it's on the back of an electronic device that you have to plug cords into and you can't turn easily. I have to memorize just about everything nowadays, and if I'm not changing it or using the function enough, I don't remember it later when I need to use it. It seems like it would be so easy for companies to just make white text on the usually raised lettering and have the black plastic background or visa versa.
Brian in Fort Worth 🎶
I hear you Brian I have the same type of problem
There is a specific reason for why the lettering is inset instead of topset on the sides. That's because the casing is injection moulded, so they have to make sure it can be ejected from the mould without getting stuck. Adding white paint would add another sequence of rotating the device and another programming of a different type of painting in instead of on.
But I hear ya
I too struggle to read it, even though I'm not quite legally blind yet (according to the law).
You could try lightly painting the letters yourself so they're easier to see. Though of course, the paint will wear off over time.
(I did something like this with an older micro-USB cable, so I could see which side was up. It had a recessed USB logo on the "top" side of the (white) plug, so I rubbed a bit of pencil lead into it to make it easier to see.)
We still have two Sony Dual Alarm Digital Clock Radios ICF-C770 in use. Love these old Clock Radios for it's quircky, odd 90s Design. ❤
I own one of these. I like the nice dim amber display, the gradual alarm and auto DST function. You can press the snooze button repeatedly, it'll increase the snooze time by 10 minutes at every button press.
However, it runs a little too fast so eventually it doesn't show the correct time anymore. It being a Sony, I expected it would synchronize to the AC power input but apparently they omitted that.
Radio tuning is quite poor; not accurate at all. And it can drift too, so in stead of waking up to your favourite radio station you'll hear static. Good luck waking up to that ;)
I only use the buzzer to wake me up. Display is nice. I use the radio only occasionally. So in the end I still keep it :)
Always love watching your reviews of various electronic devices to see what they’re like! Sony did sell that model here in Australia but like everything now Sony is mostly TVs and PlayStation products and just about nothing else! Gone are the days of their decent HiFi components and systems. Sadly most Japanese companies have dropped their HiFi products these days! As far as clock radios go, nothing beats the GE ones from the 80’s and 90’s. They were very popular here!
Their hifi on amps revceiver are one of the best of the world actually. The STR-AN1000 is an example of rewarded av on the receivers world and it´s 8k.
I've had this exact model since about 2016, The buzzer means it's the weekend as during the week I have to use the alarm on my phone and put it on the other side of the room or else I just smash the snooze button, Could move the clock but it wouldn't look right. Also had no idea what the sleep timer was for so thank you.
I just watched a 13 min video on an alarm clock ⏰ 😆
Kudos
I didn’t know they completely stopped using the Dream Machine name, it’s something that is typical Sony just like the Walkman line. Unfortunate to see how everything Sony is pretty much gone nowadays. This seems like a pretty good model though, the benefit of it being an older model is that it just works as intended. At least it doesn’t force an internet connection!
I have used this exact clock for years. Its main purpose is to wake me up in the morning, It works great because it forces me to get out of bed to turn off the alarm.
My brother bought me this as a gift a few years ago, love it!
I have this exact model. Love the radio alarm, does the job of waking me up everyday.
It's amazing how many products have been basically replaced by smartphones - cameras, camcorders, alarm clocks, walkmans, just to name a few. It's unfortunate Sony was not able to be more successful with their phones.
8:30 I prefer such a gradual alarm. Gentle wake-up but if that doesn’t do the trick for a heavy sleeper, the louder sound is only a few seconds delayed.
Sony's current leadership has adopted the Jack Welch mindset of weeding out profitable-but-not-profitable-enough product lines, as well as Sony's desire to be an image-conscious "lifestyle" brand. Playstation is trendy, Sony is unburdened by what has been.
Yeah, the corporate and accountin grift of providing evermore reasons to pay themselves more while delivering less to customers.
I've been using this exact model for years.
I hate using phones as an alarm clock -- I've had them lock up or randomly change time zones if I'm too close to a border.
This thing is perfect. Gradual alarm, dim display, and it just works. I added a little dab of hotglue to the Alarm Reset button so I could find it easier in the dark.
I don't get how people are ok with opening their eyes and looking at a screen to turn their alarm off every morning.
