I generally only review a product if it's really bad, really good, or as in this case, a very good product with lots of room for improvement to make it even better. I've only owned and been using this product for a few days, so this is a preliminary review, but so far I have noticed a lot of both good and bad with it.
First, there are several features of this clock, some that are less prominent and therefore not mentioned in the description or anywhere else. These are as follows:
-When setting alarms, it starts at 7am. This is great, because you don't have to sit there forever on each alarm changing it from midnight to whatever time you get up in the morning. Most people get up around 7-8, not midnight. I can't believe this isn't more common in alarm clocks, and it's one of many things that shows the ingenuity of the designers.
-Set and preference buttons need to be held for a couple seconds before they bring up the menu, avoiding accidental menu access by merely pressing the wrong button.
-Great sound. I was expecting sound superior to normal clock radios, but I was really impressed. It definitely surpassed my expectations and then some.
-Small (smaller than I thought it would be) and looks great, with great layout for the most part.
-Excellent snooze button size and location. (could be seen as a con by some people I suppose)
-Remembers nap/sleep timers for quick one touch setting
-Alarm duration setting, nice so alarm can be set to only go off for a short period of time, just in case you leave it on when you leave and it will disturb others when it goes off.
-Gradual wake feature.
-Alarm volume independent from sleep volume.
-Four different alarm sounds.
-Descending snooze makes it so every time you hit the snooze button you get less time before the alarm sounds again. Once again, I can't believe this isn't a more common feature, but this is the first clock I've seen it on.
Now for the negative points. Some of these are pretty severe, at least in my mind, whereas others are really quit minor and even perhaps a little nitpicky. However, I believe a product can always be made better, and I hope that by pointing these things out American Innovations will be encouraged to take them into consideration for an improved model. Also, for a product with such obvious creativity and ingenuity involved in its design, the fact that some of these negative items even exist is just that much more baffling and upsetting. Also, I feel the consumer should be as informed as possible when making a decision, so hopefully this will help people considering this clock. Here are my issues with this alarm clock:
-Value collar (outer ring) should spin more freely. It's whole purpose in life is to quickly advance the time backward or forward to set the clock or alarm, and this is done by spinning or rotating it. For this purpose, I feel it is way too stiff, and that detracts from its functionality.
-Minimum volume should be lower. It's pretty quiet, but I have absolutely no doubt there are people that like to listen to very quiet music when they're going to sleep, quieter than this will go down to, and there should be more options on the low end of the scale to account for that. I realize that is a problem with digitally controlling the volume instead of using an anolog dial with infinite positions, but they could, and should, certainly implement a few more volume steps between their current minimum volume and no volume.
-The volume buttons are backwards from any sort of common sense arrangement. Seriously, who puts the volume up on the left and the volume down on the right. It's just counter-intuitive.
-I'd prefer the use of a couple AA or AAA batteries instead of the 3.0V CR2032 button-type battery that's used for the backup functions. They are everywhere, people are a lot more likely to have spares of them lying around the house than CR2032s, and they can be rechargable.
-More color choices would be nice. The white and gray don't really fit into the colors of the rest of the room. I personally prefer the colors of the standard version of the clock, I don't know why the options are so limited here, or why they chose to go with this color for this model instead of the same color scheme they have on the other.
-Easy to accidentally (or subconsiously) hit the on/off button instead of the snooze button, killing the alarm completely instead of snoozing it.
-No alarm preview function. In order to hear the different alarms to know which to use, I had to set nap timer to 1 minute, wait for it to alarm, switch alarm sounds, and repeat until I heard all four.
-Lowest brightness for display not dim enough. This goes hand in hand with the lowest volume not low enough problem.
-No preference for how long the display stays on high brightness after pressing a button.
-Alarm volumes and lengths can't be set independently from one another.
-Beta feature for making one time change doesn't allow changing of multiple banks, or at least I haven't figured out how yet if you can.
