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We bought this for a bathroom radio and works well for that. We wanted digital tuning with presets so we could switch between several stations easily. After we got it, we tried it as out alarm clock but it only lasted one night.

The first problem is the blue backlit LCD display. It only has two brightness setting and they are both way to bright for a bedroom. It could work as a bright night light, but I recommend you don't face it towards the bed. ;-)

We blocked the light for the night because what we really liked was the digital volume control. We thought it would let us set the radio volume each night without guessing how loud it would be in the morning. So the next morning we were rudely blasted awake. Reading the manual I found out the volume is factory set to fairly loud then gets louder if you don't turn it off. So if that is the right volume for you, you're in luck. If you think it's too loud (like we did), then you're out of luck.

So we have a nice bathroom radio/CD player. But for us the alarm is no good.

I have had this alarm clock for years - and EVERY time I try to change something (e.g., the alarm time, alarm type, clock time) pressing the correct button results in other things changing. Imagine trying to set your alarm for 6 am and as you're pressing the hour button both the minutes & the type of alarm (CD, radio) change - BUT NOT THE HOUR. The wiring is sub-par and must be crossed. This is the most frustrating alarm clock I have ever used.

The good: 1. This clock radio has really nice sound for a small box and is great for playing CDs in the bedroom. 2. Nice looking unit. 3. Vertical form-factor doesn't take a lot of room on the nightstand.

The bad: 1. Too many (unlit) buttons in close proximity so it is easy to get them confused in the dark. 2. Not intuitive to set wake-up times and setting (AM/FM or CD track). No slide switches at all to quickly change basic alarm settings. 3. Obnoxious escalating volume alarm makes it very inconvenient for couples who wake at different times. 4. AM reception is not good- the same station comes in fine on my car radio. 5. The minimum backlight brightness is overwhelming at night. 6. The LCD is optimized for viewing from above- it is difficult to read the time from a viewing point even with or slightly below the level of the display (~6" above tabletop).

I'm sure there are more user-friendly clock radios out there and I would not buy this model again primarily for waking up. For simply listening to the radio or playing CDs it is fine. It will be going in the garage as a shop radio.

After reading many other reviews on this Memorex CD Clock Radio, I bought it knowing ahead of time what I HOPED I would be getting and indeed, it WAS, no more, no less; I wanted a decent clock radio w/CD player for next-to-the-bed that DIDN'T glow green or red in the dark of night. I liked the idea of blue. Be aware, however, that although there are two options for the brightness of the 'blue,' they are bright and brighter but this is easily remedied, I found by partially covering the display with a CD case - no biggy. Otherwise, it is what it is. Simple.

I received this as a Christmas gift from my parents. I simply wanted a clock radio with a cd player on it and this one seemed great to both me and my mother. The one I had before - a $20 find - worked for five years before the cd player went out. I loved the shape, size, and design of this one, and thought that it would be perfect for my bed side table. It worked fine for about three months, but I can no longer set the alarms or the actual time. I had to unplug it from the wall several times last night to reset the time, but it wouldn't let me set the alarms for this morning. I had to use my cell phone instead. I'm going back to my old alarm clock until I can find another one.

I'm sad to lose an item that I love the design of, and I actually like the LCD light, but it's definitely not worth the $40 that my parents spent.

I contacted customer service this morning about the situation. I never got the warranty (and I didn't with my old alarm clock/cd player either), but hopefully I can get some kind of assistance.