Actually wanted to get a second one for the spare bedroom. I also like how you can stack the snoozes -- press it twice to get 20 minutes right off the bat.
Owning one of these, this alarm sound sends chills downs my spine when I hear it. I’ve never heard an alarm clock so quiet that could manage to jolt me out of a deep sleep like this can.
Although, I will say that I have managed to pick up AM stations through the dumb digital tuner rather accurately, picking stations clearly all the way up in NYC and Chicago from my location North Georgia.
Not a necessarily bad product, just underwhelming in comparison to its ancestors. Good video.
I got an ICF C1 a few years ago when I finally decided to replace my 90s Dream Machine. It’s basic but it gets the job done well! I wish I got the white one though! Looks so much better than the black finish. I had no clue that they basically stopped selling alarm clocks! Such a shame.
You might have just convinced me to get one of these. I like my 90s-vintage Westclox that has woken me up hundreds of times, but the green LED display is on the bright side, and something dimmable would be nice. Plus it just looks nice, and I like the gentle alarm beep.
I have a rather wild cheap alarm clock. the time display varies from bright to completely off, all on a dial, so you can vary it a great deal. I typically leave it completely off as I sleep, and when I wake up I slide it back on, to light the room up enough. I think it has five different alarms with varying loudness, and I play one that's like two notes short of being the first full verse of a popular Christian song. It doesn't have any radio. Lol, turns out I bought it for $12. I bought this last June, and my initial history for amazon didn't bring it up, so I looked for 'clock'. Turns out my history has another clock in there, and it's called the Sonic BOMB, and it bombs. We bought it for mother because she was deaf, and you could hook up a round vibrator that would go off to wake her up instead of the blast noise. It has a pretty radical design to it. Check this out: ruclips.net/video/Vfbgm67l-mI/видео.html It's like an air raid going off.
I wanted a bedside clock radio that didn't put out excessive ambient light at night compared with other clock radios that used blue/white displays. This model fit the bill at first. Packaging and presentation is typical Sony that I remembered during their golden age. As I've owned several trinitron CRT televisions, VCR players, digital cameras, car audio, and home audio. The only problem with this particular clock radio is that it doesn't keep time. After a few months, it ends up being about 15 minutes fast. How Sony has fallen, how a simple appliance with a single task doesn't even accomplish that well.
I had one of these about ten years ago, or at least a version of it. It had a cool silver-mirror screen and orange digits that shone through. I liked it a lot, although it was eventually replaced with a bedside Google smart clock. Of course, that smart clock is now on a shelf, and a nice old Sony SW radio has taken its place on my nightstand.....
I have two of those..both clocks DRIFT.
I have one, it runs fast. It's gained half an hour since I last set it. I'm used to the alarm going off when it does so I don't touch it.
@TorontoPopulistConservative my main one plateaus at 15 min fast. I'll reset it and it takes about 6 months to get back... Really weird.
Great video. Shame I don't really need it. I have my alarm clock I bought in 1987 when I graduated high school and then got a job I had to be up for. It's been in continuous daily use since 1987, all through college, various jobs and moves. Decent reception. Gets nice and loud and the elements don't seem to have dimmed, though I cannot compare it when new other than my faulty memory. It's built with pretty thick plastic. I punch down on the sleep button pretty hard.
They don't make stuff like they used to.
When I was in grad school in the mid-'90s, I bought a microwave from another student who was moving. She'd gotten it from her sister. I looked at the sticker inside the door, and it was made by Panasonic in 1986. I kept that thing until 2002, when I brought it to the nonprofit where I worked, since my apartment had one. That thing is still there and works as well as it ever did. I have no doubt it'll make it to 40 years old.
@@MarionStevensJr I still use an early 80s microwave my parents gave me. It was the first microwave they ever bought. I used it as a kid. But they wanted a new one that looked different, so they gave it to me in the 90s.
I have this device. Never dreamed I'd find a RUclips review on it haha!
I have this exact radio - got it at a thrift store a few years back. My mom let me have it as a Christmas present.
hello there @vwestlife nice to meet you! ((I know the guy "down the street" from you, Josh S. hehehe ran across your vids, I liked and subbed! :)
interesting that the algorithm took me here. enjoyed the change though and good review
Online one can see Chinese audio-video products that seem to be quite popular, like compact region-free DVD players, or compact CD players that resemble vinyl turntables, or shelf systems with a CD player and integrated speakers. I would not mind having one of these for myself, but cannot get past something like "LONPOO". Even worse when the label is not easily removable. If it had the "Sony" label, I would consider buying it. If I cannot de-badge my stuff, I want to see a respectable brand name on it.
