Eleven years ago I purchased three Verilux incandescent lightbulbs on a whim, and it's proven to be one of the best purchases of my life. Best light bulbs EVER and they're still going strong today. So when I was shopping for a light & sound alarm for my ugly-to-rise girlfriend, I was elated (yes..e-LAY-TED) to see this model made by that same stellar French manufacturer. True, this model is about as expensive as these come, but it was the only one that completely fit my needs and offered the versatility to try different things with it, and I have no quams about the price. Totally worth it. First off, it doesn't insult my design tastes by looking like some cheesy plastic lavalamp. Unlike so much consumer electronics, this thing looks like a quality piece of gear that fits on a bedside table without having to give up my post-modern industrial metal table lamp. In fact, you can plug the lamp into it and have it work as part of the sleep and wake functions. AWESOME! The flexibility of having the sound files stored on an SD card is a major benefit, so if you don't like nature sounds, you can put on your own sounds of cows mooing or metal grinding or whatever gets you in the mood for the day. And, its sound quality is as clear and natural as a walk in the woods. You could seriously think there's a babbling brook right next to the bed. Seriously! The only option I would like to have seen would be a traditional loud alarm that could come on as a backup in case the mellow swell of serene sound and light doesn't do the trick. But never mind, because my girlfriend who slept right through her old truck horn alarm every morning now wakes gracefully with nothing but love for life on her sweet face. This product is immensely versatile and easy to set up and use, and I highly recommend it!
PROS
Offers an alternative to harsh, abrupt audio alarms by turning its LED light on at time of your choosing and gradually becoming brighter over 5 to 30 minutes.
Uses energy saving LED lights
Has a USB port for MP3 players
Has an AUX in jack for other media, like an iPod
Has a 2 prong standard plug socket (female) to power an accessory (like an additional lamp) that can be controlled by a dimmer knob or possibly a siren
Has a very customizable menu of options that is easy to program (IF you can read and follow instructions).
Has digital tuning
Has decent sound (mono)
Is heavy and has a solid feel
Has a cool, "modern-retro" look, very un-cheap looking
CONS
The backlit display screen is too bright at the lowest setting (bright enough to read by from about 6 to 12 inches away, and too bright for me to sleep from 1-2 feet away)
As other reviewers have said, the LED wake up light is directional and not very bright at the brightest setting
Of the 20 levels of brightness for the LED wake up light, the first 12 or so are overpowered by a strange, cold, blue light. It may be a "magic" wavelength but it's very ugly.
The external accessory power outlet / dimmer doesn't work with a lamp that has a standard medium-base dimmable LED bulb -The bulb will not turn all the way off at the dimmest setting.
The USB port is an input only. It is not powered and does not charge an iPhone
Is pretty large (like larger than a standard box of tissues -takes up a lot of real estate on the night stand.
I am pretty sure there is no battery backup.
To be 5-star, this product needs:
A blackout setting that makes it emit no light, possibly touch sensitive
A dimmer capable of operating new, dimmable LED bulbs, and capable of basic, one-touch, on-off functionality
A powered USB port compatible with i-Stuff
Battery backup
Buy Verilux VA04BB Rise and Shine Natural Sleep System, Graphite Now
It's fall, and this time of year I tend to find myself getting to work later and later. I love mid June when you wake up with the sun and can get to work early. I love this clock, getting up at 5:00am is easier with it. I use it to get to sleep and I use it to wake up. I was very apprehensive about the price, hey, these things break sometimes. I got the clock and found it was as heavy and sturdy as it looks. It will not easily get knocked off the night stand, it takes some effort to move it. It was well packaged. I like the port, you can plug an ipod in it. I'm still unsure of whether I can connect my iphone in it. The speaker works great and the rain mp3, sounds like rain. I wish it had come with more mp3's with bird sounds, but I do have the option of downloading some. Overall, it's effective.Read Best Reviews of Verilux VA04BB Rise and Shine Natural Sleep System, Graphite Here
This is not a perfect device in the realm of consumer electronics, but I still give it a 5 because such a niche product will never have the polish of an iPhone or the latest Sony TV. It basically does everything I want very well with only a few limitations and annoyances. Setting it up takes some time, but they do a good job with the menus. The song playing features are a bit weak. This clearly isn't an MP3 player by design. One complaint is that it doesn't play all the formats that some other devices play and some of my songs aren't compatible. Not a big deal though since I only need it for a couple songs to wake up to. The radio seems to pick up stations pretty good. You can plug a lamp into this and use the dimmer on the front which is great feature. The dimmer is extremely granular so you can use it to set the light wherever you want. I use that feature all the time.Best way to turn off the alarm is to turn the light dial a bit I have found that way you don't have to press the wake button again to turn the alarm back on. I haven't investigated this fully yet, I've just noticed that the "Sleep" and "Wake" buttons have some strange behavior depending on what state the alarm is in, but it's not a big deal and my daily routine seems to keep everything working so I haven't been too worried about figuring it all out.
I've addressed a lot of small points which really overshadow the major benefit of this alarm which is the light. Simple put, it works very well and does exactly what it's supposed to do. It's pretty bright by about 8 minutes into a 15 minute cycle so even if you put it at 30 minutes it would probably wake you around 15 minutes in -that is if you are in any way in direct view of it. But I can't imagine it being any more graduated; at some point the sun comes up and it's light, right? There is only so much in between and this device does it as well as it can, in my view. Overall, this is worth the price.
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Overall I like this clock and I think it's worth every penny.1) Screen: The screen where the time is was not too bright for me. It is adjustable and I thought it was fine.
2) Features I would like to add: I do wish it had an internet wifi hook-up but that's being really picky. I think more versatility in times of how long it takes the light to turn on and maximum light settings at wake-up would be nice.
3) Wake-up: The light can come on over 30, 15 or 5 minutes. The previous reviewer is correct that the music and light come on at the same time. However, the music is very soft at first and as the light becomes brighter and brighter the music becomes louder and louder to a maximum that you preset. You can also plug a lamp into the back. I use both a lamp and the light on top of the radio. You can use the lamp by itself, the light on the radio by itself, or both. Waking up is much more pleasant with this radio versus the old loud traditional alarm clock I had before.
4) Size: I was also concerned about the size when I order it but when I got it it fit nicely on my bedstand without cluttering it.
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