Timex - T600 CD Clock Radio Review

Clock radios with alarms are an essential part of every bedroom and with most of them, all you get are the basics: a clock with digital readout and a dial radio. These types of radios usually give you the option of waking up to a beeper or to your favorite, preset radio station. You can also set the sleep timer and listen to music as you drift off. These radios are inexpensive, but that's because they are so simple in design and function.

For those who want a little more in a clock radio, the retail outlets do offer a few more options. One of the fancier clock radios that caught my eye and convinced me to make a purchase is the subject of this review. It's the Timex Model T600 clock radio/CD player, a device that gives you several different ways to wake up or to go to sleep.

Radio Commentary:

Timex T600 goes beyond the call of duty for a clock radio. This clock radio/CD player gives the owner many different ways to wake up and fall asleep. Instead of the usual choices of radio and/or beeper, you can wake up to your favorite CD or to the sound of nature.

I like having the option of waking up to a CD instead of to the radio. When you wake up to a radio in the morning, chances are you won't even be listening to music. Most all radio stations feature a morning talk show (Monday through Friday, anyway) with limited music. With the CD alarm, I can wake up to a CD, which is a nice change. One thing, though, that I learned right away and I should share with you is that some types of music, even though they might be listed among your personal favorites, are not pleasant to listen to upon first opening your eyes in the early morning hours. It's best, I think, to wake to something a little bit softer.

The other nice feature is the nature sounds which you can either wake to or fall asleep to. There are four sounds: ocean, brook, forest, and wind. My personal favorites are the ocean (which features the sound of waves crashing onto shore) and the wind (which features a sound similar to what you hear on an airplane). The other two are not very sleep- inducing. The brook sounds like a bubbler and the forest has the sound of crickets chirping. These don't do much to help me fall asleep, but they are ok for an alarm setting.

For all its glory, the Timex T600 model does have a few drawbacks. The most obvious is the difficulty in using all these settings. Speaking franking, this is definitely not the type of device for people who like to keep things simple. The front of this radio has a total of 24 different buttons (with three more buttons on top, for a total of 27) and learning all the different ways to set the various alarms, sleep modes, etc., can get a little frustrating at times. When I first purchased this radio, I found that I had to keep the owners manual lying next to radio itself, for quick reference.

The other thing that I wish I could change with this radio is the display viewing. I wear contact lenses, and I take them out every night. With ordinary clock radios, the numbers were in color and the background was black. If I woke up in the night, I could squint and read the display. With this clock radio, the golden background doesn't supply enough contrast to the black numbers/letters in the LCD display. Because of this, I have found that squinting from afar won't work- I often have to climb out of bed halfway and lean toward the display if I want to read it. There is a brightness control, but the basic colors are the same- black numbers and letters on a golden background. This model is also offered with a blue background. I haven't had any experience with that one, but I would guess that it's probably just as hard to read at night (daytime viewing, by the way, is fine), because of the low contrast with the black LCD display.

Bottom Line Viewpoint:

In spite of a few difficulties, I'm still satisfied with my Timex T600 clock radio/CD player. It's nice to have the ability to wake up to nature sounds or to a CD. The buttons are numerous, and it does take time to get accustomed to all the different ways to set and program a device like this one. But it's still a very good clock radio, and it would make a great gift for someone who already has all the basics that he/she needs but could use a little luxury at an affordable cost.