I bought one of these 2nd hand a few years ago for a couple of quid. Only used it as a display clock, never as an alarm clock. It was pretty decent, it did it's job. 😅
i bought one of those for my daughter when she was late for high school because she had been using her phone as an alarm. it did the trick and she liked it enough to bring it to college.
my older dream machine with green leds has a permanent place on my nightstand.
I have something very similarly looking, but much more advanced the XDR-C1DBP/BC.
It has DAB+, automatic clock setting, 5 presets, and ramping up volume for the radio when the alarm goes.
It also has a usb port on the side for device charging.
I have this exact model on my nightstand and it's been a great product. I love the auto DST feature, how well it receives a variety of stations, and the fact that it has a backup battery. I can't tell you how many times I had to adjust my previous clock due to power outages or even a semi-common 1 second blip in power. I always find if charming to hear a different song pop up on my favorite station while waking up. Despite that praise for some reason its time gets ahead of my phone's clock by a min every couple months, so much so that it's about 23 minutes ahead right now!
Aside from all that, I definitely agree, now is the time to buy this product if you want a Sony clock radio. It was kind of surprising to see that the date code on your unit was quite recent, I was expecting it to be new old stock!
I love its cube shape design. I might pick one up before they are gone. I also have an 80s digital clock radio that still works, General Electric 7-4643A. Still works great after all of these years.
I found an older version of that clock in white. All it needed was a 2032 and it was good to go. It sounded nice and I sold it in two days.
I have a Sony Dream Machine I picked up in the early 2010s that's still alive and kicking, and even on the original CR2032 backup battery. It also self-adjusts for Daylight Saving Time like the ICF-C1. I doubt I paid more than 30 bucks for it but it just keeps on going. It even has the same alarm sound.
Incredible, I've been subscribed for quite some time and just bought one of these 2 days ago, what are the odds!
Button cell backup seems nice. Growing up somewhere with fairly frequent outages I remember those 9Vs in the old clock radios never holding up.
8:42 I’m imaging myself trying to find the sleep bar by feel only… I don’t wanna go to school/work today!
I have an ICF-C1PJ, which i believe is a top of the line model of these. It comes with a projector on the side where the speaker goes on yours, and even if i need my glasses, i can clearly see the time in the ceiling at night without putting them on. The two alarm feature on the C1PJ is very handy for me as i have different time schedules at work every second week. The auto DST is also a very neat feature, although i admit the time setting is a bit unorthodox. It's a clever and pretty good clock radio over all, especially since i found it at a local second hand store (or thrift store as you would say) for 5 bucks!
My family has several Dream Machines. Two older cube types (that are not this one), two that look like more typical clock radios, and one with a CD player.
They all still work, and are in guest bedrooms and rooms where we just want a radio.
Wanted to get this one but I need a manual "on/off" switch so it comes on from a timer.
Wow. Didn’t realize you were that close to me. I’m outside Rochester. Love those 50,000 watt am stations. Picked it up once in Florida at night, back in the 60s.
The DST feature and aesthetics are great. It would be nice if they brought back the Dailymate, albeit with a radio function. The DST would be a problem in the few countries that don't have DST.
I've been buying old Sony radios, cleaning them up and replacing capacitors, and just trying them out. A lot of their older stuff is great. Been using the ~1988 ICF-C2W for the past 6 months.
I have a Dream Machine ICF-C218 which I've had for years and still does everything I want - except the rocker switch to set the alarm time only works in one direction now.
I have one by my bedside! Bought it 3 months ago to help me stop using my phone all the time.
Very good alarm clock i think.
I bought an ICF-C1 longer ago than I can remember. It's been handed across my family so much that it's ended up back at my parent's place- naturally, still working perfectly. Gonna miss Sony's lineup of clock radios.
I have the ''twin alarm'' model that i had as a christmas gift last year . i wanted something small and easy to use ...It definitely ticks the box ! And the DST mode is a plus .. i set the date and clock one time , set the DST to ''On'' , and that's it ! the rest is done automatically .