All in all, this is a very nice alarm clock, and it's so convenient to not have to switch the alarms back and forth every day, since I have class at 9 MWF and 8 on T & Th, plus I like to have one for the weekends just so I don't sleep until the afternoon. Even with the flaws and areas of needed improvement, it's still a big step up. I just wish the creativity had extended more to some of these other things, as well as other things I probably haven't thought of. I would so far recommend it based off its functionality and the specific need it caters to, but as I said, I've only had it a few days, so it's still too early to tell. So far, I haven't noticed any glitch or bug issues with it.
EDIT: I have now owned this alarm clock for a little over 3 months and just wanted to make a quick update. This clock got me through a semester of late nights and early mornings excellently, and it is still running strong (knock on wood). I haven't really found anything new I like or dislike about it, it's performing exactly as I'd hoped and I'm really glad I got it. As I said before, it has its problems, but they are minor for the most part and do not overcome the usefulness of the clock. The only new thing I have to mention is when turning the two dials, or even when they're in position but pressed lightly, the display sort of spazzes out, for lack of a better term, and jumps all over like you're spinning the dial rapidly. It doesn't cause any real issues, it's just annoying, as you have to release it so it settles down (which is immediate) then you can make any changes you need to make. As I said, it's more an annoyance or minor hindrance at most, and does not impact the clock's functionality, and I wouldn't let it affect my decision to buy one. However, it is, to me, a sign of something either being poorly designed or poorly put together. I have no idea if it's common or just mine. Anyways, after owning it for 3 months, I still hold to my initial rating of 4 stars.
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American Innovative Neverlate Executive Alarm ClockProduct Description: Nearly every aspect of the Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock is fully customizable to suit personal preferences. Everything from the backlight brightness to the alarm duration is fully adjustable. Two alarm banks provide two completely independent seven-day wake schedules, his and hers for example. In addition, the clock features a daily reminder bank, calendar display, and a preferences menu that allows one to choose disparate wake settings. For example, wake to NPR news at 7:00 am weekdays, a favorite Saturday morning talk show on a different station, and the buzzer on Sunday. Designed to be easy to set, a simple twist of the patent-pending rotary dial makes complicated push-buttons a thing of the past. A powered USB port on the back accommodates an electric fan or laptop boom lamp. Plus, the clock features line-in, headphone jack, and more. Each time the snooze button is hit, the snooze time is cut in half until finally the Neverlate Executive won't allow snoozing any more. Or, one can even disable the tempting snooze button. This ultra high-tech clock is ac powered with battery backup.
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If you just need an alarm clock to tell the time and get you out of bed get this one. It more than gets the job done. I was looking for a bedside clock, no radio, no projection, no gimmicks, and after a very very long internet search came across this nice little clock. If you're just looking for a basic alarm clock for a low price this is the one to get! It has more bells and whistles than a regular clock, 9 minute snooze (of course it MUST have the SNOOZE feature), automatic reset/off alarm button, on/off alarm button, and loud/soft alarm noise button. This really will look attractive on your bedside/living room end table/kitchen counter and it comes in different colors too. The black looks very attractive on my bedside table. It has good heft/weight to it too, giving it a feeling of a quality made product that will last for years. The brightness of the display is perfect, not too dim, not too bright. I was looking at analogue clocks but this one is a beauty compared to the two previous analogue clocks I had and has a PM light indicator, Alarm On indicator, and a low back up battery indicator besides. The alarm will go off for two hours before automatically turning off (leave home/apt. and forget to turn it off), and the snooze feature will go off every 9 minutes as long as you keep pressing it, and the feature will automatically turn itself off after 2 hours (do you really need more than that, reset the alarm). It is nice and compact so it doesn't take up too much room. Besides this clock is electric so batteries are no longer a concern. This is a nice quality, attractive product that seems like it will last a very long time (much better quality than my Timex battery powered analogue clock, much better looking, and it's both heavier and smaller at the same time). Other reviews state the snooze button is located too close to the alarm off button (may accidently press it instead), but I have had absolutely no problem distinguishing between the two buttons, especially given their size, and it isn't even a concern to me. I should also include that I thought analogue was the way to go, but the digital display on this is of high quality, is easy on the eyes at night, and having to reach over to press a button to see the time in the dark is no longer an issue. So get this clock it's a no-brainer with more than enough features to ensure this is the alarm clock you will be glad you purchased. I think it's worth more than I paid for it!