However , where i live , the FM radio has some issues to receive local stations (especially for a station that is nearby and usually can be received 100% without any antenna ) , with that clock radio i need to place it on the side of my bedroom window . I don't know if it's a defect or something , but apart from that issue ,i love that clock radio .
I used to have one of these. The tiny buttons and volume/tuning wheels made it not very nice to use, but it was an aesthetically pleasing little cube. I prefer the off-white 90s dream machines though.
I have a 20-year-old somewhat smaller long model of this radio with a blue display, and what I like about it is it has external antenna contacts so I can attach an AM antenna and an FM antenna and the footprint is very small, great product!
Im Gen Z and even I remember having a sony clock radio. I miss them so much, and it's hard to find a quality one nowadays. I still find them extremely useful especially in horrible weather conditions where having a radio in your home is almost necessary.
Sony products have always been well designed and visually appealing. Of course the market for consumers electronics has changed markedly in recent years. Sony appears to have become less innovative compared to a time when it led the market with products like the Walkman and Trinitron TVs. Can the company return to producing a raft of desirable products in the coming years ? I don’t know but there is definitely space in the consumer electronics / appliances market for better products. Having bought a number of items in recent years that didn’t last, it reminded of one of the strengths of Sony products in that they lasted a very long time. I still have a number of there products that are still going after 20 years of usage.
I had one of these back in 2016 after I graduated. Im not sure about them not changing this since 2015 however. Unless mine was older. As mine had a long thin cable to have to use as an atenna. I do remember not really liking it because it didnt have a 24hr mode and thats been my preference for about a decade. Thanks for the video.
Honestly, if it wasn't for the PlayStation then Sony would be out of business by now. They used to make quality products but in the 2000s they got worse. I used to own Sony mini stereos but the CD player motors kept breaking. That's why I now stream music...
BTW, I still use a clock radio to wake up because you can't rely on a smartphone that's not charged up. Plus it has an AUX port so I can plug in my phone with an audio cable. That gives my streamed music a warmer sound coming through the radio's speaker than using the harsher sounding phone.
sony has a big semiconductor division that makes the best cmos image sensors that come in products such as the iphone. no other image sensors offer 4 pixel autofocus like sony.
I’ve had one of these for a while and I can’t say I’ve been too happy with it. The time will consistently drift forward about a minute or so every month. It’s kind of just been a routine of mine to set it back to the correct time every now and then. I feel like a modern digital clock should be much more accurate than this
Actually yeah, mine drifts too. Not a huge deal for me.
I had this exact same problem. The entire point of a clock is to keep time. If it can't do what, what's the point?
@@autoneuroticI've noticed this on most newer digital clock equipped appliances, microwaves, stoves, etc ...
Same here. I wonder why they don't just use the line frequency for the clock which would be much more accurate. Now I use a 1979 (or 1980) digital alarm clock which is much better. The Sony looks cool, that's all.
Digital clocks and watches are all driven by a quartz crystal. The better made time pieces, such as say, Citizen Watches, are made in Japan and can keep time astonishingly well, but I imagine this thing is made in China and so the quality control on the crystal circuit is reflective of that. But even if it's a quality unit there is always variance in the crystal-driven clocks, even if they came off the same assembly line one after the other.
I received a Sony Dream Machine alarm clock as a present in middle school and I've used it nearly every day since then. That was nearly 25 years ago and I have no plans to replace it any time soon.
Yes, the original cube radios received AM very well. People would DX with them. Mine had a piece of wire antenna coming out the back. Remember the Sony Style Catalogs?
I have a Sony ICF-C233 with backlit LCD display purchased decades ago at Circuit City. Still working. I no longer need to set alarms, but I like the low-light clock display. I will be sad if this stops working.
That's a real shame. I have one of those alarm clocks.
Same.
I feel robbed cause mine didn’t come with a battery and can’t seem to find one
I was surprised to see the DST feature work, I thought they extended it by 4 weeks several years ago which would change the dates of the switchover. There is usually built in calendar data that doesn’t get updated through Wi-Fi or from a radio signal to synchronize the time. Does the radio also have the gradual wake up alarm? I still have a Panasonic Clock Radio with the “tender wake” feature and a real analog tuner, it has served me well for many years.